The Role of Entrepreneurship in Achieving Sustainable Development

The success of an enterprise is not only anchored on the potential of the entrepreneur to handle its day to day operations but also on his/her capability to make sure that the nature of the commodities or services provided is in line with the preferences and tastes of the societal members. However, quite often, a proprietor might be faced with a myriad of challenges, which may limit his/her potential to ensure that the quality of the services or merchandise offered to the customers is above par. For instance, assuming that a medical professional operating a newly established health clinic has received a client who is in dire need of urgent medication, he/she would be faced with a dilemma on whether to provide medication to the client without following the laid down procedures. Additionally, the proprietor would be faced with a challenge on whether he/she should amass more profits for himself/herself or equip the health centre with the required facilities. As illustrated in this paper, there exist various theories – for instance, organizational sustainability model - the founder can use to overcome such dilemmas. Additionally, he/she should use insight from several elements of experiential learning to design effective strategies – such as teamwork and time management - for enhancing the efficiency of the medical centre.

Definition of Terms

Businesses operate under a set of regulations, whose main objective is to make sure that they – organizations – do not threaten the welfare of the consumers in any way. As a result, it would be paramount for a proprietor to have a comprehensive understanding of the various concepts used in illustrating the major rules – whether ethical or even sustainability and responsibility regulations – that govern the conduct of an institution.

Business Ethics

Business ethics refer to the proposed moral and virtue standards that an organization must always strive to uphold throughout its operations (Salehi, Saeidinia and Aghaei 2012, p.1). One of the main concepts under this case is the idea of the immoral practices, whose main objective is to discourage the organization from engaging in undertakings that that may pose any threat to the welfare of the community members. Therefore, the immoral business laws dictate the kind of activities that an entity that the enterprise should engage in. Another notion that should also be put into consideration is the positive and negative rights of the businessman. The negative rights refer to a set of regulations that give the entrepreneur the powers to decide what he/she should do at any instance or even determine the kind of activities the institution should engage in (Bradley 2010, p.838). On the other hand, the positive rights make it mandatory for an institution to provide some services with an objective of boosting the welfare of the societal members (Bradley 2010, p.838). In this case, the people would be having a negative right, which implies that their access to health services should not be limited in any way. Therefore, even if they would be charged a given fee for the services received, getting the appropriate medical services would be their right. Hence, it should not be violated by anyone. On the other hand, if the provision of medical services is a positive right, then, the health facility would be mandated to provide medication to the community members without any form of restrictions. The concept of justice is another factor that should also be put into perspective, which decrees that all judgments should be founded on the community’s moral principles (Goel and Ramanathan 2014, p.50). In this scenario, the proprietor should ensure that the business gets a significant share of the burdens and benefits that arise as a result of its interaction with the societal members.

Responsibility and Sustainability

The concept of sustainability and responsibility sheds light on whether a respective organization meets the interests of the present day community members without comprising the welfare of the future generations (Camilleri 2017, p.60). This implies that the provision of the given service should be a continuous affair, which denotes that the people would accrue some long-term benefits as a result of seeking for the services of the entity. Besides, the entrepreneur must do everything that it would take to ensure that the interests of the customers coms first, thus, he/she must always make sure that he/she lays down appropriate strategies of safeguarding the welfare of the community – for example, by taking care of the environment.

Comparison and Differentiation of the Terms

Therefore, an analysis of the ethical and the sustainability and responsibility concepts reveals that they main goal is to enhance the effective running of the enterprise. However, as demonstrated above, this can only be achieved if the stakeholders have a mutual relationship whereby the operations of the organization does not pose any threats to the community. Nevertheless, there exists a major difference between these two concepts. While the ethical considerations dictate the moral principles that the enterprise must adhere to, the sustainability and responsibility notions decree that the business operations should not interfere with the welfare of the people – including the future generations – in any way.

Main Challenges

As aforementioned, the proprietor will encounter various challenges as he/she strives to make sure that he/she maintains a balance between the interests of the clinic and those of the societal members.

The Need to Make More Profits

One of the ethical challenges he/she would be faced with is striking a balance between the need to amass more profits while providing quality care (Sims 2014, p.505). It is worth noting that running a medical facility would be quite costly as one has to purchase the necessary medical equipment and employ qualified staffs who will be mandated to handle the patients’ issues. Additionally, the proprietor would be interested in making sure that he/she earns enough income to cater for the hospital’s costs of operations as well as facilitating the expansion of the institution (Sims 2014, p.505). Unfortunately, the amount of earnings within a given period might be quite low than the projected amount. In such a scenario, the proprietor might be tempted to stop purchasing the required medical apparatus, as a way of minimizing the cost of operations. Besides, he/she may also opt to fire some of the employees, which would compromise the quality of the health services offered.

