Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto

by Adam Werbach

 

Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (1 July 2009)

ISBN-10: 142217770X

ISBN-13: 978-1422177709

 

The definitive work on business strategy for sustainability by the most authoritative voice in the conversation.

More than ever before, consumers, employees, and investors share a common purpose and a passion for companies that do well by doing good. So any strategy without sustainability at its core is just plain irresponsible - bad for business, bad for shareholders, bad for the environment. These challenges represent unprecedented opportunities for big brands - such as Clorox, Dell, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Nike, and Wal-Mart - that are implementing integral, rather than tangential, strategies for sustainability. What these companies are doing illuminates the book's practical framework for change, which involves engaging employees, using transparency as a business tool, and reaping the rewards of a networked organizational structure.

 

Leave your quaint notions of corporate social responsibility and environmentalism behind. Werbach is starting a whole new dialogue around sustainability of enterprise and life as we know it in organizations and individuals. Sustainability is now a true competitive strategic advantage, and building it into the core of your business is the only means to ensure that your company - and your world - will survive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts

by Marc J. Epstein

 

Publisher: Greenleaf Publishing (14 Jan 2008)

ISBN-10: 1906093059

ISBN-13: 978-1906093051

 

While many have focused on what sustainability means for business strategy, precious few have paid attention to actually making it happen inside large corporations. In this new book, Marc Epstein shines the guiding light for those charged with implementing sustainability the necessary structures, systems, metrics, and performance measurements. If your challenge is to overcome the corporate antibodies to drive innovation through sustainability, this is a must-read. Stuart L. Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise, Cornell University, and author of Capitalism at the Crossroads

 

Marc Epstein is a successful, proven navigator in these complex new risk and opportunity spaces. Fasten your safety belts - and make sure your CEO and board have copies of this invaluable guide ready to hand. John Elkington, Founder and Chief Entrepreneur, SustainAbility

 

Marc Epstein has been teaching and writing around corporate sustainability and reporting issues for decades, long before they became trendy. This book is a very readable and easy-to-use compilation of his experience and research. I highly recommend it for practitioners in all levels of management or for stakeholders who should understand what the company on the next block is or is not doing right. Joan Bavaria, President, Trillium Investment and Co-Chair and Founder, Ceres

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building a Green IT Team: Leading CTOs and CIO on Implementing Green Procedures, Garnering Executive Support, and Developing Best Practices for Energy Conservation (Inside the Minds)

by Aspatore Books Staff (A Thomson Reuters Business)

 

Publisher: West Publishing Co ,U.S. (30 Nov 2008)

ISBN-10: 0314194959

ISBN-13: 978-0314194954

 

Building a Green IT Team is an authoritative, insider's perspective on developing an eco-friendly approach to business through IT-driven practices and policies. Featuring CTOs and CIOs representing some of the top companies in the nation, this book provides best practices for establishing a green IT mentality that permeates the entire company. Driven by the desire to not only help the environment by reducing waste and energy emissions but to cut costs by implementing alternative solutions, these authors offer tips for setting green goals, reducing redundancies, and managing power consumption. From defining what 'green IT' means to embracing energy savings in paper and pulp to choosing vendors for greener systems, these authors outline the many small, specific changes that should start within the IT department but will make a big difference when applied across an entire organization. This book provides valuable insight for those looking to incorporate green ideas into IT planning and processes by garnering executive support for green initiatives and attracting employees with environmental experience. Highlighting the importance of contributing to conservational efforts rather than sitting on the sidelines, these authors demonstrate how to leverage IT by devising a long-term strategy that will benefit the earth as well as the bottom line of the company. The different niches presented and the breadth of perspectives represented enable readers to get inside some of the leading green technology minds of today, as these insiders offer up their thoughts around the keys to instituting sustainable business systems through the IT department.

 

Inside the Minds provides readers with proven business intelligence from C-Level executives (Chairman, CEO, CFO, CMO, Partner) from the world's most respected companies nationwide, rather than third-party accounts from unknown authors and analysts. Each chapter is comparable to an essay/thought leadership piece and is a future-oriented look at where an industry, profession or topic is headed and the most important issues for the future. Through an exhaustive selection process, each author was hand-picked by the Inside the Minds editorial board to author a chapter for this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy

by Harvard Business School Press

 

Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (1 Nov 2007)

ISBN-10: 1422121089

ISBN-13: 978-1422121085

 

The series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.

 

Just a decade ago, the term "green building strategy" evoked visions of fringe environmentalism and a high cost for minimal good. More recently, there's been a large shift in perception, an awakening of social consciousness, and a realization that a strategy good for the world can also be good for your bottom line. Green Business Strategy is no longer an option; the future depends on it. This collection of HBR articles gets to the heart of why you should and must put a socially responsible strategy at the top of your CEO's agenda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build a Competitive Advantage

by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston

 

Publisher: Yale University Press (31 Oct 2006)

ISBN-10: 0300119976

ISBN-13: 978-0300119978

 

Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as WalMart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Truth About Green Business

by Gil Friend

 

Publisher: QUE; 1 edition (2 July 2009)

ISBN-10: 0789739402

ISBN-13: 978-0789739407

 

The Truth About Green Business, by Natural Logic CEO Gil Friend, brings together 52 crucial facts and insights leaders must know to successfully 'go green.' This book delivers quick, plain-English explanations that executives, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs can actually use, no matter what kind of businesses they're running, or what their environmental and profit goals are.

 

This book is stands out somewhat in the sense that it doesn't delve deeply into individual topics, but is designed to cover a broader spectrum of green business ideas, including invaluable insights such as the truth about what climate change means for your business, and the truth about running green and future proofing your business. Essential reading which comes highly recommended by Sustain Europe.