Abstract
Management for environmental sustainability is the need of the hour due to increasing population and tendency of humans to ignore environmental issues. Organizations comprise all sorts of groups exploiting Mother Earth’s natural resources for fulfilling their own selfish needs. These organizations are the major contributors of pollution to this world. Earth is getting polluted and its life span is getting decreased because of all sorts of human activities and ultimately this will lead to the most hazardous effect to us or more precisely to our future generations. Management practices should be sustainable and not only done to solve or clear today’s age’s environmental issues, but should be solved in such a way that the coming future generations should not get harmed because of unhealthy environmental conditions. Industries should consider this issue seriously and should follow only healthy environmental practices for there any kind of activities or aims. Organizations should market their products keeping environmental health in their mind. Human beings should develop ethics in their hearts and in their minds regarding our environment and its health issues. There is urgency for environmental sustainability because of melting of glaciers and increasing in sea level. This is the most dangerous impact of polluting earth which is a very big threat to sustain human kind on this earth. There should be human resources management too for sustainability. Precision conservation can prove to be a key for sustainability of global agricultural systems during the 21st century contributing to maintain and or increase prime land productivity, improve efficiency of resource management, reclaim degraded soils by accounting and managing spatially degraded soil variability, conserve and improve soil quality, increase carbon sequestration, reduce off-site transport of soil nutrients, agrochemicals, and sediments. There should be use and development of tools to help managers make decisions that will have the desired environmental outcome without compromising other crucial goals. Ultimately there should be union and formation of community of all the nations in this world to work towards the sustainable betterment of environment.
Introduction
Management for Environmental sustainability means taking decisions and actions that will protect the natural world, particularly preserving the capability of the environment to support human life. Environmental sustainability is all about making responsible decisions to make the environment a better place to live for the future generation. Presently, organizations have started realizing the impact of businesses on the environment. It is not simply about reducing the amount of waste you produce or using less energy, but is concerned with developing processes that will lead to our daily activities of surviving and our lifestyles becoming completely nuisance free for our environment in the future. Currently, environmental sustainability is a topical issue that receives plenty of attention from the media and from different governmental departments, this is a result of the amount of research going into assessing the impact that human activity can have on the environment. Although the long term implications of this serious issue are not yet fully understood, it is generally agreed that the risk is high enough to merit an immediate response.
Environmental sustainability is one of the most important global challenges of the 21st century. According to renowned climate scientist James Hansen “Our global climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear, and there is a potential for rapid changes with effects that would be irreversible if we do not rapidly slow fossil fuel emissions during the next few decades.”6 If the world’s population and economy would continue to grow at their current speeds, our planet’s natural resources would soon approach depletion. Sustainable development strategy aims at promoting harmony between humanity and nature. Sustainability requires a social and an environmental perspective, next to the economical perspective, on development and performance.5
Environmental Sustainability and Industries
According to the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), sustainable development is “Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainable development can be used to define environmental initiatives at different organizational levels. Organizations should design their products and manufacturing practices that are environmentally sustainable. Businesses are expected to lead in the area of environmental sustainability as they are considered to be the biggest contributors for disturbing the environmental equilibrium and are also in a position where they can make a significant difference. Businesses can potentially cause damage to all areas of the environment. Some of the common environmental concerns includes damaging rainforests and woodlands for agriculture, residences, for factories, for gaining wood and land; polluting and over-fishing of oceans, rivers and lakes; polluting the atmosphere through burning of fossil fuels and damaging prime agricultural and cultivated land through the use of unsustainable farming practices.
For the sake of Environmental sustainability, organizations should look beyond making short term gains and look at the long term impact they have on the natural world. They need to consider not only the immediate impact of their actions on the environment, but the long term implications as well. For example, when manufacturing a product, they need to look at the environmental impact of the products entire lifecycle, from development to disposal before finalizing their designs.
Role of Organizations
Organizations were conceptualized as “systems of production” which ignores that they are systems of destruction in terms of ecological values. Objectives and strategies were conceptualized in terms of growth, profits, and wealth, which ignore the concomitant risks and ecological degradation produced by such objectives. Organizational performance was conceptualized as economic and human productivity which ignores ecological equilibrium. There is a need of systematic incorporation of sustainability criteria into basic organizational concepts. The question of central concern then becomes – what makes organizations ecologically sustainable, not simply what makes them grow or more profitable?
