20 Jul Maintaining Sustainability in Business Purchases
Order Instructions
Sustainability is an important ethical and environmental issue in purchasing. Describe one material, product, or service that can contribute to sustainability in a project you have been involved with, or in your current organization. Describe how these decisions enable the organization to avoid violations in terms of environmental issues. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
Opening Discussion – Maintaining Sustainability in Business Purchases
Business sustainability, also known as corporate sustainability, is the management and coordination of environmental, social and financial demands and concerns to ensure responsible, ethical and ongoing success. This concept is also valid and enforceable in the purchasing process.
Social, environmental and economic demands are considered the three pillars of sustainability. Within the corporate world, they are sometimes referred to as the triple bottom line. The concept is a departure from the traditional concept of the bottom line, which evaluates all efforts in terms of their short-term effect on profits.
In traditional corporate cultures, social and environmental concerns have typically been considered to conflict with financial goals. Depletion of non-renewable resources, for example, is obviously not a sustainable practice. However, because alternatives typically require investments in infrastructure, continuing to rely upon fossil fuels is the least expensive short-term option.
The goal of sustainability requires a more extended timeline for return on investment (ROI) but once initial investments are made, they can actually lead to increased profitability. Similarly, investments in socially ethical practices may initially cost a business money but typically lead to enhanced recruitment, branding and public relations (PR), which all tend to lead to increased profitability. We need to have these facts in mind when engaging in acquiring assets for projects, we need to make socially conscious purchases.
Johnson, P. F., Leenders, M. R., & Flynn, A. E. (2015). Purchasing and supply management (15th ed.). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com/
Chapter 12: Supplier Selection
Chapter 13: Supplier Evaluation and Supplier Relations
Chapter 15: Legal and Ethics
