Business Sustainability Assignment: Issues in Implementing Sustainable Strategies in Energy Industry

Question

Task

Students are required to consider the sustainability-related issues and themes explored in the course and REFLECT on how these issues intersect with the world of business. These reflections are to be presented in a reflective journal, NOT a research assignment or description or summary of these themes.

These themes (including issues, challenges, concepts and approaches) MUST be discussed in terms of their relevance and/or implications for business. Suitable themes for reflection may include:

• Sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line & business;
• The Six Forms of Capital used by businesses;
• The six phases of business approaches to sustainability (Dunphy, Griffiths & Benn, 2003);
• Examples of businesses successfully engaging in sustainable business.

In this business sustainability assignment task, students are required to demonstrate not only their understanding of the themes but also their consideration of the implications for the business sector and/or the student’s current/future role in business. Students should provide their thoughts, feelings, responses, reactions, opinions and ideas on the material explored. Critical thinking should be demonstrated in these reflections.

Answer

Introduction
This business sustainability assignment mainly focuses on the sustainability issues that are being faced in various sectors of business. The energy sector is facing major sustainability issues in recent times due to the fact that non-renewable resources are depleting fast and pollution level is also increasing and the demand for energy is rising with the increase of population and increase of industries all over the world. In the energy sector sustainable resources like water, wind, and solar renewable resources are upcoming sources that can mitigate the energy crisis around the world and also will help in reducing pollution. In the current time, all businesses mainly focusing on implementing sustainable strategies for achieving better environmental, social, and economic goals. There are many issues and challenges which the organization faces due to the non-sustainability in the market. This report will help in understanding the different issues, challenges, and approaches of Sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line & business.

Concepts
The triple bottom line is the system that is used by the organizations for generating the needed sustainability goals by applying the appropriate sustainable marketing strategies. In the current market situation of the energy sector, the cost of producing energy and maintaining the environmental balance is a difficult task and by utilizing the triple bottom line I believe that implementing this framework will help in achieving the sustainability goals since the framework focuses on developing a plan for achieving the economic, environmental and social goals. The three bottom lines of the business can be described as generating profit socially, economically, and environmentally (Klumpp, 2018). Energy efficiency and lost cost energy supply are the major concern that is being discussed even in G8 and G20 summit. The concept of the triple bottom line helps in focusing on providing benefit to the environment, benefit to the company, and benefit to the society. Good control of infrastructure allows businesses to make the proper decision in the consumption of water responsibly in generating more energy without wastage of water and reduce excessive water use. Additionally, sewage storage, runoff, and contamination of waterways and other water sources are also considered in the maintenance of infrastructure. Investing in energy management means that loss can be avoided and the energy matrix can be optimized and power by-products are reused. All these considerations lead to a simple, concrete effect that contributes to cost reduction(Zafrillaet al., 2019). This will lead to a reduction of environmental pollution which will help in the reduction of the usage of coal and other non-renewable resources and the pollution level will decrease favoring the society to get cost-effective and pollution-free energy. Sustainability in the business leads to the measurement of the relationship of the business to their society, the contribution of the business in the economy, and the impact of the business on the environment.

Figure 1: Triple Bottom Line

(Source: Zafrillaet al., 2019)

Issues
There are different issues of sustainability that are faced by the organization. The different issues of the business affect the triple bottom line of the business as well. The impact of sustainability leads to different problems in the organization which need to be rectified and reduced over time. The proper monitoring of the bottom line of the business helps in solving these issues as well (Henry et al., 2019). It creates different barriers and restrictions in the operation of the business. According to me, there are different industries that are facing different environmental issues in their business. The main issue of sustainability in the business is environmental pollution. Environmental pollution directly affects the triple bottom line of the business. With the increase in pollution level, people are considering alternative energy sources that are eco-friendly which is impacting the overall economy of the country as extra expenditure is to be made to reduce the pollution levels. The different harmful chemicals and the different acidic fluid release from the industries and directly mix with the river. In my current job position in the energy industry, I have come across the various observation that, due to the release of harmful chemicals and gases from the different industries it mixes with the environment and creating a situation that will have a deeply negative impact on the society It affects the health of the human in society and the environment as well (Cubas?Díaz & Martínez Sedano, 2018).

