Business Sustainability

Business Sustainability
Author: Zabihollah Rezaee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351284266

Business sustainability has advanced from greenwashing and branding to being a business imperative. Stakeholders, including shareholders, demand, regulators require, and companies now need to report their sustainability performance. No longer is this a choice for businesses. A decade ago, fewer than 50 companies released sustainability reports, and now more 8,000 global public companies disclose sustainability performance information on some or all five economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance, and this trend is expected to continue. Indeed, more than 6,000 European public companies would be required to disclose their environmental, social, governance and diversity information for their 2017 reporting year. However, the proper determination of sustainability performance, accurate and reliable reporting and independent assurance of sustainability information remain major challenges for organizations of all types and sizes. Through reading this book, you will: Identify sustainability strategies to create innovation in new products, services, energy-efficiency, environmental facilities and green initiatives. Understand the role and responsibilities of all participants in the corporate reporting process, including directors, officers, internal auditors, external auditors, legal counsel, and investors. See ways to improve public trust, investor confidence, business reputation, employee satisfaction, corporate culture, social responsibility and environmental performance. Learn all five economic, governance, social, ethical and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance separately and their integrated and interactive effects on achieving the goal of creating sustainable value for all stakeholders, including shareholders. Learn how to adopt best practices in sustainability development and performance, and deliver effective integrated sustainability reporting and assurance.

Managing Sustainable Performance and Governance in Higher Education Institutions

Managing Sustainable Performance and Governance in Higher Education Institutions
Author: Federico Cosenz
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2022-05-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3030993175

The fast-changing evolutionary process of global Higher Education systems systematically poses new challenges related to the appearance of innovative elements that lead academic governing bodies to question current managerial structures and methods. Due to this, theory and practice have gathered multiple contributions and experiences to support and further develop this evolutionary pathway during the past decades. Global competitiveness, economic and social growth are driven worldwide by knowledge and innovation. In this context, Higher Education Institutions play a crucial role as they primarily contribute to knowledge transfer and development and, as a result, foster regional development, employment, and economic wealth. The relevance of this role leads Universities to explore alternative solutions for managing their performance according to a sustainable perspective. This book draws on this flourishing debate on Higher Education policy and management and investigates an innovative systemic perspective to design and implement sustainable performance management systems for academic institutions. The conditions for the success of Universities, the critical issues underlying the creation of academic value, the dynamic complexity characterizing academic governance settings, the pluralistic audience of stakeholders and related expectations, the causal interplays between organizational performance variables, represent some of the central themes around which this work is developed. More specifically, the book suggests and discusses the adoption of a Dynamic Performance Management approach to frame the inherent organizational complexity of Higher Education Institutions, thus supporting a strategic learning perspective to design and implement relevant performance measures. This approach originates from the combination between conventional performance management and System Dynamics modeling. Many research and practice contributions prove that this methodological combination can boost the understanding and interpretation of value creation processes by identifying and exploring the causal connections amongst strategic resource allocation and consumption, corresponding performance drivers, emerging outputs, and outcomes. To test the effectiveness of this approach in University settings, a wide range of examples is offered in each book chapter. This allows readers to explore the advantages, limitations, and practical implications of adopting Dynamic Performance Management in Higher Education Institutions, as well as guide academic decision-makers towards a more robust approach to design and implement strategic management mechanisms in Universities.

Understanding Sustainability Performance in Business Organizations

Understanding Sustainability Performance in Business Organizations
Author: Jean-Pierre Imbrogiano
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2022-11-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 100078309X

This book sheds new light on the role businesses can play in contributing to sustainability objectives, and how governance actors can better encourage their contributions. Jean-Pierre Imbrogiano introduces and empirically investigates the concept of sustainability performance in businesses, which reveals how achieving social and environmental objectives is experienced within business organizations. He focuses on supply chain management as a key part in this process and looks at how this has evolved to become a vital sector in the global business landscape. He further considers the current practices of governance actors which aim to enable sustainability performance in businesses. Labelled as a ‘sustainability service industry’, these actors include international, national, and industry sustainability initiatives, sustainability standard setters, business consultancies and rating agencies, as well as sustainable supply chain managers in corporations. Overall, this book calls for a conceptual reorientation in business sustainability scholarship, and points towards a challenging agenda for change in the sustainability service industry. Understanding Sustainability Performance in Business Organizations will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable business, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainable supply chain management, and sustainability governance.

