Sustainability and Three-Pillar Model

A THOUGHT ON SUSTAINABILITY

Today's executives deal with a complex and unprecedented filter of social, environmental, market, and technological trends, which require sophisticated, sustainability-based management (Whelan & Fink, 2016). Sustainability is all about meeting the current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Garren & Brinkmann, 2018). When people hear the word “sustainable”, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the environment. Despite popular belief, environmental conservation is not the only concept of sustainability. Indeed, the environment is only one of the three pillars of sustainability, which also include society and the economy. 

UNDERSTANDING THE THREE-PILLAR MODEL

The ‘Three-Pillar Model’ of sustainability is an approach to promote sustainable trading by developing and managing social, environmental and economic factors for the betterment of the company and future generations (Beattie, 2021).  This is also known as the three-Ps’ referring to people, planet and profit. This ‘Three-Pillar Model' emphasizes the equal importance of each pillar; thus, in order to be sustainable, businesses must prioritize not only environmental protection but also social equity and economic development. If all three pillars are solid, an outstanding quality of life will be created for people to live in, meaning that, they will have a clean, prospering environment, an acceptable degree of economic welfare, and also a healthy level of social contentment. 

The goal in developing sustainable business practices is to create strategies that preserve the long-term viability of people, planet, and profit. The great thing about sustainability is that if the people and the planet are taken care of, profits will also be achieved naturally. Therefore, many businesses in the modern age embrace this latest concept of ‘Sustainable Development’ to achieve long-term success. SriLankan Airlines is one of the finest companies that has embraced sustainable business practices in its long-term venture.