The Nexus between Sustainable Business Practices and the Quest for Peace

Abstract

We explored the sustainable business practices of selected Philippine corporations that promote the quest for peace. We used three key indicators of sustainable business practices, namely, fostering economic development, espousing corporate citizenship, and respecting the rule of law, as our variables to measure our sustainable business practices construct. On the other hand, we adopted sustainable development and sound business environmental our variables to measure the quest for peace construct. We assumed that sustainable business practices and quest for peace are interlinked and mutually reinforcing. We anchored our study on the Theories of Positive Peace, Sustainable Development, and Humanistic Management. We used the qualitative exploratory research design and the holistic multiple case study research strategy. We used the qualitative exploratory research design and the holistic multiple case study research strategy. We selected through the non-probability purposive sampling technique, the 20 Publicly - Listed Companies in the Philippines. We then, utilized the monomethod as the data collection technique for selecting the Sustainability Reports published in 2018 and uploaded in the websites of the respective corporations. With this deductive approach, we specifically adopted the pattern matching analytical procedure in the process of our content analysis of information from the Sustainability Reports. Results on fostering economic development revealed numerous jobs created, training and development, as well as trade and business development programs and activities executed. Analysis on espousing corporate citizenship disclosed many programs and activities related to encourage the use of voice from the firm, community engagement, and governance implemented. Findings on respecting the rule of law showed also various programs and activities that cover compliance with Philippine laws, international laws, and environmental standards. Findings also indicated that the nexus of sustainable business practices and the quest for peace aims to build companies of enduring greatness by doing good and working toward a sustainable future. In conducting responsible business, they were able to help in attaining positive peace in our coun try, which, in return, is essential for sustainable development, as manifested by their significant contribution in achieving sustainable development/growth, working closely with regulators to achieve shared goals; and protecting the environment and preserving natural resources. We recommend that there should be a coordinated effort of all the stakeholders to ensure that there is an integrated and holistic approach in the sustainability of the business sector to promote positive peace.We also propose to undertake further research on employing quantitative approach by using business, financial, and socio-economic indicators to address the limitations of this study.