Why Sustainable Organizations Are Better Organizations

Everything in the universe exists to serve something else. Nothing exists to serve only itself. And it is precisely this purpose, of serving someone or something else that gives meaning to existence! On the other hand, everything interacts with everything else, influences and is influenced by them.

As with all things in the universe, the same is true of organizations. Organizations exist to serve a purpose. And this purpose is nothing more than to serve someone else. Right? Wrong! The purpose must be to serve someone else without harming anyone. And because there are so many interactions, this task is inherently difficult. But everything starts and ends in society and therefore, sooner or later and somehow, good or evil will return…

So, during the process of building their mission and therefore their purpose, organizations no longer have to answer the question for whom and why they should exist. In parallel, they must answer how even if no other party is benefited from the whole process, at least it will not suffer! And here it would be reasonable for one to claim that this has a cost. And the reality is that it does. But it also has value!

Organizations that care generally have better financial results and face fewer risks than their competitors that do not. A society that increasingly understands the concept of interaction will obviously reward those organizations that operate accordingly. On the other hand, these organizations are generally more prepared to deal with unexpected situations as their view on things is more multidimensional. In this way their reactions are timely and more effective. Finally, caring organizations can generally claim that and be believed, thus positioning themselves more robustly against their competitors.

But beyond the above, societies, realizing the value of sustainability, constantly develop the institutional framework that determines how they would like the organizations that operate within them to function. This means that sustainable organizations will be the ones that have better access to capital, better access to customers, better access to suppliers and generally better access to all parties that are necessary for their smooth operation. Society is already taking the necessary steps. It remains for the organizations to do the same steps too!