| building a sustainable business: Building a Sustainable Business , 2003 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. |
| building a sustainable business: Organizing for Sustainability Jan Jonker, 2021 This upper-level Open Access textbook aims to educate students and professionals on how to develop business models that have a positive impact on people, society, and the social and ecological environment. It explores a different view of how to organize value creation, from a focus on an almost exclusively monetary value creation to one that creates positive impact through multiple values. The book offers students and entrepreneurs a structured approach based through the Business Model Template (BMT). It consists of three stages and ten building blocks to facilitate the development of a business model. Users, be they students or practitioners, need to choose from one of the three offered business model archetypes, namely the platform, community, or circular business models. Each archetype offers a dedicated logic for vale creation. The book can be used to develop a business model from scratch (turning an idea into a working prototype) or to transform an existing business model into one of the three archetypes. Throughout the book extra sources, links to relevant online video clips, assignments and literature are offered to facilitate the development process. This book will be of interest to students studying the development of business models, sustainable management, innovation, and value creation. It will also be of interest executives, and professionals such as consultants or social entrepreneurs seeking further education.-- Provided by publisher. |
| building a sustainable business: Handbook on the Business of Sustainability Yousafzai, Shumaila, Henry, Colette, Boddington, Monique, Sheikh, Shandana, Fayolle, Alain, 2022-02-11 This ground-breaking Handbook uniquely focuses on the business of sustainability, offering a fresh insight and practical solutions to the challenges that businesses face in making human activity sustainable. It is organized into four distinctive themes that cut across levels of analysis and illustrate a rich set of solution contexts that will guide future research. |
| building a sustainable business: Leading Sustainably Trista Bridges, Donald Eubank, 2022-02 The business world is at an important crossroads. The age of the stakeholder is rapidly superseding that of the shareholder as climate change and political and societal shifts upend years of seeming prosperity. To move past this agitated age, business and society must learn to lead sustainably by putting purpose on equal footing with profit. The first step is understanding what's meant by sustainability and how it offers an opportunity for both business and society. Inspired by the launch of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the book captures the ideas of more than 100 change makers from around the world about how business is putting sustainability at the core of strategy to survive, thrive, and realign its interests with society's. Leading Sustainably looks at how sustainability has evolved in a business context, offering powerful insights, key facts, and guidance on building sustainability capability within companies, measuring and managing impact, sustainable finance's transformation, and other topics critical to aligning businesses' central activities with sustainable principles. The book introduces five vignettes profiling best-in-class companies that were sustainable from the start and international case studies on business sustainability efforts, spanning industries from hospitality to waste management, fashion, finance, and more. Finally, Bridges and Eubank provide frameworks and in-depth direction firms can leverage when accelerating their transition to more sustainable business models. The book is a perfect guide for mid-level to senior managers seeking to understand this fast-changing business environment, how to factor sustainability into their decision-making, and why the SDGs changed everything. |
| building a sustainable business: Managing Sustainable Business Gilbert G. Lenssen, N. Craig Smith, 2018-03-07 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. |
| building a sustainable business: Farms with a Future Rebecca Thistlethwaite, 2012 Do you want to make your farm more dynamic, profitable, and-- above all-- sustainable? Thistlethwaite introduces readers to some of the country's most innovative farmers, in order to help you build a triple-bottom-line farming business focused on economic viability, social justice, and ecological soundness. |
| building a sustainable business: Sustainable Business Models Adam Jabłoński, 2019-01-25 This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Sustainable Business Models that was published in Sustainability |
| building a sustainable business: Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses Eva Bakøy, Roel Puijk, Andrew Spicer, 2017 Building Successful and Sustainable Film and Television Businesses provides a truly cross-national, comparative dialogue that is vital to the field of media industry studies today. It presents an overview of the film and television sectors in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, drawing together their common elements. |
| building a sustainable business: Sustainable Excellence Aron Cramer, Zachary Karabell, 2011-09-27 How the world's most influential companies are building business strategies that tackle the biggest global challenges. Today's business landscape is changing in fundamental ways: Natural resources are growing ever more scarce and expensive. Technology and changing consumer expectations are making transparency a fact of life. The rise of emerging economies creates vast market opportunities for companies--and better living standards for hundreds of millions. In Sustainable Excellence, Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell tell the stories of the companies who are transforming themselves by responding to these paradigm shifts and in the process shaping the future. From their work with these Global 1000 companies, Cramer and Karabell know firsthand how business can successfully grapple with big-picture issues like resource scarcity, supply chain complexities, and the diverse expectations of government and the public. In Sustainable Excellence, they tell the story of how Coca-Cola and Greenpeace collaborated on a refrigerator that fights climate change. They show how companies like Best Buy and Nike are transforming the very products they sell to deliver more value to consumers with less waste. They recount how GE and Google created an innovative partnership that is developing smart grids that radically reduce energy use. And they show how business leaders like Starbucks' founder and CEO Howard Schultz put sustainable excellence at the center of his company's business strategy. Through these and other fascinating stories, Sustainable Excellence makes the case for a different way of doing business--one that will define both business success and economic vitality in the 21st century. |
