Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
It promotes inter-generational equity – production that enables consumption of goods and services for the people of today without compromising consumption of people in the future.
Sustainability is a complex concept that encompasses environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Operations management has an important role in ensuring sustainability by creating a balance between the ecological, social and economic needs of people today and those in the future.
In a typical factory, production management is about planning supplies of raw materials, organizing equipment, and controlling that the finished products are of the required standard. And if the finished product is somewhat defective, the operations manager will need to identify the cause(s) of the problem.
Hence, the role of operations manager is not only to ensure that different stages of the production process are correctly carried out, but to take those economic, social and ecological factors into consideration.
S-E-E Model of Sustainability
The S-E-E Model of sustainability reflects the notion that the world is an interconnected system of social, economic and environmental needs that must succeed over time.
It includes the three spheres of sustainability such as:
- Social sustainability. This includes aspects related to health and safety, skilled workforce, supporting communities, education, standard of living, equal opportunities and so on.
- Economic sustainability. This includes aspects related to jobs, assets, investment, wealth creation, profit, cost savings, economic growth, Research and Development (R&D) and so on.
- Environmental sustainability. This includes aspects related to climate, water, natural resources and their use, biodiversity, environmental management, pollution prevention and so on.
Additionally, the mix of social-economic factors means social equity including fair trade, workers’ rights and business ethics, the mix of social-environmental factors means healthy environment including environmental justice and local and global natural resources stewardship, and the mix of economic-environmental factors means sustainable economy including energy efficiency and subsidies for use of natural resources.
Let’s take a look at these three pillars of sustainable development in details.
A. Social sustainability
Social sustainability refers to the fact that more and more organizations are becoming aware of their responsibility toward their workers and shareholders, as internal stakeholders, and toward customers, suppliers, local communities and the government, as external stakeholders. As a consequence, they seek to ensure that all employees are fairly treated, that their working conditions are acceptable, and that the quality of life for local people is not negatively affected by the decisions taken by the organization for example in the case of expansion or relocation.
Social sustainability is an ability of the society to develop in such a way that it meets the social well-being needs of the current and future generations; enables society to optimize the quality of life for people and their descendants. It examines social interactions and structures that are necessary for sustainable development which means meeting the social well-being needs of the current and future generations.
Social sustainability enables society to optimize the quality of life for people and their descendants by removing social barriers that prevent a community from advancing – fostering economic and social prosperity as well as reducing poverty. Embracing social justice will bring many opportunities in terms of recruitment and retention of workers as well as corporate reputation. This includes creating jobs and paying TAXes, attracting positive media publicity and increasing corporate social responsibility.
Examples: Poverty, unemployment, unfair treatment, social exclusion through racism and gender inequalities, poor working conditions, inequality due to gender, inefficient allocation of resources.
B. Ecological sustainability
Ecological sustainability refers to the fact that more and more managers understand the negative impact that their organization may have on the natural environment, especially different forms of pollution, such as air pollution, water pollution or noise pollution.
It means production of goods and services for the people today without endangering the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It requires efficient and sensible use of the worlds scarce resources so that they do not become exhausted or overpolluted. With exponential population, there is an increased pressure on the world’s scarce resources which makes ecological sustainability a key priority for many operations managers.
Ecological sustainability can ensure using more environmentally friendly practices in the production process such as green technologies, recycling, conservation and preservation.
Examples: Overfishing, destruction of rain forests, different types of pollution: water, soil, air, light, noise, etc., depleting earth’s natural resources.
C. Economic sustainability
Economic sustainability refers to the fact that budgets must be respected; wastage must be kept to a minimum and whenever possible, further savings should be made, for example through greater efficiency (often measured in monetary terms). The aim is to use the available resources and raw materials to their best advantage ensuring profitability over the long term (as a profitable organization is more likely to continue to operate from one year to the next).
Economic sustainability requires production managers to consider which resources such as land, labor, capital and enterprise are not used efficiently in order to correct the situation. It refers to development that meets the economic needs of the present generation using existing available resources without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It requires production managers to consider which resources are not used efficiently. Overusing non-renewable resources can make it more difficult to sustain output of goods and services over time. And with the continual rise in world population, businesses may find it hard to make sure that economic growth and its impact on the natural environment is sustainable.
Economic sustainability encourages businesses to be more responsible in their use of resources and designing products that are easier to recycle or that are biodegradable. It will result in improvements to business operations in the long run.
Examples: The use of fossil fuels as energy sources, climate change, less arable farming land due to urbanization, excessive waste, raw materials that are not environmentally friendly.
In operations management, the appropriate raw materials need to be gathered and finished products must meet quality requirements. If an operations manager finds a defect, he or she must look for the cause.
While operations manager needs to look for causes of defective products, they also need to remember that sustainability is vital for any business striving to establish profitability in the long term. This will enable the business to survive, continue operating year after year and contribute towards the economic wellbeing of others via the creation of jobs and wealth.
