Marketing Management - Sustainability - Essay Writing Assessment Answer

Marketing Management Assignment

Essay WritingTask

IntroductionSustainability is a very vital concept in management practices of an organisation. Sustainability is a term that refers to the practices that are beneficial for an organisation as well as for its stakeholders (Yao & Fan, 2015).Thus, the actual relevance of sustainability is that it creates a win-win situation for the organisation as well as stakeholders. Since past few decades the concept of sustainability has become very popular and it is expected that every organisation shall follow sustainability practices. The present report aims to critically analyse the sustainability practices of an organisation using various theoretical concepts of sustainability. Dorothy Perkins has been in the new recently for its sustainability practices and this is the reason why this company has been taken for analysis. Dorothy Perkins is a very renowned fashion brand originated in UK and serving in many countries in the world.

To analyse the sustainability in Dorothy Perkins various concepts and theories of sustainability will be outlined first. After that a critical reflection of these concepts on managerial practices of Dorothy Perkins will be done. This reflection will help in determining the influence of sustainability on Dorothy Perkins. On the basis o the reflection recommendations to enhance sustainability practices in Dorothy Perkins will be made. In this manner the analysis will be undertaken.

Concepts and theories: Sustainability

Sustainability refers to the practices that are environmental friendly as well as profitable to a company. It is not true that sustainability is just a concern for environment but it is something that shall also be profitable to a company (Watson, 2011). Sustainability practices are also referred as green business in which there shall be minimal negative impact on local community and global environment. It is something that enhances the reputation and goodwill of a business. Sustainability practices also enable companies to reduce carbon footprint and hence they benefit human rights as well (Walker, 2014). There are a number of relevant theories and concepts in sustainability that could be applied in managerial practices of an organisation. These theories and concepts play a significant role in understanding sustainability. Some of those concepts are also discussed here.

The most significant concept in sustainability is Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Triple Bottom Line (TBL) lays down the three factors that are of utmost importance when sustainability issues are discussed (Ashworth, 2011).These three components of triple bottom line are People, Planet and Profit. It is argued that an organisation is required to strike a balance among these concepts to ensure that the managerial practices of the company are sustainable. People refer to all the stakeholders of the company such as suppliers, customers, shareholders, investors, employees, etc. Along with that it also includes local community and society as a whole (Tseng, 2013). In short it denotes all the living beings that are directly or indirectly affected by the practices of the company. It thus includes ethical behaviour, fair treatment and well being of individuals. Planet denotes the water and carbon footprint, non-renewable and renewable sources of energy, pollution, usage of natural resources and well being of natural resources. The profit aspect denotes economic stability, long term return on investment, cost accounting and fair financial rewards. Thus, Triple bottom line concept suggests that all the practices of an organisation shall follow triple bottom line (Banson, Nguyen, & Bosch, 2014). All the three aspects of triple bottom line shall be given equal importance and only after that a company will be believed to follow sustainability.

There is another concept in sustainability that talks about socio-ecological problems and consumer behaviours. This concept of sustainability is related to the marketing function majorly. Marketing function is a very vital part of management practices (Boons & Freund, 2013). Due to that this concept plays an important role in management. This concept has various important parts that are totally related to the marketing practices of an organisation. The concept suggests that an organisation shall take into consideration socio-ecological problems while performing its marketing practices. It also argues that there is an intersection between socio-ecological problems and consumer behaviour. The socio-ecological problems are defined as problems that society faces like lack of resources, exploitation of resources, pollution from industrial activities, exploitation of natural resources, etc. If a company indulges in these practices while performing its marketing activities then it is not sustainable. This is why the framework suggests that the three most significant aspects of marketing that are marketing strategies, marketing mix and marketing transformation shall take care of natural resources, environment, public resources, etc. this framework helps organisation is following sustainability practices while performing marketing functions (Taticchi, 2013).

The third and most significant concept of sustainability is ecopreneural concept of sustainability. This is a very simple yet useful concept. This concept suggests that every entrepreneur shall take care that along with profit the concern for environment is also there in their practices. While performing any function such as marketing, human resource, finance, production, supply chain, operations, etc. green policies shall be used (Shuh Lii, 2011). Every stakeholder of the company shall focus on green policies and make it a note that minimal damage shall be done to the environment. There shall be big concern for ecology and for earning more profit the environment shall not be taken for granted.

Impact of sustainability concepts on Dorothy Perkins

Dorothy Perkins is a company that is popular for its sustainability practices. The most significant impact of sustainability is traced from its marketing practices. The company has very strict policies for marketing and all the employees are required to follow this. In this manner the concepts that are discussed in the above section have huge impact over managerial practices in Dorothy Perkins. First of all Triple bottom line concept shall be taken. The Triple bottom line is followed in Dorothy Perkins and this impact of this concept is that the company has been able to earn fame because of its strong sustainability practices (Shuh Lii, 2011). In a latest article it is mentioned that the fashion industry has given new dimension to the term sustainability. In the managerial practices of Dorothy Perkins huge changes can be observed with respect to triple bottom line. The company has made such policies that the cloth that it produces shall be produced with minimal damage to the environment and at this point the company has taken Triple bottom line very seriously. The company observed that its production method is damaging the air. Due to that the company undertook intense research and identified that its production method at present is not up-to-the mark and thus the company made huge changes in production process. Thus the impact of triple bottom line in Dorothy Perkins is very positive for environment that is for People and Planet but somehow affected Profit aspect (McDonagh, 2014). The management of new method of production was quite tedious and due to that the profitability was also decreased to some extent. Hence the impact of triple bottom line on management practices of Dorothy Perkins is that it messed up the practices.

