Sustainability & Business Flashcards
Describe Dunphy’s levels of engagement (6)
Exploit: rejection Avoid: non-responsiveness Limit: compliance Invest: eco-efficiency Compete: strategic proactivity Lead: the sustaining corporation
Describe Exploit: rejection level
o Resources are there for immediate economic gain
o Firm only exists to maximise profit
o Actively opposes attempts by government and communities to constrain operations
Describe Avoid: non-responsiveness
o Lack of awareness of the companies impact on the environment
o Lack of awareness of environments impact on the business
o No expertise - HP in the early years or small business (‘not important’)
Describe Limit: compliance level
o Reduce the risk of sanctions for failing to meet minimum standards
o Followers not leaders – reactive to legislation (until someone says do this)
o E.g. many SMEs
Describe Invest: eco-efficiency
o Recognition that there are some win-win environmental and economic gains in operation
o Actively search and implement these
o Circular economy stuff
Describe Compete: strategic proactivity
o Sustainable issues seen as a potentiall source of competitive advantage
o Looking for new business opportunities
o Actively redesign products to make them more sustainable /environmentally friendly
o Expertise in the R&D and board
Describe Lead: sustainable corporation
- Working for sustainable world is a priority
* Actively promotes sustainability values within the business
What are three factors to consider when assessing businesses view points on sustainability?
- A company is not monolithic: there can be subcultures at different levels of engagement. Strategic Elite sets the overall tone
- A company may be at different levels for different issues
- Attitudes can move down as well as up the levels
What sustainable factors would effect business? (6)
- Fresh water depletion
- Climate change
- Peak oil
- Biodiverse loss
- Pollution
- Topsoil erosion
Describe 3 government levers to impact businesses with regards to sustainability. Gives examples
- Legislative standards
a. Waste electrical and electronic equipment directive
b. There is a market failure around the disposable of electrical equipment - Difficult to deal with but potentially there’s money to be made
c. Companies are now responsible for collection and disposal/re-use - Market based policy + taxation
a. Us 1990 acid rain program
b. Eu emissions trading scheme - Cap on total allowable emissions
c. Allocations of emissions rights
d. Trade of unused / extra required rights - Governmental market development – wants the shape the market (which parts grow / slow down)
a. Subsidise the research of a technology e.g. renewable energy
b. Subsidies the implementation of technology – Feed-In Tariff for solar power
c. Apply simulation to a market to get things moving – remove once it’s moving
Describe the reactive approach by business to drivers. add advantages and disadvantages
- responed to drive as they manifest
- advantage: less resources on sustainability, so reduced cost
- disadvantage: may be caught off-guard by circumstances, customers or proactive companies
- risk of greenwashing
describe the strategic proactivity approach of business (3)
- embed sustainability into strategic thinking
- understand relationship between factors and possible emerging drivers
- ## identify potential business advantages from taking the high ground
List business drivers for sustainability (10)
- legislative standards
- market based policy + taxation
- governement market development
- direct impact of ecosystem service depletion
- price signals (oil or rare earth metals)
- customer demand ( consumer (peopel are concerned, niche markets growing), government (EU geen public procurement guidlines), business (labour conditions))
- institutional investors and analysts (e.g. insurance companies have a lot to lose, therefore trying to influence policy)
- staff/exec engagement
IUCN definition of Sustainable Development ?
‘improving the quality of
human life whilst living within the carrying capacity of the ecosystems.’.
This advocates developing ‘the quality of human life’ , and while not explicit about what it means by this broadly falls into the category of ‘people’ in the taxonomy of Kates et al – so is likely to include such things as health, life expectancy, education and opportunity. It advocates sustaining ‘the carrying
capacity of ecosystems’, and so is advocating a sustaining of nature – in that
the ‘carrying capacity’ is effectively a measure of the health of the ecosystem
rather than a measure of the service it provides to humanity.
what was the US Presidents Council on Sustainable Development, under George W
Bush, definition?
‘economic growth that will benefit the present and future generations without detrimentally affecting the
resources and biological systems of the planet.
- prioritizing growing the economy (as it sees this as the priority and means to
advance the priorities in the ‘people’ section.).
-advocates sustaining is
primarily life support – in the use of the word ‘resources’, which clearly sees the environment as a provider to humanity. It is likely that the phrase
