Investigating the implementation of triple bottom line in an agricultural company

Abstract

With sustainability being a key issue in today's global business environment, organisations have had to consider how they can do business in the long-term in order to make profits but at the same time conserve the resources they use in their activities. The earth has finite resources that need to be used in such a manner that the generations that come after us, are able to maintain themselves in the same manner as the current world population. Businesses are regarded as separate legal entities and as such have had to adopt different aspects of sustainability into their operations. Two of these concepts are corporate social responsibility, which deals with how the business acts as a separate legal entity within society, and Triple Bottom Line, which is an accounting framework for measuring businesses' activities in terms of sustainable business practices. This study investigates the implementation of Triple Bottom Line at an agricultural company and specifically with regard to its implementation at the branches of the company in the Eastern Free State. It was found that differing levels of implementation of the elements of Triple Bottom Line prevailed at the branches. Challenges to the implementation of Triple Bottom Line at the branches were also identified during the course of the study. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility was a sustainable practice that was not focussed on at all the branches that formed part of the study. The study concluded with recommendations for improving the implementation of Triple Bottom Line at the branches of the company that are located in the Eastern Free State. The recommendations include steps that can be followed to improve the current implementation of Triple Bottom Line at the agricultural company.