Sustainable Enterprise

Executive summary

The objective of the research is to find out ways through which companies can engage in sustainable business. The paper will investigate the three dimensions through which a business entity or a company can achieve sustainability in its operations. The three dimensions are Socio-cultural, economic and environmental with regards to Carpet Corporation Group. The objective is being to find out ways through which the Carpet Company can achieve sustainability.

The paper will also emphasis on current Dunphy phase, reason for being in this phase, indicators and how to escalate it into more sustainable phase. The research will utilize secondary data from the company website and information available from researches done on similar companies on how they can achieve business sustainability following Dunphy model and triple bottom line.

Literature review

A good monitoring system should have certain characteristics that will make sure the system is reliable and effective for the company to achieve its targeted sustainability state. The most critical attribute of a good monitoring system is that it should be able to measure and report on an output which touches on the critical strategic objectives of the company.

The system must ensure that all the strategic objectives of the company are at the center of its measurement and reporting. Company objectives is fundamental to growth of the company if the measurements and reports generated by the monitoring system do not consider the company objectives then the company will be evaluated itself in wrong direction which may eventually derail the business activities of the company. The system should also be able to identify key issues and the root cause of the problem of the company. Considering the Triple Bottom Line dimensions enables the management of the company and those charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the company activities are sustainable and will remain sustainable in future.

The Triple Bottom Line is one of the guideline systems being used by associations to study the advantages they are making through their corporate sensibility plans. The Triple Bottom Line procedure asks for that you see past the regular essential worry of business to the advantages that your business makes socially and monetarily. Evaluating your business using the Triple Bottom Line is uncommon contrasted with different markers of how supportable your business is, and how helpful it really is.(Lewis, n.d.)

Social factors allude to social measurements of a group or district and could incorporate estimations of instruction, value and access to social assets, wellbeing and prosperity, personal satisfaction, and social capital.Factors that are concerned with the primary stream of cash. It could take a gander at salary or uses, charges, business atmosphere factors, work, Investment and business diversity. Environmental variables should represent measurements of natural resources and reflect potential influences on its viability. It could incorporate air and water quality, energy consumption, natural resources, solid and toxic waste, and land use/land cover. Ideally, having long-range trends available for each of the environmental variables would help organizations identify the impacts a project or policy would have on the area. (Timothy F. Slaper, n.d.)

TBL checking framework helps in following along and measures business operations of an organization. The framework differs starting with one industry then onto the next given that organizations don't work under comparable conditions or market powers in the realm of business. Be that as it may, all the maintainability observing frameworks ought to be keen which implies they ought to be significant to the business whereupon they are being connected and that they ought to be quantifiable. The universe of today is progressively confronting maintainability challenges where assets keep on becoming rare with time along these lines compelling organizations with expectation to stay important and above water in business to gadget courses through which they can keep on operating even despite all the rarer assets. (Qi, 2013)

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a worldwide, multi-partner and free non-benefit association that advances financial, natural and social manageability. The GRI was set up in 1997 in organization with the United Nations' Environment Program (UNEP). GRI has created Sustainability Reporting Guidelines that endeavor to build the straightforwardness and responsibility of financial, ecological, and social execution and furnishes all organizations and associations with a far-reaching manageability announcing system that is broadly utilized the world over (TOTAL, n.d.)

Dunphy stages gives a system to asses an association's way to deal with a maintainable world. It considers different manageability methodologies an association takes in view of human and ecological practices and execution

Six phases

Carpet production expels lot of toxic waste, but the lack of stringent rules against pollution in Asian region never makes organization focus genuinely on investing in waste management technology. No Steps taken for waste Management Even though the company claims that it is going green, the modern technology they have adapted will help them to use more synthetic yarns than the organic materials which in fact expels more pollutant material which is against their claim.

The product range mainly caters the need of domestic market and the company doesn't have product diversity to satisfy the different regional markets worldwide. It’s a threat to sustainability in global context. Lack of Product Range The range of technological investments is done only to meet local demand and to compete with local competitors. The global market and competitors are not taken into consideration for future market expansion.

The company has not focused on investing in state of the art technology being adopted by big global suppliers. Ratio of Investment Carpet corporation is highly dependent only on Asia especially Malaysia, and a sudden economic meltdown can be a big threat to their sustenance and may even collapse the total business and its market share. Dependent on One Region Reasonable analysis shows that this organization falls under Dunphy Phase.

