The Triple Bottom Line Management Assignment

The Triple Bottom Line
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The environment and the social settings in which an organization operates influence its success. Over the years, business organizations have measured their sustainability based on capital returns. However, John Elkingston, by the mid-1990s, devised a new system of measuring business sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). TBL considers the social existence of a business, the financial gains and environmental factors in making business sustainability measurements. Controversy exists on the use of TBL in measuring human and environmental traits. Economists have been instrumental in trying to define and apply TBL in measuring business sustainability. This paper aims at defining TBL, its users, what the model is used to do, its importance, and how it measures business sustainability. The paper will further analyze the practical usage of TBL in Business and Management.
The triple bottom line presents a firm's ultimate goal to comprise the creation of ecological, social and economic value (Elkington, 2001).TBL is therefore defined as an accounting model that combines social, environmental and financial dimensions of performance in determining business sustainability (Slaper, & Hall, 2011). TBL is used by any business entity, nonprofit organizations or government organizations. In business entities, TBL is used to reduce the cost of production. Slaper and Hall (2011) report that a business that cares about the environment selects the best packaging method hence cutting on the cost of waste collection. On nonprofit organizations, TBL is used to influence companies to channel funds and support organizations that embrace TBL in their day to day activities. On governmental organizations, TBL is used as a monitoring tool in accessing the effects of government policy on society (Slaper, & Hall, 2011).
TBL is essential because it draws efforts from both social and environmental dimensions, and incorporating profitability in determining how a business entity is performing (Wicks, Keevil, & Parmar, 2012). The approach is vital because it measures a firm's performance concerning the environment and the community as important as financial performance. This measure enhances sust...