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An Introduction to Sustainable Business

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An Introduction to Sustainable Business An Introduction to Sustainable Business v. 1.0 This is the book An Introduction to Sustainable Business (v. 1.0). This book is licensed under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/ 3.0/) license. See the license for more details, but that basically means you can share this book as long as you credit the author (but see below), don't make money from it, and do make it available to everyone else under the same terms. This book was accessible as of December 29, 2012, and it was downloaded then by Andy Schmitz (http://lardbucket.org) in an effort to preserve the availability of this book. Normally, the author and publisher would be credited here. However, the publisher has asked for the customary Creative Commons attribution to the original publisher, authors, title, and book URI to be removed. Additionally, per the publisher's request, their name has been removed in some passages. More information is available on this project's attribution page (http://2012books.lardbucket.org/attribution.html?utm_source=header). For more information on the source of this book, or why it is available for free, please see the project's home page (http://2012books.lardbucket.org/). You can browse or download additional books there. ii Table of Contents Dedication............................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 3 A Background on Sustainability ................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Operations Management ................................................................................. 7 Sustainable Business...................................................................................................................................... 8 Social Impact ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Environmental Impact................................................................................................................................. 14 Economic Impact.......................................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 3: Human Resources............................................................................................ 27 Recruitment and Selection.......................................................................................................................... 28 Training and Development ......................................................................................................................... 31 Performance Appraisal and Feedback ....................................................................................................... 35 Pay and Benefits........................................................................................................................................... 37 Labor Relations............................................................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 4: Finance .............................................................................................................. 44 Capital Investments ..................................................................................................................................... 45 Socially Responsible Investments .............................................................................................................. 48 Measuring Corporate Performance............................................................................................................ 51 Carbon Finance............................................................................................................................................. 52 Sustainable Financing.................................................................................................................................. 53 Sustainable Insurance ................................................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 5: Research and Development .......................................................................... 60 Cradle to Cradle............................................................................................................................................ 61 Biomimicry ................................................................................................................................................... 62 Life Cycle Analysis........................................................................................................................................ 64 Crowdsourcing ............................................................................................................................................. 69 Chapter 6: Marketing ......................................................................................................... 71 Product.......................................................................................................................................................... 72 Price............................................................................................................................................................... 74 Place (Distribution)...................................................................................................................................... 75 Promotion..................................................................................................................................................... 77 iii Chapter 7: IT and MIS ........................................................................................................ 82 Information Technology ............................................................................................................................. 83 Information Systems ................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 8: Accounting........................................................................................................ 89 Measurement and Accounting Tools ......................................................................................................... 90 Reporting ...................................................................................................................................................... 92 Assurance and Stakeholder Engagement .................................................................................................. 93 Accounting Methods.................................................................................................................................... 94 Chapter 9: Next Steps: Sustainability Strategy ............................................................ 96 Sustainability as Incremental Improvements........................................................................................... 97 Sustainability as Strategy............................................................................................................................ 98 Making the Sustainability Commitment ................................................................................................. 103 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 109 Chapter 10: Sustainable Business: Case Examples..................................................... 112 Chapter 11: Appendix: Resources for the Sustainable Business............................. 143 References .......................................................................................................................... 231 iv Dedication For Cecelia and Marquita to whom I hope to leave the world a better place. —N. E. L. To Jeremy and Jamie for your patience and understanding throughout my academic pursuits. —S. D. E. 1 Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge the feedback and suggestions offered by the following individuals: Karen Frame Ciara Spillane Brigitte Armato Cynthia Daily, Ph.D. Dilene Crockett, Ph.D. Jennifer Powers Nancy Hopkins David Wood Heather Sanders Lance Lide Scott Wright David Dearman, Ph.D. LaQuinta Broyles Sherrie Kearney Thomas Tudor, Ph.D. Chapter 4 "Finance" was written by Julia S. Kwok, Northeastern State University, 3100 E. New Orleans Street, Department of Accounting and Finance, College of Business and Technology, Broken Arrow, OK 74014. E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: 918-449-6516. 2 Chapter 1 Introduction Going green, green business, and sustainable business are topics on everyone’s mind. But what does all this mean exactly? A Primer on Sustainable Business answers that question and provides an introduction to the basics you need to know. 3 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 A Background on Sustainability We begin with an understanding of the background of the concept of sustainability1 and how it applies to the business world. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission put forth a “global agenda for change” with the purpose
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