Sustainability and company performance

Sustainability and company performance
Author: Lujie Chen
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2015-09-03
Genre: Corporate culture
ISBN: 9176859673

This dissertation approaches the question of sustainability and its influence on company performance, with special focus on the manufacturing industry. In the contemporary production environment, manufacturing operations must take into account not only profit, but also environmental and social performance, in order to ensure the long-term development of the company. Companies have to decide whether they should allocate resources to environmental and social practices in order to improve their competitive advantage. Consequently, in decision-making processes concerning operations, it is important for companies to understand how to coordinate profit, people, and planet. The objective of this dissertation was to investigate the current situation regarding manufacturers’ sustainable initiatives, and to explore the relationship between these sustainable practices and companies’ performance, including financial performance, operational performance, innovation performance, environmental performance, and social performance. First of all, a structured literature review was conducted to identify sustainable factors considered to be important in the decision making of manufacturing operations. The findings were synthesized into a conceptual model, which was then adopted as the basis for designing the survey instrument used in this dissertation. Drawing on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports, empirical research was performed to explore the relationship between environmental management practices and company performance. Interestingly, the findings showed that many environmental management practices had a strong positive impact on innovation performance. Sustainability disclosures and financial performance were further analyzed using extended data from the GRI reports. The results also showed that several sustainability performance indicators, such as product responsibility, human rights, and society, displayed a significant and positive correlation with return on equity in the sample companies. In order to further explore the research area and to verify these findings, a triangulation approach was adopted and new data were collected via a survey conducted among middle and large sample companies in the Swedish manufacturing industry. The results indicated that the sustainable improvement practices had a positive impact on company performance. Some environmental and social improvement practices had a direct and positive correlation with product and process innovation. Furthermore, findings suggested that better cooperation with suppliers on environmental work could help to strengthen the organizational green capabilities of the focal companies. When considering the company’s general approach to implementing sustainable practices, some interesting findings emerged. There were limited significant differences in sustainable practices when comparing different manufacturing sectors, and different countries and regions. However, the results showed that Swedish manufacturing companies often place higher priority on implementing economic and environmental sustainability practices than on social ones. This dissertation contributes to the literature on manufacturing sustainability. The study expands the understanding of how environmental, social, or economic perspectives as a triple bottom line can influence company performance and to a certain extent the supply chain. Identifying and understanding such relationships gives companies the opportunity to integrate sustainability into their manufacturing operations strategy in order to sustain their manufacturing operations over the long term.

Managing Business Performance

Managing Business Performance
Author: Umit S. Bititci
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2015-08-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119025699

Motivate, engage, and achieve lasting success with more effective performance management Managing Business Performance offers a unique blueprint for achieving organisational excellence through improved productivity, efficiency, engagement, and morale. With a unique approach that acknowledges the human aspect of performance management, this book combines technical and social know-how to give you a solid framework for designing, configuring, and managing performance improvement initiatives with sustainable results. You'll find practical models, techniques, and tools that take you beyond management theory into advice that you can use, with clear explanations that steer you toward the customisations that would best suit your organisation. International case studies illustrate these ideas in action, providing an intimate look at how cultural differences impact management strategies, and insight into how they can be managed. Organisational performance tools and techniques are well established, but many organisations will never realise their full benefit. This book helps you get more out of your performance strategy by showing you how the organisation's complex social nature impacts real-world outcomes, and how it can be used to drive better performance. Blend technical and social management strategies Keep people motivated and engaged See better results with more staying power Get the very best from your organisation Performance management strategies that fail to take people into account are counterproductive. There's no better way to de-motivate, demoralise, and disengage the people upon whom the organisation depends. Sustainable success requires a blended approach that utilizes the most effective science within the art of people management, and Managing Business Performance gives you a solid foundation for better business performance strategy.

Sustainability Management

Sustainability Management
Author: DR. DEB PRASANNA CHOUDHURY
Publisher: Zorba Books
Total Pages: 482
Release: 2019-01-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9387456617

