Sustainability in Design Management of Florida Business Furniture Inc - Case Study Example

Sustainability in design management of the business organization: Florida Business Furniture Inc. Address: 706, Turnbull Avenue, Suite 304, Altamonte Springs, Florida 32701- Nature of the business: Providers of office supplies, computer accessories, cleaning supplies, break-room supplies, safety equipment, printing and promotional products. Manufacturers/suppliers: JSI GLOBAL HON NEUTRAL POSTURE ALIMED WORKRITE MAXON TRENDWAY Abstract Sustainability is probably the most liked and hated word simultaneously in the world today. Its significance as a concept related to development lies in its impact on resource utilisation and rationalisation. Florida Business Furniture has adopted sustainability concept as a core business objective. This report examines its implications from a number of perspectives including business strategy, design management and environmental regulation. 1. Introduction The concept of sustainability has been defined variously by many writers. However the definition given by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) has been received with greater enthusiasm – “Sustainability represents forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. This definition meets most of the requirements of modern writers whose definitional demands might be very difficult to satisfy. The need to re-conceptualize the material environment so that the rate at which resources are consumed at present would be less than the rate at which replacement takes place, is all the more important now. The process of production and the process of consumption in the economy of a country are determined by the amount of innovation and the aggregation of the five basic sustainability principles as enunciated by Buckminster Fuller (Dresner, 2002, p.37). They are the material domain, the economic domain, the domain of life, the social domain and the spiritual domain. According to Fuller the material domain is the pivotal principle essential for regulating the movement of materials and energy that support the very essence of life. The economic domain serves as a principal mechanism to manage wealth. The domain of life provides the underlying essence for apt conduct in the biosphere. The social domain lays the foundation for societal interrelations. Finally, the spiritual domain serves as the basis for the necessary orientation in attitudes thus facilitating the formation of a universal code of moral principles by which the individual abides and acts. Thus in addition to the whole systemic process of principles for sustainability and its communication to the community, the project management aspect of sustainability critically looks at the designing, regulation and strategic transformational phases of it to achieve what’s known as the environmental compatibility. Sustainability evaluation involves metrics or such quantifiable parameters to portray significant values inherent in the process though qualitative assessments can be of equal significance. Sustainability in design management has increasingly been applied in the context of natural resource management disciplines including those project management efforts involving the management of non-renewable resources. In the process a series of challenges have cropped up. In the first instance the evolving socio-economic environment poses the greatest challenge to both the designer and the implementer (Mozota, 2003, p.31). It’s this aspect of design management that has the widest scope in both application and relevance in the whole context. 2. Analysis Sustainability as a modern concept related to environment and development, has many implications including business-centric ones that need a greater degree of focus and analysis within the socio-economic environment in which the business operates. Florida Business Furniture Inc. has had a checkered history. Denise Kemp its sole owner and the Chief Executive Officer has put in place a highly professional team of managers and sales representatives with the sole aim of meeting customer needs at an affordable price. It’s against this backdrop that I have written this report to bring out the essentially characteristic elements of sustainability in design management. Thus design management perspectives of this report would be focused on the supply-side parameters of the office furniture business and the demand-side incompatibilities along with market uncertainty principle. In design management a win-win situation is necessarily created when sustainability is incorporated into the organization’s corporate strategy and executed with a long term commitment to achieve sustainability goals. Design management in office furniture business goes a long way since the revolution of miniaturization applies equally well to space-saving efforts in office furniture design as well. Within FBF Inc. there is the ever rising need for a re-conceptualization of the existing design management parameters to incorporate the concept of sustainability into its business philosophy so that the current trends in deterioration of our eco-system and biological environment can be checked to a greater extent. The logic behind this effort is pretty clear for what has been said of late about design management principles include the creation of an awareness among both decision-makers and subjects of the need to have good strategies in place for developing designing parameters, utilization, regulation and transformation of the existing environment and its resources (Shippey, 1995, p.145). Office products industry has been growing at a rapid pace during the past few decades. The growth process has not only been diverse and complex but also trendy too. FBF’s own checkered history has been characterized by these elements and phases. Though current FBF operations are being subject to the same degree of scrutiny to justify or oppose sustainability efforts, the causal correlations and/or regressions among variables such as corporate goals and those of social responsibility clauses enshrined in the mission statement cannot be overemphasized. Thus the current project being designed and implemented in this organization would definitely address a range of issues from sustainability challenge to the very design process. Office furniture manufacturing has undergone a revolutionary change in the recent past. In this context the current project being initiated at FBF to implement newer techniques and planning in design management and sustainability would definitely be met with both approval and some resistance. An evaluation of the office furniture industry in Florida in particular and the USA in general would demonstrate a number of characteristics that are peculiar to this industry. In the first instance the office furniture industry is typically characterized by manufacturing-to-stocking evolutionary phases that include highly customized, designer-centric exotic finished goods. As such the evolving operational and technological paradigms pose hitherto unheard and unknown challenges to the average firm irrespective of its internal organizational structure (Loureiro and Curran, Editors, 2007, p.668). Against this backdrop the following challenges have been noticed to exist in the industry. ► Ever increasing automation of sales: Nowadays customers have access to advanced technology. As a result it brings pressure to bear on manufacturers to automate their operations so that potential customers would have access to comparative prices, product visuals, graphics and so on. These developments have led to another parallel development, i.e. specialized applications and skills needed to put in place and maintain complex networks of internal and external communication (Bhamra and Lofthouse, 2007, p.92). ► Ever increasing product complexity: Product line differentials keep on multiplying against the background of customers’ demand for variety and change. Thus the demand for change would essentially involve