Should Businesses Go Green
“Should Businesses Go Green”
Recently, environmental issues have converted into a major concern on a global scope leading to economic instabilities; these issues range from preservation and energy use, to deforestation and water shortage. (Videen, 2011) As a result, a phenomenon that has appeared over 20 years, “Green Movement”, has become a center of the discussion. (Fok, 2012) The term “Green” became popular in the context of describing the environmental conscious company, which is concerned primarily with pursuing business practices that would help to ensure long-term sustainability. The concept of sustainable development has been formalized and stabilized over decades; United Nations defined it as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”. (UN DESA, 1987) Constant social and political attention to these matters encourages firms to sustain awareness about externalities their operating activities have on the environment, and whether their resource management decisions are viable in the long-run. Social permission theory also challenges to prove the moral foundations for business stakeholders. It implies that a business is not autonomous entity. The behavior of the businesses is legitimized by the social norms of their founder-society; thereby, society has ultimate control over the businesses’ moral obligations and responsibilities. (Hussain, 1999) Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to argue that businesses do have a moral responsibility to the society, which, in fact, forces them to go green. Moreover, in today’s rapidly growing economy, businesses are expected to fully understand that the resources available for future generation are greatly affected by their actions.
First of all, I would like to start with two questions that are important in further arguments. Do people, as individuals, at first place, have a commitment to the nature? And if yes, what makes it
Recently, environmental issues have converted into a major concern on a global scope leading to economic instabilities; these issues range from preservation and energy use, to deforestation and water shortage. (Videen, 2011) As a result, a phenomenon that has appeared over 20 years, “Green Movement”, has become a center of the discussion. (Fok, 2012) The term “Green” became popular in the context of describing the environmental conscious company, which is concerned primarily with pursuing business practices that would help to ensure long-term sustainability. The concept of sustainable development has been formalized and stabilized over decades; United Nations defined it as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”. (UN DESA, 1987) Constant social and political attention to these matters encourages firms to sustain awareness about externalities their operating activities have on the environment, and whether their resource management decisions are viable in the long-run. Social permission theory also challenges to prove the moral foundations for business stakeholders. It implies that a business is not autonomous entity. The behavior of the businesses is legitimized by the social norms of their founder-society; thereby, society has ultimate control over the businesses’ moral obligations and responsibilities. (Hussain, 1999) Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to argue that businesses do have a moral responsibility to the society, which, in fact, forces them to go green. Moreover, in today’s rapidly growing economy, businesses are expected to fully understand that the resources available for future generation are greatly affected by their actions.
First of all, I would like to start with two questions that are important in further arguments. Do people, as individuals, at first place, have a commitment to the nature? And if yes, what makes it
Cited: Bansal, P., Roth, K., “Why companies go green: a model of ecological responsiveness”, Academy of Management Journal. 2000 Cambra-Fierro Jesús, Hart Susan and Polo-Redondo Yolanda Gray, A., “When sustainability means more than green”. 2011 Hussain, S., “The Ethics of “Going Green”: The Corporate Social Responsility” Jeurissen, R. and Keijzers, G., “Future Generations and Business Ethics”, Ethics Quarterly. 2004 Kirby, A United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). “Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development”. 1987. A/Res/42/187. Available at: http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187 Videen, G