Sustainability as a strategy has been incorporated in decision-making process at General Motors -an automotive manufacturing company. It has helped General Motors to overcome financial crisis. In today's environment, incorporation of sustainability factors particularly in supply chain management is critically important when governments all over the world are working to arrest climate change and reduce emission levels. Therefore, sustainability incorporation at an organisational level is a way forward. Case study was undertaken via a questionnaire to collect and evaluate the decision criteria from the middle and top level executives of General Motors. The authors also attempted to examine sustainability reports of the General Motors formulated using GRI guidelines. Study concludes that getting sustainability incorporated into DNA of a company requires top management commitment and is associated with organisations where there is history of societal, community work and responsible business practices. It helped General Motors to write off debt and come out of bankruptcy. The study is also relevant for manufacturing organisations in other sectors as the research instrument is developed using GRI guidelines. The research instrument and study can support researchers and practitioners to adopt sustainability-based strategy and practices for responsible development which is sustainable.
Sustainability has become a mandatory strategy for survival on the planet. Sustainable development is an imperative for survival and growth for nations, peoples and the organisations. The study embraces the sustainability initiatives of Global and Small/Medium enterprises (SME) working in India. Data was collected for the study using a questionnaire. Mid-senior level executives were contacted for their take on sustainability initiatives by their organisations in India. The responses were collected both from globally operating organisations and SME in India. The summarised data was analysed to arrive at the conclusions. The study indicates that global organisations are operating at global scale in corporate sustainability programs for competitive advantage, to mitigate risk, for building a brand, and to regulate the complexity of global supply chains for business growth to ensure an enhanced market share/customer growth. The SMEs in India are found at a nascent stage with respect to sustainability and are only involved in activities necessary for their survival. Incorporating sustainability initiatives in the business practices of SME will need awareness and policy frame. On the other hand, the global organisations have a long way to go to create appreciable impact on the planet via their sustainability efforts. However, changes of responsible product, processes and global supply chain designs are being incorporated in their culture. These initiatives will need further push through governance and policy announcements at a regional and country level for far reaching impact. And for emerging countries like India they can be leaders in sustainability efforts for other Indian organisations particularly SME to follow sustainability based practices.
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