Introduction to Sustainable Business
Completion requirements
This chapter will introduce you to how businesses are increasingly acting with concern for the environment and society. Read Chapter 1 to see how companies can play a positive role in sustainability, follow legal and regulatory concerns, lower costs and increase profits, and achieve competitive advantages in the marketplace.
How can businesses play a positive role in helping to solve environmental and social problems? What are some examples of sustainable business practices? What does the term "triple bottom line" mean?
1.2 Overview of Sustainable Business
Key Takeaways
- Sustainable business involves making decisions and taking actions that consider the long-term impact of the business on society and the environment while still maintaining profitability.
- People, planet, and profit - also known as the triple bottom line - are the three areas that businesses interested in sustainability measure their impacts. This varies from traditional businesses, which are predominantly focused on profits as their measure of success.
- Enlightened self-interest refers to business as taking actions that are good for the environment and society but that also help make the business better off.
- The Gulf oil spill provides an example of how acting in an unsustainable manner with a short-term focus on profit can have significant long-term negative impact for society, the environment, and the economy - including BP, which was seeking to maximize its profit.