The marketing sustainability concept has provided a new dimension to the marketing management of the company. The impact of marketing sustainability is that the usage of green practices has increased in the company. Now, the company has reduced usage of paper to a very great extent and started adopting social media for marketing. The major part of company’s marketing function is performed using social media and thus after adopting this concept the carbon footprint in marketing practices has been reduced by 25% (Kang, 2014). The marketing strategies of the company are sustainable now, the marketing mix practices of the company are sustainable now and marketing transformation is also sustainable now. This concept has been very useful in controlling marketing management practices but at the same time it ignored all other management functions and due to that it negatively affected financial management of the company (Jones, 2008). It is also argued by many that sustainable marketing practices in Dorothy Perkins is less effective ad its results are not as expected.

The ecopreneural concept of sustainability also influenced the managerial practices of Dorothy Perkins. This concept has immense focus over ecological aspects and it ignored many other aspects of sustainability. This is the reason why using this concept in Dorothy Perkins has lead the company to have one-dimensional perspective to perform functions of the company (Goyal, 2013). This is because the company could not focus much on People aspect. It reduced the productivity of employees. The most significant impact is on management of various activities because the focus of people reduced from performance.

Reflection of sustainability practices in Dorothy Perkins

The company is following sustainability practices very effectively but event after that there are various issues with respect to sustainability practices. It has been analysed that the Profit and People aspects of the company are very strong but there are various issues related to the Planet aspect. The company is not able to manage its practices as per the expectations of its stakeholders. There is a significant concern among suppliers of the company regarding sustainability practices. The company uses raw material that is very fatal and not good for the environment. There is no way that it can be recycled and due to that this is not good for the planet (Govindan, 2014). This implies that even after so many expenses over changing production practices and implementing sustainability practices the company is not able to fully achieve its objectives. This has resulted in decrease in profit and along with that environment is also getting affected. Dorothy Perkins is depicting in its reports that its marketing practices entirely based on green channel but this is not true. The analysis with respect to sustainability norms suggests that the company still uses some modes that are not eco friendly. The concept of sustainability of marketing has not proved to be beneficial for Dorothy Perkins. The company is on the mid way of it. The company could not use sustainability in all the marketing practices (Gmelin, 2014). The company has reduced usage of paper to a very great extent and started adopting social media for marketing. The major part of company’s marketing function is performed using social media and thus after adopting this concept the carbon footprint in marketing practices has been reduced which is indeed a very good sign. The concept also suggests that the three most significant aspects of marketing that are marketing strategies, marketing mix and marketing transformation shall take care of natural resources, environment, public resources, etc. but the company is still exploiting public resources and due to that this is a big concern in the direction of sustainability practices. The company is also not successful in performing the management functions as per ecopreneural concept (Chen, 2015). This concept suggests that a company shall have huge concern for ecology but Dorothy Perkins is not able to do that. This suggest that there are a number of issues related to sustainability in the company and due to that many stakeholders still doubt the practices of the company.

There are three major concerns with respect to sustainability practices in Dorothy Perkins and these concerns are improper waste management, procurement of raw material using non environmental friendly and supply chain management of the company. The company is not able to manage its waste in eco-friendly manner and due to that it has a very fatal impact over environment. The mode with which the company procures its raw material is also non-eco friendly because it is exploiting natural resources to a very great extent (Brindley, 2014). At the same time the company is not trying to adopt green practices to supply its products and due to that its suppliers are also worried. In this manner there is still huge scope in Dorothy Perkins for the improvement of sustainability practices.

Recommendations to enhance sustainability practices in Dorothy Perkins

On the basis of analysis of the sustainability practices of Dorothy Perkins a number of recommendations are given to the company. These recommendations will help the company to enhance its sustainability practices. Following are the recommendations for the company:

• The company shall first of all work on its waste management process. There shall be such a mechanism that the waste products of the company can be made biodegradable. To do this the company will have to start using clothes that are not synthetic. Synthetic clothes are more difficult to degrade in an ecological manner and also do immense pollution (Boons & Freund, 2013). Thus there is need to work on waste management process.
• The company shall also work on its supply chain management. At present the manner in which supply chain is managed is very fatal for the environment. These practices of the company have also affected the suppliers. If the company wants to enhance its sustainability practices then it shall propose a new model for its supply chain management. The new model shall have minimal steps and reduced parties to save the energy as well as resources.
• There is another matter of concern that is preventing sustainability in the company and this is procurement of raw material. The company is acquiring raw material in such a manner that it harms the natural resources. The company’s policies to acquire raw material are also affecting public resources and due to that it is not sustainable (Watson, 2011). The company shall procure raw material by not exploiting the resources.
• There is also a recommendation that the company has changed its production procedure so as to become sustainable but due to that its profitability has been affected. Thus there is an improper balance among People, Profit and Planet. The company shall strike proper balance among all the three factors so as to enhance its sustainability practices.

Conclusion

The analysis on sustainability practices in Dorothy Perkins suggests that it is not an easy task for an organisation to be successful in managing sustainability. It seems very easy to be followed but in practice following sustainability practices and sticking to it takes huge efforts. It is clear that Dorothy Perkins is also trying its best to follows all the concepts of sustainability but somehow there are many areas where it is not able to perform well. There is still scope for further improvement and the company shall take it seriously. The company shall also try to use latest trends in sustainability because the trends change regularly. Sustainability is the aspect that no organisation can ignore ever and thus the most significant thing that shall be done is to follow all the theories and concepts carefully. Sustainability is the path ahead for the companies to achieve success in the long term.