Abstract
While the goal of traditional capitalism is with making money, there is growing concern within and without industry about how that money is made. In this chapter, the business and organizational benefits of sustainability will be examined, along with the risks and costs of sustainability in action. Methods and models of sustainable business implementation will be examined, along with examples of companies that have implemented and benefited from sustainable business strategies. Sustainability is presented from a practical business perspective, transcending environmental and political agendas. Rather than adding cost and additional work, sustainability reduces costs, increases profitability, and introduces innovative opportunities for marketplace differentiation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Accenture. (2010). A new era of sustainability: UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO study. Retrieved May 4, 2017, from http://www.unglobalcompact.org
Banerjee, P. M., & Shastri, V. (2010). New beginnings in age-old philosophies. In P. M. Banerjee & V. Shastri (Eds.), Social responsibility and environmental sustainability in business: How organizations handle profits and social duties (pp. 163–169). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Beehner, C. G. (2017, January). Teaching sustainability to a traditional business audience. Conference Proceedings of the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Discipline, 14(1). Paper presented at IABPAD 2017 Conference, Orlando, FL, pp. 298–308.
Bocken, N. M., Short, S. W., Rana, P., & Evans, S. (2014). A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes. Journal of Cleaner Production, 65, 42–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.11.039
Bonini, S., & Görner, S. (2011, October). Putting it into practice. New York: McKinsey & Company. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from https://www.mckinsey.com
Bonini, S., & Swartz, S. (2014). Profits with purpose: How organizing for sustainability can benefit the bottom line. New York: McKinsey & Company. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from http://www.highmeadowsinstitute.org
CBS News. (2018, January 24). SEC investigating GE over $15 billion charge. New York: Author. Retrieved March 18, 2018, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sec-investigating-ge-over-15-billion-charge/
Channell, J., Curmi, E., Nguyen, P., Prior, E., Syme, A. R., Jansen, H. R., … Kruger, T. (2015). Energy Darwinism II: Why a low carbon future doesn’t have to cost the Earth. New York: Citibank. Retrieved 4 January 2018, from https://ir.citi.com
Chesbrough, H. (2010). Business model innovation: Opportunities and barriers. Long Range Planning, 43(2–3), 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2009.07.010
Chesto, J. (2017, November 17). General electric plans job cuts, slash in quarterly dividend. Boston: Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/11/13/general-electric-plans-slice-quarterly-dividend-half/AZqYqgb6iL7sZ64VvBPmFO/story.html
Dean, T. J. (2014). Sustainable venturing: Entrepreneurial opportunity in the transition to a sustainable economy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Deutsche Bank Group. (2012). Sustainable investing 2012. Frankfurt am Main: Author. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from https://www.db.com/cr/en/docs/Sustainable_Investing_2012.pdf
Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2012). The impact of a corporate culture of sustainability on corporate behavior and performance (No. W17950). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Eccles, R. G., Miller Perkins, K., & Serafeim, J. (2012). How to become a sustainable company. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(4), 43–50. Retrieved February 2, 2018, from https://sloanreview.mit.edu
Esty, D. C., & Winston, A. S. (2009). Green to gold: How smart companies use environmental strategy to innovate, create value, and build competitive advantage. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Flavelle, C. (2017, November 27). Moody’s warns cities to address climate risks or face downgrades. Bloomberg. Retrieved December 14, 2017, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-29/moody-s-warns-cities-to-address-climate-risks-or-face-downgrades
General Electric. (2018). Ecomagination. Boston: Author. Retrieved February 5, 2017, from https://www.ge.com/about-us/ecomagination
Goleman, D., & Lueneburger, C. (2010). The change leadership sustainability demands. MIT Sloan Management Review, 51(4), 49. Retrieved February 2, 2018, from https://sloanreview.mit.edu
GreenBiz Staff. (2008, October 22). BT- and Cisco-sponsored paper says sustainability breeds innovation and profitability. Retrieved February 1, 2018, from http://www.greenbiz.com/print/1601
Haanaes, K., Reeves, M., von Streng, I., Audretsch, M., Kiron, D., & Kruschwitz, N. (2012). Sustainability nears a tipping point. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved February 6, 2018, from https://sloanreview.mit.edu/projects/sustainability-nears-a-tipping-point/
Herro, C. R. (2018, January 8). Disruptive strategies for the evolving housing market. Presented at Sustainability Symposium 2018, Orlando, FL.
Hind, P., Smit, A., & Page, N. (2013). Enabling sustainability through an action research process of organizational development. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 49, 137–161. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.49.137
Hofstra, N. (2014). Entrepreneurship inspired by nature. In L. Zsolnai (Ed.), The spiritual dimension of business ethics and sustainability management (pp. 159–168) Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11677-8_20
Hui, L. T. (2008). Combining faith and CSR: A paradigm of corporate sustainability. International Journal of Social Economics, 35(6), 449–465. https://doi.org/10.1108/03068290810873429
Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet. London: Earthscan.