| building a sustainable business: Organic Transition Gigi DiGiacomo, Robert King, Dale Nordquist, 2015-09-01 |
| building a sustainable business: Strategy for Sustainability Adam Werbach, 2009 Leave your quaint notions of corporate social responsibilty and environmentalism behind. Werbach is starting a whole new dialogue around sustainability of enterprise and life as we know it in organisations and individuals. |
| building a sustainable business: Foundations of Sustainable Business Nada R. Sanders, John D. Wood, 2019-12-12 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. |
| building a sustainable business: The Big Pivot Andrew S. Winston, 2014-03-11 We live in a fundamentally changed world. It’s time for your approach to strategy to change, too. The evidence is all around us. Extreme weather, driven by climate change, is shattering records all over the planet. Our natural resources are in greater demand than ever before as a billion more people enter the global middle class, wanting more of everything. Radical transparency is opening up company operations and supply chains to public scrutiny. This is not some futuristic scenario or model to debate, but today’s reality. We've passed an economic tipping point. A weakening of the foundations of our planetary infrastructure is costing businesses dearly and putting our society at risk. The mega challenges of climate change, scarcity, and radical transparency threaten our ability to run an expanding global economy and are profoundly changing “business as usual.” But they also offer unprecedented opportunities: multi-trillion-dollar markets are in play, and the winners of this new game will profit mightily. According to Andrew Winston, bestselling author (Green to Gold) and globally recognized business strategist, the way companies currently operate will not allow them to keep up with the current—and future—rate of change. They need to make the Big Pivot. In this indispensable new book, Winston provides ten crucial strategies for leaders and companies ready to move boldly forward and win in this new reality. With concrete advice and tactics, and new stories from companies like British Telecom, Diageo, Dow, Ford, Nike, Unilever, Walmart, and many others, The Big Pivot will help you, and all of us, create more resilient businesses and a more prosperous world. This book is the blueprint to get you started. |
| building a sustainable business: Sustainable Entrepreneurship Christina Weidinger, Franz Fischler, René Schmidpeter, 2013-08-13 Sustainable Entrepreneurship stands for a business driven concept of sustainability which focusses on increasing both social as well as business value - so called Shared Value. This book shows why and how this unique concept has the potential to become the most recognised strategic management approach in our times. It aims to point out the opportunities that arise from putting sustainable entrepreneurship into practice. At the same time, this book is a wake-up call for all those companies and decision makers who underestimated Sustainable Entrepreneurship before or who are simply not aware of its greater dimension. Well structured chapters from different academic and business perspectives clearly outline how Sustainable Entrepreneurship contributes to solving the world's most challenging problems, such as Climate Change, Finance Crisis and Political Uncertainty, as well as to ensuring business success. The book provides a framework of orientation where the journey might go: What can a successful concept of SE look like? What are the key drivers for its realisation? What is the role of business in shaping the future of our society? The book also presents best practices and provides unique learnings as well as business insights from the international Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award (www.se-award.org). The Sustainable Entrepreneurship Award (short SEA) is an award for companies today who are thinking about tomorrow by making sustainable business practices an integral part of their corporate culture. Companies that receive the SEA are being recognised for the vision they have shown in combining economic and sustainable responsibility. |
| building a sustainable business: RESTART Sustainable Business Model Innovation Sveinung Jørgensen, Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen, 2018-07-31 Taking the business model as point of departure, this open access book explores how companies and organizations can contribute to a more sustainable future by designing innovative models that are both sustainable and profitable. Based upon years of research, it draws together theoretical foundations and existing literature on the topic of sustainable business alongside case studies and practical solutions. After examining the theoretical foundations of sustainable business model innovation, the authors present their own framework – RESTART. Consisting of seven factors, this framework can be the basis for restarting any business model. The final section outlines a research agenda for sustainable business informed by the perspectives and frameworks put forward in this book. |
| building a sustainable business: Beyond Great Arindam Bhattacharya, Nikolaus Lang, Jim Hemerling, 2020-10-06 Great is no longer good enough. Beyond Great delivers a powerful new playbook of 9 core strategies to thrive in a post-COVID world where all the rules of the game are being re-written. Beyond Great answers to two fundamental questions which face business leaders today in a world shaped by daunting and disruptive technological, economic, and social change. First, what is outstanding performance in this new volatile era? Second, how do we build competitive advantage in a world with new and often uncertain rules? Supported by years of research and hands-on consulting practice, this book presents a comprehensive framework for building a high performing, resilient, adaptive, and socially responsible global company. The book begins by taking an incisive look at these disruptive forces transforming globalization, including economic nationalism; the boom in data flows and digital commerce; the rise of China; heightened public concerns about capitalism and the environment; and the emergence of borderless communities of digitally connected consumers. Distilled from the study of hundreds of companies and interviews with dozens of business leaders, the authors have distilled nine core strategies – the new winning playbook of the 21st century. Beyond Great argues that business leaders today must lead with a new kind of openness, flexibility and light-footedness, constantly layering in new strategies and operational norms atop existing ones to allow for always-on transformation. Leaders must master a whole new set of rules about what it takes to be global, becoming shapeshifters adept at handling contradiction, multiplicity, and nuance. This book will show them how. |