The company has significantly moved away from hand knotted carpets to woven carpets which can be mass produced using the machines with any kind of material. The mechanization of the weaving process in the Carpet production has largely reduced the price of Carpets as well as helped them in facing shortage of raw materials as hand Knotted carpet production are limited to limited Material. The company has continually placed itself in an advantageous position to be able to supply targeted carpet markets in Asia by investing huge funds to improve on logistics and raise production capacity to be able to serve targeted markets.

Thus, in terms of business development the company ensures that it targets a certain market that has capacity to grow and invest towards ensuring that the company can serve this market in a more sustainable manner to ensures continued business for the company. (Carpet Corporation Group, 2018)

Carpet Corporation Group is a Malaysian based carpet manufacturing and supply company that mainly specializes in beautifying homes and commercial spaces with quality and affordable carpets that meets individual customer taste and aesthetic preferences. The company supply chain network is extensive and has structures in place to ensure that it serves its market effectively. The company also boasts over 300 major dealers within Malaysia and two major warehousing points in the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

The company has put in considerable efforts to ensure that it keeps up with the latest technology in the weaving industry by acquiring latest model of the Van De Wiele weaving machine that produces carpets with high density lush of up to 3 million points. The company has also acquired Neumag machine that has high capacity 2 extruders that extrude solution dyed pp yarn. In addition to these technological advancements Carpet Corporation Group acquired super beaming machine that produces high quality ground - warp beams. (Carpet Corporation Group, 2018)

To cater sustainable product diversity the socio culture dimension must be analyzed to feed appropriately to different aesthetics. At the same time investments on technology must be analyzed based on environment dimension and competition to minimize the effects and the investments in the current market condition demands analysis on economic dimension also. So, this study considers the above mentioned three dimensions together, avoiding focusing only on one aspect.

There has been increased acceptance and use of carpets globally because they make homes and offices look better. In some parts of the world Carpets are part of the ancient culture where homes are decorated with carpets that give them aesthetic value. The product is also currently being used widely in commercial areas where companies continue to make efforts to impress their customers and boost the company profile in the market. This culture change is set to widen the market for carpets around the world as more companies and homes are installed with carpets of diverse types. Since carpet is largely a product of Wool, Cotton and refined wood, then the availability factor of the same may affect sustainability of carpet business around the world by reduced indulgence of people not willing to use synthetic carpets. (Halkias, 2016)

Social Cultural Dimension

Carpet processing and manufacturing is a deep industrial process which produces a lot of industrial effluence that must be treated before being released to the environment. (Thangavel, 2016). Carpet Corporation Group should ensure that its industrial waste process is sustainable environmentally in such a way that its industrial effluence do not damage the environment as the company will be risking heavy penalization from the concerned authorities which may render the whole business unsustainable.

More use of synthetic yarns due to the scarcity of natural raw material forces the company to devise methods to convince the customers about the measures company taken for clean environment by wide acceptance by the customers. The increasing awareness and strict enforcement of rules regarding environmental protection in Asian countries is a major concern for continuing sustainability. (Hardisty, 2010)

In this scenario, company must gather more funds to invest in effluent treatment as well as to go green in real sense also. Besides, more efforts and funds must be diverted in its R&D and marketing to improve aesthetics and to propagate usage of synthetic carpet with environment friendly note for increased social acceptance.

Global business is currently being faced with pressure resulting from increased competition, reduced availability of raw materials and the general raise in the cost of doing business. For any company to be sustainable in business it must ensure that all the economic factors that influence the business operations of the company can be sustained for extended period such that the company can remain in business for the foreseeable future. Adoption of new technological advancements in the company is one of the key sustainable economic indicators. Technological advancements can reduce the cost of production, improve quality of the products, shorten production line among other benefits that ensure the company business is viable and sustainable. (Eweje, 2012)

Indicators

Indicator Name Definition Measurement Limitations Technological advancements Incorporation of the latest technology in processing and manufacturing of carpets Acquisition of new machines and latest production models. -High initial cost -May require additional manpower which raises cost of production. Effective risk management system Compliance with relevant legislations Score on compliance Cost that may be incurred in pursuit of compliance. Waste reduction and Environment friendly waste disposal Effective utilization of resources Modern effluent treatment technology Number of initiatives taken to manage this indicator Modern monitoring system of effluent Quality.

Implementation of environment auditing system like osho. High initial cost Specialized Team Market Leadership Pursuit of the strategic potential of sustainability Number of innovative and aesthetic products launched Demographic Coverage % Increase in synthetic product market share R&D may take considerable time before innovative products are discovered. -Fund Requirements Creation of constructive social culture in the company. Go – Green Initiative Positive work environment.

