Corporate Caterpillars

Ron J West (ronjwest.com) has been inspiring corporate transformation for more than 25 years, in in companies large and small. He wrote Corporate Caterpillars - How to Grow Wings to provide a kind of "blueprint" you can use to create your own individual and corporate transformation to move from limited to limitless. The book is not modeled on a single analogy like the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, nor does it reduce the concept to a set of simple steps. But it does strive to recognize the richness of reasons why we often seem to be left with few choices. Everything shows up exactly when it is supposed to, just like this book! You are holding this book perhaps because you feel that either you or your company is stuck in some way. As an individual, maybe you have caught yourself repeating a pattern to sabotage your efforts to get to where you want to be. Perhaps you are a CEO, CFO, President, Vice President, Department Manager, or Project Leader. You are probably a business leader in a position to affect change in your organization; maybe your enterprise is a small family business or an international conglomerate. It matters not whether your company is a for-profit or a not-for profit, a public or a private enterprise, this book will show how to move from a world of limited options to a realm of limitless possibilities, transforming both you and your company.

Buy a new version of this textbook and receive access to the Connected eBook on CasebookConnect, including: lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities, plus an outline tool and other helpful resources. Connected eBooks provide what you need most to be successful in your law school classes. Learn more about Connected eBooks Sustainable Corporations offers synthesized readings from law, management, philosophy, psychology, sociology, even biology – written by academics, journalists, business people, poets, bloggers, scientists, even religious leaders. The book focuses on the elusive “sustainable corporation” and is designed for an upper-level course sequenced after the basic Corporations course. Features of this Edition: Unlike many law texts, the book is meant to be absorbed in a sequential swoop as the concepts build on each other. The book, developed over the course of 10 years, has been used by law students, MBA students, graduate sustainability students, even undergraduate students – in both the US and Europe. The book can be used in a concentrated four-week course, an eight-week course, or a typical 14-week course. The book is meant to take professors and students on a journey from point A to point Z. It begins with a fresh look at U.S. corporate law, then moves to consider the US corporation’s unsustainable design, next describes the movement toward a focus on the Triple Bottom Line, then turns to proposals to redesign the corporation’s legal DNA, and finally offers a fundamental rethinking of the corporation. Professors and students will benefit from: The book’s main feature is its sequential design: (1) basics of US corporate law; (2) the corporation’s unsustainable design; (3) the Triple Bottom Line (ESG) movement; (4) proposals to redesign the corporation; (5) a deep rethinking of the corporation. Each chapter begins with a chapter overview, includes heavily edited readings from a variety of sources, features regular explanatory “break-out boxes, and offers end-of-chapter concluding thoughts (essays, poems, stories, fables, riddles). The book has its own website that includes the following materials for use by students (also available in Casebook Connect): online lectures, recommended videos (TED talks, interviews, documentaries, etc.), suggested YouTube music videos (from Hendrix Star-Spangled Banner to Dolly Parton Working Nine to Five), student research papers.

Is profit-making the only goal of a business? Should an unbridled market mechanism drive corporate enterprise? To what extent should corporations compensate for the manifest and hidden costs that are incurred by the society at large? These are some of the questions that have engaged specialist economists, business barons, corporate heads and management experts for decades. A consensus has emerged that corporate practices cannot bypass the fundamental demands of ethical behaviour, that administration and policies of governance have to be more transparent and publicly accountable, and that businesses must be sensitive to the community and environment within which they are established. This has led to the emergence of three key concepts of contemporary businesses, namely, business or corporate ethics, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.

Now more than ever, there is a growing importance for companies to ramp up their focus on social responsibility. An effective CSR program can have a positive impact on companies, employees, and consumers. This new volume, Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Business World: A Conceptual, Regulatory, and Illustrative Framework, covers the parameters of corporate social responsibility around the world, elucidating the concepts, evolution, cultural dimensions, key areas, and disclosure and reporting methods and how CSR is being considered and implemented across the globe. The book also offers a future outlook for CSR. The book begins with a thorough introduction to CSR, covering its meaning and definition along with the principles of CSR for effective implementation, its inherent benefits, and its challenges. It goes on to cover the status of CSR in emerging economies with the emphasis on emerging trends in corporate governance, reporting, indexing, and certification. The volume considers the evolution of CSR from voluntary to mandatory along with the underlining advantages and disadvantages while also giving comparisons of CSR in developed versus developing nations. The book looks at the regulations and legislation around the world pertaining to CSR, such as universal GRI standards and legislative framework of countries like UK, USA, India, Germany, France, Canada, China, and Indonesia that have been sketched out covering expenditures, disclosure, and reporting obligations. The authors share case studies of implemented CSR projects, initiatives, and practices, highlighting several societal and environmental issues either through stakeholder relations and collaborations with NGOs or agencies or by adhering to government regulations for CSR compliance. This book provides a valuable overview of CSR and how effective implementation can lead to a corporation’s contribution to worldwide and regional sustainability and the well-being of society and the environment.

In the twenty-first century, sustainability has come to the forefront of the debate regarding the responsibilities of corporations and the roles they play in society. Society holds them accountable, so businesses need to develop and execute sustainability strategies that consider the social, economic, cultural, and natural dimensions of the business environment. Young, Dhanda, and Hollenhorst combine experience in business and environmental studies, introducing students in both disciplines to the value of sustainability. When sustainability is fully realized and implemented well by corporations, it can help develop and retain creative, dedicated employees that will drive a bottom-line strategy to save costs and a top-line strategy to reach a new consumer base.

This book aims to bring together valuable and novel scientific contributions that address the critical issues of sustainable building, transformative tech models, and other sustainability science and technology topics that have an impact on Society 5.0. This book raises awareness and shares essential policy tools on innovation and technology for sustainable development. Sustainable Technology for Society 5.0: Case Studies, Examples, and Advanced Research Findings details the use of AI in making complex data analysis and sustainable decision making. It reflects the collaboration of industry, innovation, and infrastructure for Society 5.0. The book elaborates on the essential tools, policy, and strategic implications for building a sustainable tech framework and provides insight into sustainability science and technological contemporary trends. Rounding out the book is a strategic innovative model framework that works towards sustainable, good health, and well-being for Society 5.0. Researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners will find this book of interest.

'The Triple Bottom Line' - which delivers simultaneous social, financial and environmental benefits - is a rallying cry for business sustainability. This text examines the implications of the idea, showing what has already been achieved.

'Sustainability' offers a comprehensive treatment of the relationship between business and sustainability.