| building a sustainable business: Beyond the Triple Bottom Line Francisco Szekely, Zahir Dossa, 2024-08-06 A pragmatic new business model for sustainability that outlines eight steps that range from exploring a mission to promoting innovation; with case studies. Many recent books make the case for businesses to become more sustainable, but few explain the specifics. In this book, Francisco Szekely and Zahir Dossa offer a pragmatic new business model for sustainability that extends beyond the traditional framework of the triple bottom line, describing eight steps that range from exploring a vision and establishing a strategy to implementing the strategy and promoting innovation. Szekely and Dossa argue that businesses and organizations need to move away from the business case for sustainability toward a sustainable business model. That is, businesses should go beyond the usual short-term focus on minimizing harm while maximizing profits. Instead, businesses on the path to sustainability should, from the start, focus on addressing a societal need and view profitability not as an end but as a means to support the sustainable organization. Szekely and Dossa explore key problems organizations face when pursuing a sustainability agenda. Each chapter presents one of the eight steps, describes a business dilemma for sustainability, provides a theoretically grounded strategic framework, offers case studies that illustrate the dilemma, and summarizes key findings; the case studies draw on the experiences of such companies as Tesla Motors, Patagonia, TOMs, and Panera. The book emphasizes leadership, arguing that leaders who question the status quo, inspire others, and take risks are essential for achieving sustainable business practices. |
| building a sustainable business: Building a Sustainable Home Melissa Rappaport Schifman, 2018-08-07 The green building movement has produced hundreds of “how-to” books and websites that are filled with tips about green building and what homeowners should do to go green. While helpful and informative, when it comes to making actual purchasing and installation decisions, these books do not make it any easier for a homeowner to prioritize against a budget. Here, Schifman shares her knowledge and experience for others to use in their journey toward a greener way of living. Whether the reader is building a new home or doing a minor remodel, a homeowner needs a framework by which to guide their decisions. These decisions are based on values, and the author posits that there are really only three reasons to go green: For Our Health: By building more sustainably, we reduce our exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins. For Our Wealth: By building a more durable home and being more efficient with resources like water and electricity, we reduce our monthly utility bills and ongoing maintenance expenses. For Our Soul: Collectively doing the right thing for our planet does make a difference—and that is soul-nourishing. Learn the logistics of choosing windows, insulation, appliances, and lighting. Find out about FSC certified wood and about using reclaimed materials. Here is everything you need to make your home sustainable. |
| building a sustainable business: Walking the Talk Charles O. Holliday, Stephan Schmidheiny, Philip Watts, 2002-08-16 Report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. |
| building a sustainable business: Watertight Marketing Bryony Thomas, 2013-01-31 Are you wasting your money on marketing? Most businesses are. They’ve got serious profit leaks. So when they run their marketing Taps, revenue simply pours out of a leaky Bucket. Watertight Marketing is no ordinary marketing book. There’s no jargon. And it’s not about the latest over-hyped tactic. This is a book that tackles business fundamentals. It’s the book on marketing that makes all the others make sense. Following the process laid out in this book puts you in control of your business growth. You’ll be able to step off the roller coaster of yo-yo sales results and get your business on a sustainable upward curve. Bryony Thomas has a refreshing style that means the ideas click and stick. She has distilled her wealth of experience into clear action points that you’ll want to tackle today. |
| building a sustainable business: Business and Sustainability Mick Blowfield, Michael Blowfield, 2013 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. |
| building a sustainable business: Net Positive Paul Polman, Andrew Winston, 2021-10-05 A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Year Named one of 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 by Thinkers50 An advocate of sustainable capitalism explains how it's done — The Economist Polman's new book with the sustainable business expert Andrew Winston…argues that it's profitable to do business with the goal of making the world better. — The New York Times Named as recommended reading by Fortune's CEO Daily …Polman has been one of the most significant chief executives of his era and that his approach to business and its role in society has been both valuable and path-breaking. — Financial Times The ex-Unilever CEO who increased his shareholders' returns by 300% while ensuring the company ranked #1 in the world for sustainability for eleven years running has, for the first time, revealed how to do it. Teaming up with Andrew Winston, one of the world's most authoritative voices on corporate sustainability, Paul Polman shows business leaders how to take on humanity's greatest and most urgent challenges—climate change and inequality—and build a thriving business as a result. In this candid and straight-talking handbook, Polman and Winston reveal the secrets of Unilever's success and pull back the curtain on some of the world's most powerful c-suites. Net Positive boldly argues that the companies of the future will profit by fixing the world's problems, not creating them. Together the authors explode our most prevalent corporate myths: from the idea that business' only function is to maximise profits, to the naïve hope that Corporate Social Responsibility will save our species from disaster. These approaches, they argue, are destined for the graveyard. Instead, they show corporate leaders how to make their companies Net Positive—thriving by giving back more to the world than they