INTRODUCTION:

According to Wagner and Svensson (2014), a study on business sustainability and its related aspects in the society and market has matured. The customers and stakeholders are not only expecting quality products from the companies but also ethics, continued service and better social behaviour.

The organisations face challenges and opportunities through sustainability. Business sustainability helps to overcome economic problems and meet the future needs of the market (Tsai et. al., 2013). There is significant impact from the external factors like market competition and changing needs of the society on the business sustainability (Law, 2009). The impact of market competition and changing needs of the society is even more significant on the business sustainability of small businesses. According to Asa & Prasad (2014) small businesses forms the major source of income and employment in developing nations.

Business sustainability is meeting the present requirements and as well as future needs. It is also balancing between environmental, social and economic objectives (Tsai et. al., 2013). Business sustainability is nothing but managing the obligations, risks and opportunities in long run.

Sustainability is all about the consequences of meeting today’s challenges successfully along with embracing the opportunities to account for future needs balancing the economic, social and environmental aspects. Business sustainability leads to develop the environment, enhance the social wellbeing along with generating profits. The goal of business sustainability is to begin the process of developing profitable opportunities and to work towards sustainable development. The factors contributing towards business sustainability are broadly classified as motivational, psychological and emotional apart from economic, social and environmental (Porcar et. al., 2018).According to Hutton et. al., (2007), any business venture is bound to offer short term as well as long term value to its stake holders. But entrepreneurs who give more importance to the social issues may ignore the prime reason for their business and profitability (Murphy, 1994). Hence entrepreneurs need to have a clear understanding about the multiple dimensions of sustainability so as to balance between profitability and sustainability (Law, 2009).

Corporate sustainability demands the constant improvement of processes and systems that will make the organization to foresee and meet the expectations of all those who are affected by the performance of the organisation. Good number of authors have discussed about various business cases with respect to corporate sustainability. The business cases usually highlight the business processes that are directing towards achieving sustainability and are required for the economic growth of the corporate (Asif et. al., 2011).

According to Eccles et. al., (2011), highly sustainable companies shows outstanding performance in long term, both financial as well as in stock market compared to their competitors. As per the Harvard Business Review’s cover story, the authors recommends to associate sustainability with innovation for laying a groundwork which will help them to lead when recession ends and certainly there is no other alternative for sustainable development (Nidumolu, 2009).

With the background of above literature of various authors we can understand the importance and results of business sustainability.

FACTORS AFFECTING BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY:

Civelek, et. al. (2015) in their book discuss that, dynamism, uncertainty and fluctuation of the competitive environment generate a hindrance to many organisations.

Several authors have discussed on the factors affecting business sustainability in their research. Few important factors have been discussed below.

Purpose of the Business:

The purpose of the business forms the basic idea for an entrepreneur. If there is a long term planning behind the purpose, then it reflects positively on the sustainability of the business. According to an author in his book, the purpose of the business should be driven by proper planning, implementing, flow of products from stock to customer leading to customer satisfaction in the long run (Civelek, et. al. 2015).

Branding Building:

According to Spence et. al., (2010) it is necessary for the entrepreneurs to be conscious that customer’s perception of their firm depends on their public image. That public image needs to be carefully nurtured to be sustainable in the market. The product features or the service features which reflects the firm’s core values should be carefully selected to increase the brand equity. A cost effective approach to be followed to adopt those product or service features which are linked to the organization’s core values. Number of brand diversification strategies to be followed to achieve sustainability.

Innovation and Implementation of New Technology:

Matejun (2016) in his study focused on technology entrepreneurship which results in bringing innovativeness in products in firms. Also he has identified bringing up the innovation and technology from the grass root development of any organization will lead to organizational success and business sustainability.

Development of a Suitable Business Model:

According to Wales, (2013) sustainable growth includes a business model which adds value constantly by preserving as well as increasing the economic, social and environmental values on a long term.

Brannon and Wiklund (2016) have emphasized the importance of innovative business models and experimentally prove that innovative business models improve the performance of the firm through collection and processing of the data. Hence Innovative Business Model has been identified as one of the major factor which would have a significant impact on the business sustainability.

Customer Relationship:

The authors in their research on business sustainability discuss that, competitive advantage has been influenced by important factors like technology, organizational culture and relationship with the customer and brand management. The relationship with the customer can be strengthened through the service provided to them which involves the activities of resolving the customer’s issues till they are satisfied. Satisfied customers are the backbone of any business leading to sustainability (Tsai et. al., 2013).

