System Thinking for Business Sustainability
As our lifestyle is changing every single day so is the environment around us, with the objective of a more sustainable tomorrow. So Business procedures and techniques are also not any exception, hence breaking some major ground rules and making certain fundamental changes to move towards sustainability from unsustainability (Scoones et al. 2020). Here a brief discussion on three necessary sustainability competencies; system thinking, values reflection and examination of philosophical assumptions will be held. This study will also consider ten related key concepts such as Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, Bisophere certification, Circular Economy, Corporate reporting, Eco labels, Consumer choice editing Green jobs and etc.
The section of management that is concerned with the understanding of one entire system with the help of examining the interactions and connections among the elements that completes the system defined can be referred to as system thinking. System thinking can also be considered as an approach which analyses how a system functions over a period of time and with larger compositions. There is a clear difference between the approaches of system thinking and traditional analysis, as the traditional analysis evaluates by segmenting down the elements separately (Jamwal et al. 2021). Whereas system thinking is utilized in quite a few research areas and is also applied in the study of economic, political, medical, human resources, environmental and educational systems and others. System thinking shows that behavior of a system results from the balancing methods and reinforcing effects. The system elements are increased by the reinforcing method and if such method remains unchecked by the balancing procedures gradually the system collapses. The process of balancing is meant to handle the equilibrium in a certain system.
In order to be successful in a business I need to know my workplace ad business areas thoroughly, such as the business procedure or interaction between the employees and their relations. This knowledge will help me to identify the flaws and resolve the issues step by step, and with the help of system thinking I can insert simple necessary steps and remove the complicated ones (Caniglia et al. 2021). Generally when issues arise we tend to solve the issue from a single perspective other than looking into the entire situation. Here is where system thinking differs from other management approaches as system thinking helps me to have a look at the complete system and then take the decisions to achieve the goals of the organization.
The approach of system thinking to sustainability allows me to have a better understanding of the effects that the business will face after the decision made by us and also unwanted situations can be avoided. It again helps us to find ways for better design and innovations that will be beneficial for the systems (Al-Homery, Ashari & Ahmad 2019). If sustainability is systematically thought about then it will assist us to find the links between the contributions of the business and various goals, that is we can simply concentrate on the situation where exactly the primary business lies and again simultaneously can identify the impacts of the business.
The Benefits of Utilizing System Thinking
Sustainable development and change in development is required in an organization to expand (Kutty et al. 2020). In order to meet customer demands and for the longevity of the organization sustainable change depending on the financial and environmental factors is needed.
Basically philosophical assumptions referrers to the usage of beliefs, and ideas which inform our study (Caputo, Buhnova & Walletzký 2018). Broadly there are four philosophical assumptions namely
- Ontology that is the nature of real scenario
- Epistemology that is knowledge and exactly how such knowledge are justified
- Axiology that is the importance of values in study
- Methodology which is the procedure of research
Nespresso being one of the leading organization for coffee is trying to stay competitive with the sustainable management in the market along with the other leading brands. After a deep evaluation of the company it was seen that the company is practicing sustainability and is also standing out as an example for many other organizations of the particular industry. The assumptions that were made about Nespresso were primarily about the financial department such as the tax governanace, tax payments and also risk management to have a clear image of the of the accounts sector. The human resource sector should also be considered as there are few negative comments about the service websites from the employees. But still it is suggested that investments can be made on Nespresso by the investors because the organization not only growing in sales but also moving forward towards a sustainable journey. The company is also introducing strategies which will change the negative feedbacks of the employees to positive ones and GRI tax reporting methods will give a reason to the investors to invest on Nespresso.
Philosophical assumptions are necessary as when it is presented clearly it shows the assumptions which the researchers made regarding the study (Zuin et al. 2021). This eventually leads to the selection of design, purpose, methods of the particular research and also data evaluation.
The three primary pillars for sustainable development are economic, environmental and social (Purvis, Mao & Robinson 2019). For strong sustainability the economic and environmental capital can be complementary but they are not interchangeable. It is believed by strong sustainability that certain functions performed by the environment cannot be performed by capital made by human.
My views regarding sustainable development of Nespresso has not changed much but I think along with the finance and human resource department the socio economic and environmental factort must be considered.
Bisophere certificate guarantees socio-cultural, economical and environmental balance which satisfies present requirements of host regions, tourists, noting down specific benefits for individuals, and also securing future probability. The bottom of the period is referred to as the largest but poorest section of people according to the economic structure. The industries around the world are eventually finding interest in this section of the economic pyramid. It seems that there is a future in this section as the industries can promote or market certain products specifically for this section (Sharma & Jaiswal 2018). These customers were originally served by brands which were local and not so popular industries. Nesspresso can utilize the bottom of the pyramid section to expand their business with new products which will be a big step for the organization towards sustainable management. Nesspresso can also use circular economy that increases the longevity of the product cycling by involving sharing, reusing, leasing, repairing, recycling and refurbishing old materials for the longest time possible. There is a method known as choice editing which limits and controls the choices which are available to the customers by restricting products in order to drive towards a goal. This can be brought out by banning products and this theory is much related to the sustainability hence can be used by Nesspresso. One of the most vital factors for sustainability of business is corporate governance. Corporate governance is a set of rules, procedures and practices which is used to handle or manage a company. Bad corporate governance can impact adversely; hence a good corporate governance plan will help Nesspresso to spread their business systematically. For sustainable development green jobs are a mandatory factor because it reduces ecological footprint. There are some specific green jobs created in order to reduce impacts which effect the environment negatively. Hence many organizations look for environmental engineers and hire them in order to reduce environmental damages that can be created by the implementation of the project. It is known that externalities are considered as the result of a given activity be it economic or environmental which affects the third party who are not directly involved with the activity. Nesspresso needs to take care of externalities which may affect the organization negatively. Seventh generation principle is explained as the decision that we take today must result into a sustainable world for seven generations. If Nesspresso follows this theory then it will have a probability to lead the market in sustainable business management. Nespresso should focus on the supply chain management system which looks after the services and flow of goods that assists to convert the raw materials to end products (Koberg & Longoni 2019). Finally sustainable design that is the procedure of producing materials and creating services which considers social, environmental and economic effects from the starting to the end of the cycle is very vital for sustainable development (Sonego, Echeveste & Debarba 2018).
Conclusion
In this paper importance of sustainability competencies are discussed. With growing innovative methods and techniques it is observed that sustainability in a business is highly required. Very many techniques and procedures have developed in order to implement sustainable development in organizations. System thinking and its connection with sustainable development is considered in this discussion (Mahaffy et al. 2019). Issues that Nespresso face being a leading organization of coffee industry to compete with the other sustainable organizations and the solutions that can help Nesspresso recover from those particular situations are also discussed in this study. Various key factors such as bottom of the pyramid, green jobs, seventh generation principal, sustainable design, supply chain management, negative externalities and few others are also discussed in this study.
References
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