Business Sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line: Considering the Interrelationships of People, Profit, and Planet

Abstract

Many types of organizations, including government, nongovernmental, nonprofit, and for-profit businesses, must make sustainability decisions about the sometimes-conflicting priorities of care for the planet, various interests of stakeholder groups, and economic or money issues. Today business must consider the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet, while navigating the differing priorities of their stakeholder groups. However, people, profit, and planet should not be considered separately, because they are interrelated, since a decision regarding one of them impacts the other two. The teaching activity described in this chapter introduces students to these complex interrelationships from the perspective of the for-profit business or commercial world. The goal of the activity described below is to introduce students to the triple bottom line through an analysis of how a product’s packaging change impacts the cost of the product, environmental issues related to the packaging, and therefore the business owner, customers, and communities. After completing this activity, students should be able to (1) define the three components of the triple bottom line and describe examples of each and (2) explain the relationships and trade-offs among people, profit, and planet in the design, manufacture, and use of a product, packaging, or service.