Sustainable Operating Strategies for Business

Books for further reading

Sustainable Operating Strategies for Busines

Many companies are finding that it is very much in their best interests to move toward sustainable operation. This is not because it is the "right" thing to do but because it improves the "bottom line".

In a sustainable society business is a wealth generating mechanism that provides a vital role in meeting society´s needs rather than just a profit making machine. It´s primary function is to help advance human prosperity but in conformance with natural systems.

Sustainable business operation is an essential requirement for ensuring that the earth´s ability to support life continues and for the development of a sustainable society.

It therefore follows that there is a need to evaluate and question if the business activities and strategies pursued are in alignment with this supposition and are sustainable.

Under a Sustainable Operating Strategy, business should, overall, make a positive net contribution to society. Every business, indeed every individual, has both positive and negative impacts on society. With a Sustainable Operating philosophy, business strives to ensure that the net impact is positive.

In the long term if the net impact from a business is not positive then it probably will not survive but in the interim it can cause great harm to society for both present and future generations.

Sustainable operating strategies complement existing business strategies like sound financial management, effective marketing, efficient production, intelligent personnel policies etc. These normal business strategies still need to be pursued.

The four conditions of The Natural Step provide a "Compass" to guide businesses toward operating sustainably. If activities and strategies are leading toward conformance to the four conditions, then the business is on the path toward operating sustainably.

One of the principles that guided the formulation of the specific Sustainable Operating Strategies for business suggested in these pages is that provided a particular business is making an overall positive contribution to society, or is taking steps to do so, it is in society´s best interest that the business stays in business.

A series of WEB pages and manuals are being developed to address specific strategies that are intended to help companies operate in a more sustainable manner. The strategies selected will be ones that are not normally addressed in standard business courses or literature. As pointed out earlier many of the traditional business strategies are still required.

Sustainable operating strategies currently planned to be addressed in these pages include the following: -

• Identifying, classifying and optimizing ALL Inputs and Outputs
• Sustainable operation audit
• Looking to the future
• Monitoring and Measuring Customer Satisfaction
• Harnessing employee´s abilities
• Knowledge management

Please note that these pages are in their early stage of development and will be expanded and updated frequently.

If you have any comments or would like to be advised when this page is updated please contact SusOpS