Author/Authors :
YAVUZ, V. Alpagut Mustafa Kemal Üniv. - Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakültesi - Isletme Bölümü, Turkey
Abstract :
The developments experienced recently related to climate and environmental changes have increased the visibility of sustainability as a concept. Different dimensions of sustainability achievement have been the topic of different disciplines. In terms of its application in business activities, especially in production process management, there has been a crucial need for a systematical organization of existing theories and approaches. For this purpose, in this study, the concept of sustainability is analyzed with regard to its various aspects; its developmental dimension is investigated within the field of economics; and the its valuation and reporting is examined. Then, the meaning of sustainability for production activities is discussed in detail and strategies used in achieving sustainability in production are presented and categorized under five approaches. These five approaches are analyzed under the titles of nature capitalism, environmentally conscious strategies, clean production approach, green production approach and lean and green approach. The main problem, however, remains to be how these approaches and strategies are going to be received and applied by business organizations. Taking this real-life problem into account and considering that lean thinking has been the most common guiding principle of modern production management; lean and green approach appears to be the most prominent among the sustainable production strategies discussed in this study.
