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Definition
Integral Sustainable Development is a new approach to entrepreneurial management which seeks to develop in organization the ability to “re”-discover their activities added value, and define innovation strategies which integrate social and environmental requirements.
Under this approach, the company tries to minimize the amount of used resources while it maximizes the creation of social and environmental added value, and the needs and requirements of its stakeholders are satisfied.
The vision of sustainable development in companies goes beyond the compliance of environmental regulations, the implementation of the concepts for a cleaner production or human resources policies. The objective is to achieve a balance between social, economic and environmental dimensions to ensure the continuity of the company in the long term.
Benefits
Numerous cases have proven that the incorporation of Sustainable Development within the company’s strategy translates in tangible benefits for the organizations to achieve a strengthening of competitive advantages as well as new opportunities for the business. Specifically, some of the benefits which companies obtain are:
- Access to new markets
- Increase in the sales volume by being able to show that production is being done in a sustainable way, and by taking advantage of opportunities by sustainable businesses
- Savings in costs, for example, due to a better eco-efficiency
- Risks reduction due to incompliance of requirements by stakeholders
- Strengthening of the innovation and differentiation capacity
- Generation of new business opportunities
- Clients’ loyalty
- Image improvement
- Production improvement
- Establishment of a integral management system which includes all needed dimensions to manage a company (economic, environmental and social dimensions)
Components
The Integral Sustainable Development (ISD) concept is based on three main axis:
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 Social Dimensión |
 Environmental Dimension |
 Economic Dimensión |
The economic dimension analyses the services, products, and capital exchanges carried out by the company and its environment – and which include: employees, suppliers, investors, and banks, public sector and NGOs and clients. In this dimension, the challenge is to achieve a balance between economic relations with the different surrounding organizations to increase the company’s sustainability through the creation of value, and the generation of economic development.
The environmental dimension tries to minimize the negative impact to the environment through environmental management, waste reduction, material use efficiency, adequate waste management and improvement in the product design to diminish its environmental impact through all the steps of its life cycle.
The social dimension deals with the organization’s social impact both at its internal as well as its external level. Specifically, this dimension focuses on the following topics:
- Employees’ work quality life and welfare
- Contribution to the community’s and the general society’s welfare
- Business’ ethics (human rights protection, transparency, integrity and justice)
- Product Responsibility (health and consumers’ safety, advertising)
In summary, Integral Sustainable Development seeks an adequate economic result for its stakeholders, a better quality of life for employees and the community, and a decrease in environmental impact.
How is the implementation of this concept achieved?
As mentioned before, ISD is a new approach to entrepreneurial management oriented towards companies’ sustainability – this being understood as the permanence and competitiveness in the long term. Because of this, ISD’s implementation requires that the approach be completely integrated in the entrepreneurial strategy. This way the management commitment with the topic becomes explicit; furthermore it is guaranteed that the company’s strategies are oriented towards the generation of value in each one of the environmental dimensions. For further information see Steps.
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