Improving -the Triple Bottom Line with Sustainability
living wages are paid, if child labor is used, and whether work hours are excessive. Apple, GE,
Procter & Gamble, and Walmart are examples of companies that conduct supplier audits to
uncover any harmful or exploitative business practices that are counter to their sustainability
Recognizing that customers increasingly want to know that the materials in the products
goals and objectives.
Recognizing that customers increasingly want to know that the materials in the product
they buy are safe and produced in a responsible way, Walmart initiated the development of the
worldwide sustainable product index for evaluating the sustainability of products. The goals
of that initiative are to create a more transparent supply chain, accelerate the adoption of best
practices, and drive product innovation.
Walmart found a correlation between supply-chain transparency, positive labor practices,
community involvement, and quality, efficiency, and cost. Walmart- is committed to working
with its suppliers to sell quality products that are safe, that create value for customers, and that
are produced in a sustainable way. The firm is accomplishing this in four ways:
1. Improving livelihoods through the creation of productive, healthy, and-safe workplaces
and promoting quality of life
2. Building strong communities through access to affordable, high-quality services such as
education and job training that support workers and their families
3. Preventing exposure to substances that are considered harmful or toxic to human health
4. Promoting health and wellness by increasing access to nutritious products, encouraging
healthy lifestyles, and promoting access to health care
Walmart's CEO has said that companies that are unfair to their people are also likely to
skimp on quality and that he will not continue to do business with those suppliers. Accordingly,
operations managers must consider the working conditions in which they place their employees.
This includes training and safety orientations, before-shift exercises, ear plugs, safety
goggles, and rest breaks to reduce the possibility of worker fatigue and injury. Operations
managers must also make decisions regarding the disposal of material and chemical waste,
including hazardous materials, so they don't harm employees or the community.
Planet When discussing the subject of sustainability, our planet's environment is the first thing
that comes to mind, so it understandably gets the most attention from managers. Operations
managers look for ways to reduce the environmental impact of their operations, whether from
raw material selection, process innovation, alternative product delivery methods, or disposal of
products at their end-of-life. The overarching objective for operations managers is to conserve
scarce resources, thereby reducing the negative impact on the environment. Here are a few examples
of how organizations creatively make their operations more environmentally friendly:
S.C. Johnson, the company that makes Windex, Saran Wrap, Pledge, Ziploc bags, and
Raid, developed Greenlist, a classification system that evaluates the impact of raw materials
on human and environmental health. By using Greenlist, S.C. Johnson has eliminated
millions of pounds of pollutants from its products.
Thirty-one public school districts across the state of Kentucky operate hybrid electric
school buses. They estimate fuel savings as high as 40%, with fuel mileage of 7.5 mpg
increasing to 12 miles per gallon, relative to standard diesel buses.
BMW designs automobiles with recycled materials and with materials that can be
recycled or reused after the vehicle has reached its end-of-life. BMW recycles and reuses
many of its plastic components for its newer automobiles to reduce the amount of waste
headed for landfills.
To gauge their environmental impact on the planet, many companies are measuring their
carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is a measure of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
caused directly and indirectly by an organization, a product, an event, or a person. A substantial
portion of greenhouse gases are released naturally by farming, cattle, and decaying forests
and, to a lesser degree, by manufacturing and services. The most common greenhouse gas produced
by human activities is carbon dioxide, primarily from burning fossil fuels for electricity
generation, heating, and transport. Operations managers are being asked to do their part to
reduce GHG emissions.
Industry leaders such as Frito-Lay have been able to break down the carbon emissions from
various stages in the production process. For instance, in potato chip production, a 34.5-gram
(1.2 ounce) bag of chips is responsible for about twice its weight in emissions—75 grams per
bag (see Figure S5.2).
Profit Social and environmental sustainability do not exist without economic sustainability.
Econo