take. Net Positive companies unleash innovation, build trust, attract the best people, thrill customers, and secure lasting success, all by helping create stronger, more inclusive societies and a healthier planet. Heal the world first, they argue, and you’ll satisfy your investors as a result. With ambitious vision and compelling stories, Net Positive will teach you how to find the inner purpose and courage you need to embrace the only business model that will matter in the years ahead. You will learn how to lead others and unlock your company's soul, while setting and delivering big and aggressive goals, and taking responsibility for all of your company's impacts. You'll find out the secrets to partnering with others, including your competition and critics, to drive transformative change from which you will prosper. You'll build a company that serves your people, your customers, your communities, your shareholders—and your children and grandchildren will thank you for it. Is this win-win for business and humanity too good to be true? Don't believe it. The world's smartest CEOs are already taking their companies on the Net Positive journey and benefitting as a result. Will you be left behind? Join the movement at netpositive.world |
| building a sustainable business: Smart Green Jonathan Estes, 2009-03-23 Do you think going green will give you a competitive advantage, even save you money? Do you think your customers are more likely to buy if you are green? Do you want to do better by the environment and your community? If so, you are not alone. Many feel the need to go green. Jonathan Estes in Smart Green turns this need into value and lays out the steps for going green.?Read it and get ahead of your competition and the green tsunami sweeping the country. —Frank Phoenix, PE, LEED-AP, Partner, Greenbridge Developments, LLC Estes's book articulates the opportunities, challenges, and trends of the blossoming conscious consumer movement using insightful research to make the case for growing a green business. His compendium examines and dissects our cultural shift in which a handful of people are optimists, many are ambivalent, and everyone is a skeptic. —David Lubensky, President, Bagatto, Inc. Smart Green is a very practical guide for getting started with greening your company. Estes has taken the principles of business planning and applied them to a very complex subject. Worth the read. —Michael Knupp, former CEO, The RETEC Group, and former member, World Business Council for Sustainable Development Estes's Smart Green is a great resource for small to mid-size enterprises that want to make measurable improvement in performance and align themselves with the global green wave. From strategic planning to practical how-to examples, Estes demonstrates how we can go green and make some too. —Aaron Nelson, IOM, President and CEO, Chapel Hill-Carrboro (NC) Chamber of Commerce, and Executive Director, Foundation for a Sustainable Community |
| building a sustainable business: Values-Based Innovation Management Henning Breuer, Florian Lüdeke-Freund, 2017-09-16 Co-authored by two leading experts in the field, this unique and forward thinking new core textbook shows how innovation in processes, products, services, business models and networks may be managed by what we care about. The book combines theoretical insights with a strong practical element, featuring a wealth of case studies and tools to help innovators solve societal problems and realise their ideals. Readers are be encouraged to explore not only sustainability-orientation and values of privacy or safety, but also their own unique values as relevant drivers for change within and across organisations. Accompanied by a strong pedagogical framework, the book begins by reviewing the field of innovation management before going on to discuss innovation in processes, products and services, and finally providing the student with the methods and tools for implementing change. This textbook is the ideal companion for advanced undergraduate or postgraduate students studying innovation management or entrepreneurship. The book also provides an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs, innovation managers and consultants. |
| building a sustainable business: A Guide to Sustainable Corporate Responsibility Caroline D. Ditlev-Simonsen, 2022 This open access book discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by companies in an age that increasingly values sustainability and demands corporate responsibility. Beginning with the historical development of corporate responsibility, this book moves from academic theory to practical application. It points to ways in which companies can successfully manage their transition to a more responsible, sustainable way of doing business, common mistakes to avoid and how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are integral to any sustainability transformation. Practical cases illustrate key points. Drawing on thirty years of sustainability research and extensive corporate experience, the author provides tools such as a Step-by-Step strategic guide on integrating sustainability in collaboration with stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers and investors. The book is particularly relevant for SMEs and companies operating in emerging markets. From a broader perspective, the value of externalities, full cost pricing, alternative economic theories and circular economy are also addressed. |
| building a sustainable business: Creating a Sustainable Organization Peter A. Soyka, 2012 Organizations that prioritize environmental, health, and safety (EHS) issues are well placed to attract better customers, better talent, and today's growing number of socially responsible investors. But, to gain these benefits, companies must choose the right sustainability strategies, and then manage and measure them well. Now, leading business sustainability consultant Peter Soyka offers a complete and actionable guide to driving greater value through sustainability. In Creating a Sustainable Organization, Soyka bridges the disparate worlds of the EHS/sustainability professional and the investor/analyst. Readers will learn what the evidence says about linkages between sustainability and value... how to manage key stakeholder relationships influencing corporate response to EHS and social equity issues... how to effectively manage sustainability throughout the business... how to evaluate sustainability posture and performance from the standpoint of external investors and internal management... how to maximize the influence of organizational actors focused on sustainability, and much more. This book will be invaluable for all environmental, health, and safety decision-makers and professionals concerned with improving sustainability and value; for executives and strategists seeking long-term competitive advantage; for stock analysts evaluating potential investments; and for researchers and MBA candidates currently studying the techniques and potential of corporate sustainability. |
