IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT

Organisations across all sectors of society need to comprehend sustainability concerns and the opportunities they present. The global market requires organisations to be sustainably competitive in order to remain in the game. Organisations in New Zealand and Brazil presented similar management practices dedicated to achieving sustainability goals. As leading organisations in their countries, they naturally motivate other organisations to follow their best management practices and learn from them how to engage effectively with stakeholders through collaborative efforts. The results of this study might also present

163 important insights for organisations to implement sustainability projects aiming to map improvement opportunities related to strategic and operational concerns. Thus, sector organisations across the globe might likely benefit from the research findings of this present study, which offers the following considerations:

Collaboration with Stakeholders

The findings of this study indicated how collaborative efforts within and between organisations is an increasing trend in which all actors involved perceive benefits. Like any other management practice adopted by organisations, this study also has its limitations. In terms of internal collaborations between departments of an organisation, operational synergy gains seem to be achieved by improving the communication among employees and different areas. Moreover, alignment of projects’ objectives and alignment of expectation among employees of different areas is also a gain to be attained. This collaborative approach enhances internal communications, cutting down redundant activities and consequently leaning organisational processes, indicating a clear link between collaborative platforms and business process enhancements.

Collaborative partnerships with other organisations is also a necessary path to be explored, as companies could obtain knowledge exchange gains, understand market demands from different perspectives, and also be able to effectively anticipate them. Furthermore, organisations can also have operational synergy gains by employing more resources (human, financial, technological) in a project than it could possibly engage in individually. Moreover, collaborative partnerships could lower the distance between different sectors of society. Thus, preconceptions, critiques and misunderstandings could be addressed in a

164 more constructive way, as open channels may improve the dialogue between managers of different organisations and the understanding of different perspectives might even present business opportunities. The use of well structured committees and panels might improve the achievements of such collaborative interfaces by offering face to face debates that result in clear alignment of possible conflicting perspectives.

SCM, CRM, BPM, Risk Management and Brand & Reputation Management

The results of this study also indicated how different management practices are well integrated and can jointly be employed in the sustainability management process. These practices are: Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) towards enhanced customer satisfaction, Business Process Management (BPM), Risk Management; and Brand & Reputation management. Customers and NGOs increasingly analyse how organisations operate locally and abroad. They observe how organisations address environmental and social issues while they achieve economic profitability worldwide. Poor governance schemes can result in risky operations through which a company’s image may suffer major impacts. Consequently, this can also affect economic results. Customers also require high level services and products, and so attaining high satisfaction levels is mandatory for leading organisations. Building effective collaborative interfaces with suppliers and other stakeholders (including customers and employees) improve the way organisations forecast new market demands, and the kind of innovative solutions needed in order to develop internally and cooperatively with their suppliers.

165 Business process management is a key factor for improving interfaces between different areas and partnering organisations, breaking invisible operational walls, and delivering improved communication and leaner business routines. Ultimately business process management improve the way organisations manage its operational resources, avoiding redundant activities and consequently enhance business results.

Change Management

Organisations need to improve the way they communicate with their internal and external stakeholders. Continuous learning and sharing knowledge within the organisation is a key- factor for leading companies to remain effective and competitive in the market. Thus, organisations need to update their current knowledge with upcoming market trends and demands, as managerial knowledge of employees needs to be constantly refined. Organisations also need to focus on adjusting their cultural perspectives toward sustainability goals and incorporate such targets into their strategic planning. Being a ‘sustainable organisation’ has become more than a simple competitive stamp, as customers and other sectors of society have clear demands and expectations concerning how organisations operate in the marketplace. From this point of view, organisations need to incorporate internal and external forces to effectively analyse present and future projections, that is, what they are doing and how they want to be in the future. Coherent alignments between headquarters expectations and local offices realities need to be well addressed by organisations that operate internationally. This allows organisations to have common corporate strategic guidelines, which can also be flexible enough for local offices to adapt their operational realities and address local cultural, environmental and social issues along with improved economic outcomes.

166 NGOs and Policymakers

NGOs practitioners and policymakers could benefit by identifying institutional gaps that demand effective action in order to enhance the dynamism of economic platforms which might benefit their economic regional development. Thus, governments and civil society organisations need to improve their management responsiveness to global market trends and understand collaboration with other sectors as a two-way dialogue and action driver.