Sustainability

The Business of the Future: Incorporating Global Sustainability into Business Models.

Sustainability is a growing concept that acknowledged or not, is playing a vital role in the restructuring of the entire business world. Sustainability is the “ability of the current generation to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs” (Hart, 2007: 91). Our long-established business methods and theories, which emerged in the industrial revolution, have ignored the importance of sustainability, and disregarded consequences for many decades. We are now in a situation where necessary resources are rapidly diminishing while demands are, simultaneously, quickly growing (Hart, 2007). The undeniable impacts our practices have left upon the earth are now forcing us to drastically change our behaviours or risk the survival of our species. In order to achieve success, firms most move away from open systems models, embrace creative destruction and prepare for drastic change. Organizations who continue to use the traditional methods will inevitably jeopardize their own survival, as well as that of humankind.

There are several factors that have led us to our current predicament regarding sustainability and the continuously arising global consequences are forcing us to reanalyze our conventional methods of conducting business. In turn, many of our preconceived notions such as the Great Trade-Off Illusion, Marginal Analysis and Open System Models, are being scrutinized. The Great Trade-Off Illusion, as explained by Hart, is the misconception that in order to meet societal obligations, a business must sacrifice financial performance. This misapprehension has caused many organizations to view things such as environmental impact, as a negative responsibility as oppose to exploring the creative possibility that it could entail. Marginal analysis is the belief that after a certain optimal point, it is not longer cost effective to seek additional...