Jones, P. H., & Upward, A. (2014). Caring for the future: The systemic design of flourishing enterprises. The Third Symposium of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD3), Oslo, 1–8. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from http://systemic-design.net/rsd3-proceedings/business-enterprise-design/
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The balanced scorecard: translating strategy into action. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Kauflin, J. (2017, January 17). The world’s most sustainable companies 2017. Forbes. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com
Kiron, D., Kruschwitz, N., Reeves, M., & Goh, E. (2013). The benefits of sustainability-driven (business model) innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54 (2), 69–73. Retrieved February 2, 2018, from https://sloanreview.mit.edu
McKinsey & Company. (2011, October). The business of sustainability: McKinsey Global Survey results. New York: Author. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from https://www.mckinsey.com
Medlock, S. (2018, January 8). Innovative financing solutions for resilience building. Presented at Sustainability Symposium 2018, Orlando, FL.
Moss, R. (2016, October 9). The Real Junk Food Project opens UK’s first food waste supermarket. London: Huffington Post UK. Retrieved November 17, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
Munich Re. (2018). Natural catastrophe review: Series of hurricanes makes 2017 year of highest insured losses ever. Munich: Author. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from https://www.munichre.com
Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., & Rangaswami, M. R. (2009). Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation. Harvard Business Review, 87(9), 56–64. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from http://www.hbr.org
O’Malley, M. (2018, January 8). Seizing America’s renewable energy future. Presented at Sustainability Symposium 2018, Orlando, FL.
Opdebeeck, H. (2014). Spiritual sustainability management. In L. Zsolnai (Ed.), The spiritual dimension of business ethics and sustainability management (pp. 15–26). Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11677-8_20
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89 (1/2), 62–77. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from http://www.hbr.org
Rainey, D. L. (2008). Transparency, openness, and accountability: A new imperative. In M. V. Russo (Ed.), Environmental management: Readings and cases (pp. 228–242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Reinhardt, F. L. (2008). Environmental product differentiation: Implications for corporate strategy. In M. V. Russo (Ed.), Environmental management: Readings and cases (pp. 205–227). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rifkin, J. (2017, November/December). Sustainability’s third act. Green Builder.
Rogers, M. (2016, March 29). 6 benefits of becoming a sustainable business. Fort Collins, CO: Business Sector media. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from https://www.environmentalleader.com/2016/03/6-benefits-of-becoming-a-sustainable-business/
Rosen, R. (1991). Life itself: A comprehensive inquiry into the nature, origin, and fabrication of life (1st ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Senge, P. (with Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laut, J., & Schley, S.). (2008). The necessary revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world. New York: Random House Digital.
Sheetz, M. (2018, February 26). General electric shares fall below $14 after Justice probe revealed; Taps accounting, turnaround experts for board. New York: CNBC. Retrieved March 18, 2018, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/26/general-electric-shares-fall-below-14-after-naming-three-new-board-members.html
Soppe, L. (2014). Sustainability and long-term growth in the financial market system. In L. Zsolnai (Ed.), The spiritual dimension of business ethics and sustainability management (pp. 109–124). Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11677-8_20
Soyka, P. A. (2012). Creating a sustainable organization: Approaches for enhancing corporate value through sustainability. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Spector, D. (2012, March 1). 10 more reasons companies should care about sustainability. New York: Business Insider. Retrieved January 4, 2018, from http://www.businessinsider.com
Tariq, S., Jan, F. A., & Ahmad, M. S. (2016). Green employee empowerment: A systematic literature review of state-of-art in green human resource management. Quality & Quantity, 50(1), 237–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0146-0
Tate, W. (2009). The search for leadership: An organisational perspective. William Tate Charmouth: Triarchy Press.
Tideman, S. G., Arts, M. C., & Zandee, D. P. (2013). Sustainable leadership: Towards a workable definition. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 49(6), 17–33. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.49.17
Townsend, A. K. (2006). Green business: A five-part model for creating an environmentally responsible company. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing.
Utne Reader. (1999, Mar–Apr). Fifteen ideas that could shake the world. Topeka, KS: Author. Retrieved March 4, 2018, from https://www.utne.com/politics/15ideasthatcouldshaketheworld
Wagner, M. (Ed.). (2012). Entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. New York: Greenleaf Publishing.
Walker, K., Ni, N., & Dyck, B. (2015). Recipes for successful sustainability: Empirical organizational configurations for strong corporate environmental performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24, 40–57. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1805
Wheatley, M. J., & Kellner-Rogers, M. (1999). A simpler way. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Winston, A. (2016, December 30). 9 sustainable business stories that shaped 2016. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved October 14, 2017, from https://hbr.org
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beehner, C.G. (2019). Sustainability for Organizational Success. In: Spirituality, Sustainability, and Success. Palgrave Studies in Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77806-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77806-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77805-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77806-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)