Also there is an implication of sustainability which deals with organizational values. Historically, according to an anthropocentric view, organizational members and organizational researchers have considered that the unrestricted exploitation of nature as a resource for human and social consumption is acceptable and legitimacy of such an ethic. Thus, the value base of organizational practices must be expanded to include nature as an important stakeholder. Nature must be valued for its own sake, as managers and theorists alike seek a new equilibrium in human and organizational-nature relations.10
Need for Ethics in Environmental sustainability.
Conscience is a person’s ability to distinguish whether their actions are right or wrong based on basic moral values. It is influenced by a number of factors including popular opinion, the media, friends and family, government and personal values. And businesses very well understand the influence consumer conscience has on buying behavior. Majority of the consumers are better educated these days about the impact of businesses on the environment but get carried away by the marketing programs of businesses. Organizations have to incorporate core values of conserving the environment. Customers should buy a product or use a service that conforms to their moral values. By doing so, they will be environmentally responsible and also will make it imperative for businesses to act accordingly. When consumers make a decision that goes against environment conserving principles, they should experience a sense of remorse or disappointment for making such a choice. Over time, these feelings shape the buying behavior of customers, as people begin to actively seek out products and knowledge of this will make them feel good about themselves as well as contributing positively to the environment.
Marketing and Environmental Sustainability
Marketers have to think in terms of environmental sustainability and they will have a positive impact to capitalize the effects of consumer conscience. If consumer conscience directly affects buying behavior, then they should be able to tailor products and services to meet the expectations of customers. Making changes to the way that business operates so that it is more environmentally sustainable is the first step. Next, they should look at introducing a range of environmentally sustainable products so that consumers can make a choice about what they want to buy. When faced with the choice between an environmentally sustainable product and one that is not, many consumers will be swayed by their conscience into buying the sustainable option. Organizations don’t want their product to be the one left on the shelf because it is seen as damaging to the environment. Organization’s businesses standpoint in regards to environmental sustainability can have a significant impact on public image. Environmentally sustainable businesses are seen as market leaders, innovators and socially responsible. On the other hand, businesses that continue with unsustainable practices should be viewed as outdated and as contributors to the destruction of the environment. Establishing image as an environmentally sustainable business will help to build trust and respect from a broad range of stakeholders. Organizations can use it as a way to leverage their businesses above the competition and gain a competitive edge, whilst at the same time making a positive contribution to the health and sustainability of the environment.
Organizations should use Environmental marketing (or green marketing). It is the marketing of products and services that are environmentally safe. There is unexploited potential in this area as consumers will become more interested in environmentally sustainable options. There is a need to consider the fact that environmentally unsustainable businesses cut themselves off from the few group of consumers who only buy sustainable products. However, sustainable businesses open themselves up to all consumers regardless of the importance they place on environmental sustainability.
Urgency of Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability seeks to sustain global life support systems indefinitely which refer principally to those systems maintaining human life. Source capacities of the global ecosystem provide raw material inputs; food, water, air, energy; sink capacities assimilates outputs or wastes. These source and sink capacities are large but finite; sustainability requires that they be maintained rather than run down. Overuse of a capacity impairs its provision of life-support services.
Accumulation of CFC’s is damaging the capacity of the atmosphere to protect humans and other biological lives from harmful UV radiation. Consider that its release were halt today of all substances that damage the ozone shields, the ozone shield may need as much as one century to return to pre CFC effectiveness. Every passing year means sustainability has to be achieved for an additional 100 million people. Though environmental sources and sinks have been providing humanity with their services for the last million years, and until recently have seemed vast and resilient, we have at last begun to exceed them and to damage them worldwide. Where environmental services are substitutable, the substitution achieved has been marginal. Most natural capital or environmental services cannot be significantly hastened. That is why environmental sustainability has time urgency.
Sustainability and HRM
The link between environmental and economic performance has been widely debated in the literature for the last ten to fifteen years. One view is that improved environmental performance mainly causes extra costs for the HRM and thus reduces profitability. However, also the opposite has been argued for, i.e. improved environmental performance would induce cost savings and increase sales and thus improve economic performance. Theoretical and empirical research has provided arguments for both positions and has not been conclusive so far. It is argued that not merely the level of environmental performance, but mainly the kind of environmental management with which a certain level is achieved, influences the economic outcome.5
It is Apparent that ecological sustainability is essential as business progress through the 21st century. Industrial organizations must find a balance between technological and economical development, and protection of the natural environment. In response, many organizations are embracing the idea of developing environment management systems that provide structure and basis for continual environment improvement. Reduction of environmental issues generally, increases efficiencies and productivity for a business while improving the opportunities for sustainability within a society.
