Abstract :
The application of sustainable development (SD) in organisational strategy has been debated for over 20 years. There is much social and political support for sustainability, especially in the management of game parks for the benefit of the public (through government agencies) and the private sector who are the providers of capital, but very little research to provide empirical evidence on how has been made in this space. This paper reports on the first empirical research into the application of Sustainable Market Oriented (SMO) game park management in Zambia, a conceptual merging of the principles of sustainable development and market orientation, to be applied in strategic management of natural resources. The research scope in the 20 Zambian national game parks dotted all around the country. The findings confirm the value of (SMO) in management of game where the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model appears to be the panacea to sustainable management of national game parks. The model takes into account the balance in managing the environmental, social, and economic orientations in game parks using privately owned resources and dilemmas inherent in reducing public sector funding for game parks. Evidence points to the fact that game parks are better managed by private entities while being owned by government for the benefit of the local communities and the general citizenry at large. The research explores how park managers are addressing some of these issues, such as incorporating the local community.
Keyword :
sustainable market orientation; conservation policy; strategy; game parks, national parks, and tourism.