Natural Step Organizations example essay topic

The Natural Step promotes sustainability, and to define sustainability this is when materials are used in continuous cycles, reliable sources of energy is used continuously, and qualities of being human is sustainable. Examples would be as follows: creativity, co-ordination, appreciation, and spiritual and intellectual development. The Natural Step sets out a framework to guide companies and organizations in a direction towards sustainable development and defines the framework it lays out. The purpose of the framework is to explain in the simplest terms so that companies can understand it and integrate in their everyday work. It includes four core processes: i. Understanding the nature of business and society that is unsustainable and the interest of inspiring towards sustainability. ii.

Understanding the principles for sustainability, i. e., the four systems Conditions.. Strategic visioning through back-casting from a desired sustainable future. Back- casting is determining steps required reaching the desired state. iv. Identify the desired vision for the company and putting forward strategic steps to move the company in. The Natural Step framework is used to integrate environmental considerations in to businesses every day work. It assists in creating goals to move companies towards a sustainable direction.

It is important that organizations and companies move in this direction, as the human population is around six billion. Humans carelessness has caused life-supporting systems such as croplands, wetlands, the ozone layer, forestry, fisheries and groundwater to decline, and companies that close their eyes to environmental reality are likely to hit the wall. In today's society, visible forms of molecular garbage, waste and visible waste is producing and accumulating in the air. What happens is societal demand increases, and room to meet those demands decreases, in other words there is no where to store the resources. More people are coming in to the world, resources are required to facilitate and there are increased pressures on the capacity of the ecosphere to absorb waste. If we do not create a sustainable society eventually, our businesses will hit the wall.

The only option is the restoration of cyclical processes, where wastes become new resources for society or nature. However, if humans realize that the ecosystem has limits, and they work towards the four systems conditions, this could be avoided and chances of a sustainable future might be possible. In knowing what the framework contains, you also need to keep in mind the four systems conditions that guide companies and organizations in the direction of a sustainable future. The Natural Step concepts and methodology shows the discipline of sustainability in the basic laws of thermodynamics. The purpose of the four systems conditions is to find a framework for discussing sustainable human activities through non-overlapping first order principles. To come up with the principles, research was on human activities, and how they could destroy or deteriorate the ecological system that we depend on.

In a sustainable society, this would not happen. The four systems conditions do not tell the company what to do; it provides the first order principles that must be met for sustainability. The frameworks where this sustainability can take place are derived through the four system conditions which are as follows: i. Substances from the Earths crust must not systematically increase in nature. ii. Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in nature..

The physical basis for the productivity and the diversity of nature most not be systematically diminished, and iv. We must be fair and efficient when meeting human needs. Natural Step provides a route map for any organization wishing to get to grips with sustainable development. For most companies, life is not as simple as it used to be. Businesses get more pressure from government and consumers, because they want them to be more environmentally and socially responsible. They must make decisions about their future development, in relation to social, economic and environmental impacts of every choice.

All businesses must deal with the environment in a way that leads to a sustainable future in not doing so may lead to them not having a future. We need to meet human needs without diminishing the Earths capacity to provide for the needs of future generations. Few people will disagree that sustainability is a good idea, although most find it difficult as it has complex implications. The problems of social and the environment will not be solved unless we rethink how we interact with the environment, like the for example how the following companies have put these issues into effect. Companies such as the three discussed further down have integrated the environment in to their business reality by using The Natural Step framework. The companies recognize that the economy and the environment are linked and natures limits help profitability while improving their chances of growing in a competitive world.

In addition to The Natural step more and more companies are upgrading their environmental Management Systems to conform to International Standards. Such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in Europe or the ISO 14001 Environmental system standard. The creation is by the International Standards organization. Business customers are increasingly requiring that suppliers become certified according to one of the internationally recognized standards.

They need a guide and that guide could be The Natural Step. ISO 14001 standard is implemented to achieve excellence by reducing waste, while the ISO 9001 standard is implemented to reduce waste by achieving excellence. ISO 14001 will change the way we do business. Its main clauses are as follows: General requirements, Environmental policy, and Planning, Implementation and operation, checking and corrective action and management review. The environmental policy gives direction to reduce environment degradation. Management review is similar to the 1 SO 9000 system.

Benefits arising from implementation are improvements in bottom line, increased profits, operations, marketing, regulatory, compliance and social, being capable to identify opportunities for improvement, waste reduction, waste reused, recycled or eliminated. The Natural step organizations have been launched in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. Japan and South Africa are now in the process of establishing Natural Step organizations. The Natural Step framework is considered by Ikea, Scandic Hotels, Interface and Collins Pine to provide the best available organizing structure for understanding sustainability. The Natural Step is relatively young and their impacts and results have not been evaluated or widely communicated. A large part of destruction is mainly due to business activities or through products and services that they provide.

Though in my opinion it no longer matters who is to blame, all that matters is, that responsibility is taken towards the direction of sustainability for our society. The Natural step provides the vision that guides a company toward sustainability. Dev Con has fairly good chances at winning the bid, since the company wants to be environmentally oriented, and its vision for the project at issue is centered on the environmental aspects as well as community sustainability at large. Besides, the company has enough human and material resources to perform construction at the highest standards possible, thus enabling those who issued the bid to enjoy fast results and efficient methods guaranteed by the company. The sustainability issues, however, should be given even more emphasis within the organization itself, since by doing so the upper level management would ensure the highest concerns of all the employees directed at the sustainability issues and associated problems.