Employees’ Motivation

The other ethical challenge one would be faced is the formulation of effective ways of addressing the moral distress of the employees who feel that they kind of appreciation they end up receiving is quite insignificant even though they remain committed in their duties. In most cases, the number of customers who would be seeking medical attention from a newly established firm is quite low, which implies that the overall amount of income gained would also be relatively low. Hence, the proprietor would be incapable of designing an effective strategy of appreciating his/her employees – for example, by sending them on paid vacations – which would have a significant impact on their motivation levels (Sims 2014, p.505). In such a scenario, the staffs might start providing substandard services, which would also negatively affect the potential of the health facility to grow with ease.

Equal Treatment of the Clients

It is important to note that the potential of the clients to pay a respective price for the services offered to them varies due to differences in their income levels. This implies that there are individuals who would be willing to pay a higher price for the medical services received while others might be incapable of paying the cited amounts. The proprietor would, hence, be faced with a challenge of making sure that there is equity in how he/she treats the customers. In most cases, one would be forced to treat the individuals who have the potential to pay a higher price for medication better than the ones who cannot afford to pay the proposed amount. However, such an action would demonstrate that the health facility is discriminating the community members on the basis of their income potentials, hence, dissuading some societal members from seeking for the medication from the institution whenever a need arises.

Responsibility and Sustainability

Additionally, the medical facility would also experience some challenges that are related to its sustainability and responsibility within the community. It would be important for the entrepreneur to realize that the sustainability of the health facility is dependent on its potential to provide services whose quality is above par (Lange, Busch and Delgado-Ceballos 2012, p.151). Hence, he/she must ascertain that the establishment of the medical institution in the locality is geared towards bridging a respective niche in the nature of medical services provided in the society. However, he/she must ensure that the health clinic is well equipped – for instance, it should have enough bed spaces and medical equipment. Unfortunately, the entrepreneur might be tempted to overlook the essence of providing some crucial facilities – like the barding facilities – due to financial constraints. Additionally, just like any other organization within the locality, the medical facility would be expected to give back to the society, thus, the proprietor would be forced to formulate its corporate social responsibilities. The corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) may be defined as programs or initiatives that are formulated and implemented by the organizations in a respective area as a measure of boosting the welfare of the societal members and safeguarding the interests of the environment simultaneously. Hence, organizations have to make sure that they set apart a proportion of their income to cater for the costs incurred while implementing various projects that are aimed at benefitting the community members – for example, installation of street lights or even launching cleanup exercises within the health centres. In this case, the proprietor would be faced with a challenge on whether he/she should set aside some finances for the corporate social responsibilities or if he/she is supposed to see the available sources in expanding the medical facility.

Use of Leadership/Partnership Models in Addressing the Issues

As illustrated above, ethical dilemmas are a day to day phenomena within organizations. Thus, it would be critical for the entrepreneur to design effective strategies for overcoming such challenges.

Organization Stability Model

One of the techniques that can be used to overcome such issues is the adoption of the organizational stability model, which outlines the key factors that need to be put into consideration to enhance the continuity of the medical facility. For instance, the proprietor will have to guarantee that the firm has financial and moral sustainability. Financial stability refers to a scenario where the medical facility would be having adequate finances to cater for its costs of operations all through (Coblentz 2002, p.3). Hence, he/she – the entrepreneur – will have to seek a good source of the required funds – for example, by seeking for sponsorship from other organizations or charging the clients a reasonable fee for the services offered to them. On the other hand, moral sustainability implies that the medical institution will not engage in any practices that contradict the society’s virtues (Coblentz 2012, p.4).

Leadership and Partnerships Model

The other strategy that can be used to overcome the ethical challenges the medical facility may overcome is the use of leadership and partnership model. This framework decrees that the responsibility to run the organization should not be a preserve of a specific individual – for instance, the management. One technique that can be used in this scenario is the use of democratic leadership style, whereby all the stakeholders are involved in the formulation of adequate measures of addressing the challenges that may arise (Zydziunaite 2015, p.24).

