Sustainable Business

"Brings the business planning process alive to help today's agriculture entrepreneurs transform farm-grown inspiration into profitable enterprises. Sample worksheets illustrate how real farm families set goals, research processing alternatives, determine potential markets, and evaluate financing options. Blank worksheets offer readers the opportunity to develop their own detailed, lender-ready business plan and map out strategies" --back cover.

This book is an introduction to developing and implementing a successful program in the domain of sustainability and social responsibility. The reader is exposed to financially, environmentally, and socially responsible objectives that are supported by strategies and achieved by clear tactics that have measurable outcomes. The reader is introduced to methods of implementing technologies and practices and will also learn how to measure the consequent social and environmental performance for written reports and persuasive presentations. This book also reveals why we should be sustainable by explaining seemingly complex topics in science in a way that requires very little math or science background. The overview also captures how sustainability and social responsibility can be the source of process and product innovation. This book's approach is practical yet scientific. The nine chapters are dedicated to the practice of environmental and social responsibility in ways that achieve financial stability over the long run. As a result, these chapters help us understand not just why businesses need to be more responsible but how businesses can be more successful over the long run. International standards are given full treatment. ISO 26000 is given detailed attention, slightly more than ISO 9000 or ISO 14000, because it melds guidance on both environmental and social responsibility into one general concept of social responsibility. This book also specifies how to use traditional methods such as Six Sigma, lean, and operations research to improve processes, reduce resource use and waste, and make better social and environmental decisions that are based upon data from key financial, social, and environmental performance indicators. Internal and external data sourcing are given full treatment along with basic statistical data management. A recurring theme throughout the book is the integration of traditional methods of continuous improvemen

This book offers 32 texts and case studies from across a wide range of business sectors around a managerial framework for Sustainable Business. The case studies are developed for and tested in executive education programmes at leading business schools. The book is based on the premise that the key for managing the sustainable business is finding the right balance over time between managing competitiveness and profitability AND managing the context of the business with its political, social and ecological risks and opportunities. In that way, a sustainable business is highly responsive to the demands and challenges from both markets and societies and managers embrace the complexity, ambivalence and uncertainty that goes along with this approach. The book presents a framework that facilitates the adoption of best business practice. This framework leads executives through a systematic approach of strategic analysis and business planning in risk management, issues management, stakeholder management, sustainable business development and strategic differentiation, business model innovation and developing dynamic capabilities. The approach helps broaden the understanding of what sustainable performance means, by protecting business value against sustainability risks and creating business value from sustainability opportunities.

Sustainable Business: Key Issues is the first comprehensive introductory-level textbook to address the interface between environmental challenges and business solutions to provide an overview of the basic concepts of sustainability, sustainable business, and business ethics. The book introduces students to the background and key issues of sustainability and suggests ways in which these concepts can be applied in business practice. Though the book takes a business perspective, it is interdisciplinary in its nature and draws on knowledge from socio-economic, political, and environmental studies, thereby providing a practical and critical understanding of sustainability in the changing paradigm of global business. It goes beyond the conventional theories of sustainability and addresses critical issues concerned with population, consumption and economic growth. It discusses realistic ways forward, in particular the Circular Economy and Cradle to Cradle frameworks. The book is both a theoretical and practical study guide for undergraduate and postgraduate international students of broad areas of sustainability, teaching ways to recognize opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship at the intersection of environmental, economic, ethical, and social systems. It takes a strategic approach in applying the power of business methods and policy to address issues of global importance such as climate change, poverty, ecosystem degradation and human rights. This textbook is essential reading for students of business, management and sustainability courses. It is written in an engaging and accessible style, with each chapter including case studies, discussion questions, end of chapter summaries and suggestions for further reading.

'This is an immensely useful and important book. By applying sustainability theory and practice to all areas of business management for firms of all sizes it has the potential to make a significant difference to the long term viability of businesses and the societies in which they operate.' – Juliet Roper, The University of Waikato, New Zealand Recent surveys of international CEOs confirm that companies increasingly see sustainability as critical to their business strategy. The rigorous academic framework for the field of sustainable business required to respond to this need is now emerging. This book presents important new work in the theory of the sustainable firm, in the application of sustainability principles to key management disciplines, in sustainable business in practice, and in the international challenges that are critical to sustainability demands. Sustainable Business will prove invigorating for both undergraduate and graduate students on business, society and sustainability themed courses. Policymakers and practitioners will find the urgent global sustainability issues and sub-disciplines essential.