Entrepreneurial Competencies of an Entrepreneur:

Entrepreneurial Competency comprises of fundamental characteristics like specific knowledge, motives, self-images, social roles, traits and skills which results in enterprise birth, endurance and growth (Mitchelmore and Rowley, 2010). Entrepreneurial competency is defined as the total capability of an entrepreneur to carry out a job role successfully (Man et al., 2002).

Mitchelmore and Rowley (2010) discuss about the competency required by the entrepreneurs and managers to enhance the performance of the organization in their article. But further there are many areas which require to be focused on. Hence entrepreneurial competency has been identified as one of the major factor which would have a significant impact on the business sustainability.

Contribution of Environment:

As per the research of various authors, the contribution of factors like economic, social and environment is significant on the sustainable development of an organisation. Thus it has become a central idea of an organisation to contribute to the global economy (Rodriguez, et. al., 2002). According to Wagner, (2005) environmental factors contribute significantly for business sustainability.

Continuous Demand for the Products:

As per the research of the authors, continuous demand for the products keeps the business active. To meet the customer demand on time, firms adopt supply chain management for the purpose of balancing the customer demand and sustainable development (Tsai et. al., 2013).

Contribution to the Society:

According to the authors, individual or organisational values and ethics are closely linked to nurturing of the sustainability. Values and ethics play an important role on the ways on the actions taken towards sustainability. According to the society and culture, values are internalized. Business sustainability is focused on preserving life support, nature and community through the combination of social, ecological and economic values. The products are produced for the society with the support of the society. Hence sustainability depends on the valuable contribution to the society (Hosseininia, and Ramezani, 2016).

A Pilot Study Questionnaire was developed to capture basic information about the entrepreneurs and questions on 1 to 10 ranking scale framed from the factors contributing to their business sustainability discussed above.

In this research Agri Engineering Manufacturing Companies have been considered for the study purpose.

BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRI ENGINEERING COMPANIES:

According to the latest report of Agriculture in India from Ministry of Agriculture (April 2018), agriculture plays a key role in Indian Economy. The primary means of livelihood of about 58% of rural population depends on agriculture. The share of agriculture, forestry, livestock and fishery has been estimated to be 20.4% of the Gross Value Added (GVA). From the agriculture sector GVA has been estimated to have increased by 3% for the year 2018. According to Mehta et al. (2014), agricultural mechanization is a significant initiative. Agricultural mechanization yield expected results in the presence of proper planning. Indian agricultu4rists works on selective mechanization policy under diverse conditions. Hence agricultural mechanization is very challenging. To overcome the challenges, it is required for the Agri Engineering manufacturing companies to adopt suitable technology as per the needs of the farmers.

The information about various products like Planting Materials, Seeds, Bio Products, Cold Storage, Plant Nutrients, Equipment, Implements, Irrigation, Processing and Farm machineries has been collected for further study. Engineering activity is involved in manufacturing of Farm machineries, Irrigation equipment, implements and processing machineries. Appropriate usage of the above agricultural products on time on farm / field under suitable condition leads to farm mechanization.

ENTERPRENEUR’S PERCEPTION ANALYSIS:

Secondary source of data related to agricultural products has been gathered from relevant agriculture department websites, agricultural events and trade websites like Indiamart and TradeIndia.

A total sample of 372 numbers of Agri Engineering manufacturing companies have been identified in the state of Karnataka in India spread across various districts.

Initially Pilot Study Questionnaire – Version 1 was developed with multiple choice questions capturing basic information about the Entrepreneurs and questions on 1 to 10 ranking scale framed through gaps identified during literature review as mentioned in the above section to understand the factors contributing to their business sustainability.

From the total population of 372 Agri Engineering Manufacturing Companies, 36 companies were identified to conduct Pilot Study which are falling under the four categories namely, Equipment and Implements, Irrigation, Farming Machineries and Processing Machineries.

After identifying the key personnel of the company/entrepreneur, meeting was fixed at their convenient time. Data was collected as per the Pilot Study Questionnaire.

During the discussion, additional points to be covered in the Survey Questionnaire were noted down. The valid points which would add value to the research were recorded.

The analysis of the collected data has been detailed below.

The below Table 1shows that, 39%of the companies rated Entrepreneurial Competency as highest priority for business sustainability, 33%of the companies rated Business Model as highest priority for business sustainability and 28%of the companies rated Innovation and Technology as highest priority for business sustainability, compared to the other factors. Since the remaining factors received low ranking as less interest was shown by the entrepreneurs, they have been rejected.

