Taslim Ahammad :
Business governed and affected by the environment in many ways. From the time when the industrial revolution, the world’s population has increased, and with the population growth, the environment has been deeply affected. Global climate changes and deforestation are amongst the adverse effects the population and technological expansion has acquainted with. Hence, being environmentally friendly may save money, give good publicity and even attract new customers within business.
Environment is something that people are very familiar with in many ways. For some individuals, the term environment means, simply, nature; the natural landscape together with all of its non-human features, characteristics and processes. To those people, environment frequently closely related to notions of wilderness and of immaculate landscapes that have not been influenced or that have been imperceptibly influenced by human activities. On the other hand, for other people, environment includes human elements to some extent. A lot of people would regard agricultural and rural landscapes as being part of the environment, whilst others are yet more inclusive and regard all elements of the earth’s surface that including urban areas as creating the environment. Therefore, in popular usage, the notion of the environment is allied with various descriptions. All of these usages, though, have a vital underlying supposition: that the environment exists in some kind of relation to humans.
Environment is closely related with business. There is a continuous give and take relationship between environment and business. The business gets inputs, information and technology from the environment and offers it back in the form of outputs like, goods and services. If these outputs are accepted by the environment, the environment and business interaction continues, however, if they are unacceptable to the environment, firms adapt to the environmental requirements and change their processes. The business has to look after the interest of stakeholders like, consumers, workers, suppliers and so on. The environment also offers threats and opportunities to which business has to counter positively.
Climate change is a worldwide concern with huge effects including environmental, social, economic, and political. Causes like coastal flooding may have a major impact on organisations, leading to operational disruption and losses for business. Climate change may similarly create aupper demand for energy as the temperatures get warmer and there is a upper demand for air conditioning habit, this means upper costs overall to businesses. Upper demand for energy also translates into larger use of natural resources like water and fossil fuels that may then turn into a lack of resources for businesses to turn into products.
Environmental issues are affecting business organisations. Such issues as major storms, loss of resources, inflation, and scarcity of food and water are creating serious disadvantages. On the other hand, solving these complex issues requires the mutual support of different sectors. This is apparent that the environmental crisis people are facing calls on all corporate leaders to consider the environmental impact that their business have and also calls on corporate leaders to take initiative to ensure that they come across all compliance needs and regulations.
Environmental matters that business face today make it clear that solving as many of these complex matters as organisation can best serve for all areas. This may also require the cooperation of all sectors together. Environmental factors affect every individual, community, organization, country and the globe. People must become environmental servers to keep the economy moving, surviving, and thriving. Corporate leaders taking action to mitigate risks involved with environmental issues and promoting sustainable practices will benefit the business organisations.
Although the circumstances are difficult, environmental forces also present a prospect for businesses to step up and show their workers and markets where they stand and what they are eager to do to mitigate the dangers. Workforces, for example, perform better when they are healthy. The occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) standardises work environments and most organisations do not have a problem with meeting OSHA standards. Organisations should remain aware of current events and how they may affect their business and workers.
The business organisations and environment, thus, have greatly to give and take from each other. The economy designed by operational interaction of the business organisation and its environment. The environment-business organisation interaction is a continuous process. This is like a genetic organism that retains environment and business management reactive to each other.
Hence, the impact of environmental forces on the business organizations is not one-sided; however, the business may also affect the environment. Different implications of the business are normally formed to protect the interest of their members. The safeguard of interest surely signifies the way to overcome one-sided impact of the environment on the business. The fauna of environment-business interaction is such that business, like human species or animals, need adjust to the environment.
(Taslim Ahammad, chairman, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj)
