Brookside Dairy Company Sustainability Strategy
Sustainability
Corporate sustainability is an issue that continues to garner increased attention and importance for
shareholders, consumers, and companies alike. Since 2004, Corporate Knights, a Canadian media firm,
has published a list of the top 100 sustainable companies in the world. The efforts and profits among
those highest on the list demonstrate that companies are increasingly able to adopt strategies that are
socially and environmentally responsible and financially lucrative. Consider Umicore, the top company on
Corporate Knight�s 2013 Global 100 list.
Umicore is a Belgian-based materials technology firm recognized for its treatment of their employees, the
products it produces, its profitability, and its efficiency. According to Doug Marrow, Corporate Knight�s
vice president of research, �Relative to its global peers in the materials industry group, the company
squeezes more revenue out of each resource input (including energy and water), while generating less
externalities (greenhouse gas emissions and waste)� (Smith, 2011). However, Umicore�s efforts
extend beyond its own sustainability strategies. According to Morrow, �They generate over half of their
revenue by selling products that help other firms improve their sustainability performance, such as energy
BROOKSIDE DAIRY COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 2
efficiency� (Smith, 2011). The company has, in effect, created a comprehensive business model based
on sustainability.
Brookside Dairy Company Sustainability Strategy
Sustainability is a rather important factor for most organizations today as many have
realized the advantages it carries with it. Implementing a more sustainable business strategy
requires hard work and commitment, both on the part of employees as well as their leaders. For
the Brookside Dairy Company to implement a more sustainable business strategy, the
organization must take some actions to ensure the process is effective. First, for the new strategy
to be effectively implemented, it is important to create and internalize the corporate sustainability
culture (Tàbara & Ilhan, 2008). Second, the organization needs to assess the current and
prospective sustainability issues (Delong & Mcdermott, 2013). Third, Brookside Dairy Company
needs to determine its sustainability strategies and goals before it can manage to implement a
more sustainable business strategy (Taylor, Osland & Egri, 2012).
These actions are important for Brookside Dairy Company as they possess potential
systemic benefits. The first action can greatly benefit the systems as it features the adoption of a
BROOKSIDE DAIRY COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 3
sustainability culture within the organization. Therefore, all members of the organization will
have to adapt to this culture which will ensure that all activities are sustainable (Tàbara & Ilhan,
2008). Thus, the dairy products will be produced only under the best circumstances, without
misusing resources, but still ensuring that the products are of high quality (Seidel, Recker & vom
Brocke, 2013). Since a sustainability culture will require the organization to always plan ahead,
the long term approach will ensure that the employees work hard to ensure that their
performance will also benefit the economy as well. The second action will also benefit the
systems in that the Brookside Dairy Company will know which sustainability issues to expect.
Thus, it will be prepared for these issues and hence the social, economic, and environment
systems will not be affected by the company’s actions (Delong & Mcdermott, 2013). Lastly, it
will be beneficial for all systems when the company prepares sustainability strategies and goals.
The company will be aware of what its duties to the three systems (Taylor, Osland & Egri,
2012). Thus, it will be able to adapt operations by implementing the strategies, and ensuring the
goals set are met.
Sustainability has a very close relationship with other organizational goals as it is also
supposed to ensure the organization achieves success, but through the right procedure and
actions (Kuei & Lu, 2013). For example, sustainability and managing quality are both aimed at
benefiting the social, economic and environment systems. When the two are not used side by
side, the systems will suffer as a result of resources being misused and consumers being provided
with poor dairy quality products (Seidel, Recker & vom Brocke, 2013). Sustainability and
building learning organizations also share a close relationship. This is because the organization
BROOKSIDE DAIRY COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 4
will ensure the growth of employee skills as they work, and with sustainability, they will also be
taught how to use resources responsibly.
When the Brookside Dairy Company exploits these relationships between its goals and
sustainability, better performance results are expected. This is because as the employees are
working towards meeting their goals, they will also be working towards ensuring that the
resources necessary for the organization to run effectively are being preserved (Kuei & Lu,
2013).
The ethical implications of implementing a strategy for improving sustainability for
Brookside Dairy Company are many. For example, customers will be fully satisfied from high
quality dairy products. This is because the organization will not use chemicals to better the
products, but instead will use pure milk. Second, the economy will benefit from better
performance of this company. This is because employees will adapt a culture that ensures they
work harder to improve their performance and in return increase revenue for the organization.
Lastly, the environment will be free from pollution as the Brookside Dairy Company will make a
point of ensuring that resources are not misused. Thus by products will be transformed into other
dairy products as required.
The Brookside Dairy Company will also be able to benefit from further research. This is
because milk can be used to process many products, which will eventually benefit all systems.
However, the question is, “Is there a way for the waste by-products to be further processed into
important products?” The implication for this research is that the company will benefit from
more incomes, be able to offer more jobs, and also avoid waste which may end up polluting the
environment.
BROOKSIDE DAIRY COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 5
References
Delong, D., & Mcdermott, M. (2013). Current Perceptions, Prominence and Prevalence Of
Sustainability In The Marketing Curriculum. Marketing Management Journal, 23(2),
101-116.
Kuei, C., & Lu, M. H. (2013). Integrating quality management principles into sustainability
management. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 24(1/2), 62-78.
doi:10.1080/14783363.2012.669536
Seidel, S., Recker, J., & vom Brocke, J. (2013). Sensemaking And Sustainable Practicing:
Functional Affordances Of Information Systems In Green Transformations. MIS
Quarterly, 37(4), 1275-A10.
BROOKSIDE DAIRY COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 6
Tàbara, J., & Ilhan, A. (2008). Culture as trigger for sustainability transition in the water domain:
the case of the Spanish water policy and the Ebro river basin. Regional Environmental
Change, 8(2), 59-71.
