Preservation: Corporate Sustainability

What is sustainability? Is it long-term corporate profitability or corporate longevity, in other words, commercial sustainability, a measure of continued financial and market success that provides employment, taxes, and a contribution to GDP and a measure of philanthropy? Or is it environmental sustainability, the sensible use of raw materials and recycling and remanufacturing (value renewal) and product-service design that identifies candidate components that may be designed to have multiple life cycles? The answer is that it is both. Both corporate and environmental sustainability are required if the organization and the network it works with are to succeed in creating satisfied stakeholders. Clearly primary stakeholders lean towards commercial success, while secondary stakeholders will favor policy and strategies that support long-term environmental sustainability. They interact with each other, and managements’ task is to ensure the interaction is planned to ensure longevity. Environmental sustainability is the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and nonrenewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. If they cannot be continued indefinitely, then they are not sustainable. It is defined as the responsible interaction with the environment to avoid depletion or degradation of natural resources and aims for long-term sustainable “quality.” Environmental sustainability is essentially resource based. The debate concerning what some might call “the reckless use of natural resources” has become stronger in the past few years. So much so that it has persuaded “government” to become involved. It has to be admitted that not all politicians are convinced by the “climate change debate,” but most national governments are acknowledging the need to consider current use of basic resources and manufacturing processes.