Making Sustainability Work
Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts
1st Edition
Published on 1. January 2008
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-906093-05-1 (ISBN)
Description
The best practices in corporate sustainability performance are no longer the exclusive domain of companies like Ben & Jerry's or The Body Shop, as they were a decade ago; now, large, multinational companies like G.E. and Wal-Mart are leading the way with significant financial and organizational commitments to social and environmental issues. However, good intentions aren't enough. Whether motivated by concern for society and the environment, government regulation, stakeholder pressures, or economic profit, managers and strategists need to continue making significant changes to more effectively manage their social, economic, and environmental impacts - and to remain competitive. The guidance they need to do that is in this book.
Marc Epstein has produced the ultimate "how-to-do-it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually making sustainability work for organizations. With a growing number of corporate leaders asking for urgent help in "getting this done," the timing of the book could not be better.
Marc Epstein has produced the ultimate "how-to-do-it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually making sustainability work for organizations. With a growing number of corporate leaders asking for urgent help in "getting this done," the timing of the book could not be better.
Reviews / Votes
A thorough guidebook on strategies and best practices for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, and sustainability consultants* One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2008
* One of Sustainable Industries Best Books of 2008
Faculty members/course leaders: a free 38pp Study Guide is now available to accompany this book. Making Sustainability Work is an outstanding contribution to the field. This book will be an invaluable resource for senior executives, boards, and managers looking to integrate sustainability into their decision making. * <i>Strategic Finance</i> * The accessible, often stimulating, style, and the straightforward Corporate Sustainability Model allow readers to dip in and out of the text when addressing different ways of considering corporate social and environmental impacts ... a helpful guide for managers tasked with implementing strategies to embed consideration of social and environmental impacts in large organizations. In an academic environment, it could also be usefully integrated into business strategy and social and environmental accounting courses.
Read the full review (PDF) -- Brendan O'Dwyer, Professor of Accounting, University of Amsterdam Business School * <i>The Accounting Review</i> Issue 3 (2009) * Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer an optional string in the corporate bow, it has morphed and grown. Whatever the motivation for implementing CSR initiatives be it human concern, government regulation, stakeholder pressures or economic profit - multinationals and new start-ups alike are changing. They are realising they must effectively manage their social and ecological impacts in order not just to excel, but to survive. With stakes so high, the question on every corporate leader's mind is how to make CSR a reality.
In Making Sustainability Work, Marc Epstein firstly acknowledges somewhat reassuringly the difficult nature of putting these step changes in place. This book spells out the plan to make sustainability happen, with practical day-to-day, results-oriented sense. This is not just a "how to do" guide but very much a "how to get it done" bible. Epstein crucially includes instructions on how to measure the results of CSR initiatives, which is notably lacking in previous texts. Drawing on research into best practices of 100 companies worldwide including Starbucks, Dell and Coca-Cola, the book puts forward a model for implementing sustainability initiatives. Although vast, the topics covered revolve around the following critical areas:
* The role of executive management in leading sustainability activities
* How organisational design can improve sustainability
* Integration of social risk factors into investment, costing and risk
* Improving sustainability performance through incentives and rewards
* Measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts
Making Sustainability Work successfully translates the strategic rhetoric of CSR initiatives into practical, real-life use. Epstein provides and explains tools, processes and metrics to produce and monitor true corporate sustainability. This insightful guide will appeal to corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actively practicing sustainability.
http://www.lmcuk.com/book-review/making-sustainability-work * London Management Centre * As a practitioner's guide, Epstein's book offers several virtues not found in other similar sustainability works for managers. First and foremost, his language is the language of business ... Second, sustainability impacts are described using quantitative measures based on Epstein's extensive experience across decades of work with companies. Third, the challenge of sustainability is framed in terms of structures, systems, and procedures ... Fourth, a range of management techniques is offered, including scenario planning to assess future trends. Fifth, the work is peppered with relevant examples to illustrate key points ... And sixth, Epstein does an elegant job in providing a broad strategic vision of the role of global corporations in today's world - a role in which innovation and profit are consistent with addressing sustainability challenges for society and the environment ... Epstein has done a remarkable job of taking the existing methods of management and expanding them to include environmental and social impacts that, until now, were externalized or relegated to the business fringe. Armed with the insights and techniques in this book, practitioners will be able to tackle the sustainability challenges of their organizations in ways that can make them and their companies more successful.
