Competing with ?soft? issues - from managing the environment to sustainable business strategies

Abstract

In the last 15 years, important elements to achieve sustainability have been governmental regulation, increasing consumer awareness, implementation of end‐of‐pipe technologies in industry and the development of ‘green’ products. Although many improvements have followed since, some would say that current dominating demands regarding shareholder value (SHV) and claims regarding sustainability are two global discourses in conflict. We argue that the financial sector can influence eco‐efficiency and other environmental improvements. The role of the financial sector, although strategically important, is generally neglected in discourses on sustainability. In this article, we illustrate that financial institutions are crucial facilitators for sustainability. Financial actors' demands regarding business' transparency about management systems and objectives for sustainability will play an important role in the near future. One current example for this emerging trend is the recently introduced Dow Jones Sustainable Group Index. Narrowing in on this special issue on ‘Contemporary Nordic research on corporate environmental management’ we have gone through the 25 articles by Nordic authors previously published in Business Strategy and the Environment (BSE). We have identified three theme clusters, which support the observation that Nordic research in corporate environmental management, as published and illustrated in BSE has developed issues from ‘hard’ such as pollution, environmental technology and compliance, to ‘soft’ issues, such as research on the development and implementation of corporate environmental management and alternative projects for environmental improvements. This special issue presents a selection of papers discussed at the Fifth Workshop of the Nordic Business Environmental Management Network in Gothenburg, Sweden, in January 1999. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Business Strategic Approach for Sustainable Development

“…In academic circles, there is consolidated recognition that sustainability issues are inextricably intertwined with the practice of entrepreneurship [19][20][21], but understanding of exactly how entrepreneurial organizations can develop the opportunities presented by sustainable development not covered in current markets is still at a very early stage [22,23].…”

Green matters?

“…Improved environmental performance can enhance competitiveness by taking advantage of new green markets and consumers, finding process efficiencies that reduce materials and energy cost (Dobers and Wolff, 2000;Porter and van der Linde, 1995), attracting and retaining highly qualified employees, improving relationships with stakeholders and government (thus limiting regulatory hurdles and costs), and creating intangible and not easily imitated capabilities and resources (Hart, 1995;Sharma and Vredenburg, 1998).…”

Envisioning sustainability three-dimensionally

“…see Refs. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], principally through the use of natural resources without going beyond their carrying capacities and the production of pollutants without passing the biodegradation limits of receiving system. These definitions have been usually developed by scientists from countries and seldom consider the importance of social aspects (e.g.…”

“…Two of the key authors of this group include Daly [27] and Costanza [13]. The definitions in this group converge in remarking that resources are scarce, consumption cannot be continued indefinitely, natural resources should be used without surpassing their carrying capacities, and environmental capital should not be depleted [10,[13][14][15][16][17][19][20][21][27][28][29][30][31][32]. In the majority of the cases, SD has primarily environmental connotations, e.g.…”

“…see Refs. [12][13][14][15][16][17][19][20][21][22]29,32,33]. Such connotations, in many cases come from individuals or groups from developed countries and do not consider the importance of social aspects, such as the interrelation between the environment and human rights, corruption, poverty, illiteracy, child mortality, and epidemics, amongst many others.…”