Business Research and Sustainability
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Deloitte’s Sustainability Indicators Monitoring System
Introduction
Every business needs to put in place effective strategies within its premise that will contribute to the achievement of the goals of an organization. The management of the firm should, therefore, be able to make sure that the performance of the enterprise is high, and the challenges which are being faced are low. In regard, it is wise for organizations to lay down strategies which will help the company attain its goals and enable it to plan their objectives about the available materials and time. This leads to the need for sustainability strategies and business monitoring systems.There are a series of stages that one needs to focus on when implementing Key Performance Indicators in a workplace, these stages determine the success or failure of an organization(Parmenter, 2015). However, failure to lay KPI in place will lead to an automatic failure of an organization and inefficiency of operations which will lead to losses being generated instead of profits. This paper focuses on the sustainability indicators of Deloitte and the monitoring systems that have been put in place by the company.
Sustainability refers to the human desire for business and its ability to manage itself about its assets which include financial, social environmental and obligatory assets and its opportunities. These are often referred to business as profits, people, and the planet and are very helpful in helping the company to reap its current and future opportunities and benefits. However, a precise definition of sustainability is that of the United Nations which states that sustainability is the development which has the ability provide the needs of business in the present moment without compromising on the future generations’ ability to meet their future needs. For sustainability to be achieved in a complete manner, monitoring should be putat the forefront of the existing sustainability plans. The monitoring process is a common response to the challenges being faced in an organization which helps in understanding the systems of sustainability systems.
Monitoring systems are processes which are put in place to measure the viability of the business. For operations of a business to be made efficient and run smoothly, checks and balances must be put in place to ensure that all transactions are flowing as smoothly as possible. These systems are used to identify the problems or challenges that a business is going through and come up with remedies to the discovered problems. They are mainly concerned with revealing the trends and the patterns of the business systems and make it understandable.This makes it easy to monitor changes and correct the undesirable ones before they affect the flow of activities within a firm. This makes the growth of the business so obvious and understandable to the managers and the monitoring systems easy to measure.
Literature review
Creating a sustainable enterprise involves the transformation of the entire business operations which include product design, sales, business operations and the marketing strategies that the firm has been employing for long with the aim of making profits and reducing risks that are undergone in daily activities of the business(Steven Swartz, 2016). Organizations which prioritize environmental conservation, health and safety issues on its employees and stakeholders are well placed in the market and are likely to attract customers as well as abundant talent in today’s growing competition in the market (Soyka, 2012). However, gaining these advantages will require the company to choose the right sustainable strategies and be able to manage these plans in a proper manner and measure their possibility to help the business reach greater heights.According to Deloitte, sustainability strategy is most effective when all the company strategies are aligned to the existing strategic initiatives which are the main drivers of the enterprise. As such, coordination among various initiatives and intelligent approach on issues related to the way in which the business is being run is critical in ensuring that the company remains focused throughout the years and offer stable services. However, this cannot be possible if a company does not have a professional team whose primary purpose is to deliver quality long-term sustainable value to the customer(Deloitte, 2016). A sustainable enterprise’s main goal is to express the need for quality of life and the serenity of the environment of doing business.
Monitoring systems’ main purpose is to focus on the development of suitable tools which will help an organization in measuring the effectiveness of sustainable practices which are carried out by the company. The primary purpose of the monitoring systems to the corporate is to gauge the performance of the company about the goals which are being targetedfor a specified time. The patterns which are drawn from the performance monitors are then used to detect the anomaly in the activities that are taking place within an organization and best solutions to the experienced problems outlined(Chang, 2016). With the monitoring systems in place, it is easy for the managers to compare the desired conditions in the future with the current state of things and come up with a conclusion and warning against undesired changes in their early stages.
Company Description
Deloitte & Touché Group is a global organization of firms that has its headquarters in New York United States. Deloitte was started in 1880 by William Welch Deloitte, and later in 1989 merged with Touché Ross, therefore, increasing the size of the company and its impact on theglobal business arena was highly felt. The merger increased the size of the organization and as the size of the firmbecame larger, the complexity of the firm also doubled. The company provides professional services which range from accounting, financial audit, tax, consulting and many other professional services and has operations in more than 150 countries worldwide. With a huge client base that the firm enjoys, new management tactics are required to be incorporated so that it will continue operating in an efficient manner without many issues. As it has been known of Deloitte as the leading consultancy firm regarding management and finance, there need is for theadministration of the organization to lead by example in managementand running of its affairs. Moreover, the emerging competition from other companies which offer the same services has led the administration to adopt new methods of predicting the future so that the solutions to the future issues will be obtained and used to counter the competition. The company has managed o stay ahead of the contest for many years due to the shrewd policies which have been put in place and which are always changing to adapt to the ever-changing business environment. Deloitte has strived for many years to maintain its status and highest standards on sustainability. The development of the company and its approachtosustainabilityand service provision is always taken as a serious strategy by the company which will aid it in achieving its efficiency and facing threats to the business operations.
