Final Memo
Agreement on key metric factors should be based on important aspects of good metrics. To reach a consensus and beat time, involved stakeholders must set a benchmark on what they aim to achieve. To come up with comprehensive sustainable metrics and reach a consensus, the methods of data collection and means of communication must be ideal. Developing the market for sustainability data is also important for future success in the market.
Issues
The recommended action is due to the fact that there is lack of agreement on key sustainability metrics for organizations. Another factor has been due to the long time taken to reach a consensus. The two factors have made it difficult for organizations to analyze indicators that lead to sustainable development. Without elaborate sustainability metrics, organizations find difficulty in making appropriate policies on key issues. The lack of consensus by stakeholders prolongs the time to come up with comprehensive metrics that can be used for growth.
There are various metrics that supposedly measure sustainability. The many metrics bring confusion since focusing on one subject becomes difficult. Sustainability initiatives become cumbersome to measure since they affect individuals and the society at a large scale. Their organizational outcomes thus become unclear. It is also difficult to ascertain their impacts since the implementation depends on who does them and how well. Having a number of metrics causes more problems than resolutions. It is vital to know the sustainability metrics that are profound and incorporate them into the traditional organization metrics.
Governments possess a number of tools to encourage behavior in businesses and corporations such as regulations, taxes and policies. These are used to steward businesses and assist them in maximizing available resources. Organizations need to be aware of best practices for policy development and collaborative consultation involving the government and other stakeholders. Organizations should work closely with the government to that policies are made from informed consultations. This would lead to policies that are efficient, effective and consistent with business needs.
Consumers outside of certain niches do not often consider sustainability when making market choices. Decisions consumers make such as what products to buy or what services to use engage sustainability-related tradeoffs. Comprehending how consumers regard sustainability can help businesses to come up with products that satisfy consumer demands. Organizations would also understand the need to educate consumers on products and influence them to make informed decisions. This does not apply to consumers only but to shareholders, investors and lenders. Lenders and shareholders usually consider a number of factors before investing their money into a business. Organizations should study and understand the tradeoffs people make and come up with sustainable decisions. Firms must have sustainable policies that would enable them attract and retain qualified personnel, as studies have shown that employees prefer to work for firms with good sustainability practices. A firm should have mechanisms that would allow it to make informed initiatives, build capacity and ensure progression towards predetermined goals. If a company can attract good employees, then it can undergo a cycle of sustainability.
Businesses need to purchase products that are socially and environmentally responsible. The process of getting sustainable suppliers is not express, and the process of comparing products is not guaranteed. Sustainable sourcing requires knowledge on industry practices. The data on such information may not be readily available. Sustainable sourcing is imperative in the managing of a business, and providing good information in this area is key for expansion in the future.
Establishing indicators for sustainable development is faced with difficulty. Some of the required data has not been initially collected. This had resulted to a number of Sustainable Development Indicator (SDI) projects that function by selecting traditional data sources primarily and adjusting for sustainable development indicators. Using traditional is an advantage because of availability of data for comparison. Merging traditional indicators leads to the development of sustainability indicators. However, traditional indicators and traditional data sources lead to solutions that initially formed an unsustainable community. Geographical analysis should be conducted to determine if certain locales are missing important data for SDI projects. Since data management is usually costly, it is imperative to evaluate whether collection of data and processing surpasses the costs. This might be challenging to evaluate since the costs of data processing and data collection can be easily determined compared to advantages of the indicators. Conferences, workshops, printed mass media, the internet among other means of communication can be used to relay SDIs to end users. Organizing the indicators can aid to analyze the reliability efficiency of the whole set of indicators. Indicators can be communicated in visual form or as numbers. Indicators can also be organized in a report form that is easy to understand and also cheap. Another popular but complicated way of relaying information is using a map format to show value of the indicators. In this method, a geographical information system (GIS) is used.
Need for Authorizing Action
An elaborate sustainability metrics will measure and analyze risks and opportunities for the business. The risks and opportunities can be weighed against each other so as to establish a viable operation method. An elaborate sustainability metrics will ensure consensus is achieved minimize disagreements on key issues. The recommendations will ensure value-added priorities that are effective. An organization’s strategic plans should assimilate both long term and short term goals. Short-term goals are usually given a priority because they are achievable within a short span of time and usually need few resources to accomplish. The two can be executed simultaneously depending on the priorities at hand. A good sustainability analysis metrics should be able to give directions regarding value-added priorities available for the company. Priorities can also be made regarding which products to produce over the other. If a company offers two products to the market and one product performs better than the other, then the company can re-consider its sales and marketing priorities.
An organization can decide to produce more of a product that has higher sales than a product which has few sales. When making such a determination a number of factors such as cost, revenue, profitability and viability must be considered. Priorities can also be made when choosing trade partners, sales and marketing strategies, service providers et cetera. In case the organization has trading partners such as suppliers, it is necessary to ensure that the firm bears mutual benefits with the trade partner. If the company considers leaving one business partner for another, decisions should be made with regards to set standards. Priorities can be made when there is a need to diversify products or the markets. An organization producing a single product usually faces stiff competition unless it’s a monopoly. Having more than one product provides a large market and more customers to the firm. This consequently provides an opportunity for the firm to be profitable. In addition, a good sustainability analysis metric would ensure that there is benchmarking for the purpose of improvement. The company would use comparisons from successful companies in the industry; the company can establish the correct policies to use and avoid measures that are bound to fail. Knowledge on the industry and the industry players are important factors in making strides towards success.
