Sustainable operations

On the other hand, the environmental outcomes include activities to reduce the negative effects of supply chains or operations on to the natural environment. Sustainable operations emphasize mainly on specific concepts and dimensions including sustainable product design, environmental legislation in relation to organization’s operations, sustainable procurement, life cycle analysis, sustainable management of supply chains, corporate social responsibility, industrial symbiosis as well as research on various approaches of interdisciplinary sustainability. The concept of sustainable operations of a company, firm or business is understood by the enterprise’s ability to attain its goals as well as increase its long-term shareholder value through the integration of the social, economic and environmental opportunities into its strategic plans. Human resource management Human resources is usually regarded as the most valuable asset for most businesses and in general there are two unique concepts in sustainable human resource management.

The first concept proposes that human resource management should integrative to reconcile social responsibility, self-responsibility as well as economic competitiveness of the business. For instance, Gorah Elephant Camp in Addo Elephant National Park has adopted the model of commercialization and concessions which involves the transfer of goods and services to third-party operators such as restaurants and lodges through the involvement of various stakeholders such as local communities, private sectors and public conservation agencies. These stakeholders have different commitments, for example the private sector provides to the public agency some proportion of turn-over and capital investment whereas the protected public areas provide resource grounds upon which business models of private sectors are built. Product development In any sustainable development program of a company, business or a firm, product development is particularly a critical point of intervention for society transformation towards sustainability.

However, current product development practices are insufficient evidenced by the socio-ecological impacts of production disposal, extracting, use and distribution of products. The impacts of a product, both positive and negative through its entire life cycle is largely dependent on the decisions made during the product development. The camp also has enacted fire-fighting plans to mitigate fire emergencies in the premises by systematically fixing and constantly servicing equipment such as fire blankets and extinguishers. Sustainable supply chain management In the world of business, sustainable supply chain management captures the trends to utilize purchasing practices and policies to aid sustainable development of the firm. The sustainable operations of a firm mainly focuses on environmental aspects of production while ignoring service sector challenges and other aspects of sustainability.

Sustainable supply chain management is most important in tour operators and game reserves such as Etosha national park because the product depends on supplier activities including transport, accommodation and activities and therefore the contribution of tour operators to sustainable tourism are more effective through formulation and implementation of policies that recognize responsibility for the impacts of suppliers. The concept of sustainable supply chain management is comprises the following as a set of managerial practices: • Imperative environmental impacts • Consideration of the entire value chain for each product throughout all of its stages • A multi-disciplinary perspective comprising the whole product life-cycle In creation of competitive advantage, businesses incorporate the concepts of order winners and order qualifiers as well as the management functions in supply performance and controlling operations by focusing on various relevant concepts of supply chain management and sustainable operation.

This means that how buildings are operated and managed will have significant influence on the society, planet and building sector in future. Sustainability has constantly grown in prominence and importance in businesses and through facility management, the emphasis is shifting from emphasis for new constructions to influencing the already standing building operations as well. Sustainability therefore presents an essential opportunity for facility management to maintain its leadership in any firm or company. Currently, most organizations have set long term corporate sustainable and strategic goals of investing in buildings with zero energy. This means that these facilities generate as much energy and power as they consume without any carbon emissions. Corporate responsibility reporting encompass both the financial and non-financial information of an organization made available to the public in a separate report or together with the firm’s annual report.

The performance of publicly traded companies is evaluated by both internal and external stakeholders on the basis of the information created and disseminated by the corporate management. The publicly reported information reflects the corporate governance within the firm. Additionally, the financial or non-financial information of a firm reveal the firm’s direction thus allowing the management to develop improvement plans and execute them for sustainable operations. Marketing and communications Marketing and communication are among the most important components of sustainability of any organization. Gebhardt, Andreas. "Product Development – Product Formation – Rapid Product Development. " Rapid Prototyping, 2003, pp. Hebert, Paulette, and Sylvia Chaney. "Enhancing facilities management through generational awareness. " Journal of Marketing Management, vol.  14, no.  6, 1998, pp. Morana, Joëlle. "The Economic Aspect of Sustainable Supply Chain Management.