Current Issues in Management: Norbord Incorporated Sustainability Concepts

Norbord Incorporated Sustainability Concepts
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Executive Summary
Sustainability is the long-term viability of a community and social institutions. It is a form of intergenerational ethics in which the current generation's environmental and economic actions do not diminish the opportunities of future generations to enjoy similar levels of welfare, utility, and wealth. The environmental movement rebuked the unsustainability character that threatened ecosystems integrity which resulted in the sustainability idea. It serves as a standard against which institutions are judged and a direction in which the society should move. A sustainable society is one that lives within the boundaries of ecological limits-that is, accommodating their current need and those of future generations. It also integrates social, economic, and environmental considerations in its decision-making. While previous reports explain factors encouraging or discouraging organizations, they fail to develop the impacts of strategic sustainability concepts. This report identifies and explains how Norbord's Incorporated sustainability practices in theory.
Norbord Incorporated Sustainability Concepts
To enhance productivity and develop a competitive advantage, most organizations and their leaders globally have adopted sustainability strategies. In most cases, they try to narrow the sustainability's view to aspects directly related to their performance sphere, termed internal sustainability. However, that does not mean external sustainability, quality of life issues and business relationship worldwide, is not equally crucial. For that reason, economic measures, leadership, among others, are some of the factors that enable sustainability efforts to be a success. Norbord Incorporated is a public company operating in the forestry industry and containing about seventeen plant locations found in Europe, the U.S, and Canada. The company deals with engineered wood products-that is, products used in the construction and furniture sectors. Some of the company's brands include Caber Board and Caber Wood MDF. Since sustainability issues affect both non-business and business organizations, Norbord Incorporated has been impacted as much, resulting in developing frameworks, tools, and models to support sustainability. Using secondary sources, entailed in this paper is an evaluation of Norbord's Incorporated sustainability practices in theory.
Sustainability Theoretical Review
Norbord Inc. uses numerous concepts to breakdown its sustainability into manageable and actionable steps to aid in implementation. Each idea requires a different degree of commitment and guarantees different paths of the company's sustainability. At Norbord, sustainability is central to the company's objectives: world-class building facilities, empowering people and culture, and being carbon net-zero and resource-efficient. Some of the sustainability concepts adopted to help achieve its goals are discussed below.
Corporate Social Responsibility CSR)
Corporate Social Responsibility, coined as CSR, is an essential aspect in Norbord Incorporated. While different organizations define CSR differently, to Norbord Inc., the recurring themes are philanthropic, ethical, economic, and legal responsibilities.
Norbord Incorporated invests in the communities their works live and work. The company's tax contributions support parks, healthcare, scholarships, among other essential programs in the regions of the company's locality that help improve education and health in the areas surrounding the company. Additionally, the company's employees take personal responsibility for bettering their community. Through forest and mill operations, the company engages with less than one hundred indigenous governments, organizations, and communities. The company respects the legal rights and tries to integrate those traditions into forestry management, collaborate with the indigenous communities, and take a mutual process to resolve conflicts (Rana & Chhatre, 2017; Shende, Saptal & Bhanage, 2019; Tauszig & Toppinen, 2017). For instance, in Canada, the company respects the connection between Canada's indigenous people and their land; thus, they take steps in preserving the identifiable influential spiritual and spiritual culture.
Also, the company's code of conduct policy gives direction which directors, officers, employees, among other stakeholders, should respect and behave according to by adhering with the behavioral guidelines (Martin et al., 2018; Pye, 2019). Some of the company's values include integrity, teamwork, respect for fellow stakeholders, competitiveness, and humility with the oversight of adherence to the codes resting on its board of directors. Besides, the company depends on the community for most services such as road building, log purchase, reforestation, trucking, and transportation. That means the company contributes more to the economy through jobs and balanced trades than other major sectors. Through the company's operations, they provide tax revenues that help critical fund services and infrastructure development. For example, annually, the company donates to not less than 500 local community organizations. Norbord Inc. has adopted policies and practices that ensure their stakeholder's interests, including creditors, employees, shareholders, are maintained on legal responsibilities. Some of these policies and procedures entail, among others, cumulative dividends, dissolution, and trading price, all detailed in the company's corporation act. Also, the company is investing millions of dollars to be more environmentally conscious, invest in renewable energy, and increase their recycling. In general, the company is mindful of the social issues in its local communities and its workforce. Also, it is concerned with being ethical, the environment, impacting the communities positively, and suchlike.
Ecological Footprints and Stakeholders Engagement
Additionally, research has shown that human activities, both business and personal, consume the earth's resources and, in return, produces waste, most of which are non-biodegradable, putting pressure on the planet (Burivalova, Game & Butler, 2019; Gilinsky, Newton & Vega, 2016). Norbord Incorporated uses the ecological footprint concept to manage its ecological assets better. For example, by measuring how much carbon they emit, the company takes activities to reduce this footprint. The company has been certified a carbon negative, which means they lock up their carbon in their products than they emit. This act is achieved by using the wood panels industry, among others. Also, the company has a campaign known as Use Wood Wisely. The campaign addresses the harvesting of trees and the carbon emission and their impacts on the general environment.
Besides, Norbord Incorporated considers its stakeholders' needs, both those who can impact or be impacted by its decisions. The company's idea is that none of these groups are left behind. Instead, value is created equally for every group with no trade-offs. The most apparent stakeholders the company considers and engages are the employees, investors, governments, forest landowners, communities, Non-Governmental Organizations such as research institutions, and customers (Hicks et al., 2016; Kröger & Raitio, 2017). Norbord Inc. ensures that the stakeholders' interests and that of the company align. Exemplary, the company is open on how they engage their stakeholders using ongoing conversations via both formal and informal feedback opportunities annually to help improve their products and activities. Since they are required by the law to meet the standards and...