Business can be considered one of the most developed areas, which includes many diverse concepts useful for the successful running of organizations. According to Quinn and Baltes (2007), the Triple Bottom Line model states that firms should pay attention to the social and environmental influence on their surroundings. Moreover, a significant part of the profit should go to these areas to increase customer loyalty and protect the business’s survival. This paper will show the positive and negative sides of the concept, explain my visions and present Apple as a sustainable company.
One of the most significant advantages of the Triple Bottom Line idea is that it can recognize quick changes in the business environment. By close communication with workers and customer managers, understand what changes should be introduced to meet the needs of both parties in a short period of time (Sala, 2020). The level of sustainability does not decrease as support for this aspect is one of the key objectives of the concept. Consequently, the recognition of the potential problem of pollution allows many businesses to control the level of their waste. Moreover, the Triple Bottom Line concept expects managers to control the level of gender and race equality to allow people from different backgrounds to receive similar experience levels and increase the social factor of the organization.
Nevertheless, some drawbacks of the concept should be evaluated to understand whether it should be introduced to the business environment or there will be no practical use of the idea. For instance, not all companies should follow TBL as it does not have a guideline. The integration of the concept depends on the professional experience of the manager. Lack of knowledge in this area might not bring positive results to the development of social and environmental stability (Quinn & Baltes, 2007). Moreover, TBL can cause capitalism that encourages people to purchase a product that they do not need because they are more sustainable.
I support a positive perspective as with climate change, human life can become worse, and it is important to think about the future these days. By influencing more people to buy sustainable products, a significant change to the general attitude to the environment might change in societies. Consequently, the pros’ effect might exceed the cons and make the concept of Triple Bottom Line more popular in the nearest future.
Apple organization is one of the leading technology businesses that introduces various sustainability programs and produces an annual report to show the progress to the customers. One of Apple’s most significant sustainability approaches is a smart impact on climate change. The recent proposal of the organization is to become carbon neutral by 2030 (Arndt & Ewe, 2017). Managers have estimated the percentage of emissions in 2015 and stated that in a fifteen-year time, the percentage would decrease by 75. To achieve this goal, renewable energy will become important, carbon will not be used in production, and regular checking programs will save energy.
The company makes its reports available for everyone to increase the trust level of customers, investors, and stakeholders. The environmental report from 2020 shows structured goals and states specific timelines to make their objectives SMART and clear. For example, one of the strategic plans was to invest %200M in natural climate solutions (Apple Inc., 2020). The report shows the goals from the previous reports and states the main achievements that have changed the social and environmental impact on current and potential clients. Consequently, showing a significant improvement in the business using the Triple Bottom Line concept.
References
Apple Inc. (2020). Environmental Progress Report. Environmental Progress Report, 1-101.
Arndt, H., & Ewe, C. (2016). Analysis of product lifecycle data to determine the environmental impact of the Apple iPhone. Advances and New Trends in Environmental Informatics, 3-13.
Quinn, L., & Baltes, J. (2007). Leadership and the Triple Bottom Line. Center for Creative Leadership.
Sala, S. (2020). Triple bottom line, sustainability and sustainability assessment, an overview. In Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future (Chapter 3).