Sustainability and Peter Drucker

Sustainability of Britt Coffee

Sustainability is a huge word in business today. It is an admirable goal for business to make promises to lower their carbon footprint. Yet, it is the businesses that take this mission and align it with strategic financial goals that illustrate the theories of the late Peter Drucker in action. Drucker believed that without taking care of its operations first, there is no way a business could really be socially responsible in any other meaningful way. Thus, for modern businesses to be successful in their sustainability strategies, they must also be successful in their strategic operational strategies. The health of the business always comes first, according to Drucker, and then the health of their social responsibility and sustainability efforts will come after. This can be seen in the strategy of Britt Coffee, a company that in many ways combines its effort to gain a competitive advantage and practice more sustainable operating practices all in the same strategies.

Peter Drucker was definitely ahead of his time. His theories on social responsibility are still widely being accepted and sued within the business world today. Essentially, "Drucker called for a healthy balance -- between short-term needs and long-term sustainability; between profitability and other obligations; between the specific mission of individual organizations and the common good; between freedom and responsibility" (The Drucker Institute, 2014). Companies must balance their own health along with their ethical practices aimed at improving the external world around them. If a company goes out of this balance, greed may make them unethical, or overcompensation for social programs might actually take away from their competitive abilities. Thus, "Drucker believed that the first 'social responsibility' of business is to make a profit sufficient to cover future operational costs" (Stallone, 2010). Without operating at a healthy pace, a business will fail. That is ultimately not being responsible for the employees and shareholders of that business. Therefore, a business cannot be socially responsible without first being responsible for the internal members of its organization.

Additionally, Drucker saw social responsibility, and thus sustainability, as a necessity that needed to be fostered within any healthy organization. According to the research, "Drucker's idea of social responsibility by creating a framework for accountability" (Mok, 2012). This then evolved into John Elkington's idea of the Triple Bottom Line, in regards to sustainability. Here, the business needs to first handle its own operations, or the bottom line, and then move into practicing achievable sustainability directives. These directives can serve as a model for other business, making benchmarks to make international businesses accountable for their actions and operations in regards to their impact on the environment. International business has used this guideline in order to set standards for operational practices across the globe. Thus, "with the development of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Dow Jones Index for Sustainability, companies can now be benchmarked and ranked according to their economic, social, and environmental impact, thus increasing accountability and transparency to shareholders and citizens" (Mok, 2012). Thus, there is an essential need to use sustainability as a way to reign in unethical practices on a global scale.

Still, once a business mastered this concept of social responsibility and sustainability that can actually be used to increase the competitive position of that company. For example, "Drucker felt that social responsibility was not only a duty but could provide a competitive advantage beyond simple public relations" (Stallone, 2010). The idea of actually practicing what you preach is powerful in business today, where customer confidence is low. Ensuring customers that you actually do what you say you are going to do is a huge asset because it can help increase consumer confidence in your businesses, which is ultimately priceless. Clearly, Drucker believed that practicing good social responsibility and sustainability practices could help elevate a business above its competitors and attract a more devoted consumer that may actually be willing to pay a higher premium for the product because they have a higher level of consumer confidence in the company they are buying from.

Britt Coffee actually already uses a number of strategies that resemble sustainability from Drucker's perspective. Sustainability is at the heart of operations in Costa Riva. Thus, the company states that "At Britt, we've created an organization that pursues environmental sustainability in every aspect of our entrepreneurial activities" (Britt Coffee, 2014). It is clear that the company is devoted to making as little of an imprint in Costa Rica as possible, to preserve the region's natural beauty and ecology. Thus, the company has used innovation in order to drive new sustainable practices that are ultimately helping its competitive position in the end. For example, Britt "launched many initiatives to reduce our use of water and energy. Recycling programs are in effect at our facilities, and we're always looking for ways to reduce waste from our production process. We are working toward becoming carbon neutral by 2014" (Britt Coffee, 2014). Customers can then feel better about purchasing coffee from Britt Coffee because they know that the sustainable practices the company is using are working to really help the company keep the pristine environment of Costa Rica in tact.