Carroll’s Pyramid of Ethics

Additionally, Carroll’s pyramid of the corporate social responsibility can be used to determine the most effective strategies for running the medical centre. The framework outlines various stipulations – such as ethical responsibilities – that the health clinic must fulfil. According to the ethical dictations, the medical facility would be obligated to engage in practices that do not threaten the welfare of the people even if it is not compelled to act in such a manner by the law (Carroll 2016, p.3).

The Triple Bottom-Line Model

The triple bottom line (TBL) model outlines three factors – environment, economic, and social elements – the medical institution has to put into consideration at all times (Alhaddi 2015, p.6). The social aspect of the model denotes that the health facility will have to seek adequate strategies for safeguarding the welfare of all the stakeholders and even promote their welfare. This includes offering the employees a fair compensation for their services. The health clinic should also use the available resources reasonably and even devise adequate strategies for taking care of the environment – for instance, disposing of the waste products appropriately. On the other hand, the economic aspect denotes that the proprietor should come up with a reasonable economic program that illustrates the expected growth of the health facility. This includes outlining the expected revenue and the projected the overall costs of operation.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning in business management would be defined as a process through which a proprietor would realize the effects of some of the factors that would pose some significant threats to the organization. It may be, therefore, be deemed as a hands-on process that would enhance an entrepreneur design more effective strategies for managing his/her enterprise and increasing its efficiency as well.

Time Management

Time management refers to the potential of the staffs to execute their duties within the recommended period, thus, enabling the organization to achieve its objectives as anticipated (Safonov, Maslennikov and Kashubskyi 2017, p.82). The delivery of medical services requires individuals who can work under minimal supervisions and even fulfil their mandate in a relatively restricted timeline. The health interests of the community members are paramount. Thus, they should be upheld at all times. This implies that the founder will be obligated to ensure that each patient receives appropriate medical attention as soon as the need arises. Besides, it is worth noting that some of the clients would prefer to go back to their workplaces if at all they would not be suffering from serious health complications, which also illustrates the need for effective time management. By providing high-quality medical services within a relatively short time, the medical centre will also be in a position to win the loyalty of the clients, which would also facilitate its growth within a short time.

Bribery and Corruption

Bribery and corruption are some of the factors that would adversely affect the medical centre. Even though it is a private property, it would be important to ensure that transparency in all undertakings is enhanced. Thus, no client should be asked to pay any finances for him/her to receive medical attention. Any bribery or corruption related case would make the societal members lose confidence in the organization, which would ultimately lead to its dismal performance (Williams and Martinez-Perez 2016, p.3).

Teamwork

This is another factor that would boost the performance of the medical facility. In this scenario, all the workers in a respective organization are encouraged to work together for the sake of enabling the entity to achieve its objectives (Tinuke 2013, p.1). It is important to note that, in every company, the staffs have different strengths and weaknesses, which implies that they have varying potentials to achieve their specific goals. However, if they exercise teamwork, then they are in a position to complement each other’s weaknesses, thus, enhancing efficiency and the output potential of the firm.

Multitasking

Multitasking refers to a concept whereby an employee may be capable of accomplishing various tasks simultaneously (Russ and Crews 2014, p.138). For instance, a worker who would be assigned the role of issuing the prescribed drugs to the patients may also be the one who would be conducting the outlined laboratory tests. In other cases, the nursing professionals may be required to manage several patients – more so the ones who are admitted – at once (Douglas, Raban, Walter and Westbrook 2016, p.46). The main advantage of multitasking is that it may lead to delivery of quality health services while minimizing the overall costs of operation. Nevertheless, multitasking may result in some adverse effects as it may lead to a significant increase in the employees’ workload, which may lead to an incline in the cases of misdiagnosis among the societal members.

Comparing Products

Product comparison may also pose some significant effects on the welfare of an organization. In most cases, consumers prefer to have a wide range of products from which they can make their best choices. This explains the rationale why organizations manufacture several brands of the same product. Since the clients will tend to choose the best commodity (service) possible, firms have to make sure that they incorporate the use of advanced technology in their production process to be in a position to come up with high-quality products. In a health centre setting, customers will tend to compare the services offered in various medical institutions. Therefore, if a respective health clinic would be deemed to be offering high-quality health services will have more customers than the others in the same locality.