Developing an SDI program can also encourage innovation within various industries. Enabling an environment that encourages collaboration and innovation is yet another way of encouraging creativity from employees. Collaboration when there is mutual trust among employees, and between the employer and employees. Collaboration strengthens the organizations and builds a formidable unit in the organization. Collaboration leads to creativity and is a motivation to the employees. Collaboration in companies like DT-Dobie, BMW, Toyota just to mention a few gives positive results to the companies as employees get motivated.
Building teams that are diverse encourages creativity and to a great extent motivates the employees. Creating a team that is made up of people from different cultures, experiences usually results to creativity. Once the team learns how to work together, it becomes a motivation to individuals in the team and the team at large. Having a focus drives creativity and acts as a motivation to the employee because the employees work towards known target. Expectations and aims of the organization should be realistic and not far-fetched. The management or leaders should set standards and achievable expectations to the employees.
Displaying trust and belief in the employees plays an important role in motivating them. After setting out clear objectives and goals, it is necessary to make the employees know that their capabilities get recognized. The recognition and belief of the employees capabilities gives them morale and inspiration to perform best. Leaders in an organization should encourage new ideas from employees. This creates a platform for creativity and innovation. A good sustainability metric should reinforce personal and organizational accountability. Employees should be accountable to their actions in relation to daily operations of the company. With accountability in place, every person takes an account of their actions thus encouraging responsibility. Individuals work towards coming up with better policies that enable the company to go a notch higher than its competitors.
The metrics in question should ensure that strategic planning is strengthened and valued. While setting strategies, it is imperative to involve stakeholders and professionals in the field. Strategic planning ensures that informed decisions are made, and only the best plans are undertaken. Planning ensures that corrective steps are followed, and priorities are set. Policies and actions are thus executed according to plans. This encourages time saving and execution of actions in an orderly manner. Management should also encourage excellent internal and external communication. An organization has different departments that are interrelated to each other. Organizations also deal with customers, creditors and other industry players. Having an appropriate and reliable internal communication system will ensure information is passed on from one department to another and acted on as needed. Efficient communication within a department ensures collaboration and understanding key goals. External communication to customers and other industry players should be efficient so that demands are met as soon as they arise. Effective communication guarantees passing of information on time and actions are taken appropriately.
Service and manufacturing companies need water as an essential part of operations. The source of water used should always be taken into account to ensure that resources are not depleted. In the case of effluent emission, the water can be treated if it is being released into streams or lakes. Companies should also consider recycling water to avoid wastages. The kind of energy used manufacturing firms should be taken into account when developing sustainability metrics for Bloomberg LLP. There are distinct differences between clean energy and non-renewable energy sources, and these should be considered. Energy should be conserved and used appropriately to avoid wastages. This can be done by ensuring that all machines in a firm are effective and efficient in operations. Constant maintenance service can be done to ensure that machines are trouble-free and energy used is not wasted.
Options
Bloomberg should use sustainability metrics to develop products and services that will succeed in the sustainability market, including services that cater to those businesses and individuals that monitor the market and trade on the market prices of renewable energy. In addition, vertical integration of the use of sustainability metrics throughout the Bloomberg LLP firm will help build a stronger base for the sustainability metrics developed by the Bloomberg LLP team.
Implementation
Bloomberg LLP can develop sustainability metrics that will blend with its product line and improve market results. This can be done by creating sustainable materials. Materials are used in day to day operations and play a major role in production. It is important to consider the cost of materials against the revenues to ensure that a company does not run into losses. In addition, materials used should be of high quality to ensure that customer expectations are met. The company can apply cutting-edge technology to ensure that it provide consumers with best services. Development of an Internet site or network that can serve as a platform of communicating with customers. Interactions through the Internet enable the company to communicate effectively with customers, dealing with customer complaints, concerns,or other problems that they have quickly and efficiently.
A good sustainability analysis metric would ensure that there is benchmarking for the purpose of improvement. The company can use this metric system to make comparisons from successful companies in the industry. Comparing self to other industries helps to determine what the company needs to do. The company can establish the correct policies to use and avoid measures that are bound to fail. Knowledge on the industry and the industry players are important factors in making strides towards success.
Having an appropriate and reliable internal communication system will ensure information is passed on from one department to another and acted on as needed. Efficient communication within a department ensures collaboration and understanding key goals. External communication to customers and other industry players should be efficient so that demands are met as soon as they arise. Effective communication guarantees passing of information on time and actions are taken appropriately Bloomberg LLP can decide to produce more of a product that has higher sales than a product which has few sales. When making such a determination, a number of factors such as cost, revenue, profitability and viability must be considered.
