Sustainability And Managers

Sustainability has become a major issue during the past years. Adams (2008) commented that population become increasingly concerned about the values of the organizations they choose to work for - and buy goods and services from. This forces manager to implement goals associated with sustainability to ensure employees are motivated also to keep customer satisfaction of their product/service. An example of these goals is the one made by Canon. Canon created what they call Canon Group Environmental Charter that is based on a corporate philosophy of “achieving corporate growth and development while contributing to the prosperity of the world and the happiness of humankind” (Canon 2007).

In it’s report the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). Inevitably, corporations around the world began to include the sustainability factor into their decision-making. It certainly then will affect the managers in that certain corporation. This essay will try to explain how managers react to sustainability and how it affects the four functions of managers. As well as giving an example of a corporation that have taken sustainability into consideration in a form of corporate responsibility.

As managers coordinate the work of his/her subordinates to achieve better efficiency and effectiveness, they perform certain functions in the corporation. Although they differ in a way in every corporation, the four functions of a manager are as follow; planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Huszczo, 2004, p. 26). Managers that are performing the planning function set goals, they also identify the procedures in accomplishing the goal or the strategy to achieve the goals, and determine the timeframe in which those procedures have to be finished by (Huszczo, 2004, p. 26). After the planning function, a manager then will organize his/her subordinates. A manager that are performing the organizing function will then expand on the procedures that the team have to take in order to complete the goal. He/she will also assign who, when, what, and how the task will be done (Robbins et al. 2006, p. 11).

Managers will be affected by the issue of sustainability in a sense that they have to incorporate the sustainability issue into their planning stage. They will have to put out clear goals such as reducing paper usage, or/and decreasing the carbon emission of the workplace. Another case that could happen is if a manager wants to increase brand awareness, what they could do is start doing environmental awareness program that can increase their brand awareness. A clear goal is needed so there are no miscommunication between managers in a corporation or between managers and other employees.

In Canon, they “strive to make products that are environment- and people-friendly throughout the entire product life-cycle” (Canon, 2007). With this, Canon’s managers can argue that this adds value to Canon’s product compared to other competitor’s product or if their working places are more valuable to their worker than before. This argument can be backed up by comments of Adams previously stated that people are more aware about the values of products they buy and who they work for.

After a goal have been settled, a manager then have to organize how his/her subordinates do in order to achieve the goal. If a manager sets out goal that aim to reduce carbon emission of the workplace, the manager can implement some rules regarding use of electricity or hot water. Then he/she will have to assign someone to supervise so the rule is carried out. Managers have to judge who will have to supervise and adjust the task so it is not affecting other tasks that those people have to do. Managers also need to minimize the risk of unimportant conflict that can reduce effectiveness.

As for Canon’s goal, Canon introduce the three continuous steps, produce, use, and recycle following the phrase “establishing an environmental assurance system throughout the life-cycle of the products”(Canon, 2007). In produce they aim to design something compact resulting in even smaller and lighter model, with this the top managers of Canon is targeting those managers lower in the production or manufacturing process. Then under use, Canon plan to introduce the on-demand operation technology and other technologies to improve operation and save energy. Then in recycle, Canon promote the WEEE Directive to customers of Canon’s printer which involves retailers of Canon products actually remind customer that they could recycle their printer and contribute to environmental sustainability by doing so.

After the planning and organizing have been done, a manager the will move into the leading and controlling phrase of their functions. In leading, a manager will be involved in motivating subordinates, influencing the team and its individual while they are working, selecting which communication channel to be used among the team member and the manager, and also dealing with issues such as conflict and employee’s behavioral issue (Robbins et al. 2006, p. 11). As for controlling, a manager’s task is to monitor the actual performance of a team or individual according to what have been planned. He/she might have to take action if it is needed to keep the team or individuals up to the plan.

In leading, a manager’s main task is to make sure the procedures that have been planned and organized is done correctly and effectively also if applicable, in the most efficient manner. With the added sustainability issue, it can shift the meaning of effectiveness of a task for a manager from a effectiveness by maximizing profit to something