some novel ideas in finishes, options and product lines. Product portfolio would be influenced by these changes. ► Ever increasing technology integration: Supply chain management process of office furniture industry has been transformed into a highly integrated system of communication both within the organization and without. This integration process has to be implemented across multiple platforms of communication such as individual suppliers of furniture and materials, customers, sales representatives and manufacturers. Information within the business has to be integrated across these platforms to achieve a degree of success in corporate objectives such as profits and sustainability. ► Availability of information: Lead times between raw material supplies and finished products vary in this industry because raw materials such as timber, fabrics and chemicals take a long lead time for supplies to be moved and stocked while for finished products the lead times will be short. Thus for effective forecasting efforts, the information flow must be handled with extreme care. Information on various aspects must be managed well to achieve long term corporate goals including sustainability. ► Reduction in lead times: Efficiency is necessarily connected with economies of scale in this industry and therefore competitive pressures have added to the existing burden of the average organization to reduce lead times by carrying out order fulfillment at a rapid pace. These developments have enhanced other operational flexibilities too. For instance when lead times are reduced to a minimum constant operational freedom and efficiencies rise. This in turn can be utilized to enhance sustainability. ► Improvement in the operational environment: Operational environment in office furniture business is characterized by a degree of uncertainty against a variety of factors which are beyond the control of firms. For instance demand-deficiency for custom office furniture is caused by the deterioration in the macroeconomic environment. An economic downturn or a recession will have a negative impact on demand for office furniture. Thus the operational environment of the organization is vitiated by negative cash flows. This is the biggest challenge to the design and implementation of sustainability criteria within the business organization. Sustainability criteria in design management with a particular focus on the office furniture business have to be examined against these six principal challenges. The following sustainability criteria have been developed as a framework of solutions in this context. Thus the team of activists appointed by the senior management at FBF is responsible for the design, planning and implementation of a sustainability programme at the company. The implementation of this sustainability strategy at the company level needs to take into account the following aspects so that successful implementation of the process will be ensured. ♦ Operational environment of FBF needs to be designed, planned and implemented with specific focus on conformity with and responsibility for social and economic sustenance of resources. ♦ Regulatory environment in which FBF operates essentially precludes it from establishing capacity maximization and rationalization procedures at the company level to achieve corporate objectives (Teicholz, 2001, p.440). Thus sustainability efforts are rendered somewhat difficult. ♦ The existing sustainability programmes such as “minimal design technique” in which space utilization is sought to be maximized by reducing the space taken up by a piece of office furniture, have not been implemented with full commitment. ♦ Sustainability concept in the office furniture industry in general has been noticed for its conceptual and ideational significance albeit the individual organization tends to regard it as an interference with operational liberty. As an essential criterion it must be utilized in the design management sphere of the industry to enhance perceptive improvement of processes. ♦ Cost structures of FBF ought to be streamlined in conformity with waste reduction strategies so that sustainability of both the physical environment and resources thereof could be enhanced along with strategic shifts in cost reduction efforts. ♦ Finally, FBF with its democratic organizational structure has encountered more opposition to the implementation of sustainability programmes up to now. Though its motivational strategies have been focused on efficiency enhancing monetary benefits to the staff, there is considerable resistance to sustainability efforts. As one of the design management decision makers I am compelled to point out the ever increasing need for a restructuring effort to obviate the negative repercussions against business strategy and corporate goals in the long run. Conclusion Globalization has been known to have the biggest impact on some types of industries. Office furniture business is not an exception to this rule. America imports almost 7% of its office furniture from abroad. FBF operates in Florida against this backdrop of ever increasing competition. Thus sustainability is not only a desirable obligation but also a costly burden on FBF to the extent that the organization has to incorporate its fundamental principles into its long term corporate planning process. This paradox brings us to the second most important aspect of sustainability concept. Sustainability has a strategic significance to FBF, i.e. the company has been faced with financial volatility due to stiffer completion from domestic manufacturers and suppliers. The strategic significance of the sustainability concept to FBF lies in its commitment to make use of technological innovation to reduce costs and increase sales to the final customer. Next FBF has been operating against the backdrop of rising centralization of the domestic market. For instance domestic suppliers tend to operate in cohorts with dealers and manufacturers to achieve higher profit margins which come from less investment in sustainability related activities. Thus at the firm level resistance to the adoption of sustainability principles of management and design can only be obvious. Substantial efficiencies have been achieved at FBF through the introduction of frontal strategies across all platforms of communication within and without the organization, though such efforts still remain at their infancy. Thus the win-win situation that has resulted from this sustainability process is related to the achievement of corporate goals connected with design management at the business decision making level. REFERENCES 1. Bhamra, Tracy and Lofthouse, Vicky, Design for Sustainability(Design for Social Responsibility), Hampshire: Gower Publishing Ltd, 2007. 2. Dresner, Simon, The Principles of Sustainability, London: Earthscan Publications Ltd, 2002. 3. Loureiro, Geilson, and Curran, Richard, Editors, Complex Systems Concurrent Engineering Collaboration, Technology Innovation and Sustainability, London: Springer, 2007. 4. Mozota, Brigitte, Borja, De, Design Management: Using Design to Build Brand Value and Corporate Innovation, New York: Allworth Press, 2003. 5. Shippey, Karla, C. and Auerbach International, USA Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business with the United States, California: World Trade Press,1995. 6. Teicholz, Eric, Facility Design and Management Handbook, New York: McGraw- Hill, 2001. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Bailey, Robert, G., Ecoregion-Based Design For Sustainability, New York: Springer,2002. 2. Best, Kathryn, Design Management: Managing Design Strategy, Process and Implementation, Design Management: Managing Design Strategy, Process and Implementation (Ava Academia), Lavsanne: AVA Publishing SA, 2006. 3. 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Vollero, Daniel, A. and Brasier, Chris, Sustainable Design : The Science of Sustainability and Green Engineering, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,2008. Read More