Group Projects

In a firm, various employees may be assigned to different groups after which they would be assigned to a given role. The essence of organizing the workers in such a form is to make sure that the proposed projects are accomplished within the set time frames. For every group, a team leader is selected and obligated to guide the members on how to come up with the desired project (Zoltan and Vancea 2015, p.96). Additionally, the leader would be tasked with coordinating the efforts of the subordinates to make sure that all the required guidelines are followed in the project implementation of the initiative. In this case, it would be rational to argue that clients would always prefer to seek medical attention from health centres that can easily organize its employees into various groups to achieve a respective objective – for example, seeking the appropriate strategies of countering a given health issue.

Conflict Resolution

Conflicts will be unavoidable, thus, it would be paramount for the proprietor to design an effective strategy for solving them. Unless effective conflict resolution strategies are adopted, the entrepreneur might be forced to use a lot of his/her time dealing with fallouts among the staffs, which would derail the medical centre’s potential to achieve some of its objectives (Madalina 2016, p.808). For instance, the founder can come up with a disciplinary team that would be obligated to handle all conflict-related cases and even propose the right course of action if an employee is found guilty of having committed a mistake that would have resulted in the disagreement.

Conclusion

Summary

To sum it all, the proprietor will have to seek effective means of countering the ethical challenges that he/she may encounter. For example, he/she might be in a dilemma on whether to use the available resources to expand the enterprise or engage in corporate social responsibilities. As demonstrated above, there are various models – such as Carroll’s pyramid of ethics, which dictates that it would be prudent for the health centre to engage in practices that would not threaten the welfare of the societal members even if it would not have been compelled by the law to do so. Additionally, the entrepreneur will have to put into perspective some experiential learning factors such as the essence of an effective measure of conflict resolution to enable the employees to work as a team, thus, enhancing the achievement of the proposed objectives within the set time frame.

Wider Implications of the Study

The essence of this study cannot be underestimated as it sheds light on some of the strategies that proprietors can adopt to enhance the effective running of their businesses. The knowledge from the sustainability theories denote the factors – for example, economic, social, and environmental – that need to be considered to enhance the expansion of the entity. Additionally, the study provides insight on the essence of some experiential learning factors like the need to ensure that all conflicts are amicably solved to enhance the welfare of the enterprises.

References

Alhaddi, H., 2015. Triple bottom line and sustainability: A literature review. Business and Management Studies, 1(2), pp. 6-10.

Bradley, A., 2010. Positive rights, negative rights and health care. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36, pp. 838-841.

Camilleri, M.A., 2017. Corporate sustainability and responsibility: Creating value for business, society and the environment. Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, 2(16), pp. 59-74.

Carrol, A.B., 2016. Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: Taking another look. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 1(3), pp.1-8.

Cobletntz, J.B., 2002. Organizational sustainability: The three aspects that matter. [Online] Available at [Accessed May 22, 2018]

Douglas, H.E., Raban, M.Z., Walter, S.R., and Westbrook, J.I., 2016. Improving our understanding of multi-tasking in healthcare: Drawing together the cognitive psychology and healthcare literature. Applied Ergonomics, 59(2017), pp. 45-55.

Goel, M., and Ramanathan, P.E., 2014. Business ethics and corporate social responsibility – is there a dividing line? ScienceDirect, 11(2104), pp. 49-59.

Lange, D.E.D., Busch, T., and Delgado-Ceballos, J., 2012. Sustaining sustainability in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 151-156.

Madalina, O., 2016. Conflict management. ScienceDirect, 39, pp. 807-814.

Russ, M., and Crews, D.E. 2014. A survey of multitasking behaviors in organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 4(1), pp. 137-153.

Safonov, Y., Maslennikov, Y., and Kashubskyi, A., 2017. Time management and its implementation at production companies. Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, 3(1), 82-87.

Salehi, M., Saeidinia, M., and Aghaei, M., 2012. Business ethics. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(1), pp. 1-5.

Sims, R.R., 2014. The challenge of ethical behaviour in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(7), pp. 505-513.

Tinuke, F.M., 2013. Towards effective team building in the workplace. International Journal of Educational and Research, 1(4), pp. 1-12.

Williams, C.C., and Martinez-Perez, A., 2016. Evaluating the impacts of corruption on firm performance in developing economies: An institutional perspective. International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 16(4), pp.1-19.

Zoltan, R., and Vancea, R., 2015. Organizational work groups and work teams – approaches and differences. Ecoforum, 4(1), pp. 94-98.