SIB

Jaroslava Kubátová
Sustainability,
sustainable development
• What it is?

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• Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.

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• What a sustainable business is?

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A sustainable business is concerned about the
current and future
• social,
• environmental,
• and economic
impacts associated with its operations.

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• Sustainability requires systems thinking.

• What does it mean?

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• Systems thinking is the awareness and
understanding that everything is related in some
way and that nothing exists in isolation.

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The three dimensions
of sustainability
• A sustainable business is one that is concerned
about the social, environmental, and economic
impacts associated with its current and future
operations and the ability of the business to meet
present needs while ensuring its and others’ long-
term survival

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Triple bottom line
A business’s contribution to
• social justice,
• environmental quality,
• and economic prosperity
is referred to as the triple bottom line

Sometimes also: People – Planet - Profit

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Social impact - people
• The social impact of a business’s operations is
viewed both internally and externally and ensures
that the business’s entire operations across the
supply chain are socially responsible and ethical.

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Discussion
• How can companies increase their positive social
impact?

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Environmental impact -
Planet
• The contribution of a business to preserving
environmental quality

(The business that focuses exclusively on its

environmental impact, rather than focusing on the
triple bottom line emphasis of a sustainable business,
is referred to as a green business .)

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Discussion
• How can companies increase their positive (or at
least to decrease their negative) environmental
impact?

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Economic impact - Profit
• Economic impact does not refer to the profitability
of the business as indicated on the financial
statements, although profitability is critical for
survival.
• The sustainable business will consider its own
economic impact on the communities in which it
operates.
• The sustainable business’s contribution to a strong
and healthy local economy will lead to a strong and
healthy future for the business

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Discussion
• How can companies increase their positive
economic impact?

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• https
://www.corporateknights.com/reports/2020-global
-100/

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Assignment for the next
seminar
• Every student chooses one company from the list
and for the next seminar prepares cca 15 min long
presentation about the company - what the
company does/does not to be a sustainable
business.
• What can other companies learn from the chosen
company?

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• https
://trends.sustainability.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/s
a-annual-trends-2020.pdf
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Source:
A Primer on Sustainable Business
https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_a-primer-on-sust
ainable-business
/

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