Sustainable Management includes but is not inclusive to three key branches: the environment, the needs of present and future generations, and the economy.
These three branches create the ability to keep a system running without depleting resources and nourishing the needs of future generations. Sustainable Management is important towards the quality of our planet and can be applied towards every aspect of our lives. “Green business” has minimal negative impacts on the global environment, community, and the economy.
Sustainability is a major issue for everyone right now, no industry is excluded from the struggle, it is part of resource management that seeks to make the consumption of natural resources as sustainable as possible. The goal is to replenish resources as quickly as they are depleted. It may not appear to be practical, however, sustainable management can assist in prolonging these natural resources for as long as possible.
Sustainable Management looks at two factors: the rate of consumption and the rate of replenishment. The goal is to keep these two factors balanced. There are certain regulations that promote replenishment. Many policies require that forest trees be replanted when cut down. It does help towards to sustainable practices.
In relationship to facilities management, sustainability requires a systematic approach to business. Facility management supports other systems within ERP:FM; facility managers are connecting facility management strategies and sustainability. Their role is to provide resources and an environment that is productive.
Most businesses consider sustainability to be a very important of their overall strategy. However, few of those businesses are taking a proactive approach to managing sustainability. Less than 30 percent of U.S. companies seek opportunities to embed it into their practices. One reason that businesses do not address sustainability is that they have no clear definition of what it is. Other businesses engage in sustainable management within developing and marketing products, managing internal operations, managing reputation and branding, and overall strategy.
There are some best practices that encourage sustainability and help businesses to be more proactive: shareholder engagement, environmental management systems, reporting and disclosure, life cycle analysis. Businesses that are sustainable have been shown to retain employees and have less financial risk. These are innovative and progressive companies. Some examples of how businesses can become more sustainable are:
1) financial firms going paperless,
2) cell phone companies having a mineral resource supply chain, and
3) banks using carbon-free operations.
Other examples of sustainable management are solar energy, wind energy, and green spaces. An advantage to using solar energy is that it’s free (minus hardware costs) and at a limitless supply, which helps to reduce pollution and is financially a smart position.
Sustainability management will be a buzz word in 2016 and 2017 with more businesses looking at software solutions to help monitor their needs and match expectations that are set out to return the results that matter in this sector, components within ERP:FM matched with hundreds of hardware providers global can help you as a business reach your company goals.