| building a sustainable business: Managerial Strategies for Business Sustainability During Turbulent Times Leon, Ramona-Diana, 2017-07-12 As the economy fluctuates, so does the need for resilient business practices. If organizations can remain strong and steady during difficult times, they will be more fruitful during successful periods as well. Managerial Strategies for Business Sustainability During Turbulent Times is a crucial resource that discusses successful methods and techniques for building sturdy company practices. Featuring pertinent topics such as sustainable supply chains, knowledge management, information sharing, and performance evaluations, this is an ideal scholarly reference source for CEOs, managers, business students, and researchers that would like to discover more unique and engaging ways to build a strong business foundation. |
| building a sustainable business: Green Giants E. Williams, 2015-08-12 What do Brazil’s top beauty brand, America’s second-fastest-growing restaurant chain, and the world’s third bestselling car have in common--besides achieving enormous success with revenue in the tens of billions? They are doing it all while holding to their convictions of implementing sustainable principles that help consumers live better lives. But they aren’t the only ones. Green Giants examines nine companies--including Chipotle, Toyota, Unilever, Tesla, General Electric, and more--who have established the blueprint for sustainable success that anyone can follow. Author Freya Williams, an early pioneer of the modern sustainable business movement, discovered six factors responsible for the overwhelming success of these nine socially responsible companies: The Iconoclastic Leader Disruptive Innovation A Higher Purpose Built In, Not Bolted On Mainstream Appeal New Behavioral Contract Packed with eye-opening research, exclusive interviews, and enlightening examples, Green Giants serves as your blueprint for merging wild profitability with social responsibility. |
| building a sustainable business: Innovation for Sustainability Nancy Bocken, Paavo Ritala, Laura Albareda, Robert Verburg, 2019-02-22 The aim of this edited book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges related to innovation for sustainability. Combining work from both emerging and established scholars in different academic fields, this book provides an integrated understanding of the topic from four perspectives. First, the big picture: frameworks, types, and drivers; second, strategy and leadership; third, measurement and assessment and fourth, tools, methods and technologies. Chapter 11 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com. The editors donate their remuneration for this book to conservation organisation the WWF. |
| building a sustainable business: Business Models for Sustainability Peter E. Wells, 2013-10-01 Business Models for Sustainability breaks new ground by combining three important insights. First, achieving sustainability requires socio-technical transitions that entail new technologies, production processes, lifestyles, and consumption patterns. Second, firms play crucial roles in mediating between sustainable production and consumption. Third, radical innovations require organizational innovations and new business models. Peter Wells successfully combines these big picture ideas with rich in-depth case studies drawing on years of accumulated expertise. Highly recommended. Frank W. Geels, University of Manchester, UK and Chairman of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network With increasing awareness that innovative technology alone is insufficient to make sustainable lifestyles a reality, this book brings into sharp focus the need to create radical new business models. This insightful book provides a theoretically grounded but also realistic account of how the design of business models can be a critical component in the overall transition to sustainability, and one that transcends the usual focus on innovative technology. Weaving together key principles and components for business sustainability, the book highlights five very different pathways to the future for sectors ranging from microbreweries and printing through to clothing, mobility and plastics. Business has only just started the first few tentative steps towards a very different approach to creating and sustaining value, but this book concludes that enormous opportunities will emerge alongside new ways of creating and capturing value. Academics and postgraduate students in the fields of sustainable business, business organisations and industrial ecology will find this book brings a greater understanding of business strategy and structure to the discipline. While traditionally referenced and structured, this academic book is accessibly written with key principles that may also appeal to the consultant community. |
| building a sustainable business: How to Develop a Sustainable Business School Véronique Ambrosini, Gavin Jack, Lisa Thomas, 2023-01-17 Tackling the pressing challenges that business schools face as they deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this scholarly How To guide provides rich insights into how to create and sustain the business schools of the future. |
| building a sustainable business: Building a Sustainable Society Lester Russell Brown, 1981 Brown argues that, as with the ancient Mayans, escalating world food demands are leading to topsoil losses that are eroding the foundation of present civilization. Deforestation, overgrazing and overfishing are shrinking the economy's resource base, leading to the biological equivalent of deficit financing. Unremitting inflation indicates that the transition to a sustainable society is behind schedule. Yet Brown finds reason for hope, China has recently halved its population growth rate and U.S. oil imports were cut by a third in two years. There are exciting signs of a shift to renewable energy, endowing the economy with permanence. Unlike the Mayans, today's societies know the course corrections needed to put it on a sustainable path. |
