Sociotechnical Approach of ESG

All living things including human kind are exposed to environmental risks including all forms of pollutions such as space junks, e-wastes, and more. To overcome this existential challenge, it is critical to use appropriate methods & technology. However, each new human innovation creates new waste. A sociotechnical approach is necessary in producing sustainable products that incur little environmental and ecological risks. This is the process of finding the right interdependency of all related technical and social subsystems.?

The technical subsystem comprises the sustainability technology in terms of devices, tools and techniques needed to transform inputs into sustainable outputs. Examples of sustainability technology are renewal energy for transportation & manufacturing, carbon capture and storage, and building & construction. They serve one or more of the following: substitution of non-biodegradable materials in production, prevention of adverse environmental impacts (e.g. contamination), and efficiency in usage of energy and resources.

The social subsystem comprises the employees (at all levels) with their knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and needs, as well as the reward system and authority structures that exist in the organisation. We may include the entities outside the organisations (we call environment) such as customers, suppliers, and their rules and regulations.

The history of the sociotechnical approach started in the 1950s when there was a great optimism about the impact of technology on business efficiency and productivity. However, as many new innovations were introduced, there was also resistance by the workforce. This man-machine conflict is simplified below.?

On one hand, the humanistic values of organisational systems are to enhance the quality of working life and the job satisfaction of the workers. Happy employees improve productivity and thus economic yield. On the other hand, the managerial duty is to achieve primarily economic objectives. The sociotechnical challenge is to balance the two conflicting values.?

How and why sociotechnical approach is used in the current age of ESG?

For more discussion, contact [email protected] or [email protected]