Read the full review (PDF) -- Chris Laszlo, visiting professor at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Manageme Promising to deliver the guidance that companies need in order to manage social, economic and environmental impact while remaining competitive, this book boasts its ability as the ultimate "how to do it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics and sustainability consultants. No longer the exclusive territory of smaller, outwardly responsible companies such as Ben & Jerry's and the Body Shop, sustainability is becoming a prerequisite of a successful company worldwide. Covering everything from strategy, leadership and budgeting to evaluation of success and the benefits of sustainability, Making Sustainability Work delivers a compact and achievable guide to conquering what could be a dizzying mountain to climb. * <i>The Environmentalist</i> 61 (7 July 2008) * Die zahlreichen Beispiele bieten einen UEberblick zum State-of-the-Art des Nachhaltigkeitsmanagements in der Praxis. Fuer Controller und Manager bietet es einen guten Einstieg in das Thema. -- Peter Horvath, <i>Controlling</i> 8/9 (August/September 2008) The strength of [Epstein's] book is that it does not just discuss corporate social responsibility but enumerates concrete strategies for generating real and measurable impacts in this area. Epstein's goal is to help corporations develop best practices for corporate sustainability, and he neatly extends his discussion of best practices with reference to applied research. A key question posed and addressed to organizations is, "What are you doing now and what should you be doing in the future?" Epstein answers with a blend of actual business practice and academic research, with a focus on assessment and measurement of sustainability initiatives. This synthesis combining best practices with real, measurable outcomes and conceptual "talk" about corporate social responsibility is a welcome addition to the literature ... Integrating corporate social responsibility into a corporate management construct is a major contribution of Epstein's lucid, well-written, timely work. Summing up: Highly recommended. -- S.A. Schulman, CUNY Kingsborough Community College * <i>Choice</i> magazine, October 2008 *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Saltaire
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
689 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906093-05-1 (9781906093051)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Marc J. Epstein | Adriana Rejc Buhovac
Making Sustainability Work
Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts
Book
01/2014
2nd Edition
Greenleaf Publishing
€54.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Marc J. Epstein is Distinguished Research Professor of Management at Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He recently was Visiting Professor and Wyss Visiting Scholar in Social Enterprise at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining Rice, Dr. Epstein was a professor at Stanford Business School, Harvard Business School, and INSEAD (European Institute of Business Administration).
Dr. Epstein has extensive academic and practical experience in the implementation of corporate strategies and the development of performance metrics for use in these implementations. He has extensive industry experience and has been a senior consultant to leading corporations and governments throughout the world for over 25 years. In many recent articles and books Epstein shows how the use of new strategic management systems can help companies focus strategy, link to performance metrics, and drive improved performance in organizations.
He has focused extensively on sustainability and corporate social responsibility for most of his career and was in at the beginning of the development of the corporate social audit and the measurement of corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. In both academic research and managerial practice, Dr. Epstein is considered one of the global luminaries in the areas of corporate sustainability, governance, and accountability.
His 18 authored or co-authored books include many award-winners such as Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance: Best Practices for Costing and Managing an Effective Environmental Strategy; Counting What Counts: Turning Corporate Accountability to Competitive Advantage; and a recently published four-volume series, The Accountable Corporation, with a focus on corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, business ethics, and business-government relations.
Dr. Epstein has extensive academic and practical experience in the implementation of corporate strategies and the development of performance metrics for use in these implementations. He has extensive industry experience and has been a senior consultant to leading corporations and governments throughout the world for over 25 years. In many recent articles and books Epstein shows how the use of new strategic management systems can help companies focus strategy, link to performance metrics, and drive improved performance in organizations.
He has focused extensively on sustainability and corporate social responsibility for most of his career and was in at the beginning of the development of the corporate social audit and the measurement of corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. In both academic research and managerial practice, Dr. Epstein is considered one of the global luminaries in the areas of corporate sustainability, governance, and accountability.
His 18 authored or co-authored books include many award-winners such as Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance: Best Practices for Costing and Managing an Effective Environmental Strategy; Counting What Counts: Turning Corporate Accountability to Competitive Advantage; and a recently published four-volume series, The Accountable Corporation, with a focus on corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, business ethics, and business-government relations.
Content
Foreword
John Elkington
Foreword
Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard
Introduction: Improving social and financial performance in global corporations
Chapter 1
A new framework for implementing corporate sustainability
Chapter 2
Leadership and strategy for corporate sustainability
Chapter 3
Organizing for sustainability
Chapter 4
Costing, capital investments, and the integration of social risk
Chapter 5
Performance evaluation and reward systems
Chapter 6
The foundations for identifying and measuring social, environmental, and economic impacts
Chapter 7
Implementing a social, environmental, and economic impact measurement system
Chapter 8
Improving corporate processes, products, and projects for corporate sustainability
Chapter 9
External sustainability reporting and verification
Chapter 10
The benefits of sustainability for corporations and society
John Elkington
Foreword
Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard
Introduction: Improving social and financial performance in global corporations
Chapter 1
A new framework for implementing corporate sustainability
Chapter 2
Leadership and strategy for corporate sustainability
Chapter 3
Organizing for sustainability
Chapter 4
Costing, capital investments, and the integration of social risk
Chapter 5
Performance evaluation and reward systems
Chapter 6
The foundations for identifying and measuring social, environmental, and economic impacts
Chapter 7
Implementing a social, environmental, and economic impact measurement system
Chapter 8
Improving corporate processes, products, and projects for corporate sustainability
Chapter 9
External sustainability reporting and verification
Chapter 10
The benefits of sustainability for corporations and society