The second edition of Sustainable Business prepares future business leaders to tackle the most crucial social and environmental issues of our time. This engaging textbook provides students with a comprehensive, balanced introduction to integrating sustainable business policies into all core business functions and processes. The text employs a qualitative-based learning process to help students understand how leadership, finance, accounting, risk management, marketing, supply chain management, and operations can be adapted to meet the sustainability goals of the 21st century. Looking at sustainable business from the managerial viewpoint, the fully-updated new edition explains how and why business is evolving due to increased consumer and regulatory pressure for sustainable performance. Business topics are first introduced in the same manner as traditional MBA programs, and then examined through the lens of sustainably. The text incorporates real-life examples of social and environmental leadership to demonstrate the efficacy of good sustainable business decisions, and illustrates the negative ramifications of outdated, purely economic-driven managerial decision-making. Influential concepts based on interdisciplinary research in sustainability are discussed in detail, and practical insights address how to turn policy into practice in the workplace.

Metrics for Sustainable Business is the first book to give students a comprehensive understanding of sustainability in organizations from an accounting perspective. The book walks student through the steps for doing a sustainability assessment, and aims to develop them into financial analysts who understand sustainability reports, and are able to create or audit them. While most books focus on environmental issues, Herriott trains his gaze on the corporate and institutional perspective, covering measurement systems, how to evaluate and improve a standard, and conducting a life cycle assessment. Walking students through the programs of disclosure, the varying standards for corporate ratings, and organizational certification, allows them to grasp the tools for conducting a sustainability assessment and auditing reports. Chapters on accounting for greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and waste introduce students to the technical details in sustainability accounting, while a chapter on the philosophies of sustainability offers an answer to the question, "Why are they asking us to report that?" Richly demonstrated with practical examples and informative visuals, this book will serve students of sustainability, accounting, and integrated reporting.

In a dramatic departure from its voluntary origins, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly shifting to hold multinational companies accountable for more than traditional shareholder performance. This CSR movement is embracing new environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks that both promote global sustainability goals and enhance accountability for negative impacts businesses can have on ‘planet and people’. This collection of essays by leading businesspeople, international civil servants, legal practitioners, academics, and other experts offers a forward-looking and pragmatic perspective that illuminates the major themes in this movement towards increasingly sustainable, transparent and accountable business practices. The collection shows how CSR has evolved to account for societal pressures, environmental, climate change and human rights impacts, international policy imperatives and the practical challenges of regulating commercial activity that transcends borders. The chapters offer an in-depth examination of current issues including: international frameworks and multistakeholder initiatives catalysing foundational change; the shifting emphasis on corporate imperatives to avoid harm to third parties; trends in CSR, focused on assuring the planet's future sustainability and social stability; regulatory initiatives around the globe, including Europe, North America, Asia and Africa; and extended accountability for activities of corporate group members and supply chains. The pressure and business case for companies to incorporate CSR into corporate governance is intensifying with each quarter, shareholder meeting, and regulatory agenda. The integration of CSR and new ESG frameworks into multinational corporate strategy and operations is key to sustainable business models that can generate long-term value for the organization and all stakeholders. Their acceptance as cornerstones of 21st century business practice appears inevitable. Taking full account of the imperative for companies and their lawyers to grapple with the practical and legal challenges in this area, this volume is an invaluable and pragmatic addition to the practitioners’ toolbox at this important juncture in an ever-more dynamic field.

Trends in cleaner business decisions have resulted in sustainable business models involving society, stakeholders, and consumers. Sustainable choices of companies create competitive differentiations that enable consumers to weigh social values and shift loyalties in the competitive marketplace. This book focuses on sustainability as the pivot of marketing and argues that commitment to sustainability in business not only equips companies to have greater social impact but also inspires an emotional response in consumers that aids companies in growing their image, brands, and socio-political reputations. Exploring topics such as the circular economy, sustainable logistics, eco-innovation, conscious consumption, and social entrepreneurship, the chapters discuss sustainable practices in emerging markets and co-creation between corporations and consumers. This book offers researchers innovative concepts on sustainable business modelling.

Climate change, the resource constrained economy, and sustainability in general are amongst the hottest and most problematic topics for contemporary businesses. This book provides a comprehensive overview of how the world's sustainability challenges are affecting and being affected by business.