Making Sustainability Work

The ultimate "how-to-do-it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually making sustainability work for organizations. An updated edition of a landmark book at a time when a growing number of corporate leaders are asking for urgent help in "getting this done".

The best practices in corporate sustainability performance are no longer the exclusive domain of companies like Ben & Jerry's or The Body Shop, as they were a decade ago; now, large, multinational companies like G.E. and Wal-Mart are leading the way with significant financial and organizational commitments to social and environmental issues. However, good intentions aren't enough. Whether motivated by concern for society and the environment, government regulation, stakeholder pressures, or economic profit, managers and strategists need to continue making significant changes to more effectively manage their social, economic, and environmental impacts – and to remain competitive. The guidance they need to do that is in this book. Marc Epstein has produced the ultimate "how-to-do-it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually making sustainability work for organizations. With a growing number of corporate leaders asking for urgent help in "getting this done," the timing of the book could not be better.

Now completely updated, Making Sustainability Work is the bible for applying real metrics and best practices to the often-nebulous realm of business sustainability. Mark Epstein and Adriana Rejc Buhovac provide concrete tools for measuring and increasing social and environmental impacts in a manner that businesses can understand and put to real use.

Considers how the balance between intensive and sustainable work can be achieved by looking at existing possibilities and emerging solutions exploring some alternatives to intensive work systems.

This book provides the blueprint for implementation, breaking down barriers, and the steps required to integrate sustainability successfully into any business. It is laid out in easily digestible chapters, with action steps backed up from interviews with sustainability thought leaders, case studies, and the real life experience of the author, as well as over 40 interviews with CSR and Sustainability Directors at various companies on how to “get things done” based on their successes and temporary setbacks. It provides the step-by-step roadmap for implementing sustainability successfully and focuses on “how” companies can realize the benefits of sustainability by engaging the head, heart, and hands of their employees. Also included is a checklist for implementation and tips on how to regain momentum or get “un-stuck” at the end of each chapter as well as additional helpful resources and exercises to overcome the most common barriers towards implementation.

Sustainability at Work is a compelling guide for everyone who wants to have both a successful career and a career that makes a positive difference in society. Containing career advice of great value to students of sustainability, and explaining how they can apply their knowledge to their future careers, its appeal extends well beyond the classroom. Sustainability at Work includes an easy-to-follow framework that anyone wondering how they can make a sustainable difference in the workplace can apply. Professionals from a variety of backgrounds and territories explain how they brought a sustainability approach to various sectors: agriculture, health care, business, economics, and financial services, education and research, law and policy, science and technology, and entertainment and media. Through inspiring narratives and a structured framework, Sustainability at Work illustrates how sustainability can be incorporated into every imaginable career to impact the quadruple bottom line: environment, economy, society, and future generations.

The role of HRM in developing sustainable business organizations is increasingly attracting attention. Sustainability can be used as a principle for HRM itself and the tasks of Sustainable HRM are twofold. On the one hand it fosters the conditions for individual employee sustainability and develops the ability of HRM systems to continuously attract, regenerate and develop motivated and engaged employees by making the HRM system itself sustainable. On the other hand Sustainable HRM contributes to the sustainability of the business organizations through cooperation with the top management, key stakeholders and NGOs and by realising economic, ecological, social and human sustainability goals. This book provides a comprehensive review of the new area of Sustainable HRM and of research from different disciplines like sustainable work systems, ergonomics, HRM, linking sustainability and HRM. It brings together the views of academics and practitioners and provides many ideas for conceptual development, empirical exploration and practical implementation. This publication intends to advance the international academic and practice-based debates on the potential of sustainability for HRM and vice versa. In 19 chapters, 26 authors from five continents explore the role of HRM in developing economically, socially and ecologically sustainable organizations, the concept of Sustainable HRM and the role of HRM in developing Sustainable HRM systems and how sustainability and HRM are conceptualized and perceived in different areas of the world.

A brand new collection of world-class business sustainability solutions… 2 authoritative books, now in a convenient e-format, at a great price! 2 authoritative eBooks deliver expert guidance for successfully and continually integrating sustainability throughout your business. This unique 2 eBook package will help you capitalize on the massive business opportunities offered by sustainability, and then build on your momentum, overcoming obstacles to make sustainability "stick." In Return on Sustainability, Kevin Wilhelm presents best practices for utilizing sustainability strategies to increase profitability, enhance brand value, and improve shareholder relations. Wilhelm begins with practical actions and real-world case studies from companies ranging from Yakima to Lockheed Martin that have achieved these goals by improving their performance on climate-related issues. He systematically reviews potential risks that companies face from climate change and potential carbon regulation, and market factors forcing businesses to take action, whether they want to or not. In Making Sustainability Stick, Wilhelm provides a complete, up-to-date blueprint for successfully and profitably integrating sustainability throughout your business. Wilhelm organizes his plan into easy-to-digest chapters, with action steps backed up from his extensive real-life consulting experience and candid interviews with 40+ directors of Sustainability or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). He provides a step-by-step roadmap realizing the benefits of sustainability by engaging the head, heart, and hands of your employees… a checklist for implementation… powerful tips on regaining lost momentum… and specific resources and exercises for overcoming the most common barriers towards implementation. Whatever your role in business sustainability, this collection will help you perform better on all the metrics you care about. From world-renowned business sustainability expert Kevin Wilhelm