Systems Thinking and Sustainability Challenges - Essay Example

Systems Thinking and Sustainability Challenges Name Institution Course Date The cost of living worldwide is something that has been the main issue to talk about, and most countries have been trying out various practises to come up with solutions to eliminate it (Aronson, 2008). Therefore, what matters the most is to consider reducing the environmental and social costs in case sustainable development that meets the requirements of human beings is to be obtained. The quality of life might be a little bit hard to improve in case the communities and the authorities in power do not take into consideration the idea of sustainable development. In order to come up with a more sustainable production and consumption, it is very crucial to consider building a capacity of such kind of transformation. According to Kemp & Martens (2007), a positive step to reduce expenses and enhancement of the techniques of managing risks can be achieved through an effective and proper management of directorial sustainability performance. Ground-breaking industry models have materialised as a more principled and resource well-organized way to handle sustainability encounters. Usage of crystal meth honestly speaking has been on the rise for the last five years (Kemp & Martens, 2007). In order to handle such a hazard, it is important to put into consideration the use of systems thinking. This paper also explains the importance of employing systems thinking in coming up with solutions to sustainability encounters. Sustainability is a terminology that is increasingly being used currently in the world of business. This terminology is what most of the economy sectors use now days when they are describing their industry. The fundamental ideas and requirements behind sustainability determinations are common across all the businesses (Glomsaker, 2012). Nevertheless, sustainability encounters are multifaceted and deliberation of future generations ought to be considered. The most important thing is that, the organizations ought to consider acting past the present time, its requirements and internal borders. Research shows that the increase in uncertainties and complexities that are currently being experienced in social and environmental systems are caused by globalization. Due to that, sustainability has been popularized even though the required mechanisms for worldwide sustainable development is yet to be obtained. Talking of facts, sustainable development is increasingly becoming a conventional conception. According to Hitchins, (2007), sustainable development is a development customized to meet the requirements of the current generation and also putting into consideration that of the future generations. For the future generations to obtain its aim, that is; meeting its requirements and not to compromise that plan, the current environmental, economic and social aims ought to be balanced. The issue of sustainability challenges can only be handled by the employment of systems thinking has it has been applied by the practitioners and academics. It seems to be a tool that promises to lead to the improvement of a sustainability approach. According to martin, (2008), systems thinking refers to the act of thinking scientifically concerning phenomena, situations or happenings through the use of systematic techniques, systematic concepts, and systematic tools. That is the ability to grasp the relation that exists in a particular challenge. Moser, (2014), says systems thinking comprises viewing the issue as in one piece and then looking at the fragments of parts of one piece, then look at the issue as open systems that interrelate with other existing systems in the surrounding. So far systems thinking technique has assisted people in coming up with ways to solve quite a number of mysteries. However, systems thinking has its own criticisms just like any other innovative problem cracking systems. According to Kemp and Martens, (2007), because of the concern for the well-being of human beings and plans for the future generations, sustainable development has managed to gather a lot of support. Sustainability necessitates connecting the surrounding with development (Kolko, 2012). The term “Sustainability development” is a terminology that is quite difficult to explain and there has never been a final answer that incorporates all the benefits of investors. Undeniably, wicked difficulties are hard to crack or in some cases they cannot be solved. According to Moser, (2014), the reason is that they are really very multifaceted and are ever changing requirements. Kolko, (2012), says that the perfect or the finest solution relies on the interests and the background of the stakeholder. On several occasions, an attempt to crack a challenging issue have led to development of another more complex problem, therefore, making it difficult to come up with a solution and according to Conklin, (2005), this is the motive for the conception that wicked challenges cannot be solved. News methods and ideas ought to be developed in order to be in a position to solve the most challenging sustainability difficulties that the world is facing. There are quite a number of challenges that constantly continue to affect the progress of sustainability development, such as the continued practice use of crystal meth in Australia. According to martin, (2008), routine challenge cracking methods are insufficient as more efforts need to be carried out in order to realize a global system of managing challenges. A systematic and reflective method of thinking is needed because the earth is constantly continuing to change and progressively becoming difficult to predict. There is no other relevant and effective method in solving the issues that face the world apart from the systems thinking, it is a critical tool in developing answers to sustainability difficulties. According to Mozano, (2005), systems thinking is a problem solving tool that aims at coming up with sustainable solutions. It is vital in launching framework which is useful in improvement of workable and economic worth of corporate (Mozano, 2005). Systems thinking is a tool that helps in understanding the vibrant in this challenge. Report concerning the usage of crystal meth in Australian continent is systematized mainly for the purposes of getting to know the difficulty through the use of systems thinking. It comprises of a plan to know how the difficulty behaves to peripheral distresses and central arrangements that are crucial in developing elasticity and sustainability (Sterman, 2000). Through employment of systems thinking to solve a challenging problem of increase in the use of meth, a bigger understanding of the challenge can be seen by observing the changes in patterns over time. For this example, activities might be included and the pattern arrangement consequences are understood. Realizing how the challenge of methamphetamine use is completely linked, is important in scheduling how to crack the difficulty. This comprises examining the kind of relationship and connection that the increase use of crystal meth and erosion of social systems have. Just as Moser, (2014), argues, the long term concern of the system can be dealt with through comprising all sections of the system. The systems thinking method highlights on concentrating of one section of the classification. Though on many occasions, such an approach seems to be affecting certain sections of the co-ordination in a manner that was not being intended or being anticipated. The real beginning in the use of crystal meth ought to be isolated first in order to understand what solutions should be developed that can motivate people, especially the young people to use such an addictive