Persuasive Essay Essays Examples

Introduction

Organizations that have based their operations in other countries are highly responsible to perform their business activities and production in a socially responsible manner. This includes benefits to society, environment as well as maintaining the local labor laws and protecting the employees. If a multinational is able to act in a socially responsible manner, it provides utmost benefits to society with its ethical practices. When multinationals act in a socially responsible manner, it means they can benefit the community through reaping profits as well as indulge in social activities that benefit the community directly. However, there has been an ongoing debate that it is high time that multinationals move one step further and work towards the benefits of the environment as well. This is where the concept of triple bottom line company jumps in and it is now required that multinationals operate as the triple bottom line company so they can focus on their financial position, environmental sustainability as well as the community. In this paper, I agree with this position that organizations must make an effort to secure environment and reduce wastage during the manufacturing process in order to save energy and resources for the future generations (Rodgers and Hudson, 2011).

Multinational corporation must not only be socially responsible; they must be a triple bottom line company

It is important that multinational organizations must move one step ahead from simple practices of corporate social responsibility to providing real benefits to environment and community along with managing their profitability and financial stability. There has been a lot of charity efforts, philanthropic moves as well as cleaning programs by the employees of many organizations, but still there has been a lot required by multinational organizations in order to behave in an ethically responsible way towards the society, employees and sustainable environment. There has been a lot of maturity which has been demonstrated lately by many multinational organizations in this regard and in order to be successful and maintain their image many have moved one step ahead to follow the triple bottom line – people, planet and profitability (Laff, 2009).
It is important that the difference between the triple bottom line and corporate social responsibility must be understood to understand further the concept of this argument. When organizations follow corporate social responsibility they are focused towards profitability in order to maintain future prospects of the company (Coons, 2009). Secondly, organizations perform philanthropic activities such as cleaning up beaches, giving charity to poor people, celebrating earth hour and earth day, etc (Aras, 2015). One of the most prominent issues that arises is that in order to fulfill an economic responsibility, organizations indulge in many legal issues such as dumping of waste and toxic materials in seawater and in other ways that are hazardous for the future generations. The exposure of employees to these toxic materials will be harmful to their children (Laffs, 2009).
This is where corporate social responsibility is different from the triple bottom line, which focuses upon community well-being, sustainable environment, and profitability for organization’s survival. The concept of corporate social responsibility does not take into account the preservation of resources and energy for the future generations, but the triple bottom line places a lot of emphasize on the importance of natural resources (Coons, 2009). The main idea behind it is that organizations must meet their current needs without having to comprise the natural resources, power and energy for the generations to come – in brief, it demands to save for the younger lot (Rodgers and Hudson, 2011).
Let’s analyze the triple bottom line of Walmart that has been under a lot of critique for its corporate social responsibility efforts. The company has now moved one-step ahead towards triple bottom line in order to benefit all three aspects of business operations. If we measure the profitability, by the end of 2014, the company had made more than US$ 475 billion in revenue with a continuous expansion of its international business operations (Trefis Team, 2014). The efforts towards preserving the environment has been fundamental for examples, in Colorado and Texas the Walmart store developed its own solar panels, water storage area, irrigation system and wind turbines all in an effort to save energy and power resources. The natural plastics were made from corn so that perishable food items like vegetables and fruits can be packed. This saved almost 800,000 gallons of gasoline along with a reduction in 10 million pounds of greenhouse gases (Media Release, 2006).
In triple bottom line, economic sustainability is considered to be an extremely important phenomenon because instead of focusing upon short-term financial results of the company, it gives utmost importance to long-term profitability and financial stability of an organization. Hence, it is the responsibility of every multinational organization that they develop a business plan that calls for an action for long-term stability of the company, in a way that in turn it benefits the environment and protects the society (Nidumolu, 2009). For example a chemical factory, if disposes it toxic waste material in an illegal material and this material is found by someone who lawsuits the chemical factory, it can result in a heavy financial burden and can also result in insolvency of this factory if it is unable to meet the legal costs. On the other hand, it is better that the factory, disposes of its toxic material in a legal manner, face short-term waste disposal costs and maintains its standards. (Nidumolu, 2009).
As it has been discussed earlier that triple bottom lines, stresses the preservation and efficient utilization of natural resources, energy and effective power utilization process, in order to save for the future generation. The current wealth distribution system is unequal as the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer – which leads to immense anger and frustration among the general population towards the injustice wealth distribution system. The focus of triple bottom line is towards economic and distributive justice system. This means that multinationals must act in a responsible manner and efficiently utilize the natural resources so that they are available for our children (Aras, 2015).

Conclusion

It is important that multinationals operate as the triple bottom line company so they can focus on their financial position, environmental sustainability as well as the community. The concept of corporate social responsibility does not take into account the preservation of resources and energy for the future generations, but the triple bottom line places a lot of emphasize on the importance of natural resources. The main idea behind it is that organizations must meet their current needs without having to comprise the natural resources, power and energy for the generations to come. The focus of triple bottom line is towards economic and distributive justice system. This means that multinationals must act in a responsible manner and efficiently utilize the natural resources.

References

Arias G. (2015) Sustainable Markets for Sustainable Business: A Global Perspective for Business and Financial Markets, Gower Publishing, p.50 and 52.
Coons, R. (2013) Corporate social responsibility: Pursuing the triple bottom line, Chemical Week, Vol. 175 Issue 15, pp.21-23.
Laff M. (Feb, 2009) Triple Bottom Line, T+D, Vol. 63 Issue 2, pp.34-39.
Media Release. (2006). Alliance to Save Energy Recognizes Nation’s Largest Private Electricity User — Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. — For Commitment to Energy Efficiency, Alliance to Save Energy, https://www.ase.org/news/alliance-save-energy-recognizes-nations-largest-private-electricity-user-wal-mart-stores-inc
Rogers K. and Hudson B. (Sept, 2011) The Triple Bottom Line: The Synergies of Transformative Perceptions and Practices for Sustainability, OD Practitioner, Vol. 43 Issue 4, pp.3-9.
Trefis Team (2014) “Week In Review: Wal-Mart, Costco And Target” Forbes.com