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We live in an increasingly global economy in which the effects of shrunken economies, broadened communication, and widespread meteorological incidents associated with climate change are leaving virtually no one untouched. As a result, a working knowledge of concepts such as the triple bottom line and sustainability, have become mandatory. Systems-thinking is foundational for grasping these concepts and is based on trans-disciplinary theories deriving in part from biology, physics, economics, philosophy, computer science, engineering, geography, and other sciences. Specifically it is the study of systems, including all life forms, climate phenomena, and even in human learning and organizational processes, that regulate themselves through feedback. The media and the public have become savvy to corporate green-washing, and government regulation, already pervasive in Europe, is imminent in the United States. Business practices are a subsystem of human activity, which is itself a subsystem of the biosphere we all depend upon for services, such as clean air and water, sufficient soils to produce food, and moderate weather. Corporate sustainability practices are in the midst of becoming a required aspect of the social license to conduct business, and the use of a systems framework provides a coherent and eminently sensible way to comprehend the structure and logic that underlies this transition. Green business efforts and stakeholder initiatives undertaken by those without the requisite understanding of sustainability and the trends related to it in the world of commerce risk adverse press, activist pressure, regulatory constraint, added expense, reduced revenue, and lowered valuation. This book offers a practical, relevant, and easily grasped overview of sustainability issues and the systems logic that informs them, supported by empirical research and applied to corporate rationales, decision-making, and business processes. Intended for business professionals seeking concise, reliable, and current knowledge and trends, it will support them in leading their organizations' corporate sustainability, social responsibility, and citizenship efforts so they can remain competitive and successful.
As we increase our awareness of the planetary challenges and how they intersect with the discipline or profession we choose to focus on, we have put our attention on the external forces and impacts. What remains untouched however is the set of beliefs, values, assumptions, mental processes, and paradigms that we hold and share: our mindset. But how do we change a mindset? This book is the first to introduce the 12 Principles for a Sustainability Mindset, presenting educators with a framework that makes it easy to include them into teaching plans and lessons of any discipline. Written in a very clear and practical way, the book provides examples, checklists, tips, and tools for professionals and educators. It transforms the development of a much-needed mindset for sustainability into an accessible, fun and intuitive task. The book is written with educators from a variety of disciplines in mind, including but not limited to management educators, coaches, and trainers. No other book comes close to providing such a well-organized and solid way of starting to shift our mindsets in the direction of sustainability.
Solving today’s environmental and sustainability challenges requires more than expertise and technology. Effective solutions will require that we engage with other people, wrestle with difficult questions, and learn how to adapt and make confident decisions despite uncertainty. We need new approaches to leadership that empower professionals at all levels to tackle wicked problems and work towards sustainability. Leadership for Sustainability gives readers perspective and skills for promoting creative and collaborative solutions. Blending systems thinking approaches with leadership techniques, it offers dozens of strategies and specific practices that build on the foundation of three main skills: connecting, collaborating, and adapting. Inspiring case studies show how the book’s strategies and principles can be applied to diverse situations: Coordinating the activities of widely dispersed individuals and groups who may not even know they are connected, illustrated by the work of urban planners, local businesses, citizens, and other stakeholders advancing ambitious climate action goals via a Community Energy Plan in Arlington County, Virginia Collaborating with diverse stakeholders to span boundaries despite their differences of opinion, expertise, and culture, as illustrated by the bold actions of a social entrepreneur who transformed the global food service industry with the “plant-forward” movement Adapting to continuous change and confounding uncertainty, as a small nonprofit organization mobilizes partners to tackle poverty, water scarcity, sanitation, and climate change in rural India Readers will come away with a holistic understanding of how to lead from where they are by applying leadership principles and practices to a wide range of wicked situations. While the challenges we face are daunting, the authors argue that these situations present opportunities for creating a more just, healthy, and prosperous world.
As the world struggles to cope with the growing threat of a global carbon crisis, Doppelt has revised one of the best books ever written about change management, leadership and sustainability to focus on de-carbonisation. Doppelt's research, presented in this hugely readable book, demystify the sustainability-change process by providing a theoretical framework and a methodology that managers can use to successfully transform their organisations to embrace sustainable development. Filled with case examples, interviews and checklists on how to move corporate and governmental cultures toward sustainability, the book argues that the key factors that facilitate change appear in the successful efforts at companies such as AstraZeneca, Nike, Starbucks, IKEA, Chiquita, Interface, Swisscom and Norm Thompson and in governmental efforts such as those in the Netherlands and Santa Monica in California. For these and other cutting-edge organisations, leading change is a philosophy for success. Leading Change toward Sustainability has been used by change leaders around the world to guide their internal global warming and sustainability organisational change initiatives. This new edition is essential reading for leaders from all types of organisations.
