sustainable business management assignment analyzing Amazon's initiatives to achieve sustainability

Question

Task: how to analyze Amazon's initiatives to achieve sustainabilityusing sustainable business management assignment methodologies?

Answer

Introduction
On this sustainable business management assignment it is observed that Sustainability is an efficient way to minimize costs and can directly affect operating profits by around 60%. A sustainable company is able to thrive by increasing its productivity levels by promoting inclusive culture, which has a 27% higher profitability and yields greater benefits for the company (Weforum, 2022). The core purpose of the sustainable business management assignmentis to analyze Amazon's initiatives to achieve sustainability. The Triple bottom line approach will be applied to determine the effectiveness of Amazon's sustainability initiatives. The issues and possible solutions will be discussed to gain a comprehensive understanding related to the importance of sustainability in the business.

Sustainability poses at least two areas of threats and opportunities for Amazon.
As per the sustainable business management assignment findings Amazon is mainly facing two threats due to their growing carbon emissions and ineffective efforts to reduce resource depletion. According to Amazon's sustainability reports for 2020, the path of achieving net zero carbon is the most challenging aspect creating a sustainability threat for the company. The sustainability report of the same year depicted an increase of 19% in company carbon emissions in 2020; however, the carbon intensity was reduced by 16% (Amazon, 2020). Further, Amazon's web services growth will increase the use of electricity, which will automatically create the need to replace equipment. AWS is making consistent efforts to increase its facility's efficiency by ensuring higher resource utilization. The aim of the sustainable business management assignment is to make sure that evaporative technologies are used to cool down data centres, minimizing energy and water consumption.

The economic opportunity of sustainability is when businesses realize that profit is made by overcoming environmental and social issues rather than when it is made by externalizing social and environmental aspects (Wbcsd.org, 2022). Amazon has realized the benefits of overcoming Sustainability issues that can assure resource efficiencies related to the use of transportation, energy and material use that makes communities more equitable and resilient while lowering the cost of living (Stefanakis et al. 2021). Amazon ensures that focus is made on achieving long-term goals and influences the choices by companies and consumers' buying behaviours to make a real difference (Vilela et al. 2020).

sustainable business management assignment - Four sustainabilitypracticals

The sustainable business management assignmentTriple Bottom line argues the importance of committing to emphasizing social and environmental concerns as a business does on profits (Lopez-Cabrales and Valle-Cabrera, 2020). The sustainable business management assignmentTBL theory suggests that instead of focusing on one bottom line, the emphasis must be on three, including profit, people and the planet (Giang et al. 2022). Collectively focusing on these areas can help businesses in retaining employees, foster a better rate of sales from ESG-interested customers, and obtain long-term operational efficiency (Muñoz-Pascual et al. 2019). The TBL model will be applied to reflect the four practical issues affecting Amazon's pathway towards business sustainability.

Environmental aspect
Environmental challenges
This measure argues the importance of lowering the environmental implications by keeping carbon emissions lower and avoiding resource depletion. During COVID-19, Amazon's business experienced a significant hike in 2020 and failed to control its carbon emission, which also incurred an increase of 16% that indicates the ways company failed to follow their obligations towards the environment.
The increasing demand for AWS will likely increase the need for electricity in the data centres, which will lead to resource depletion. It showcases that Amazon is using the resources in unsustainable manner that can put burden on environment.

Solutions to address environmental challenges
The TBL approach suggests that environmental issues can be mitigated by timely reviewing the carbon footprints depending on the company's geographical areas. As per the sustainable business managementassignment research the government has fixed policies and certain benchmarks to limit the carbon emission of the companies. Amazon requires strict commitments and more investment information projects to ensure business transitions. Currently, Amazon is doing the groundwork to accelerate progress, including real-time carbon reporting structures to assist teams with data in taking the right course of action to minimize the carbon emissions created by their business activities (Amazon, 2020).
Amazon is required to invest in renewable energy sources to make their facilities less reliable on electricity. This way, the data center's needs can be met. The investment in new technologies and projects ensures the introduction of energy alternatives is needed to minimize resource depletion. Small measures can be taken by going paperless at the workplace and using sensor lights and solar panels at their facilities to lower the rate of carbon emission produced annually by the company (Naim, 2021). As suggested by sustainable business management assignmentTBL theory the negative impacts on the environment can be controlled by keeping a check on electricity usage and using more renewable energy sources.
sustainable business management assignment - People aspect

People challenges
These factors argue that the firms must operate socially responsible towards their employees, vendors and customers. However, Amazon fails to be socially responsible towards their seller by not being transparent with them and does not priorities their human rights. The seller selling their goods on Amazon faces delayed profitability and strict restrictions and policies that forbid them in some manner. The Amazon SC is a complicated sustainable business management assignmentsystem for their sellers, traders, buyers, producers, producers and manufacturers that is highly opaque and increases their challenges of determining and prioritizing human rights risks and impacts (Amazon, 2020). It reflects that company Supplier and vendor management is not that transparent and inefficient in protecting their rights.