Policies in place that support this indicator Audit of environment systems (OSHO) Non-compliance to the policies -Fund Requirement The table below shows summary of indicators that can be used to monitor sustainability dimensions in relation to Carpet Corporation Group. Indicators should have many features that will enable the system to be effective and reliable to lead the company into desired level of sustainable business. One of these is that the indictors must be relevant which shows aspects of the company that needs to be known by the management or concerned people for appropriate action to be taken. Without relying on relevant data or information then the entire system will not be effective as desired. (Epstein, 2015)

The indicators should also be reliable, trustworthy and all the stakeholders in the company should believe in the output or measure provided by the system. The indicators should also be easy to understand by all the relevant personnel in the company. This makes it easy for employees of the company to act on the information and data provided by the system. The indicators of the system should also be based on data which are accessible. In any business set up the data or information should be accessible to all the relevant stakeholders for the purposes of verification and ascertaining that the system is responding to factual issues within the company.

Methodology

The company needs to put policies in place that will encourage its employees to come up with ideas that can redefine the company operations and business instead of waiting for the company to come up with latest ideas about new products and operation of the company business. (Halkias, 2016)

The company should invest in Research and Development (R&D) department whose main mandate is to come up with innovations that will make company products more attractive, high aesthetics and environmental friendliness to the consumers. There is a positive correlation between consumer behavior and innovative products that attract consumers in terms of elevated social standards and aesthetics. The company should therefore come up with more new quality products that will set standard in the market and improved brand positioning. Once the company has a strong brand in the market, then it is likely to continue to improve the sales driven by the demand created in the market. (STEGER, 2016)

The company should also create a constructive and positive work culture within its workforce for creative and innovative contributions. Waste reduction and effective effluent release is another indicator of sustainable economic dimension. The company should consider methods of reducing wastes such as recycling and repurposing. The recycling process can ensure the company uses fewer raw materials to manufacture carpets that in the long run ensure that the company does not incur huge cost to produce carpets.

The reduced cost of production will in turn enable the company to have bigger profit margin and hence improved profitability for expansion and social advantages like improved remuneration for employees. The company should also reorganize its operations to improve efficiency and make it lean by eliminating waste industrial process. Market leadership is also an important indicator of sustainable economic dimension. It effects to emphasis on greener aspects of products to make it customer friendly is a huge effort. So innovative method for the same by the marketing department is a key developmental Factor. Although the company currently falls in Dunphy phase 3 the company should still work on technological advancements and risks management aspects.

Technological advancements are key indicator in showing how the company would be sustainable economically, socially and environmentally in its business. The company should make a point of investing further in bigger capacity machines that will allow the company to expand its market beyond its traditional markets in Malaysia and some parts of the Asian continent to other new markets such as America, Europe and Africa. This will ensure that company does not depend only in mainly one market, which releases from the risk of reduced sales.

The company should also put in place effective risk management practices that ensure that company complies with all the regulations guiding carpet business in all the markets as well as the prospective markets. This should be emphasized especially when the company expands its market globally. Non Compliance to regulations is a risky venture that is likely to see the company charged with heavy penalties that may cripple business operations of the company. Now the company has not put in place a robust compliance framework that will shield the company in international markets understandably because the company has not ventured into this market. But with the call to expand its market and operation Carpet Corporation will have to ensure that its risk management practices consider all the new regulations and expectations from the new markets. (Freedman, 2010)

Conclusion

The Carpet Corporation has been successful in conquering the Asian market because of huge population, lenient environmental rules, competitive advantage over local markets and its attractive product and pricing, but the current Dunphy phase of the corporation is at phase 3 which is compliance and to bring it to phase 6 of sustainability company has to go through major changeover.

In today’s world of globalization and increased awareness of environmental safety throughout the world from social medias and other platforms the carpet corporation will have to invest huge amount of money to be a green leader with successful market sustainability. The company also needs to expand its market into different demographic’s. Also, it must understand the culture in different regions and develop & supply products suitably. It will de- risk from the company from market fluctuations to an extent effects of market fluctuations. It has to focus on brand positioning suitably to project better value and price the products accordingly to have a increased cash flow.

The aspects of economic social and environmental sustainability as discussed in the paper are addressed for the company to have more sustainable business operations. The concept of sustainability is key to the expansion of the company activities to other untapped global carpet market outside the traditional Asian market. The Company can choose to implement the issues on step by step basis to avoid plunging the into serious budgetary constraints that may cripple the business operation of the firm.