This book outlines the creative process of making environmental management decisions using the approach called Structured Decision Making. It is a short introductory guide to this popular form of decision making and is aimed at environmental managers and scientists. This is a distinctly pragmatic label given to ways for helping individuals and groups think through tough multidimensional choices characterized by uncertain science, diverse stakeholders, and difficult tradeoffs. This is the everyday reality of environmental management, yet many important decisions currently are made on an ad hoc basis that lacks a solid value-based foundation, ignores key information, and results in selection of an inferior alternative. Making progress – in a way that is rigorous, inclusive, defensible and transparent – requires combining analytical methods drawn from the decision sciences and applied ecology with deliberative insights from cognitive psychology, facilitation and negotiation. The authors review key methods and discuss case-study examples based in their experiences in communities, boardrooms, and stakeholder meetings. The goal of this book is to lay out a compelling guide that will change how you think about making environmental decisions. Visit www.wiley.com/go/gregory/ to access the figures and tables from the book.
The Business Student’s Guide to Sustainable Management has become a core textbook for business undergraduates. With a full introduction to sustainable management, the textbook covers all subject areas relevant to business students. This second edition features fully updated chapters on how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into accounting, marketing, HR and other subjects in management and business studies. Furthermore, this second edition offers brand new chapters on how to teach the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) in any business discipline, how to explore new business models designed to support sustainable development and how to crowdsource for sustainable solutions. The book contains over 40 ready-made seminars/short workshops which enable teachers and students to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into every discipline in business, including economics, operations, marketing, HR, and financial reporting. Each chapter follows the same easy-to-use format. The Business Student’s Guide to Sustainable Management provides a true treasure chest of materials to support staff wanting to integrate sustainability into their teaching and provides support to effectively embed sustainability in the curriculum. The chapters also offer a starting point in developing teaching units for Masters and MBA students. The material is not just useful to people in business schools, but to those involved in wider scale curriculum change, and those looking to make links between different disciplines (for example, how to teach system thinking, corporate peace-making and the crowdsourcing of sustainable solutions). Online Teaching Notes to accompany each chapter are available on request with the purchase of the book.
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.
This second edition of the resource guide presents ideas for researching companies, making the most of your networking, identifying job and internship openings, and preparing for interviews. With new sections, references, and profiles, it directs you to the best resources and helps you to fine-tune your sustainability job search strategy.
An essential guide to sustainable development for students and practitioners Sustainability is a global imperative and a scientific challenge like no other. This concise guide provides students and practitioners with a strategic framework for linking knowledge with action in the pursuit of sustainable development, and serves as an invaluable companion to more narrowly focused courses dealing with sustainability in particular sectors such as energy, food, water, and housing, or in particular regions of the world. Written by leading experts, Pursuing Sustainability shows how more inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches and systems perspectives can help you achieve your sustainability objectives. It stresses the need for understanding how capital assets are linked to sustainability goals through the complex adaptive dynamics of social-environmental systems, how committed people can use governance processes to alter those dynamics, and how successful interventions can be shaped through collaborations among researchers and practitioners on the ground. The ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate students and an invaluable resource for anyone working in this fast-growing field, Pursuing Sustainability also features case studies, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading. Provides a strategic framework for linking knowledge with action Draws on the latest cutting-edge science and practices Serves as the ideal companion text to more narrowly focused courses Utilizes interdisciplinary approaches and systems perspectives Illustrates concepts with a core set of case studies used throughout the book Written by world authorities on sustainability An online illustration package is available to professors
First edition: Winner of Choice Magazine - Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 Sustainability promises both reduced environmental impacts and real cash savings for any organization - be it a business, non-profit/NGO or government department. This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization's environmental, social and economic performance. The authors demystify 'sustainability', untangle the plethora of sustainability frameworks, tools and practices, and make it easy for the average person in any organization to move towards sustainability. Organized by sector (manufacturing, services and office operations, and government) and common organizational functions (senior management, facilities, human resources, purchasing, environmental affairs and compliance, marketing and public relations, and finance and accounting), the authors show how organizations can incorporate sustainability into their everyday work through the application of useful tools and self-assessments. This fully updated edition includes a new chapter on information and communication technology (ICT). The authors have also added many new facts, stories, practices and resources throughout the book to keep up with this rapidly emerging field and have updated their widely used SCORE sustainability assessment.