Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Sustainability - Essay Example The multidimensional perspectives of a business should therefore encompass several environmental and ecological issues and factors. In other words, in any analysis of a business’ performance, the social, cultural, health-related and monetary/financial aspects of its operations must be integrated. Thus, the idea of sustainability surpasses sustained business yields of welfare, resources and profit and touches on social and communal effects (Farley & Daly, 2004). This paper explores the benefits that Janssen UK, a medium-sized leading transnational research-based pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in High Wycombe might enjoy from sustainability, the leadership initiatives by which the company may become a leader in sustainability and how the organisation’s leadership might effect the sustainability change. The Benefits of Sustainability The big question that many people, especially company managers and CEOs ask is whether sustainability really works. In other wo rds, are there real benefits of sustainability? For Janssen UK, the general and simplest response to this question is yes. This answer is supported by the fact that other top-ranking small-, medium- and large-sized organisations in the world are either practicing or introducing sustainability to their operations and practices. In addition, more workers now choose organisations or employers based on their environmental credentials, friendliness and corporate citizenship (Hawken & Lovins, 1999). Nonetheless, owners, CEOs and managers continue to question the costs and financial benefits even as they enjoy the benefits of sustainability. It is however generally supported that businesses that seek to reduce the amount of resources or materials used in the production of the same amount of goods and services or that seek to reduce cases of sick leave while improving staff retention rates definitely enjoy the financial benefits of sustainability (Von Weizsacker, 1998). That sustainability has immense personal and professional benefits is evidenced by the reports of organisations that successfully implement sustainability programs. The benefits of sustainability for Janssen UK may be largely categorised as financial, brand and reputation, human resources and employee engagement and environmental benefits. Under the financial benefits, Janssen UK may enjoy reduced energy and water usage, hence reduced production costs (Daly & Cobb, 1999). In addition, Janssen UK could enjoy reduced paper, waste and associated costs as well as reduced use of production materials. In some cases, the company may receive grants due to its improved sustainability practices. The other likely financial benefit of sustainability to Janssen UK is visibility of business performance as a result of mandatory reporting. As mentioned earlier, businesses that implement sustainability programs have numerous human resources and employee engagement benefits. For Janssen UK, these benefits include but ar e not limited to improved working conditions, increase productivity, improved attraction and retention of labourers, increased staff loyalty and lowered costs associated with improved human resource outcomes (Jackson et al., 2008). The third category of the benefits of sustainability, the brand and reputation benefits include better corporate social responsibility performance, lowered liability and risk management, improved competitiveness and market positioning and increased