Sustainability Management strategies and execution for achieving responsible organizational goals Sustainability is perhaps the most important term in the area of management today and indeed in all areas of organizational survival and progress as well as its influence on environment and society at large. Sustainability is relevant to all levels of human .activity, from the global level to the national, regional, community, organizational, and individual levels. The Harvard Business Review compared what it called the “Sustainability Imperative” to other game-changing business megatrends of the past generation, such as the rise of the quality movement, the personal computer, and the Internet. Such game-changing trends profoundly affect the competitiveness, and even the survival, of organizations. This book provides a global perspective on sustainability and therefore, provides ample examples and cases to demonstrate the benefits of practicing sustainability. Therefore, this book and the examples are relevant and applicable in the global as well as Indian context. The sustainability books that are in the market today address certain specific areas of sustainability however; this book is a comprehensive book on sustainability and applies sustainability to most areas of management. Ultimately, the purpose of the book is to trigger sustainable action from the organization and individual point of view. Sustainability is different from the environmental movement alone in that it recognizes economic and social imperatives too. The majority of Fortune 500 companies have a sustainability officer at the VP level or higher and leading businesses are coming to see sustainability as driver for the next wave of innovation and profitability and growth. Yet few graduates of business schools are given the tools to manage companies, governments, or organizations sustainably. This book addresses this gap adequately. The book is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in sustainability management as a text book as well as a reference book for practitioners and professionals of sustainability.

Research on Corporate Sustainability

Research on Corporate Sustainability
Author: Jody Grewal
Publisher:
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2020-09-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781680837186

This monograph provides an overview of key papers in the corporate sustainability literature and directions for future research. It is structured on three key themes: measuring, managing and communicating corporate sustainability performance.

Sustainability Performance and Reporting

Sustainability Performance and Reporting
Author: Irene M. Herremans
Publisher: Business Expert Press
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2020-06-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1951527216

This book provides a step-by-step approach for organizations to reap benefits from a more sustainable approach. As organizations tackle global challenges, the faces of our businesses and our economic system are changing to consider the interests of all stakeholders rather than just shareholders. This book provides a step-by-step approach for organizations to reap benefits from a more sustainable approach. It begins with a brief history of the concept of sustainability as it applies to both performance and reporting. Implementing sustainability in an organization begins with the development of policies which are consistent with the expectations of its stakeholders. An organization’s active participation in multi-stakeholder initiatives helps to align the policies with societal trends. Once the policies are developed, a management system is crucial to ensure congruence of policies with actual performance. Then, periodic reporting of performance based on well-recognized standards aids stakeholders in assessing an organization’s performance–reporting also helps stakeholders to determine if performance aligns with their expectations. Both internal and external assurances build stakeholder trust in the organization’s performance and reporting. Finally, the book concludes with a reflection on key messages and potential future actions for continuous improvement.

Green Business Process Management

Green Business Process Management
Author: Jan vom Brocke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2012-06-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642274889

​ Green Business Process Management – Towards the Sustainable Enterprise" consolidates the global state-of-the-art knowledge about how business processes can be managed and improved in light of sustainability objectives. Business organizations, a dominant part of our society, have always been a major contributor to the degradation of our natural environment, through the resource consumption, greenhouse emissions, and wastage production associated with their business processes. In order to lessen their impact on the natural environment, organizations must design and implement environmentally sustainable business processes. Finding solutions to this organizational design problem is the key challenge of Green Business Process Management. This book- discusses the emerging challenges of designing “green” business processes,- presents tools and methods that organizations can use in order to design and implement environmentally sustainable processes, and- provides insights from cases where organizations successfully engaged in more sustainable business practices. The book is of relevance to both practitioners and academics who are interested in understanding, designing, and implementing “green” business processes. It also constitutes a valuable resource for students and lecturers in the fields of information systems, management, and sustainable development. Preface by Richard T. Watson

Methods in Sustainability Science

Methods in Sustainability Science
Author: Jingzheng Ren
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2021-08-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 012824240X

Methods in Sustainability Science: Assessment, Prioritization, Improvement, Design and Optimization presents cutting edge, detailed methodologies needed to create sustainable growth in any field or industry, including life cycle assessments, building design, and energy systems. The book utilized a systematic structured approach to each of the methodologies described in an interdisciplinary way to ensure the methodologies are applicable in the real world, including case studies to demonstrate the methods. The chapters are written by a global team of authors in a variety of sustainability related fields. Methods in Sustainability Science: Assessment, Prioritization, Improvement, Design and Optimization will provide academics, researchers and practitioners in sustainability, especially environmental science and environmental engineering, with the most recent methodologies needed to maintain a sustainable future. It is also a necessary read for postgraduates in sustainability, as well as academics and researchers in energy and chemical engineering who need to ensure their industrial methodologies are sustainable. - Provides a comprehensive overview of the most recent methodologies in sustainability assessment, prioritization, improvement, design and optimization - Sections are organized in a systematic and logical way to clearly present the most recent methodologies for sustainability and the chapters utilize an interdisciplinary approach that covers all considerations of sustainability - Includes detailed case studies demonstrating the efficacies of the described methods