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Corporate governance and sustainability are moving from important peripheral problems to core business concerns, as winning companies discover stakeholders as new sources of value. Yet there are many obstacles to bringing these issues into the mainstream of business. Concepts like sustainable development can be confusing for operating managers, and even those who support the underlying issues find it difficult to frame them in ways that are useful for making business decisions. As a manager you have a responsibility to deliver financial returns to your shareholders: how can you balance this obligation with your responsibilities to society and the environment?
The Sustainable Company articulates an innovative approach to meeting this challenge in a language familiar to business. The key, according to author Chris Laszlo, is to create value for investors as well as society and the environment in an integrated bottom line. The Sustainable Company provides detailed case studies of leading companies illustrating this new paradigm in practice. The "how-to" section with a tool-kit for managers elevates The Sustainable Company above other recent eco-friendly business books, by providing the Eight Disciplines necessary to create value for shareholders and stakeholders. Its engaging, straightforward text tells the reader how to compete and thrive in an increasingly complex world. The Sustainable Company is the solutions manual for the 21st century manager.
Chris Laszlo is a partner and co-founder of Sustainable Value Partners, a firm helping companies create value for shareholders and stakeholders.
"This is not a book of fluff or feel-good case studies. It's a handbook for organizational change. The instructions are specific, potential pitfalls are highlighted, and the appendix provides a detailed discussion of outside evaluation tools."
- Green Market Report
"The Sustainable Company offers some genuinely practical insights into what it really takes to improve stakeholder impacts."
- Ethical Corporation
"Laszlo endeavors to translate social and environmental concerns into the language of marketing and corporate strategy [...] well-meaning executives will find much food for thought here."
- Publishers Weekly
"What Mr. Laszlo calls 'Planetary Ethics' or the integration of economic, environmental, social and high ethical objectives into long-term business strategy, is the new price of entry for corporate survival. Those who 'get' this and do it best will enjoy increasing shareholder value. I believe this book carries a critical message for today's corporate executives."
- Deborah D. Anderson, Ph.D., Former Vice President, Environmental Quality Worldwide, The Procter & Gamble Company