| building a sustainable business: Building Sustainable Cities Aldo Alvarez-Risco, Marc Rosen, Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales, Dora Marinova, 2020-09-04 This book describes a broad view of sustainability as a crucial factor for the success of its implementation. Not only the environmental aspects of the sustainable cities ́ development are reviewed but the economic and social aspects of it, as highlighted in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable). Nowadays, researchers, students, and stakeholders are highly involved in sustainability issues. Because of this, they need a guiding document to help them develop and implement sustainability programs at the level of companies and institutions. In this book, the authors discuss and explain basic concepts of sustainability-related to social, economic and environmental aspects, as well as strategies for its implementation. |
| building a sustainable business: Sustainable Business Models Annabeth Aagaard, 2018-09-06 This book provides a comprehensive exploration into the identification and development of sustainable business models as well as their implementation, management and evaluation. With ever-increasing pressure on organisations to respond to societal change and improve competition through sustainable business model innovation (SBMI), this book aims to contribute to the knowledge of their design and management. The chapters explore the role of partnerships, the Internet of Things and the circular economy, among other factors, in developing SBM and how SBMI is facilitated through ideation and in entrepreneurial settings. Providing new typologies, patterns and a framework to evaluate the level of sustainability of business models, this book critically reviews existing literature on the topic to examine the potential of SBMI in research and in practice. The contributing authors employ a number of case studies and case examples to illustrate the integration of sustainable business models throughout the value chain, and their influence on wider social, environmental and business activities. |
| building a sustainable business: Business, Peacebuilding and Sustainable Development Jason Miklian, Rina Alluri, John Elias Katsos, 2019-05-29 The intersection of business, peace and sustainable development is becoming an increasingly powerful space, and is already beginning to show the capability to drive major global change. This book deciphers how different forms of corporate engagement in the pursuit of peace and development have different impacts and outcomes. It looks specifically at how the private sector can better deliver peace contributions in fragile, violent and conflict settings and then at the deeper consequences of this agenda upon businesses, governments, international institutions and not least the local communities that are presumed to be the beneficiaries of such actions. It is the first book to compile the state-of-the-field in one place and is therefore an essential guide for students, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners on the role of business in peace. Without cross-disciplinary engagement, it is hard to identify where the cutting edge truly lies, and how to take the topic forward in a more systematic manner. This edited book brings together thought leaders in the field and pulls disparate strands together from business ethics, management, international relations, peace and conflict studies in order to better understand how businesses can contribute to peacebuilding and sustainable development. Before businesses take a deeper role in the most complicated and risky elements of sustainable development, we need to be able to better explain what works, why it works, and what effective business efforts for peace and development mean for the multilateral institutional frameworks. This book does just that. |
| building a sustainable business: Operations Management for Business Excellence David Gardiner, Hendrik Reefke, 2019-10-28 All businesses strive for excellence in today’s technology-based environment in which customers want solutions at the touch of a button. This highly regarded textbook provides in-depth coverage of the principles of operations and supply chain management and explains how to design, implement, and maintain processes for sustainable competitive advantage. This text offers a unique combination of theory and practice with a strategic, results-driven approach. Now in its fourth edition, Operations Management for Business Excellence has been updated to reflect major advances and future trends in supply chain management. A new chapter on advanced supply chain concepts covers novel logistics technology, information systems, customer proximity, sustainability, and the use of multiple sales channels. As a platform for discussion, the exploration of future trends includes self-driving vehicles, automation and robotics, and omnichannel retailing. Features include: A host of international case studies and examples to demonstrate how theory translates to practice, including Airbus, Hewlett Packard, Puma, and Toyota. A consistent structure to aid learning and retention: Each chapter begins with a detailed set of learning objectives and finishes with a chapter summary, a set of discussion questions and a list of key terms. Fully comprehensive with an emphasis on the practical, this textbook should be core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of operations management and supply chain management. It would also appeal to executives who desire an understanding of how to achieve and maintain ‘excellence’ in business. Online resources include lecture slides, a glossary, test questions, downloadable figures, and a bonus chapter on project management. |
| building a sustainable business: The Startup Way Eric Ries, 2017-10-17 Entrepreneur and bestselling author of The Lean Startup, Eric Ries reveals how entrepreneurial principles can be used by businesses of all kinds, ranging from established companies to early-stage startups, to grow revenues, drive innovation, and transform themselves into truly modern organizations, poised to take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the twenty-first century. In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries laid out the practices of successful startups – building a minimal viable product, customer-focused and scientific testing based on a build-measure-learn method of continuous innovation, and deciding whether to persevere or pivot. In The Startup Way, he turns his attention to an entirely new group of organizations: established enterprises like iconic multinationals GE and Toyota, tech titans like Amazon and Facebook, and the next generation of Silicon Valley upstarts like Airbnb and Twilio. Drawing on his experiences over the past five years working with these organizations, as well as nonprofits, NGOs, and governments, Ries lays out a system of entrepreneurial management that leads organizations of all sizes and from every industry to sustainable growth and long-term impact. Filled with in-the-field stories, insights, and tools, The Startup Way is an essential road map for any organization navigating the uncertain waters of the century ahead. |