The company has made notable achievements in its quest to find better ways of offering quality services to clients all around the world.Being global consultancy firm, the company needs to provide the highest possible services to its customers by creating a friendly environment in which the clients will be able to receive value for their money. Deloitte’s approach to sustainability is vested on three principles, the first one being improving the working conditions of the employees who are the primary force in ensuring that quality services are offered to the clients, leaving a positive impact on the customers and the consumers of the services provided to the clients and improving the impact of the services on customers and how the client will perceive the organization.As a way of motivating the employees to give their best towards making the business a leading brand, there are payments strategies which have been laid down to ensure that all of them are not disgruntled in any manner. Moreover, the environment in which people operates in.
Sustainability dimensions
The increased complexity of the environment and the unpredictable nature of the environment in which businesses take place require more strategies and plans which ensure that the firm is flexible and can adjust well to changes in the environment. There exist three sustainability indicators in business in which Deloitte takes a closer look at with the aim of making its business operations fit into them and avoid uncertainties. Deloitte believes that there are three dimensions of sustainability which aids decision-making. The company has been balancing these dimensions to reach its optimum productivity level and avoid failure. These factors are economic dimensions, environmental dimensions, and social dimensions.
Social dimensions
Social sustainability is the ability of an organization and its social systems to function well at a level which has been defined by the organization. This is concerned with the quality of life of the employees and other stakeholders of the business. In view of the importance that this area provides to the growth and sustainability of the organization, Deloitte has poised itself to provide quality services that alleviates problems that people undergo through provision of quality services which support the communities and other organizations which are its main clients, supporting the communities that we operate in through social activities and maintain work environment and business environment through transparency which is aimed at getting trust from the customers.Every company is socially bounded,and it is, therefore,important for each organization to be connected to the society which surrounds it. The company cannot be efficient and sustainable if it does not have the principle of inclusion and interaction as well as equity among members and the external business environment. The company has therefore ensured that social sustainability ensures that there is stakeholder involvement in all operations of the firm, there are high human rights standards that have been adhered to, there is theprovision of equal opportunities to everyone and safety standards in the working environment are achieved.
Environmental dimension
This dimension states how the firm should use its assets in the management of the business activities. Among various sustainable indicators that are available for monitoring the enterprise development, environmental dimension carriessignificant weight in driving sustainability and growth of an organization. It is mainly concerned with measuring the impact of the company over the natural resources and the ecosystem in general. It is focusedon the road that the corporation uses to comply with the law and how the available resources are used within the organization. It is also concerned with how the organization will operate safely and reduce the impact of the services being offered to the environment or to the individuals that are working in the business. Deloitte being mainly a provision service firm is also faced with an uphill task of ensuring that all the activities that the company undertakes are environmental friendly by placing relevant indicators in place. The businesses in regular intervals are concerned with theevaluation of the environmentally sustainable practices. The company is concerned with helping its clients to navigate risky situations and harsh business terrain by implementing sustainability programs. As a consultancy firm, the company has for long been involved in ensuring that sustainable resources are used by their clients to avoid damage that can be caused to the environment by the poor methods.
Economic dimension
The economic aspect of a business mainly deals with the financialimplications on business.This ensures that all the activities undertaken by the business are profitable, manages cost of consumers and customers in relation to how they use the company services and products, provide services that people will find attractive and provide support to the surrounding community by carrying out activities and employing individuals who will affect the community economically in a positive way. Deloitte has been committed to fulfilling all these goals through its plans which are set to benefit the community positively.
Monitoring systems
Monitoring systems are the methods in which a business ensures that all its departments are operated and runs well with little obstacles. The executives of a business should always be knowledgeable and be engaged in ensuring that all the departments of an organization are operating well with no difficulties regarding the efficiency of the workforce, the financial capability, and the machinery. For an organization to be effective in its operations, the monitoring process of the organization should take place on aregular basis to ensure that any anomaly is detected and corrected in its early stages. One of the important aspects that monitoring has to the organization is that it allows an organization to measure itself with its competitors and see if it is falling in the same category. To keep at thebar with recent standards in the industry, Deloitte has been monitoring its operations and comparing how they are about the attained results. As such the organization has been able to fix some of the issues that have been affecting operations and made anotable improvement regarding service provision. A good monitoring system needs to be flexible and able to adjust to the changes in the market terrain which may impact the business quickly. In the current decade where the changes in technology are being experienced in a rapid manner, it is important for the organization to implement strategies that will adapt to the new changes in a seamless manner and provide services without bottlenecks in operations(Parmenter, 2015).
Business sustainability indicators
Indicators are used by the organization to measure and rate how the company is performing its functions. They also help business leaders to predict how the firm is likely to perform in future by analyzing the financial situation of the organization both present and past and predict the future thereafter. It helps in a situation where the company has new leaders, and the current leaders need to be aware of the past performance and the present so as to determine the future performance. Indicators come in handy when there is aneed to assess the economic situation and the anticipated performance after a specified has elapsed. With this in mind, financial analysts require detailed information about the performance of the business in the past so as to model it and link to the future. The major sustainability indicators for Deloitte are people, profit, and theplanet. These indicators are discussed below.
