sustainable development

Sustainable DevelopmentAn attempt to review the field, and re-define how

organizations can tackle sustainability more effectively

The 2nd International Conference

on Organization and Management (ICOM) 2016

Organized by the College of Business Administration at Abu Dhabi

University in collaboration with Asia Academy of Management

20-21 November 2016 | Park Rotana, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

• Core Functions of Organizations

• The Sustainability Concept

• Social Responsibility from a Global

Perspective

• The need for Sustainability

• Barriers to Sustainability

• 4 Considerations for Organizations

• Conclusion and Recommendations

Agenda

Organizations Focusin Governments and

Private Sectors?

Organizations are typically driven

by a set of pre-defined objectives

Sustainability

Sustainability

.. the ability to ‘sustain’,

support, continue,

maintain, ..

Sustainability in

Organizations

.. the ability of the

organization to produce

efficiently, and grow

economically while

maintaining

commitment to its

society demands of its

social responsibility.

Organizationsare parts of the

community

Adverse effects of businesses on

nature may lead to extinction!

Honey bees have been dying off at an

unprecedented rate - up to 30% per

year in in the last decade?

Scientists claim that chemicals used in

commercial agriculture have lethal

effects on bees?

Why would one care about

Bees extinction?

Bees play a vital role in sustaining planet’s ecosystem

84% of crops (400 plants) need bees to increase yields and quality!

Bees alone can impact planet’s

ecosystem, level of oxygen, ….

Social

Responsibility

Definition

Is a moral theory that

any entity, whether an

organization or an

individual, has to work

for the benefit of society

as a whole.

Social responsibility

Maintain a balance between economy and ecology (or ecosystem).

Examples of how

human development

impacted the world we

live in today ?

Environmental Pollution biggest global killers, affecting

more than 100 million people

Climate Changes is threating

increase of carbon dioxide

ratio by 35%

Loss of 129 million

hectares of natural

forests in the last 20

years impacting the

ratio of oxygen!

Loss of non-Renewable Energy

(natural gas to run out in 35 years –

Oil reserves in 70 years)!

World challenges require

all organizations to work

together

World Poverty

925 million people

don’t have enough

to eat.

2.8 billion people

survive on less

than $2 a day.

Explosive Spread of

Diseases and Epidemics

causing over 17 million

annual deaths.

Malnutrition is a 3rd

cause of children death

(3.1 million annually)

20% of world population

suffer from hunger and

lack of clean water

Employment

opportunities in a cut-

throat competing

business markets

Unemployment ranges 13% among youth, and approach 30% in ME.

Providing labor' rights,

including fair wages,

social security and

health insurance

Examples only:

1. reduced extreme poverty by half

2. drinking water for more than 2 billion people

3. Death rates fell 25%

4. improved living standard for 200 million

5. Reduction of hunger from 23% to 15%

6. Child mortality fell from 87 per thousand to 51

7. Decline in illiteracy among children from

102 million to 57

Results obtained from

UN CSR Programs

So what’s

Sustainability Again?

Sustainability

Balance performance

in terms of the

equivalent

environmental and

social ‘bottom lines’ in

order to deliver

sustainable economic

value to shareholders

Sustainability

.. the ability to ‘sustain’,

support, continue,

maintain, ..

Why Organizations Address

Sustainability?

During 2007-2012,

revenues of

$15 billioncame from energy

saving and eco-

friendly products.

Successfully reduced

waste by two-thirds.

$20 million annual savings

+ prevention of 17,000

tonnes of waste being

sent to landfills.

Through eco-

friendly products

and services,

EUR 32 billionwere brought in as

revenue ..

“For every

dollar we spend,

we are getting

US$1.50-2.00

back.”

Wayne Balta, Vice president,

corporate environmental

affairs and product safety,

IBM

Barriers to Sustainability?

Why sustainable initiatives hindered?


Lack of knowledge, and inability to

measure and track results


Disconnect between goals and

organisation operations

Failing point!

Loosing market

share!

Why?

Company was

complacent, and

unable to see

disruptive

change coming!

Overflowed with

complacency

Communication

issue within the

company

Failure to adapt to

new technology

Organizations seek

one-size-fits-allapproach

Dow Jones World Sustainability Index

-

500.00

1,000.00

1,500.00

2,000.00

2,500.00

7/24/1998 4/19/2001 1/14/2004 10/10/2006 7/6/2009 4/1/2012 12/27/2014 9/22/2017

USD DJSI World Total Return

Sustainability Assessment Criteria

Where to start

from?

The subject field is broad

Knowledge Learning

People Leadership

Large gap in the demand

and supply of content around

sustainability practices

Need for holistic,

top-downimplementation

knowledge as opposed to

ad hoc attempts at

resolving efficiency

issues.

Knowledge base to

promote long-term and rational

perspective vs.

Immediate concerns

Organizations

need to

learnhow to

sustain

Institutions should become

learning organizationsthat discover, interpreted and

import and export knowledge.

Current organizational practices are maintained

at single and double loop levels

assumptions

Triple loop enables new learning to

improve performance & complex

problem solving

Innovation in the

approaches to

organizational

sustainability and in

adding value to society

Organizations need to adopt

programs and grants for education

& training to develop skills

As organizations develop, personnel

will also need to develop

Management

Teams

Need to come to the

fore.. And deal with

crucial elements of short

and long-term

sustainability matters.

Knee-jerk Reactions

to unplanned problems

will inhibit

implementing a truly

sustainable approach.

Creativity and

Innovation

Safe options stifle

innovation, and

inhibits generation of

new solutions

Disrupt Old

Business

Models

Sustainability is

possible if old

ways are

challenged to

generate

innovation

Conclusion

Need for long

term vision and

strategy

The role of Government

and international

organizations in defining &

agreeing on social

development priorities to

be targeted.

Encouraging

commit to the

achievement of

intended

specific social

goals

Encouraging

Partnership

between public

and Private

sectors

Promoting the concept of

organizational learning

in both government and

private sectors to

complement national

education systems.

Appreciation need to

translate into incentives

and privileges.

Remember the 4

dimensions of

knowledge,

learning, people,

and leadership!

Professor Ali M. Al-Khouri | First Vice-Chairman | Arab Federation for

E-Commerce | Arab Economic Unity Council |

League of Arab States | [email protected]

Thank You

@DrAliAlKhouriSlide Share: www.slideshare.net/alkhouri

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