| building a sustainable business: Green Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications Management Association, Information Resources, 2019-02-01 The issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility have become vital discussions in many industries within the public and private sectors. In the business realm, incorporating practices that serve the overall community and ecological wellbeing can also allow businesses to flourish economically and socially. Green Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source for the latest research findings on the challenges and benefits of implementing sustainability into the core functions of contemporary enterprises, focusing on how green approaches improve operations. Highlighting a range of topics such as corporate sustainability, green enterprises, and circular economy, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for business executives, business and marketing professionals, business managers, academicians, and researchers actively involved in the business industry. |
| building a sustainable business: Decent Work and Economic Growth Walter Leal Filho, Anabela Marisa Azul, Luciana Brandli, Amanda Lange Salvia, Tony Wall, 2020-10-20 The problems related to the process of industrialisation such as biodiversity depletion, climate change and a worsening of health and living conditions, especially but not only in developing countries, intensify. Therefore, there is an increasing need to search for integrated solutions to make development more sustainable. The United Nations has acknowledged the problem and approved the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. The Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively addresses the SDGs in an integrated way. The Encyclopedia encompasses 17 volumes, each one devoted to one of the 17 SDGs. This volume addresses SDG 8, namely Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all and contains the description of a range of terms, to allow a better understanding and foster knowledge. The predominant economic model is promoting a lopsided economic growth that is further increasing the gap between the have and the have-nots. This SDG is not just proposing the attainment of more just and empowering economic models, but it also puts at the forefront the well-being of workers by striving to provide employment and better working conditions that respect the dignity of workers. Concretely, the defined targets are: Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, with developed countries taking the lead Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value Substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and end child labour in all its forms Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment Devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries Develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization Editorial Board Rimjhim M Aggarwal, Rosa Maria Fernandez, Edurne A. Inigo, Nerise Johnson, Dmitry Kurochkin, Wim Lambrechts, Sonja Rewhorn, Marco Tortora, Tony Wall |
| building a sustainable business: All in David Grayson, Chris Coulter, Mark Lee, 2018 Written by three leading thinkers in the field of sustainability, All In defines the essential attributes of high-impact corporate sustainability leadership and describes how companies can combine and apply those characteristics for future success. All In draws on research involving thousands of experts globally as collected via the GlobeScan-SustainAbility Leaders Survey over two decades. The book also reveals insights from dozens of interviews with Chairs, CEOs and Chief Sustainability Officers of pioneering companies, including 3M, BASF, BP, DuPont, Google, GE, Huawei, IKEA, Interface, Marks & Spencer, Natura, Nestlé, Nike, Novo Nordisk, Patagonia, Shell, Tata, Toyota, Unilever and Walmart, explaining how they have gained recognition, created value and boosted resiliency based on their sustainability leadership. All In also outlines what the private sector must do to lift sustainability performance, protect business's license to operate and help deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This unique book, rich with quantitative and qualitative insights, offers current and aspiring business leaders a succinct overview of the most important developments and trends in corporate sustainability and responsible leadership. All In will also appeal to others interested in why sustainability has become a critical mainstream business issue. With a foreword by Dan Hendrix, Chairman, Interface, and afterword by Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever. |
STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS - MIT Sloan
Companies are under pressure from multiple stakeholders to adopt sustainable business practices. Here are four foundational tenets to guide your strategy. It took decades, but …
A straightforward guide to sustainable business practices
By examining your own organisation and developing sustainable business practices, you will not only build a modern business – in tune with your customers – but many of these practices will …
Building the business case for sustainability - World Business …
sustainability opportunities in business strategy and planning → Use the impact table examples to explore financial and intangibles drivers → Prepare a business case: 1) scope the initiative; 2) …
Business Strategy for Sustainable Development
For the business enterprise, sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, …
Green Business practices - Patagonia
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development developed a framework to help businesses understand how they impact the societies in which they operate.
White Paper on Business Sustainability: - World Economic …
This joint statement on business sustainability is the product of a collective effort by seven Global Agenda Councils. It draws on their expertise to set forth an integrated view of business …
Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy? - Harvard Business School
Abstract: We explore the conditions under which firms maintain their competitive advantage through sustainability-based differentiation when faced with imitation pressures by industry peers.
Building sustainable business : The IKEA story - SDMIMD
IKEA encourages its customers to adopt a more sustainable life, by launching innovative products and services, which consume less energy, produce their own renewable power, save and …
Shaping the Sustainable Organization - Accenture
In this report, Accenture and the World Economic Forum explore how to build more sustainable and equitable organizations—specifically, how leaders can convert their responsible goals and …
The future of sustainable business - Cambridge Institute for ...