Challenges
There are different challenges as well which are faced by the business due to sustainability and it directly affects the triple bottom line of the business as well. For making the business sustainable there are many challenges that are faced by the organizations. According to me, maintaining sustainability in the organization means using the sources in the business without or less effectively to the environment (Svenssonet al., 2018). In the implementation of the sustainability strategy in the energyindustry, there are many challenges and barriers which are being faced by the organization. Some of the challenges which are faced by the organization are mentioned below:

Collaboration with the stakeholders: For the effective start of sustainability in the business the organization has to communicate with their stakeholders associated with the energy industry. They have to collaborate with their stakeholders, which is very challenging for the business. Stakeholders play an important role for any business and if there is an improper collaboration with the stakeholders then it creates a problem for the business to operate properly.

Creating awareness to the public: Creating awareness to the public relating to the importance of sustainability and due to the implementation of sustainability in the business and what are the different changes incurred is important (Svenssonet al., 2018). On the other hand, it is challenging for the organization as well to do so in practice.

Time and money consuming: Implementation of the different sustainability strategies and the methods in the organization is a very time-consuming and costly procedure. Changing the existing process is a costly process since the equipment used in generating energy is expensive and changing the infrastructure to a new setup is time-consuming as well as it will cost more which will affect the revenue generation of the company.

Approaches
According to me, there are different approaches that the organization can adopt in higher business for effective sustainability in their business along with the triple bottom line. According to me, using effective resources in the business to maintain sustainability will help the organization to improve the position of the business. The organization can use natural resources instead of using the chemical product in a limited amount will help in maintaining a healthy environment and improving the sustainability of the business as well (Rodger & George, 2017). According to me, organizations need to focus on the go green practice in their business which will help in the maintenance of the health of the human in society and the improving the contribution of the business in the economy as well. Use of the eco-friendly practices in the organization will help in reducing the cost of the cooperation and lead to the generation of more profit in the business.

Conclusion
This business sustainability assignment concluded with the understanding of the sustainability of the business and triple bottom line of the organization. The report put their main focus on the different issues and the challenges which are faced by the organization due to sustainability and its impact on the bottom line of the business as well. In order to improve sustainability in the business, it is important to focus on the proper sustainability strategies that can be used for generating eco-friendly energy and make the balance between the use of the natural resource and energy generation such that it creates minimum harm to the society and environment and helps to generate proper revenue.

References
Cubas?Díaz, M., & Martinez Sedano, M. A. (2018). Measures for sustainable investment decisions and business strategy–a triple bottom line approach. Business strategy and the environment, 27(1), 16-38.

Henry, L. A., Buyl, T., & Jansen, R. J. (2019). Leading corporate sustainability: The role of top management team composition for triple bottom line performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(1), 173-184.

Klumpp, M. (2018). How to achieve supply chain sustainability efficiently? Taming the triple bottom line split business cycle. Sustainability, 10(2), 397.

Rodger, J. A., & George, J. A. (2017). Triple bottom line accounting for optimizing natural gas sustainability: A statistical linear programming fuzzy ILOWA optimized sustainment model approach to reducing supply chain global cybersecurity vulnerability through information and communications technology. Business sustainability assignment Journal of cleaner production, 142, 1931-1949.

Svensson, G., Ferro, C., Høgevold, N., Padin, C., Varela, J. C. S., &Sarstedt, M. (2018). Framing the triple bottom line approach: direct and mediation effects between economic, social and environmental elements. Journal of cleaner production, 197, 972-991.

Zafrilla, J. E., Arce, G., Cadarso, M. Á., Córcoles, C., Gómez, N., López, L. A., ... &Tobarra, M. Á. (2019). Triple bottom line analysis of the Spanish solar photovoltaic sector: A footprint assessment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 114, 109311.