Business Research Methodology sustainability Initiatives

Question: Discuss about the Business Research Methodology for sustainability Initiatives. Answer: Business organizations are including sustainability reporting and statements in their financial report, which has become a part of the major strategy of organizations and is a common practice of organizations. Sustainability reporting is developing because of the need for investigating the impact of organizations on the environment and considering the need of stakeholders. Since the growing realization of the importance of sustainability reporting is taking effect, it is seen that more and more organizations are facing the challenges of the jargons and complexity of the sustainability reporting. This has led to the rise in the service of the sustainability consulting agencies, and they provide expertise in the field of sustainability reporting. Their effort can be reflected from the shift of environmental degrading practices to environment conservation ones. More and more organizations are aiming for sustainability development. The inability of organizations to interpret and understand the technical jargons of sustainability have led them to the failure of transforming values into actions (O'Brien and Sarkis 2014). Thus, the role and importance of sustainability consultancy firms are growing with passing days. It has made it an attractive industry. Porters five forces Bargaining power of buyers More and more organizations are pushing towards sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting has become a major practice among firms. More and more organizations require expertise in the field of sustainability. Thus, the bargaining power of buyers is low (O'Brien and Sarkis 2014). Bargaining power of suppliers The information and data regarding sustainability are priceless, and the programs regarding such information systems are complex. Organizations find it difficult to decode the complexities. This makes the bargaining power of suppliers low (Ballou et al. 2013). Threat of new entrants The investment regarding sustainability consultancy is moderately high, but the wake of new accounting standards and procedures has allowed new rivals to enter the market, thus making the threat from new entries in the sustainability consultancy industries rise. However, firms tend to approach the consultancy agencies that offer services in more than core avenues. Thus, boutique consultancies and big consultancy firms hold an edge (Haanaes et al. 2013). Competitor rivalry The competitors in sustainability consultancy are high as more and more consultancy firms are rising. Therefore, competitor rivalry is high in this industry. The need for sustainability reporting also had led to the rise of more competitors in the field (O'Brien and Sarkis 2014). Threat of substitutes The threat of substitutes comes from the firms if they improve the research and development program. Improvement in sustainability programs, information systems and training to research employees is the next alternative for firms regarding sustainability reporting. Reference List Ballou, B., Casey, R.J., Grenier, J.H. and Heitger, D.L., 2012. Exploring the strategic integration of sustainability initiatives: Opportunities for accounting research.Accounting Horizons,26(2), pp.265-288. Haanaes, K., Reeves, M., von Streng Velken, I., Audretsch, M., Kiron, D. and Kruschwitz, N., 2012. Sustainability nears a tipping point.MIT Sloan Management Review,52(2), pp.69-74. Kiron, D., Kruschwitz, N., Reeves, M. and Goh, E., 2013. The benefits of sustainability-driven innovation.MIT Sloan Management Review,54(2), p.69. O'Brien, W. and Sarkis, J., 2014. The potential of community-based sustainability projects for deep learning initiatives.Journal of Cleaner Production,62, pp.48-61.