It's wonderful that, for over 40 years now, we've made a point of remembering "Mother Earth" each April and, perhaps, renewing our commitment to doing what we can to reduce our costly footprint on the planet. Recent programs and initiatives have greatly increased public awareness of the necessity to "reduce, reuse, and recycle," but it's becoming clear that we need to be doing more, and not just in our personal lives. What can businesses, for example, do to make a difference?
Plenty, show authors Chris Laszlo and Nadya Zhexembayeva in their new book, Embedded Sustainability: The Next Big Competitive Advantage. As they point out in a recent article in the European Financial Review, "The linear throw-away economy, in which products and services follow a one-way trajectory from extraction to use and disposal, can no longer be supported, as we are simply running out of things to unearth and place to landfill. Consumers, employees, and investors are beginning to demand socially and environmentally-savvy products without compromise, while radical transparency is putting every company under a microscope." Embedded Sustainability, the incorporation of environmental, health, and social value into the core business with no trade-off in price or quality – in other words, with no social or green premium - is the answer.
Embedded Sustainability helps readers to comprehend—and act on—the notion of embedded sustainability, explaining why it is now a requisite in every sector, how smart companies are creating even higher value for their customers and investors, and what new management competencies are needed to compete in today's marketplace.
About the Authors:
Chris Laszlo, Ph.D., is the author of Sustainable Value: How the World's Leading Companies Are Doing Well by Doing Good (2008) and The Sustainable Company(2003, paperback 2005). He is an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management, where he is the Faculty Research Director at the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. Chris is also the co-founder and Managing Partner of Sustainable Value Partners, LLC, an advisory services firm specialized in sustainability for business advantage.
Nadya Zhexembayeva, Ph.D., is the Coca-Cola Chair of Sustainable Development at IEDC-Bled School of Management, the European business school based in Slovenia, where she teaches leadership, organizational design, and sustainability strategy. Nadya currently serves as Vice-President of Challenge:Future, a global youth think tank. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at the Weatherhead School of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio. Nadya is also an Associate Partner of Sustainable Value Partners, LLC.
Comments