The topic of the paper will focus on the organizational sustainability and management. The companies are today confronted with many challenges with improving the strategies, structure, social, economic and environmental performance. Crisis management is focusing on the survival of organizations with planning and making a formal plan how to act in the crisis situations that are threatening the sustainability. The companies have done many steps forward in starting to made business more sustainable with products, process, services and other activities. The thesis of this paper follows: organization and their crisis management should develop and implement the sustainable policies and strategies since they are beneficial for them, for the environment and the whole society.
The question whether to consider the organizational sustainability is not a question, but how effectively can management simultaneously improve financial performance and organizational sustainability is. Organizational or corporate sustainability performance has been defined as a company contribution to the “sustainable development of society, which includes economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress” (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014, 2). Organization is confronted with the developing the innovative, sustainable strategy and its implementation. It is important to consider the long-term corporate profitability by taking into an account environmental pollution which affects the sustainable development. The reasons why the sustainability matters can be found in moral or societal obligations, regulations with possible penalties, loss of reputation or productivity, legal costs or potential closure of operations, community relations and the imperatives of cost and revenues (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014).
Contemporary problems must be taken into an account in every business management. The dependence on water, clean air, soil, forest, and stable climate should be sufficient reasons to change behavior and actions. Confronting the pollution and climate change, with usage of fossil fuels, raising the levels of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions the destruction on various areas around the globe has been seen. The question we should ask is also who contributed to that, but even more important who can help to manage the situation. And companies and organizations are the first along with every individual to start acting. The predictions for the future are raising concerns. The humanity should reduce emissions for about 60 to 80% in order to avoid global catastrophe. Vast amount of waste, use of nonrenewable resources are resulting in greater costs also for the companies. The short term solutions will not suffice. Institutions must work together, new generation of ideas is needed, and society must change its patterns of consumption and production. Companies and corporation can also have a benefit in making their working more sustainable. The surveys showed that people appreciate the companies that protect the environment, can cut costs with the reduction of waste and more efficient use of energy, recycling can be more cost effective that landfilling, shaping the regulation in accordance with environmental protection can reduce costs of possible noncompliance, much appreciate clean incentive and the consumer market can increase and to reduce the negative publicity (Senge et al, 2010).
One of the United Nations development goals (2009) is also ensuring environmental sustainability. The basic concerns are regarding the implementation of the principles of sustainable development and regarded policies and programs to reverse the environmental resource loss. The policies involving afforestation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon dioxide, the rate of biodiversity loss must be stopped with protection of various ecosystems. The focus on suitability is referring also the access to safe drinking water and improvements in slum dwellers. Some improvements have been seen, but for sustainable development much still needs to be done. If we do not stop the current greenhouse gas emissions the average temperature will rise for about 3 C, which will result in change climate patterns. The developing countries will be the most vulnerable even though they contribute to the climate change the least. Adapting to climate change is invincible. The challenge the corporation and the world needs to overcome is breaking the pattern and the link between greenhouse gas emissions and economic development. Innovations in technology are needed (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2007). The countries have developed various mechanism, conventions and protocols, but on the corporate level the change and adoption should be easier with the right sated goals towards sustainable development which is needed because the public awareness about the issue of global climate changes.
In order to adapt the organization many barriers need to be overcome. Beinhocker (2006) defined different barriers to adaptability: “lack of flexibility in individual mental models, complexity catastrophes, and path dependence on resources.” The adoption to the changing environment can be hard because of the mentality, the structure of organizations with interdependent systems, size and complexity, resources which management uses for exploitation of opportunities and profitability that create barriers for the innovations. The organizations have two ways of overcoming the barriers, with the changing the structure and processes and with norms and culture. The first solution must focus on reduction of hierarchy and increasing the autonomy and diversity. In the second solution the organization must develop and implement cooperation, preforming and innovating norms (Beinhocker, 2006).
In the future the global economic system will overwhelm the carrying capacity of our planet. The organizations, corporations and management need to integrate various elements connected with sustainability at the enterprise level, agenda level, measured in stakeholder engagement and managing its resources. The rapidly changing environment beside the challenges represents also new opportunities. The sustained competitive advantages can be gained. The organizations need to adopt pollution prevention, frameworks and vision strategies for the future based on the clean technology. Behind the technical, political, social and ecological challenges the innovation and profit await (Mirchandani & Ikerd, 2008).
Organizations can be successful and get many opportunities with working alongside the society and act in accordance with the social responsibility. Social responsibility is an opportunity not a damage control and has become priority for many global corporations. Many automobile industry companies have managed to get the profit out of the sustainable development and made greater profit as were the costs (Porter & Kramer, 2006).
Many companies so called the eco-preneurs are trying to combine business practice with sustainable development and change their practices and are aware of global warming and consequences of climate change and their negative environmental impacts. Modern organizations and the social environment concerns have come from marginal to mainstream policies. There are advantages for business working in accordance with sustainability: with the reduction of waste and pollution comes greater business efficiency, avoiding possible costs in the future because of clean up, improved recruitment and better work environment, more environmental products and services that can result in increased sales and development of new technology with innovation. In order to achieve that numerous measures all needed: development of ecological goals and usage of clean technology, usage of resources that produce less emission, new innovative approaches in accordance with environmental policy and integration of those policies into the beginning till the end of the process of production or service. New environmental progress will be seen with the actions of companies (Gibbs, 2009).
All corporations need to be aware that we have limited earth resources and with mass consumption, growing population and exploitation of resources the growth is uneconomic and damaging for the future production. The nature, society and economics are interrelated and interconnected. Holistic management and system thinking with the natural step and ecological and sustainable development of the organizations is needed (Grinde & Khare, 2008). The economics of sustainability and well-being have been narrowly defined as the balance between the growth and the environmental health but sustainability is much more than that. People, companies and society can benefit from the consequence of unsustainable development (King, 2008).
The literature on the sustainable development and crisis management includes the importance of the strategy with the incorporation of sustainable development in the process, thinking and planning. The efficiency and effectiveness can be improved with the quality management and effective leadership. Crisis management must be based on the communication and results in sustainable development because of various factors from governmental regulation, societal and environmental awareness and responsibility, competitiveness with innovations and possible profits. Complexity results in the need for structural changes, implementation and using of new technology and more clean technology than can lead to savings with waste and pollution reduction. Sustainability, crisis management and change are related and interdependent. In today’s business environment, companies need to be aware of the vulnerabilities and prepare for the potential crisis that can happen because of unsustainable development and cannot ignore the signs of environmental degradation and exploitation. Organizations need to plan and implement strategies that have a long term goals. The gap can be seen by the lack of a common source of information regarding the innovative business model that is needed for innovative sustainability. There are many suggestions and they include various different approaches without the sufficient focus. There is also important to say that the environmental impacts are vast also by the individuals not only by manufacturing. There was no connection whatsoever done in the literature examined that would connect company actions to the users and pointed out their mutual impact. The sustainability programs are necessary to implement. Crisis management and continually planning are essential to avoid crisis that can happen if the organization will not develop and implement the sustainable process.
Work Cited
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