MANAGEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY - HOW TO OVERCOME THE GAP BETWEEN THEORETICAL CONCEPTS AND PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION –

摘要

Many theoretical concepts already have been developed about the implementation ofrnsustainability in industrial applications. But typically, a big gap separates the idealistic concepts andrnthe real world business operations. Companies first have to meet the economical challenges, thernmarket competition and the customers‘ requirements. Therefore up to recent times the willingness ofrnbusiness managers to consider sustainability was generally very poor. It seemed to be not veryrnrealistic to follow the claims of ecological groups except for some very special occassions.rnThe reason also lies in the misunderstanding of the term ?sustainability“ – typically it hasrnbeen reduced only to environmental issues. In fact, sustainability as a long term strategy is based onrnthree dimensions: economical success, social balance and of course also ecological matters. Withinrnthe last decade the complete understanding of the whole paradigm has made progress, even withinrn?green“ movements. There is no benefit for the environment if a company has to cease its operationsrnbecause of the lack of economical success. And even more the social issues have to be regardedrncarefully: If workers do not feel comfortable due to lost market shares or consumers avoid to buy thernproducts, the whole business cannot be regarded to be ?sustainable“.rnWith the changing approach the companies more and more tend to accept sustainability notrnonly as a burden but as market chance. The problems start if one has to explain what sustainabilityrnmeans in practical terms. How to measure it? Which navigation aids lead the way to tornsustainability? How to implement the new paradigm into corporations strategies and itsrnmanagement?rnA recent research effort in Germany has been undertaken to investigate the practical hurdles.rnMany inverviews have been made to find out managers‘ and executives‘ reservations or evenrnignorance. The result is a list of questions and answers, a practical experience report with many