Table1. Factors contributing to business sustainability

Factors contributing to business sustainability	Respondent’s rating
Entrepreneurial Competency	39%
Business Model	33%
Innovation and Technology	28%

The highest number of the agri engineering manufacturing companies entrepreneurs belong to the age group of 36 to 45 years and the second highest number of entrepreneurs belong to the age group of 46 to 55 years as indicated in the below Table 2.

Table 2. Distribution of samples based on their age

Age range	Respondents
From 18 to 25 years	2.8%
From 26 to 35 years	16.7%
From 36 to 45 years	33.3%
From 46 to 55 years	27.8%
From 56 years and above	19.4%

Then we wanted to check if education level of the entrepreneurs has added value to their business. The sample data has been tabulated based on their education as indicated in Table 3. Most of the entrepreneurs were undergraduates.

Table 3. Distribution of samples based on the level of education

Level of education	Respondents
12th grade	5.6%
Under Graduate	75%
Post Graduate	19.4%

After knowing about the education level of the entrepreneurs, we thought of understanding if there is any relationship between their education level and business tenure. The distribution of the samples indicated that, the highest numbers of companies are more than 15 year old as represented in Table 4.

Table 4. Distribution of samples based on their business tenure

Business tenure	Respondents
More than 1 year to less than 5 years	19.4%
More than 5 years to less than 10 years	22.2%
More than 10 years to less than 15 years	22.2%
15 years and above	36.1%

Fig. 1. Distribution of the samples based on manufacturing activity

The Agri engineering manufacturing companies were chosen for the study based on their manufacturing activity. Fig 1 shows the distribution of the samples based on their manufacturing activity. 27.8% of the companies are farm machineries manufacturing companies, 25% of the companies are processing machineries and irrigation related equipments manufacturing companies and 22.2% of the companies are equipments and implements manufacturing companies. The above mentioned machineries and equipments are widely used in agricultural fields. Processing machineries are used to process the agricultural output that is to make it ready from field to market/customer.

Fig 2. Distribution of samples based on their annual turnover

*INR – Indian Rupees

The data regarding the annual turnover of the agri engineering manufacturing companies was collected during the pilot study. The analysis of the data revealed that, highest number of companies are having the turnover of more than *INR 1.5 crores and above as indicated in the Fig 2.

Fig 3. Distribution of samples based on annual profit

The annual profit of most of companies was 5% to 10% after all their expenses, which is comparatively less. It is well represented by Fig 3.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE ENTREPRENEURS OF AGRI ENGINEERING MANUFACTURING COMPANIES:

It is evident that, there are many factors influencing the sustainability of businesses as per the research of various authors. But entrepreneurial competency, business model and innovation and technology has significant positive impact on the sustainability of Agri Engineering Manufacturing Companies. Though the author is doing an in-depth research about business sustainability, it is suggested to the entrepreneurs to improve their skills to manage human capital efficiently. Hence it is suggested to the entrepreneurs to attend technical training, human resource training, leadership training, and personality development training programs to enhance their entrepreneurial competencies. It is also recommended that, the entrepreneurs should adopt a business model which comprises of a plan for procuring raw materials, manpower and finance for effective operations of business. Further it leads to customer satisfaction and retaining of the customers. Usually entrepreneurs face challenges regarding new technology prevailing in the market. Hence it is necessary to be innovative so as to increase the market share. Entrepreneurs should periodically update themselves with the latest technology to get well equipped to face the challenges.

This research results show important implications for the Agri engineering manufacturing entrepreneurs. The majority of the entrepreneurs of Agri Engineering manufacturing companies believes that entrepreneurial competency, business model and innovation are the major contributing factors towards their business sustainability. Most of the entrepreneurs are of middle age between 36 to 45 years, which gives them certain maturity and understanding about the business out of experience. Also it can be noted that, the maximum number of entrepreneurs are under graduates. Age and education has significant impact on the business tenure since their company is surviving from more than 15 years. Their annual turnover is also notably high like more than INR 1.5 Crores. But it is observed that, the annual profit is 5% to 10% which is comparatively low.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

This study is limited to the chosen sample size in the selected geographic locations and further additional factors can be considered in future research with high end statistical tools.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The author would like to thank Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru for having permitted to carry out the research and their unflagging support during the tenure of my research.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Received on 16.10.2018 Modified on 01.12.2018

Asian Journal of Management. 2019; 10(1): 61-66.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2019.00011.8