Introduction to Sustainable Business
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?
1.5 The Business Case for Sustainability
Key Takeaways
- There are many views of the corporation and private companies and their role or place in a private market economy.
- For economist Milton Friedman, there is one and only one social responsibility of business beyond adhering to society's laws and that is to use its resources and engage in activities to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game.
- Others view the social responsibility of business to include concern for various stakeholders and for the morality and ethics of their practices and their impact on stakeholders.
- For businesses looking to become more sustainable, it can be thought of as a continuum between legal and ethical actions up to a systems perspective.