These four critical tasks for business are among the ten set out in Rewiring the Economy3, the CISL report which lays out our ten-year plan for a sustainable economy and proposes the …
Circular Economy and ESG: Building Sustainable Business …
sector to build sustainable business models. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining interviews, surveys, and case studies from key industries such as automotive, …
BUSINESS AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
How can business achieve more systemic change and development impact at scale? For us the answer can be found in a series of six building blocks—critical enabling conditions that must …
Building Sustainable Businesses - Blackstone
Dec 31, 2021 · by building strong businesses that deliver lasting value. We ofer an environment where exceptional talent can build lasting careers. We believe that working at Blackstone …
HR Practices and Policies for Building Sustainable Business …
explore the role of HR practices and policies in building sustainable business brand value. Data were collected through 25 semi-structured interviews with HR professionals, managers, and …
Making the Business Case for Environmental Sustainability
Feb 19, 2015 · Can a business case be made for acting sustainably? This is a difficult question to answer precisely, largely because there is no generally accepted definition of the term …
Creating partnerships for sustainability - McKinsey & Company
Business is being asked to do more than ever to solve social and environmental problems. 1 As a result, a growing number of leading companies are taking the challenge of sustainability …
The Quest for Sustainable Business Model Innovation
To do so, we suggest that leaders reimagine corporate strategy by cre-ating new modes of differentiation, embed-ding societal value into products and ser-vices, reimagining business …
Scaling green businesses: Next moves for leaders - McKinsey …
Last year, we released a framework for launching and scaling green businesses, based on our work with both incumbents and start-ups.1 A few of the key actions include leading with game …
Building a Sustainable Business - SARE
“Building a Sustainable Business: A Guide to Developing a Business Plan for Farms and Rural Businesses” was conceived in 1996 by a planning team for the Minnesota Institute for …
STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS - MIT Sloan
Companies are under pressure from multiple stakeholders to adopt sustainable business practices. Here are four foundational tenets to guide your strategy. It took decades, but …
A straightforward guide to sustainable business practices
By examining your own organisation and developing sustainable business practices, you will not only build a modern business – in tune with your customers – but many of these practices will …
Building the business case for sustainability - World …
sustainability opportunities in business strategy and planning → Use the impact table examples to explore financial and intangibles drivers → Prepare a business case: 1) scope the initiative; 2) …
Four Steps to Sustainable Business Model Innovation
Re-gardless of industry, geography, or size, they (and dozens of others like them) are innovating business models— building on and expanding beyond their core assets and capabilities—to …
Business Strategy for Sustainable Development
For the business enterprise, sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, …
Green Business practices - Patagonia
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development developed a framework to help businesses understand how they impact the societies in which they operate.
White Paper on Business Sustainability: - World Economic …
This joint statement on business sustainability is the product of a collective effort by seven Global Agenda Councils. It draws on their expertise to set forth an integrated view of business …
Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy? - Harvard Business …
Abstract: We explore the conditions under which firms maintain their competitive advantage through sustainability-based differentiation when faced with imitation pressures by industry peers.
Building sustainable business : The IKEA story - SDMIMD
IKEA encourages its customers to adopt a more sustainable life, by launching innovative products and services, which consume less energy, produce their own renewable power, save and …
Shaping the Sustainable Organization - Accenture
In this report, Accenture and the World Economic Forum explore how to build more sustainable and equitable organizations—specifically, how leaders can convert their responsible goals and …
The future of sustainable business - Cambridge Institute for ...
These four critical tasks for business are among the ten set out in Rewiring the Economy3, the CISL report which lays out our ten-year plan for a sustainable economy and proposes the …
Circular Economy and ESG: Building Sustainable Business …
sector to build sustainable business models. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining interviews, surveys, and case studies from key industries such as automotive, …
BUSINESS AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS …
How can business achieve more systemic change and development impact at scale? For us the answer can be found in a series of six building blocks—critical enabling conditions that must …
Building Sustainable Businesses - Blackstone
Dec 31, 2021 · by building strong businesses that deliver lasting value. We ofer an environment where exceptional talent can build lasting careers. We believe that working at Blackstone …
HR Practices and Policies for Building Sustainable Business …
explore the role of HR practices and policies in building sustainable business brand value. Data were collected through 25 semi-structured interviews with HR professionals, managers, and …
Making the Business Case for Environmental Sustainability
Feb 19, 2015 · Can a business case be made for acting sustainably? This is a difficult question to answer precisely, largely because there is no generally accepted definition of the term …
Creating partnerships for sustainability - McKinsey & Company
Business is being asked to do more than ever to solve social and environmental problems. 1 As a result, a growing number of leading companies are taking the challenge of sustainability …
The Quest for Sustainable Business Model Innovation
To do so, we suggest that leaders reimagine corporate strategy by cre-ating new modes of differentiation, embed-ding societal value into products and ser-vices, reimagining business …
Scaling green businesses: Next moves for leaders - McKinsey …
Last year, we released a framework for launching and scaling green businesses, based on our work with both incumbents and start-ups.1 A few of the key actions include leading with game …
