Compliance with Natural Capitalism theory of sustainability

1. The situation involved me and my family members and it took place last week ago in a shopping mall in Auckland while I went with my family for shopping purpose. While I, with my family was visiting an electronics shop in the Auckland in order to enquire about the various models of refrigerator models and their price and were going through various models of the refrigerator I noticed that there were different types of refrigerator with different energy savings level and varying price labels.
2. At that moment I was thinking that in order to demonstrate sustainability I should purchase the refrigerators with higher star ratings and higher energy savings label, even if it costs more than the other models and another thinking of mine during that moment was whether I should opt for the products which are manufactured by domestic companies over foreign companies.
3. The good thing about the experience was that I did not let the pricing factor affect my feeling or perception regarding sustainability as I felt that even if it required paying an increased price in order to purchase sustainable products which have lesser environmental influence, I should not back out from purchasing the product.
4. The sense which I could make of the situation is that the situation occurred as a result of increasing environmental awareness which are being observed at all levels of the society. The situation happened as a result of increased awareness for various environmental concerns which are being reported in the media.
5. As stated by Symons & Lamberton (2014) the other activities which could be done is purchasing the products which are manufactured by using green technology and opting to purchase those product which do not create hazards to the environment after disposal.
6. If it happened next time, I would opt for the company regarding the purchase of domestic products, which take major initiatives for developing sustainable products for their customers.

In the above mentioned scenario, it can be said that by applying the sustainability principles during my purchase I have demonstrated sustainable responsibility towards environment as the product I preferred to chose was based on decisions of environmental benefits and after I was thoroughly convinced that products which I purchased was environment friendly in nature I thought of buying it which in a way was my contribution for becoming more sustainable in my personal decisions. As opined by Starik & Kanashiro (2013) according to the Natural Capitalism theory of sustainability, there are various elements in the sustainability model namely radical resource productivity, biomimicry, services and flow economy and radical resource productivity which can be utilized to maintain environmental sustainability in the society. Therefore it is clear that the approaches taken by me in context of being sustainable in my personal life complies with the sustainability theory of Natural Capitalism.

According to Shaharir & Alinor (2013) the aspects of sustainability theory which can be applied in the above mentioned situation are environmental sustainability and economic sustainability as the above mentioned activities which are undertaken by me will help in reducing environmental impacts and will also help in benefitting the local or domestic economy. As opined by Schein (2014) while applying sustainability theories in my personal life I have learnt that the approaches and initiatives regarding sustainability which will be applied by me in my personal life should help in addressing the various aspects of sustainability and I have also learnt that a particular aspect of sustainability should not be achieved by overlooking or ignoring the other aspects of sustainability.

1. The situation involved me, my colleagues and the higher management of the company which is operating in Auckland where I work and it took place last month in the office. While I was working, I noticed that some of my colleagues in the workplace were suffering from various stress problems and were facing loss of motivation while performing their daily activities. I also observed that the raw materials which were sourced by the company were not eco-friendly in nature and majority of the suppliers were international suppliers. I also observed that the company in which I work had not taken any sort of initiatives for the benefit of the local community in which it operates.
2. My feeling about the situation was the company where I work was lacking in implementing sustainability approaches and therefore they must take necessary steps to achieve environmental, social and economic sustainability in order to promote sustainability in the society.

According to me the sustainability practices which could be applied are re-designing the job roles of the company, offering flexible working hour to the employee, offering incentives and benefits to the employees of the company based on their performance, and implementing an effective leave structure which suits the requirements of the employees. The other sustainability practices which could be applied in the workplace are sourcing green raw materials from suppliers, sourcing domestic raw materials or sourcing from domestic suppliers and thus investing in the development of the local communities.

1. The bad thing about the experience was that the company did not take appropriate steps to fulfil the sustainability needs of their stakeholders and therefore the company could be termed as un-responsive towards community which is also a stakeholder. The good thing about the experience was I felt the necessity to recommend various sustainability practices to the organization in order to promote sustainability.
2. The sense which I could make of the situation is that the situation could have occurred due to excessive focus of the company to generate profit and growth at any costs and not caring about the outcomes which are associated with it. The thing which could have made a difference to the situation is the availability of a sustainability strategy in the strategic plan of the organization.

