Main description:

Strategies that enable organizations to succeed as businesses and as responsible corporate citizens

Based on the authors′ many years of research and hands–on experience, this book provides tested and proven practical strategies that make it possible for organizations to develop, maintain, or extend their competitive advantage without causing harm to the environment and society. Moreover, it explains how to set goals and objectives and then monitor, measure, and report on progress towards achieving corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Most importantly, readers will discover that this can all be accomplished while, at the same time, improving bottom–line profitability.

Practical Sustainability Strategies: How to Gain a Competitive Advantage is divided into four parts:

• Part 1, Introduction to Sustainability, underscores the urgency for organizations to adopt and develop sustainable practices


• Part 2, Sustainable Strategies, details numerous strategies that have been proven to work, including environmental innovation through biomimicry, green buildings, and green chemistry


• Part 3, Tools and Metrics, offers practical information on implementing strategies and measuring sustainability and reporting, including global standards and guidelines for managing sustainability, life–cycle analysis, carbon and water footprints such as GRI, GHG Protocol, UN Global Compact


• Part 4, Conclusion, provides an expert forecast of the future of sustainability

Case studies based on the authors′ research and fieldwork illustrate how leading companies have implemented each of the sustainability strategies discussed in the book. There′s also an appendix with additional case studies exploring various aspects of business practices and sustainability.

Practical Sustainability Strategies is ideal as a graduate textbook as well as a reference for business managers. All readers will not only gain a greater appreciation for sustainable development, but also the skills needed to integrate sustainability into all aspects of their organization′s business practices.

Back cover:

Strategies that enable organizations to succeed as businesses and as responsible corporate citizens

Based on the authors′ many years of research and hands–on experience, this book provides tested and proven practical strategies that make it possible for organizations to develop, maintain, or extend their competitive advantage without causing harm to the environment and society. Moreover, it explains how to set goals and objectives and then monitor, measure, and report on progress towards achieving corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Most importantly, readers will discover that this can all be accomplished while, at the same time, improving bottom–line profitability.

Practical Sustainability Strategies: How to Gain a Competitive Advantage is divided into four parts:

• Part 1, Introduction to Sustainability, underscores the urgency for organizations to adopt and develop sustainable practices


• Part 2, Sustainable Strategies, details numerous strategies that have been proven to work, including environmental innovation through biomimicry, green buildings, and green chemistry


• Part 3, Tools and Metrics, offers practical information on implementing strategies and measuring sustainability and reporting, including global standards and guidelines for managing sustainability, life–cycle analysis, carbon and water footprints such as GRI, GHG Protocol, UN Global Compact


• Part 4, Conclusion, provides an expert forecast of the future of sustainability

Case studies based on the authors′ research and fieldwork illustrate how leading companies have implemented each of the sustainability strategies discussed in the book. There′s also an appendix with additional case studies exploring various aspects of business practices and sustainability.

Practical Sustainability Strategies is ideal as a graduate textbook as well as a reference for business managers. All readers will not only gain a greater appreciation for sustainable development, but also the skills needed to integrate sustainability into all aspects of their organization′s business practices.

Contents:

Preface xiii

PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABILITY 1

1. Urgency to Adopt Sustainability 3

2. Development of the Sustainability Concept and CSR 17

PART 2 SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES 25

3. The CERES and Other Principles 27

4. The Natural Step 39

5. Eco–effective Versus Eco–efficient: Sustainability Versus Being "Less Bad" 55

6. Extended Product Responsibility and "Servicizing" 65

7. Systems Thinking Leads to "Tunneling Through the Cost Barrier" 79

8. E nvironmental Innovation Through Biomimicry 89

9. Base of the Pyramid 107

10. Sustaining Fisheries 119

11. Environmentally Effective Buildings 131

12. Green Chemistry, Nanotechnology, and "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" 145

13. Sustainable Strategies and Beyond 159

PART 3 TOOLS AND METRICS 161

14. Standards and Guidelines for Managing Corporate Social Responsibility towards Sustainability 163

15. The Corporation and Its Stakeholders 177

16. Sustainability Reporting 189

17. Metrics for Sustainability 199

18. Life Cycle Analysis and Carbon Footprint 217

19. Water Footprint 227

20. Green Marketing, Communication, and Greenwashing 235

Part 4 Conclusion 247

21. Epilogue: Where Do We Go Now? 249

References 251

Appendix Additional Case Studies for a Practical Understanding of Sustainability 253

Index 291