Business and the Sustainability Challenge An Integrated Perspective

It is vitally important for businesses to have a holistic understanding of the many issues surrounding and shaping sustainability, from competitors to government and political factors, to economics and ecological science. This integrated textbook for MBA and senior-level undergraduates offers a comprehensive overview of the issues of sustainability as they relate to business and influence corporate strategy. It also features a wide range of cases and an extensive discussion of tools to incorporate sustainability issues into strategic decision making, helping instructors and students to build and then apply a solid understanding of sustainability in business.

@Contents: Preface 1. Book Outline and Rationale Part 1: Foundations 2. A brief historical overview of economic development and the environment, Part 1 - Pre and Post Agricultural Revolution 3. A brief historical overview of economic development and the environment, Part 2 - The Industrial Revolution and Sequel Appendix: A Primer on Input-Output Analysis 4. What Are We Trying to Achieve? Measuring Wealth and Well-being Appendix One: The World Bank’s Calculation of Total Wealth Appendix Two: Well-being indicator variables used by the OECD 5. An Overview of Environmental Economics Appendix One: Case Study of Sulfur Dioxide Trading the U.S. Appendix Two: The TRI and its Effects 6. An Outline of Ecological Economics Appendix One: Valuing Ecosystem Services of North America’s Boreal Forest Appendix Two: Case Study of Thai Shrimp Farming 7. Cost-Benefit Analysis and Measuring Environmental Benefits Appendix One: Applying Evaluation Methodology – Case Study of the U.S Clean Air Act Appendix Two: Placing a Value on Ecosystem Services – Case Study of New York City’s Water Supply Appendix Three: A Brief Overview of Multi-Attribute Decision Making 8. Placing a Value on Human Life Appendix: Philip Morris’ Report to the Government of Czechoslovakia 9. Risk Analysis and the Precautionary Principle Appendix One: Two classic examples of the framing of risk Appendix Two: The Precautionary Principle and Global Warming 10. Some Relevant Ecological Principles Part 2: The Private Sector 11. A Brief History of Corporate Response to Sustainability Issues 12. Waste to Profits. The Case of Consolidated Mining and Smelting Ltd. 13. Designing the Corporation of the 21st Century. Case Study of Interface Inc. 14. Assessing Interface Inc. Appendix: A Note on Assessing the Credibility of Corporate Sustainability Reporting 15. Eco-efficiency and other paradigms 16. Closing the Loop: Mimicking Nature – Biomimicry and Industrial Ecology 17. Thinking Systemically (I) Mass Balances and Industrial Metabolism 18. Thinking Systematically (II) Life-Cycle Analysis 19. Thinking Systemically (III): Carbon Accounting 20. Thinking Systematically (IV): LCA, Carbon Footprinting and Input-Output Analysis 21. The Search for Innovative Business Models. Case Study of Ooteel Forest Products Ltd. 22. Assessing Ooteel’s Strategic Options Appendix: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 23. Defining Sustainability and its Components. Case Study of Suncor Ltd. 24. Assessing Suncor Ltd. Appendix: A brief note on carbon capture and storage 25. Internalizing Sustainability into Corporate Strategy 26. Social Enterprise and the Social Return to Investment 27. Sustainability and Corporate Culture 28. Afterword

Peter N. Nemetz is a Professor of Strategy and Business Economics at The University of British Colombia, Canada.