The Ecological Allowance of Enterprise: An Absolute Measure of Corporate Environmental Performance, its Implications for Strategy, and a Small Case

Abstract

In order to determine the sustainable ecological scale of business activities, the measure ecological allowance is introduced in this contribution. Its main idea is that every enterprise "owns" a certain allowable ecological impact that can be calculated through relating impact and economic performance. This measure then enables the evaluation of absolute environmental performance of a business enterprise, compared to only relative measures as in most other approaches. The measure is explained and detailed with a case from the German automotive industry and complimented by a scenario analysis of different configurations of self-owned and carsharing cars, including technological and economic parameters.

Theoretical perspectives on organizations and organizing in a post-growth era

“…More boldly, we contend that unchecked economic growth is unequivocally unsustainable—economically, socially and ecologically—and also, as we discuss in a later section, that a new vocabulary is needed to imagine life in a post-growth era (D’Alisa et al, 2015). It was apparent decades ago that the thresholds of planetary capacities were being exceeded by business as usual practices (Foster et al, 1997) and this trajectory has only accelerated in subsequent years (Reichel and Seeberg, 2011; Stephen et al, 2018). Relatedly, critics have raised concerns about the collapse of civilizations as surprisingly fragile capitalist economic structures and social and political institutions shake under pressure from growing populations, resource extraction and scarcity, rampant consumerism, and climate change (Brown, 2003; Dahlman, 2012).…”

Postwachstumsstadt. Konturen einer solidarischen Stadtpolitik

“…Im Hinblick auf eine nachhaltige Stadtgestaltung werden vermehrt Postwachstumsstrategien diskutiert (u.a. Posse, 2015;Schubrink et al, 2013;Scherhorn, 2012;Reichel & Seeberg, 2011). Hierbei benötigt es neben einem nachhaltigen Unternehmertum jedoch adäquate politische Rahmenbedingungen und ein bewusstes, individuelles Handeln (v.a.…”

The Dilemma of Incumbents in Sustainability Transitions: A Narrative Approach

“…In what ways can these companies deal with a situation where macro-trends, such as demographic change and emerging shifts in societal values, make (quantitative) stagnation a basic principle in business and a societal reality eventually? So far, management and economic studies have not addressed this question to a reasonable extent [25,[45][46][47]. At the same time, early signs can be observed of companies adapting to changing circumstances: the food industry is beginning to accommodate customer demands for organic, regional, vegetarian and vegan products, in the car industry, mobility services and sharing concepts are being developed.…”