How Business Can Benefit From Sustainable Business Practices Assignment Sample

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Introduction: How Business Can Benefit From Sustainable Business Practices

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Task 1: Report

In the environment of business, environmental sustainability refers to executing and operating the entire business process without negatively affecting the environment, society or community as a whole. In this present age, most of the organizations, especially various automobile firms, manufacturing hubs, production companies and many more are focusing on environmental sustainability in order to boost their brand reputation, productivity as well as economic stability in the market effectively. This report is shedding light on the theme of environmental sustainability and how businesses respond to it.

Importance of environmental sustainability and effective measures taken by the businesses

Although 90 per cent of businesses think environmental sustainability is too crucial, only 60 per cent of companies have their own sustainability strategy to maintain their business environment, regulatory approach, and brand reputation (Breuer et al., 2018). As per the rate of CO2 emissions, the transport and automobile sectors have relatively placed themselves in the top position as well. The global transport industry is a significant polluter and in the year 2020, the amount of carbon-di-oxide produced by this industry was around 7.3 billion metric tons (Statista.com, 2022). This image shows how environmental sustainability is being impacted by the automotive industry effectively. On the other hand, it has been crucially observed that the overall automotive industry has also responded to it. Most of the automobile firms globally such as Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Tesla and many more have focused on the building of electric vehicles in order to maintain the context of environmental sustainability as well.

Figure 1: Pollution rate in the transport industry

Net sales in the electric vehicle market are also projected in order to achieve around 384.00 billion US dollars as of the year 2022. Revenue is also expected to show an "annual growth rate" of 17.75 per cent, outputs in a "projected market volume" of 869.30 billion US dollars by the year 2027 substantially (Statista.com, 2022). Starting a business in order to make the globe more sustainable can not only highlight someone specifically as a hero, but it also can provide a high amount of wealth, as Elon Musk has already proved by becoming the richest man in the world. On the other hand, the construction industry has also focused on the environmental sustainability strategy as well. As of the year 2020, the entire construction industry of the United Kingdom has already produced around 11.4 million metric tons of carbon-di-oxide effectively (Statista.com, 2022). In order to reduce this pollution and make a proper sustainable report, the companies are strictly focused on the integration of automation in the operations, which is also decreasing the pollution rate as well as providing a competitive advantage in the post-pandemic situation substantially.

Figure 2: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the construction industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1990 to 2020

Besides, various firms in the information and communication industry have also focused on the context of environmental sustainability as well. For example, by the year 2020, AT&T aims to decrease the emission of all greenhouse gas by 20 per cent from its 2008 baseline and as of the year 2017, the organization has already decreased its carbon emissions by around 22.6 per cent, ahead of its target (Forbes.com, 2022). As a giant software-based multinational, since 2012, the global operation of Microsoft has also been "100 per cent net carbon neutral". The company has charged a "carbon-free" to the overall business group for its carbon footprint as well as investing the fees collected in their "carbon reduction initiatives' ' significantly. In these ways, different companies as well as the overall business industry are responding to mitigate the issues regarding environmental sustainability.

Current challenges to maintaining environmental sustainability for today's businesses

High competition in the market

Currently, most companies are focusing on how they will get a strong competitive advantage that can provide more economic stability to their respective businesses in the target market. Especially, various small and medium-sized enterprises are also focusing on the enhancement of brand reputation worldwide (Sharma, 2020). Due to these reasons, they have already incorporated various operational short-cuts that are dramatically impacting the natural resources. In this case, the companies can also not maintain their transparency rate in the global market and also not access proper sustainability goals effectively. For example, Adidas, the Germany-based multinational clothing and footwear-based giant has recently faced an issue due to being less proactive in the maintenance of environmental sustainability (Theguardian.com, 2022). The company is producing 50 per cent of its total products by using polyester which is the synthesized form of plastic.

Poor CSR policy

"Corporate social responsibility" is another key criterion to maintain the environment's sustainability as well. In this case, many companies are not following this aspect currently and they only focus on how to improve the financial dimensions of the business effectively. In this case, the context of environmental sustainability is being impacted negatively which can harm the business operation as well brand reputation in the global market (Ponte, 2019). For example, Fossil fuel giant BP has already changed its to name "Beyond Petroleum'' as well as advertising integrated solar panels on its various gas stations. As of December 2019, ClientEarth, an environmental group has also lodged a complaint against this giant due to misleading the public with their advertisement that also focused on "low carbon energy products'' of the company, when more than around 96 per cent of its yearly spend is on gas as well as oil effectively (Theguardian.com, 2022).