5.As stated by Vinnari, Vinnari & Kupsala (2017) the other thing which could have been done in the same situation was communicating to the top management the benefits of sustainability for the organization so that it becomes easier for the top management to adopt sustainability principles. Another thing which could have been done in the same situation was demonstrating to the top management, the business results of various companies who have implemented sustainability strategy in their day to day operations.

1. If the situation happened again, I would communicate the activities of the company to various Governmental agencies and regulatory bodies that are responsible for overseeing the implementation of sustainability strategies implemented by the companies in the country so that they could take necessary legal steps which could compel the company to adopt effective sustainability strategies.

Applying sustainability practices in the workplace

In the above mentioned scenario, the sustainability practices which could be applied are re-designing the job roles of the company, offering flexible working hour to the employee, offering incentives and benefits to the employees based on their performance, and designing an effective leave structure which suits the requirements of the employees. The other sustainability practices which could be applied in the workplace are sourcing eco-friendly materials from suppliers, supporting domestic suppliers through sourcing local materials and investing in the development of the local communities. As opined by Swaim, Maloni, Napshin & Henley (2014) according to the sustainability theory of four capital model, there are four different types of capital in each society in the form of human capital, finance capital, environmental capital and manufactured capital and in order to create and maintain sustainability in the society, the above mentioned four capitals must be balanced in the society as it is not possible to build a sustainable society without maintaining the balance among the above mentioned four capitals and maintenance of their sustainability. Therefore the sustainability practices which can be applied in the above mentioned scenario complies with the four capital model theory as the above mentioned practices helps in maintaining a balance between the various types of capital in the society in which the company operates.

According to Shafiq, Klassen & Awaysheh (2017) the aspects of sustainability theory which can be applied in the above mentioned scenario are environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability as the practices will help in reducing the carbon footprint of the company in the environment, will help in the development of the local communities and will also improve social interactions between the members of the organization. As opined by Salzmann (2013) while applying sustainability theories in the workplace, it is very important to ensure that the different capitals of the society must be balanced and maintained accordingly in order to improve the sustainability practices of the organization.

References

Salzmann, A. J. (2013). The integration of sustainability into the theory and practice of finance: An overview of the state of the art and outline of future developments. ZeitschriftFürBetriebswirtschaft, 83(6), 555-576. Retrieved from doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11573-013-0667-3  Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Schein, S. (2014). The ecological world views and post-conventional action logics of global sustainability leaders. Business Premium Collection. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1559194383?accountid=30552Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Shafiq, A., P, F. J., Klassen, R. D., & Awaysheh, A. (2017).Exploring the implications of supply risk on sustainability performance. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37(10), 1386-1407. Retrieved from doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-01-2016-0029 Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Shaharir, b. M. Z., & Alinor, M. b. A. K. (2013).THE NEED FOR A NEW DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY. Journal of Indonesian Economy and Business: JIEB. 28(2), 257-274. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1475552003?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Starik, M., & Kanashiro, P. (2013). Toward a theory of sustainability management: Uncovering and integrating the nearly obvious. Organization & Environment, 26(1), 7.Retrieved from doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1086026612474958 Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Swaim, J. A., Maloni, M. J., Napshin, S. A., & Henley, A. B. (2014).Influences on student intention and behavior toward environmental sustainability. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(3), 465-484. Retrieved from doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1883-z Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Symons, C., & Lamberton, G. (2014). Building a social case for business sustainability. Journal of Economic and Social Policy, 16(2), 0_1,0_2,1-22. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1628378906?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 30/10/2018

Vinnari, M., Vinnari, E., &Kupsala, S. (2017). Sustainability matrix: Interest groups and ethical theories as the basis of decision-making. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 30(3), 349-366. Retrieved from doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10806-017-9670-  Accessed as on 30/10/2018