Introduction
A growing business faces various challenges and barriers in its expansion. Business management faces problems in attempting to ensure sustainable business practices. Studies have shown that sustainable business practices imply high survival chances in a competitive environment. These businesses develop essential values and positively impact all their customers. A company’s sustainability is influenced heavily by affluence, technology, and population. The business operation environment also affects the business performance in the competitive environment. This case is about Oakhurst Dairy, and it explains the various strategies that the management of the business has put in place to keep the organization successful in its operations. The management of Oakhurst Dairy has roles to ensure sustainability in all processes such as manufacturing, supply chains, and feedback collection. This paper describes the various techniques used by the management of Oakhurst Dairy to survive amidst the challenges facing the company faced since 2011.
Oakhurst Dairy is an important firm that produces dairy products. The firm operates in a competitive business environment, but it has employed various strategies that see the sales of its products lead in the region. Some of the firm’s measures include directly providing incentives to its dairy farmers, expanding the market, and avoiding artificial growth. The company survives in the market by ensuring that its supply chains are effective and that customers receive high-quality products on time. It focuses on essential activities and practices that would earn the company a profit and a higher position in the market. The company has also generated a considerable profit by taking leadership roles and addressing the carbon gas emission by US dairy companies. Through addressing the carbon emission problem, the firm has attempted to lead in environmental conservation and promote the best practices of avoiding pollution (Bocken et al., 2019). The company identified innovative ways to reduce the emission of carbon into the air to prevent air pollution. These measures not only reduce the operational cost but also enhance profits realizations. This activity has helped the company stay ahead of most of its competitors.
Challenges Facing Oakhurst in 2011 and Beyond
Since the year 2011, Oakhurst Dairy has faced various challenges. To begin with, the company was struck by the death of Stanley Bennet, who was the CEO. Stanley Bennet was the bearer of the company’s vision, and his death meant a massive loss to the firm. The rise in the cost of energy also affected the firm’s operation. In 2011, the power prices in the United States were extremely high (Gittell et al., 2012). Since the company depends on fuel and electricity to manufacture its products, it was a big challenge to produce a tremendous amount of milk products due to the limited energy supply. Finally, the slow economic growth in the US economy paused a significant challenge to the organization. The government set milk prices lower than production costs for a couple of years. This affected the firm’s supply chain and the production of milk products. 2011 was a challenging year for the company, but the management made efforts to deal with these challenges.
To address the above challenges, the company implemented various methods that use fewer machines and employ more human resources, reducing fuel use in the manufacturing processes. Oakhurst reduced carbon emissions through operation alterations, eliminating dairy farm ownership, and processing milk products by buying milk from local farms (Nosratabadi et al., 2019). The firm believed that reducing the energy use in its operations was the most efficient way to reduce the emission of carbon into the air. Stanley Bennett, before his death, stated that most of their dairy cows survived a polluted environment, and it was the company’s duty to keep it pure. The company saw the need to protect the environment, and it was a corporate social responsibility that most of its competitors ignored. The collaboration between Oakhurst and NGO enabled the achievement of its environmental goal of reducing carbon in the environment (Bocken et al., 2019). A good firm is concerned with both internal and external working environments. Oakhurst considered preserving the external environment to allow quality products for its consumers.
Oakhurst’s Efforts to Reduce Carbon Emissions
The emission of carbon into the air is destroying the environment every day. The adverse effects of this activity can be seen in the increased cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases (Presley & Meade, 2018). The Natural Resources Défense Council report stated that consumption of locally manufactured food products minimizes the rate of air pollution. Oakhurst’s sustainable business model and the efforts to protect the environment support this study. The company’s decision to use milk from local farms and employ more human resources than machines is proof that the management identified significant causes of pollution by carbon emission from the company. It supported practices that eliminate wastages and pollution of the environment. The company pursued conserving the environment by removing fuel usage and other techniques that degrade the environment. The effort by Oakhurst to protect the environment is clear evidence that many companies and individuals can follow the same procedure to help reduce carbon emissions into the air in various ways.
Oakhurst’s Sustainable Business Model
Various activities that we conduct daily release carbon gas into the environment. Multiple sectors of life use equipment that supports and promotes gas release into the atmosphere. The role of the business model for the company was to provide operational efficiency that helped the company minimize the cost of operation without compromising quality. The company reduced the import of raw milk from other farmers to use locally produced milk to assist in the reduction of carbon footprints. The business model was meant to build a brand and increase profit over time (Gittell et al., 2012). It was also meant to manage its operations by reducing costs and increasing brand awareness. By buying from local farmers, the company reduced their fueling on trucks that initially polluted the environment while transporting the products long distances. These sustainable practices further enabled the company to reduce water and electricity consumption and manage waste products efficiently, thereby reducing the environmental pollution.
Methods Of Reducing Carbon Emissions
To curb the effects of carbon in our daily lives, individuals and companies must now move with speed to reduce the rates of carbon emissions into the environment. By following the example set by the firm, people can reduce the amount of carbon emission through various methods. People emit carbon at home, in school, hospitals, or while traveling, and multiple practices can help this generation minimize the production of carbon (Sinha & Chaturvedi, 2019). One such practice includes Insulating homes. It is perceived as one of the best practices to reduce carbon emissions as the insulators absorb the gases before they enter the environment. People can also purchase energy-efficient equipment and facilitate energy-intensive activities like pumping water to reduce carbon footprints. Society can learn to change diet and take meals that produce less carbon energy. People should avoid eating shipped meat and shop for locally available food. In offices, carbon emission can be controlled by turning off unused lights using reusable ones instead of disposable cups. While traveling people should avoid using vehicles for short distances. These activities will help people reduce costs and save them money.
Conclusion
In conclusion, practicing sustainable measures has remained a challenge to various organizations in the current world. Employing sustainability practices helps a company develop as the management tries to maintain the highest effective management strategies. Oakhurst Dairy is one of the most successful businesses that has enjoyed the fruits of practicing sustainable business. The company survived various challenges in a competitive business environment because it ensured sustainable business practices in providing a conducive environment within and outside the workplace. The company fights against carbon emission by setting examples of how organizations can use other techniques to minimize costs and preserve the environment. Reducing carbon emissions into the environment is an individual responsibility. Controlling the release of carbon gas into the atmosphere is possible, and the activities could help save on cost. Everyone can choose to go green and employ various methods that promote the green economy. Oakhurst Dairy case is proof that it is possible to use human resources and reduce the usage of fuel by companies to reduce the emission of carbon into the environment.
References
Bocken, N., Boons, F., & Baldassarre, B. (2019). Sustainable business model experimentation by understanding ecologies of business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 208, 1498-1512.
Gittell, R., Magnusson, M., & Merenda, M. (2012). The sustainable business case book. The Saylor Foundation.
Nosratabadi, S., Mosavi, A., Shamshirband, S., Kazimieras Zavadskas, E., Rakotonirainy, A., & Chau, K. W. (2019). Sustainable business models: A review. Sustainability, 11(6), 16-63.
Presley, A., & Meade, L. M. (2018). The business case for sustainability: An application to slow fashion supply chains. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(2), 138-150.
Sinha, R. K., & Chaturvedi, N. D. (2019). A review on carbon emission reduction in industries and planning emission limits. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 114, 109-304.