People
Employee satisfaction, health, and safety have an impact on the general performance of the organization and the local community as a whole. It is, therefore, a necessary measurefor anfirm tomonitor how its employeesare doing to ensure social sustainability and the productivity of the organization. According to the Global Reporting Initiative GRI, there are several performance indicators related to people. Labor practices which include employment, health, and safety as well as diversity and education are some of these indicators. Additionally, there is aneed for the observation of human rights practices which include freedom of expression and association. The company takes with respect the views of the employees’ right to work in an environment which is free from any discrimination. It has always been among the core values of Deloitte to hold high professional social responsibility and ethical standards which ensure that all the operations are done without anybody feeling dissatisfied with the process in which all the business operations are carried out. The company works closely with staff and their unions to ensure that all differences in terms of pay and terms of work are ironed out before they degenerate into conflict which will hinder the performance of the company.
Profit
The main aimof the company is to make a profit and remain a force to reckon with in the business world. This however cannot be realized if the enterprise does not have enough funds which are achievable through profits. This dimension concentrates on increasing the profit margins made and improvement of the financial capability of the enterprise. It is considered that economic indicators of a firm are the indicators of the benefits that are gained by the enterprise and these signs help in attracting more stakeholders due to trust. Some of the economic indicators which the business concentrates on are taxation, business profits, return on investment, job creation and sales. It is important to point out that the benefits that the firm creates are the ones which will make the company remain in operation or collapse. This, therefore, is the most important indicator in any corporate set up. The profit made by the company is used for differenct purposes such as expanding the company through acquisition of the new facilities whose main purpose is to streamline the activities. In appreciation of the importance of the surrounding community on the success of the company, the company also has invested some of the profits made to the community projects which are aimed at helping the society.
Planet
The ecological sustainability is poised mainly on meeting the needs of present generation without affecting the possibilities of future generation to meet their expectations. It is important for all the organizations to pay particular care for nature by preventing the hazards caused by all living organisms by its activities. Companies should integrate care for the environment into its business. This dimension considers the impact of company’s activity on the environment and the effect of the operations of the companyon the future generations. Some of the indicators which are monitored in relation to the planet are biodiversity, energy, transport among other factors
The indicators that have been identified by Deloitte in its operations and analyze its rate of sustainability are related to social-cultural factors, environmental factors and economic factors(Steven Swartz, 2016).
Socio-cultural indicators
The company has been in the leading end in trying its best to maintain the highest possible human rights. All human rights are highly observed by the company due to the company’s urge to maintain quality of life and equality for all. The framework which has been laid down by the company ensures that all rights of an individual are observed and promoted within the working environment. Furthermore, the company believes in diversity of the workforce and the need to include people from different parts of the world who have diverse experiences in running of its affairs which will guide the company to even a higher achievement. It is also a belief of Deloitte that more respect is achieved through an all inclusive staff. Additionally, health being a necessity for a productive staff, the company has been involved in reforms whose sole purpose is to improve the working conditions of the employees by responding to health affairs of the staff.
Economic indicators
The company’s core belief is to remain the leader in the business. With this the company is often taking the output of each member of staff seriously to ensure that its aim of remaining the leader is attained through derivation of profits. As for this, the company is often reviewing its approaches to various issues of economic importance to ensure that it meets the new challenges of the business. The company pays all the required dues to the company annually to ensure that it remains in market legally. New score cards are also set as determinants of the progress in which the organization is making economically. Through analysis of the scorecards which are in place, it has always been clear that Deloitte remains in a positive side as far as economic implications are concerned. The company profits margins in years that have gone are always positive despite the tough economic challenges such the great depression of 1929 which rendered many companies penniless and others were even shut. It is also value that is held by the company which aims to eradicate corruption completely through the firm’s zero tolerance to corruption that has propelled the firm to greater heights.
In conclusion, the economic, social and economic indicators have been discovered by the company to be the main issues which need to be checked to enable the business to run in a perfect manner. Due to this, the Deloitte has used relevant indicators to measure the performance of the company and mitigate the effects of uncertainty in operations and remain in business. By analysis of the company progress, the company has managed to be where it is and predict the future occurrences perfectly.
References
Chang, J., 2016. Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. s.l.:CRC Press.
Deloitte, 2016. deloitte-sustainability-services.html. [Online] Available at: http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/risk/solutions/deloitte-sustainability-services.html
[Accessed 6 9 2016].
Dyllick, T. a. H. K., 2002. Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business strategy and the environment, pp. 130-141.
Parmenter, D., 2015. Key performance indicators: developing, implementing, and using winning KPIs. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.
Soyka, P., 2012. Creating a sustainable organization: Approaches for enhancing corporate value through sustainability. s.l.: FT Press.
Steven Swartz, T. N., 2016. sustainable-enterprise. [Online] Available at: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/how-we-help-clients/sustainable-enterprise