Solutions to address People's challenges
Amazon must initiate actions such as disclosing the information related to their production practices, safety standards and supply chains for everyone. This will ensure that consumers and suppliers are making informed choices when starting to do business with Amazon and empower them about their purchases' initial outcomes. This way, Amazon can acquire their vendor's and suppliers' trust by sharing the essential detailsand operate by embracing their responsibilities towards their suppliers. sustainable business management assignmentProfit aspect

Profit challenges
In terms of profits, the TBL explains the importance of yielding profits for their stakeholders in an ethical and fair manner. The Amazon 2020 report accessed on this sustainable business management assignment research indicates that Amazon's business incurred an increase in FY2020 during the time of COVID-19. It is determined that Amazon's losses escalated to $-2.02b, a 126.07% reduction over the years. The net income for the 12 months in FY2022 was $11.607B, a 60.57% reduction over the years (Macrotrend, 2022).It shows that Amazon failed to meet their duties towards their stakeholders by not making profits to meet their interests as per TBL theory perspective.

Solutions to address Profit challenges
Amazon must ensure soliciting with their business vendors and suppliers that can help in aligning them philanthropically. This explains the ways Amazon develops their strategy or financial operating plans to ensure shareholders' ROI. According to the TBL theory, the companies must ensure paying their fair share of local, state or federal income taxes. The facilitating of financial returns by collaborating with small and medium-scale businesses to give them equal opportunity. Committing to financially investing in the development of community projects through the partnership, development, or corporate sponsorship can be a pathway to meet their duties towards stakeholders (Kenton, 2022). The company must review their existing sustainable business management assignmentstrategies to determine the ineffectiveness and areas that need attention to make relevant changes to reduce the percentage of losses.

The above analysis depicts the ways Amazon faces issues in managing company carbon emissions, increasing electricity usage, lacking transparency and ethical relationship management with their suppliers and vendors, as well as failing to yield profits for their stakeholders.

Conclusion
The above discussion highlights the benefits of placing importance on business sustainability in the long run. The concrete example of Amazon depicts the ways an infective sustainability approach can affect the social, environmental and stakeholders involved directly or indirectly. The TBL theory explains the ways business activities can collectively affect people, profits and plants in a negative manner. We conclude this sustainable business managementassignment by suggesting Solutions such as investing in renewable projects, lowering carbon emissions, transparency with suppliers and reporting financial performance to the stakeholders are important in the business to operate in a socially responsible manner by embracing the philanthropic duties of a business.

References
Amazon. 2020. Home - Amazon SustainabilitySustainability (US). Sustainability (US). Available at: https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/ (Accessed: October 26, 2022). sustainable business management assignment
Giang, N.P., Tam, M.H.T. and Ngan, M.L.T.H., 2022. Triple Bottom Line (Tbl) Performance from Sustainable Reporting Perspective. Journal of Positive School Psychology, pp.11528-11543.
Kenton, W. (2022). Triple bottom line. sustainable business management assignmentAvailable at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/triple-bottom-line.asp (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
Lopez-Cabrales, A. and Valle-Cabrera, R., 2020. Sustainable HRM strategies and employment relationships as drivers of the triple bottom line. Human resource management review, 30(3), p.100689. Macrotrends. 2022. Amazon net income 2010-2022: AMZN. Available at: https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AMZN/amazon/net-income (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Muñoz-Pascual, L., Curado, C. and Galende, J., 2019. The triple bottom line on sustainable product innovation performance in SMEs: A mixed methods approach. Sustainability,sustainable business management assignment11(6), p.1689.
Naim, A., 2021. Green Information Technologies in Business Operations. Periodica Journal of Modern Philosophy, Social Sciences and Humanities, 1, pp.36-49.
Stefanakis, A.I., Calheiros, C.S. and Nikolaou, I., 2021. Nature-based solutions as a tool in the new circular economic model for climate change adaptation. Circular Economy and Sustainability, 1(1), pp.303-318.
Vilela, T., Malky Harb, A., Bruner, A., Laísa da Silva Arruda, V., Ribeiro, V., Auxiliadora Costa Alencar, A., Julissa Escobedo Grandez, A., Rojas, A., Laina, A. and Botero, R., 2020. A better Amazon road network for people and the environment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(13), pp.7095-7102.sustainable business management assignment
Wbcsd.org. 2022.Sustainability is the biggest economic opportunity of our Times. World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Available at: https://www.wbcsd.org/Overview/Panorama/Articles/Sustainability-is-the-biggest-economic-opportunity-of-our-times (Accessed: October 26, 2022).
Weforum. 2022. Why sustainability is crucial for corporate strategy. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/why-sustainability-is-crucial-for-corporate-strategy/ (Accessed: October 26, 2022). sustainable business management assignment