drug. The chief concentration of systems thinking method is to provide solutions to complex challenges and analytically realize the challenging nature of actual world challenges (Kozaki, 2006). In most cases, happenings are seen as challenges that lead to triggering interests of people to alter and regulate incidences. Short term explanations to issues can be achieved easily through concentration of the problem itself. However, in the long run such short term solutions might not be able to meet the needs of the society and in such a case, negative effects might be brought into the surrounding. For instance, sustainable development goals might not be realized in case the young people are participating in the use of addictive and unhealthy drugs. According to Marzano, (2005), estimates obtained from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), the number of people, especially the young people practicing the use of methamphetamine has been increasing in the Australia for the past five years. According to a report from the same organization “NDARC”, the number of users of methamphetamine in the country is over two hundred and sixty eight thousand. Sustainability as seen by various organizations, is the twenty first century biggest business problem and therefore, reporting on aspects for example, environmental, social and economic performance has really gained popularity among several multi-national organizations. Commercial sustainability reporting serve a number of purposes comprising of benchmarking and valuation of corporations sustainability; serves as a method of showing readiness in communicating and handling societal challenges; and it also functions as a means of safeguarding a good working relationship with stakeholders of the company. In aspects of social life, sustainability is a very crucial tool in case the generations to come are have stability. According to Kozaki, (2006), elasticity and system thinking might be employed in handling environmental, social and economic sustainability difficulties. The only way to stop the use of addictive drugs such crystal meth is Australia is by developing community pliability contrary to the use of drugs. Resilience refers to the capability to adjust and recover easily from disaster, change, illness or misfortune. Community is a terminology used to refer to the group of people living in a particular area, sharing particular characteristics for instance cultural history and religious beliefs (Hung, 2008). Hence the term “Community Resilience” basically refers to the ability for the community to stand as one and fight the any disaster as one community, for instance, man-made problems, natural challenges, and economic anxiety or plague. Different societies become irrepressible to natural disasters in dissimilar ways. There are quite a number of factors that enable resilience of different communities, they comprise of procedural, physical and social characteristics of a given community setup. To deal with natural disasters, members of a given community must have a positive social connection. According to Kozaki, (2006), operational local governance helps in leading the public whenever there is a calamity and is key to operative tragedy mitigation. Social attachment, societies with high communal capital and public mindfulness of their olden times all contribute to their irrepressible during times of calamities (Hahn and Kuhnen, 2013). In traditional context, profit was the only thing that could be used to measure the performance of a given organisation. Nevertheless, anticipations of the public have since altered requiring the corporates to address environmental, human, economic and social issues for them to handle sustainability issues. It is very crucial to realize that the disclosure policies of a given organization can be influenced by the perceptions of the public. According to Cabrera, Colosi and Lobdell (2008), systems in favour of theories concentrate on the occupation of discovery and information in the associations that occurs between organizations, societies, the administration and people. In most cases a given organization is influenced by the community the company operated in and at the very same time the company influences the very same community (Marzano, 2005). Systems in favour of theories comprise of legitimacy theories and stakeholder theories and according to Martin, (2008), the two philosophies originate from political economy concept. According to a report from World Bank, (2015), sshareholder and validity concept is functional in assisting to provide descriptive explanations for organization’s choice in choosing to make some charitable discoveries. Company reports are not thought of as impartial and non-aligned; but relatively they are a result of the exchanges that befalls between an association and its surroundings as seen in the political economy philosophy. The main aim of developing legitimacy theory was to be used in the environmental reporting. According to Schaltegger (2008), the plain principle behind validity philosophy is that establishments stop to exist and flourish in case their approaches and principles refute those of the bigger community in which it assumed its tasks. The insinuation of this is that a facet of social contract happening between a group and its public exists. Thus, corporations are expected to validate its unrelenting actions or else the public might take a step and revoke its ‘contract’, a contract that permits it to carry on its processes. References Aronson, D., (2008). Overview of Systems Thinking. Cabrera, D., L. Colosi and C. Lobdell (2008). "Systems thinking." Evaluation and Program Planning Conklin, J. (2005). Dialogue Mapping: Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems. Wiley. Glomsaker, K. (2012). Systems Thinking and Sustainable Urban Development-How to improve the planning of sustainable cities. The Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo. Hahn, R & Kühnen, M 2013, “Determinants of sustainability reporting: A review of results, trends, theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of research”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Hitchins, D. K. (2007). Systems engineering: A 21st century systems methodology. Chichester, England: Wiley. Hung, W. (2008). "Enhancing systems-thinking skills with modelling." British Journal of Educational Technology 39(6): 1099-1120. Kemp, R., & Martens, P. (2007). Sustainable development: how to manage something that is subjective and never can be achieved?. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, 3(2). Kolko, J. (2012) Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving. Austin Center for Design. Kozaki, D. (2016). Methamphetamine use in Australia tripled in past five years, research shows. Martin, S. (2008). Sustainable development, systems thinking and professional practice. Journal of education for sustainable development, 2(1), 31-40. Marzano, S. (2005). Past tense, future sense: Competing through creativity; 80 years of design at Philips. Amsterdam: BIS Publishing. Moser, H. A. (2014). Systems Engineering, Systems Thinking, and Learning: A Case Study in Space Industry. Cham: Springer. Schaltegger, S 2008, Environmental management accounting for cleaner production. Springer, Dordrecht. Sterman, J. D. (2000) Business Dynamics: System thinking and modeling for a complex World. Boston MA: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Stroh, D. P. (2015). Systems thinking for social change: A practical guide to solving complex problems, avoiding unintended consequences, and achieving lasting results. Hartford, united States: Chelsea Green Publishing. World Bank. (2015). What is Sustainable Development. 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