Setting a framework for organisational sustainable development

Abstract

Increasing worldwide demand for products and services is applying a significant pressure on firms and supply chains operationally and financially, along with negative implications on our planet and the public. New perspectives and approaches are required to be adopted by all members of the society, including the businesses for sustainable development. However, enabling such integration from an organisational management perspective is not straightforward, due to complexities and conflicts associated with balanced integration of economic, environmental and social agendas. Aimed towards addressing this important industrial and societal research requirement, a tailored framework is presented, constructed upon the deeply rooted management principles of quality management (QM)and supply chain management (SCM) to facilitate integration of triple bottom line sustainability into business management. The framework outlines the practical steps for implementation of such an approach, including the quantitative, current state maturity assessment as one of the key application steps. This approach is taken forward to an application step, at an organisation in Cyprus, undertaken through the action research study method that enabled demonstrating both its application, and its positive effects on the sustainable development of the participating organisation. Several contributions are made, including the formulation of a practical approach to organisational integration of triple bottom line sustainability through QM and SCM. Particularly, a new management perspective was introduced with implications to many organisational managers that adopt ISO 9001 and supply chain integration principles, setting a framework for extending these principles beyond their original QM and SCM agendas towards organisational sustainable development.