Sustainable business is suffering an increasing demand by part of different stakeholders, especially those in the end of the value chain. One way to accomplish it is through a business longevity assessment model. If companies last in a sustainable way that is also recognizable, they will create value not only from an economic perspective but also from a social one. In this chapter, the authors expose the reasons why migrating from the main profit maximization goal to pursuing business longevity (survival in an adequate manner) may help to enhance sustainable development both inside and outside the organization, as well as some action proposals to achieve it.
TopIntroduction
Sustainability can be defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, 1987). Despite the shortness of the statement, a powerful spirit emerges from it: satisfying the needs in a way that resources can be regenerated at the same pace they are exploited and, consequently, ensuring that changes in the environment are minimum. Many examples can be given. Some of them may be ensuring reforestation in a certain rate to allow keeping ecosystems unaltered, planning land use to avoid deforestation, controlling polluting spills to rivers, seas, oceans and other water sources, or maximizing the most efficient energy generation technologies. However, the definition given by the UN goes beyond nature. Other goals that appear from it are the building of strong societies, eradication of corruption and guaranteeing a minimum living standard for every person (which includes, among others, access to healthcare infrastructures, decent wages and basic human rights). As it is shown, and despite only some examples have been given, all perspectives sustainability covers share one common feature: the need for standardization.
Many indicator systems and standards exist to do so. For example, GRI Standards, ISO 14000, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and so on aim to establish a framework to assess and, consequently, strengthen sustainable activities in the different economic sectors. Despite the intentions followed, all those initiatives focus on controlling certain variables, but to not address the main problem, so the next question arises: “What is driving this kind of behavior among companies?” It is, why are some organizations developing practices that are so unsustainable that can even harm themselves?
In order to give an appropriate answer, a deep analysis needs to be done as a society. In this chapter, the authors take an overview, but further and much more intensive work needs to be done in this sense. Summing up, the answer would be the main goal pursued: profit maximization. When firms (and even non-private organizations) take this as the main variable and translate every single aspect they are involved into a monetary analysis (such as waste recovery processes), decisions get distorted and move away from sustainable practices.
Thus, the objectives pursued in this chapter can be summarized as follows:
- •
Highlight the way businesses have been made up to date.
- •
Expose the consequences profit maximization triggers.
- •
Show how a change from profit maximization to business longevity should help in achieving sustainable development for both companies and the environment.
TopBackground
Sustainability has been claimed in recent years as a topic to take into consideration in human lives, although it has been explored for decades. In the case of epidemics, people began to understand the effect of microbes (e.g. bacteria) in the XIX century, leading to some initiatives such as Chicago’s sewing system (National Ocean Service, n.d.). The same source points out a report to the Royal Commission on River Pollution in 1897 that claimed the presence of “alkali works, copper works, sulfuric acid liquid, sulfate of iron from tin-plate works, and by slag, cinders and small coal” in the Tawe River (Wales). However, and going back to the United States of America (USA) as an example, water pollution continued indiscriminately until many events related to water discharges were broadly noticed (National Ocean Service, n.d.). This shows how awareness of the problem is crucial to take serious actions against it.
But the harm is not just limited to water. Air and soil can also be affected. Most of the times, damage occurs as a negligence (whether or not on purpose) by human actions. Giving more examples, this time in the case of soil, many different agents have endangered (or even destroyed) huge areas. Nuclear disasters as Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011), deforestation in the Amazon as a consequence of intensive agriculture and introduction of non-indigenous species in ecosystems (whether animals or plants), among others, endanger the environment in different ways. Moving to air, it is affected by polluting elements in form of gases such as carbon oxides (CO and CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX) or sulfur dioxide (SO2) or small particles (divided by its size and, thus, by harm caused, as PM10 and PM2.5) among many others.