Achieving sustainability will require not only attention to the technical details and scientific enhancement of systems but also the human element. Managers must remember that beyond paperwork, documentation, and procedures; organizational HR conditions may be significant predictors of success or failures in environmental improvement efforts.11
Precision Conservation concerning Agricultural Yield
A primary global concern during the new millennium is the impact of accelerated soil erosion on the economy and the environment as well as the increase in greenhouse gases and world population.8 The per capita arable land of 0.23 ha in 1995 is projected to be reduced by almost forty percent to 0.14 ha by 2050 when the population is expected to reach 9.4 billon. Since most of the world’s arable land is already under cultivation, a combination of intensive agriculture on prime soils and restoration of degraded land will be needed to increase and sustain yield productivity to meet the increasing demands in food production during the 21st century.15
With continued population growth and increasing demands on water resources, precision conservation will have an increasing role during this new millennium. It has been reported that world population is expected to be about 8.5 and 9.4 billion by 2025 and 2050, respectively and that increases in crop yields will have to be achieved primarily from land that is currently under production since most of the world’s arable land is already being cultivated.16 These increase in population growth and food and water demands will put increasing pressure for development of new more efficient technology and production practices that contribute to higher yields. Since intensive farming can potentially impact soil and water quality, parallel increases in new practices and technology contributing to improved soil and water conservation practices will be needed to help sustain and maintain the needed yield increases from agricultural systems.
Precision conservation will require the integration of spatial technologies such as global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS) and the ability to analyze spatial relationships within and among mapped data.8 Management of natural and agricultural systems will need to be more efficient if were to maintain sustainability while we maximize and sustain agricultural production. Demands for water resources will increase while irrigated systems that are so important due to their higher yields will have to be more efficient. It is important that we continue to develop new advances in soil and water conservation for conservation of agricultural lands, natural resources and for the reclamation of degraded soils.
Precision Conservation can prove to be a key for sustainability of global agricultural systems during the 21st century contributing to maintain and or increase prime land productivity, improve efficiency of resource management, reclaim degraded soils by accounting and managing spatially degraded soil variability, conserve and improve soil quality, increase carbon sequestration, reduce off-site transport of soil nutrients, agrochemicals and sediments.7
Quality Management
There are few easily accessible tools to help managers make decisions that will have the desired environmental outcome without compromising other crucial goals. Well known quality management practices can help, especially the Deming Cycle of plan, do, study and act.18
The impact of environmental practices on organizational goals is still uncertain. While some researchers have found that environmental initiatives may have a negative impact on company performance.18 Other research indicates that being environmentally proactive can produce long-term gains.19 Current research present evidence that pollution prevention and waste reduction practices enhance operational efficiencies.20 Likewise, some studies find positive correlations between company’s environmental efforts and operational efficiencies.21 These studies find a positive correlation between environmental effort and revenue as managers characterized the impact of environmental initiatives on profit as slightly positive.18
Although, more and more managers are faced with the task of implementing environmentally sustainable practices in their organizations, there is a shortage of easily accessible and usable management tools and frameworks to help them. While, environmental management systems (EMS), life cycle analysis (LCA) and ISO standards are used to implement environmentally sustainable practices. These tools tend to demand a significant amount of investment and commitment by organizations and managers.22
Community Involvement in Environmental Management
The modern environmental management literature stresses the need for community involvement to identify indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development and environmental management goals. The first is a process of developing partnerships between Nations communities, environmental groups, and forestry companies to resolve conflicts over forest Management. Secondly, organizations and communities should work with development researchers to reduce desertification.
Conclusion
Traditionally, developing environmental management plans has been the domain of highly trained experts who were hired for the task. It is generally perceived that this approach has led to a number of failures as these managers rarely had the benefit of detailed local knowledge and failed to generate community support for policy changes. As a result, environmental managers and policy-makers need tools to bring together local community input alongside expert advice to measure the impact of policies and management plans.
The process of engaging people to select key indicators provides a valuable opportunity for community empowerment and education. It is not necessary that this process be initiated from the bottom-up, but it is important that local stakeholders input be allowed to drive the process.
This will create a platform that empowers and educates the local population, and provides a forum through which a wide range of people can express their concerns to the planning process.
However, this must directly and quickly feed back into the formal planning process. Indicators need to be collected at as local a level as possible, and then aggregated using a relatively simply and transparent aggregation process, thereby allowing information to be both summarized quickly for policy makers, and unpacked for more careful monitoring and follow-up. Matching environmental and socio-political boundaries will always prove to be a challenge. However, by recognizing major environmental pathways, it should be possible to capture at least the most significant external environmental factors and include them as part of the environmental planning process.
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