Strategies to build a better and sustainable business

• The firms should implement proper CSR strategies with the integration of a code of conduct, and proper employee-friendly policies as well (Kitsios, Kamariotou and Talias, 2020).
• For maintaining environmental sustainability, the companies must focus and follow The Environment Protection Act of 2021 properly which has clearly mentioned how to maintain sustainability throughout the business process.
• Companies should focus on hiring of effective leaders and managers who are able to influence and motivate the employees effectively regarding the goals of sustainability as well (Stewart and Niero, 2018)

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the above statements that proper environmental sustainability is one of the most significant business aspects that can help to develop the business both economically and socially. Most of the top companies are currently focusing on this aspect, but it is quite tough to maintain environmental sustainability for SMEs properly. Proper resources, proper initiatives, effective strategies, and many more are needed to maintain this crucial aspect of the business effectively.

Task 2: Reflection

In this regard, I have researched the major context of environmental sustainability and how businesses respond to it proficiently. My personal academic skills and analysis skills have also been utilized in this research in an effective way. Through the entire research, I have learned and achieved schematic knowledge regarding the importance of sustainability and how it affects today's businesses as well. Various real-life evidence-based information and data also helped me to understand the deep insight of this topic. In my opinion, sustainability is the most valuable aspect of a company by which it can maintain its branding as well as social development effectively which will be directly helpful to maintain an economic foundation of the business. On the other hand, I have also observed how various industries as well as firms are maintaining their environmental sustainability in this competitive age. Customer acquisition, market demand and many more can also be encountered by the intended sustainability strategy in a positive manner (Barbosa, Castañeda-Ayarza and Ferreira, 2020).

I have also noticed that many companies are also not following the aspect of sustainability properly. I have also mentioned some examples in the report based on my personal understanding. In this case, high competition in the market, poor CSR policies within the firms and many more have taken place initially. In addition, I have also mentioned how companies can easily maintain their sustainability strategies in order to improve the business environment. Such as the development of effective CSR strategies, integration of a proper code of conduct related to sustainability and many more. This research helps me to obtain a deep insight into the sustainability aspect of the business. In the future, if I start my career as a manager of a company, I will follow the approaches of sustainability and guide the employees to maintain this crucial aspect.

Task 3: Personal development plan

Reference list

• Barbosa, M., Castañeda-Ayarza, J.A. and Ferreira, D.H.L., 2020. Sustainable strategic management (GES): Sustainability in small business. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, p.120880.
• Breuer, H., Fichter, K., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Tiemann, I., 2018. Sustainability-oriented business model development: Principles, criteria and tools. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 10(2), pp.256-286.
• Forbes.com, 2022, The Top 33 Companies For The Environment By Industry, Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justcapital/2019/04/22/the-top-33-companies-for-the-environment-by-industry/?sh=2d0c203f6461 [Accessed on 12th November 2022]
• Kitsios, F., Kamariotou, M. and Talias, M.A., 2020. Corporate sustainability strategies and decision support methods: A bibliometric analysis. Sustainability, 12(2), p.521.
• Ponte, S., 2019. Business, power and sustainability in a world of global value chains. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Sharma, A., 2020. Sustainability research in business-to-business markets: An agenda for inquiry. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, pp.323-329.
• Statista.com, 2022, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the construction industry in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1990 to 2020(in 1,000 metric tons), Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/486106/co2-emission-from-the-construction-industry-uk/ [Accessed on 12th November 2022]
• Statista.com, 2022, Distribution of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation sector worldwide in 2020, by subsector, Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-dioxide-emissions-breakdown/ [Accessed on 11th November 2022]
• Statista.com, 2022, Electric Vehicles - Worldwide, Available at: https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/electric-vehicles/worldwide [Accessed on 11th November 2022]
• Stewart, R. and Niero, M., 2018. Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: A review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast?moving consumer goods sector. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(7), pp.1005-1022.
• Theguardian.com, 2022, BP's statement on reaching net zero by 2050 – what it says and what it means, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/feb/12/bp-statement-on-reaching-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2050-what-it-says-and-what-it-means [Accessed on 11th November 2022]
• Theguardian.com, 2022, Nike and Adidas show cautious support for eco-friendly dye technology, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2015/apr/24/nike-and-adidas-show-cautious-support-for-eco-friendly-dye-technology [Accessed on 11th November 2022]