In the business world, organisations have traditionally focused on maximizing profit and growth as their primary goal. However, this approach has led to various social and environmental problems as it only considers economic performance (Gray & Bebbington, 2001). For example, a manufacturing company's performance is measured solely on its monetary gain, without considering the adverse effects of its emissions on the environment, such as polluting rivers and destroying ecosystems. To address this issue, John Elkington introduced the concept of the triple bottom line (TBL) in the mid-1990s, which measures the sustainability of organisations by adding "social" and "environmental" as two more "bottom lines" in the performance measurement framework (Slaper & Hall, 2011). According to the University of Wisconsin (n.d.), genuine sustainability requires organisations to balance social development, protection of the natural environment, considerate use of natural resources, and steady economic growth. TBL captures the essence of sustainability by measuring the impact of an organisation's activities on the world, including its profitability, shareholder values, and social, human, and environmental capital (Savitz & Weber, 2006). It is also known as the "3P" model, which stands for "people, planet, and profit" (Measures, n.d.). From the "people" perspective, TBL companies ensure that their operations benefit employees and the business environment by providing adequate compensation, safe workplaces, and guidance to help employees discover their values in work (Measures, n.d.). From the "planet" perspective, TBL companies avoid any activities that harm the environment and seek ways to minimize adverse impacts from their operations on the ecosystem. For example, investing in sustainable development, such as solar power, can generate profits for the company without harming the planet (Measures, n.d.). The drivers and motivations behind TBL reporting are to improve corporate social responsibility, enhance reputation, and attract socially responsible investors (Slaper & Hall, 2011).
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2010). In Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy Achieving Sustainability, Twelfth Edition. Pearson Education.
In relation to sustainability, more and more this aspect is becoming very important for a company’s bottom line and for them to differentiate themselves from their competition that fails to establish a sustainability program. In a macro sense, it ethically responsible to establish a sustainability program to identify ways that the firm can make a difference globally and reduce their overall expense and
Epstein introduces a new framework for implementing corporate sustainability. He states the by addressing the nonfinancial aspects of business, companies can improve the bottom line and earn superior returns. Sustainability can be broken down into nine principles. These components include ethics, governance, transparency, business relationships, financial return, community involvement and economic development, value of products and services, employment practices, and protection of the environment. All of these sections should be considered while working towards corporate sustainability.
This paper aims at analyzing the initiatives, which such large organizations as Apple Inc. takes to improve their social, environmental and financial sustainability. The paper also sheds light on the way the organization can deploy cost accounting procedures to enhance their sustainability. Furthermore, the paper highlights the variations in the use of cost accounting by the company under consideration and companies in the past. In addition to that, the paper identifies the limitations in the current strategies of the organization and proposes recommendations to improve these limitations.
It is generally believed that a company increases its social and environmental performance in order to :
There are three kinds of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Through sustainability they have observed the positive impact it has had on the company’s brand image, allowing them to decrease their operating cost, enhance competitive advantage, reduce waste and attract investors and employees.
Carroll, A. B. (1979), A three-dimension conceptual model of Corporate Social Performance. Academy of Management Review, 4, 497-506
In this 10 year plan includes improvement in the supply chain. Along with efficiency, AT&T would also like to improve on the company’s stability. AT&T looks to improve the social and environmental impacts by using a sustainability performance metric to help make decisions. A sustainability performance metric is a tool used by many corporates to help decides on things that will have a positive impact on the present and the
The triple bottom line is a framework for companies that measures more factors than the profit only. The triple bottom line consists of three P’s: people, planet and profits, meaning that the social, environmental and environmental performance is considered altogether. (Relumination, 2016) The triple bottom line is incorporated into the business practices of Patagonia and it publishes an annual benefit corporation report to show the efforts they take to create a public benefit. Patagonia works constantly on creating social benefit.
According to the article Environmental Accounting: Where We Are Now, Where Are We Heading by J.E. Hecht (1999, p. 15), the methods use in environmental accounting depends on the amount of investment, objective, and most especially the purpose of the entity and its impact to the policy. However, not all companies are convinced that environmental accounting can contribute in the development of the business and in the increase of its profit.
Sustainability contains three dimensions which are environment, economy and social (ibid.) and Tassal is dealing with all of them. To implant theory in to practices, the biggest Salmon company create an annually sustainable report, which included financial information and more importantly, the goal and process on their sustainability commitments.
Despite the fact that it has been proposed that assimilated financial records contained ecological and social data, it was evident in the article that the genuine mix merits consideration among the stakeholders. Sustainability segments in yearly reports among numerous cases were isolated, albeit incorporated; similarly, applies to corporate administration segments in connection to sustainability. At the same time, when the corporate administration and sustainability turn out to be truly connected and reported together, these offered new doors for integrative methodologies in expansion to the bookkeeping
Sustainability can be defined in a number of different ways and is characterized by three main principles and several major components. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations” (“Sustainability”). Sustainability is made up of three principles: environmental, economic, and social. The social aspect of sustainability involves ensuring that all people are treated justly and liv...
Environmental accounting at organizational level aims to address the needs of organization to measure the economic efficiency of their environmental conservation and the business activities of the company as a whole (Kundu & Hauff, 2009). Environmental accounting includes environmental management accounting. In environmental management accounting, there is a particular focus on material and energy balance aspects and environmental cost information. This accounting is further classified into segment environmental accounting which is an internal environmental accounting tool to select an investment activity, or a project, related to environmental conservation from among all processes of operations, and to evaluate environmental effects for a specified period (Maunders,
There are many methods and tools available for individuals and organisations for evaluating and developing their operations but several barriers should be considered. I believe that a breakthrough can be expected if the goals and values of sustainability are integrated into the organisational strategy, structure and culture. Next to environmental departments or corporate social responsibility programs it is increasingly important to focus on the processes. A key element is the proper design of operation processes that involves these requirements horizontally instead of forcing the separate specifications. Of course, this needs additional management efforts but it will pay off in a long