I'd like to react to the concept of sustainability mentioned in Xiaowen's email about the competition criteria. What are people's thoughts on -What exactly does it mean to be sustainable? ? From a pure MBA perspective, sustainability means that your generated revenues cover your costs. But why can't we consider other forms of revenue in "sustainability"? Is it because government assistance can ebb and flow with politics? Business in general changes with politics; it's just another factor that any organization has to manage.
And let's be honest: many many large companies, if you really study them, receive "subsidiary-like" treatment from politicians, whether it's in the form of tax breaks, preferential trade agreements or government contracts. However for some reason, we call their businesses "sustainable" and a social sector organization who receives a government grant "unsustainable." Why ? Furthermore, because an organization is profitable one or two years, does that mean that they have a "sustainable business model"? What is the number of years that one has to prove that one can stay in business to be considered sustainable? And what if during that time, your revenue sources change, but each year you continue to operate in the black?
I would postulate that sustainability doesn't depend on the SOURCE of revenue - but instead depends on the ability of the organization to continue operating and creating value for society over a reasonable period of time. In other words, the organization needs to have not only the financial resources but the organizational capacity, right product or service that meets a consumer need, and the operational ability to execute.
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