The Sustainable Development Goals As Drivers For Corporate Responsibility And Sustainable Investment

Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Business Ethics, Corporate Ethics, grade: 1,3, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen (Leadership Excellence Institute), language: English, abstract: The integration process of the Sustainable Development Goals into corporate governance structures, management activities and reporting frameworks as well as investment strategies, ratings and products constitutes the core of this paper. Here, four hypotheses are derived from the foundations and critical reflections of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Investment which are tested in seven expert interviews. The Sustainable Development Goals reopen the debate on how economic and financial actors should fulfill their social responsibility towards people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. While the operationalization of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Investment have often served as risk and reputation management in the past, the Sustainable Development Goals now call for social impact and innovation management. As a result, the perspective shifts from the question of how the wider world affects business and financial activities to the question of how business and financial activities affect the wider world. However, the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals is still at an early stage and their driving force for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Investment depends on various conditions, obstacles and friction points.

This book analyses various aspects of social responsibility, corporate responsibility, sustainability and governance. Rather than focusing narrowly on a single perspective, it investigates a number of problems and scenarios that can all be considered an aspect of one of these fields, and shows how they are all related to each other and to the problems and issues facing businesses. This approach is based on the tradition of the Social Responsibility Research Network, which in its 15-year history has sought to broaden the discourse and to treat all research in these areas as inter-related and relevant to business. The book collects the best papers presented at the 15th International Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and 6th Organisational Governance Conference held in Melbourne, Australia in September 2016.

This book addresses key issues related to the choice between governments regulating and enforcing society’s sustainability and social responsibility objectives, and firms reporting on their sustainable and socially responsible activities so stakeholders can exert pressure on firms to achieve society’s goals. While these may be considered as the two endpoints of a continuum, it is clear that there are differing perspectives on the role of governments in sustainability and responsibility. At one end of this continuum are stakeholders who believe the only way to achieve a sustainable and socially conscious society is to establish and enforce regulations with the concomitant governmental organizations to oversee and enforce those regulations. At the other end are those who consider firms to be crucial organizations for achieving sustainability and socially responsible outcomes, and who feel it is the responsibility of stakeholders to determine the legitimacy of firms’ actions. It is probably not the case that any economies exist at either end of this continuum, but it is clear that the availability of reliable information is critical for any stakeholder to review the performance of either the governments or the firms. This book presents a varied set of papers that explore the issues that must be considered, regardless of which position a stakeholder takes.

'This book is state-of-the-art. the authors present refreshing ideas about sustainability. It is a challenging approach to the conceptualization, measurement and ranking of sustainable development. This goes far beyond technicalities, discussing political, managerial and spiritual aspects of societal change.' – Jan Pronk, International Institute of Social Studies, the Hague, the Netherlands Sustainable development cannot be prescribed – rather, it results from conscious personal choices in government, business and NGOs. This thought-provoking book explores both the origins and future of the global sustainable development movement, and provides an original overview of the driving forces of sustainable development, including market forces and past and future trends. the contributors, leading experts in the field, identify and analyze the sustainability attitudes of key actors in government, corporate and NGO leadership that have shaped sustainable development history. the importance of a new and unconventional role of governments in promoting sustainability is highlighted, while corporations and NGOs feel both the risk of failures and the importance of long-term global stability more directly. Exploring the present and future scope of emerging global sustainable development movement, this stimulating and thought-provoking book will prove invaluable to a wide-ranging audience encompassing: academics, researchers, students and business practitioners with an interest in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, public administration and public-private interactions; and policymakers involved in environmental, social and economic issues in both government and non-governmental organizations.

This open access book discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by companies in an age that increasingly values sustainability and demands corporate responsibility. Beginning with the historical development of corporate responsibility, this book moves from academic theory to practical application. It points to ways in which companies can successfully manage their transition to a more responsible, sustainable way of doing business, common mistakes to avoid and how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are integral to any sustainability transformation. Practical cases illustrate key points. Drawing on thirty years of sustainability research and extensive corporate experience, the author provides tools such as a Step-by-Step strategic guide on integrating sustainability in collaboration with stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers and investors. The book is particularly relevant for SMEs and companies operating in emerging markets. From a broader perspective, the value of externalities, full cost pricing, alternative economic theories and circular economy are also addressed.

This book examines and analyzes the challenges programmes for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development are facing in global management practice. It looks at the dichotomy of a general and popular demand for responsible and resilient management, and the counterplayers that impact the positive effect of such efforts. The book assembles latest research looking at the root causes for this opposition, and new case studies that showcase the dilemma and possible solutions to overcome it. Overall, the book juxtaposes short terminism within CSR programmes and longer term sustainable development, mis-allocation of resources and failed promises associated with CSR, and sketches pathways how CSR and sustainable development can be directed towards the most pressing issues.

This book explores the current state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from an international perspective, the goal being to share ideas and visions for a sustainable future and to provide useful guidelines for academics, practitioners and policymakers in the context of the 2030 “Agenda for Sustainable Development” released by the United Nations. Research on CSR has evolved considerably over the last three decades. However, there are still many unanswered questions concerning the sustainability of business in an increasingly changing world, for example: If most companies consider CSR to be valuable to their organizations, why do only 15% of them systematically implement Social Responsibility initiatives? If CSR has been found to be profitable for companies, why are they so reluctant to develop an active, internal CSR policy? Why are there such significant differences in CSR adoption from country to country? Why does it take a huge crisis to make politicians react and regulate certain core CSR issues? This contributed volume answers these questions, presenting a wealth of case studies and new approaches in the process.

This book tells the story of how the convergence between corporate sustainability and sustainable investing is now becoming a major force driving systemic market changes. The idea and practice of corporate sustainability is no longer a niche movement. Investors are increasingly paying attention to sustainability factors in their analysis and decision-making, thus reinforcing market transformation. In this book, high-level practitioners and academic thought leaders, including contributions from John Ruggie, Fiona Reynolds, Johan Rockström, and Paul Polman, explain the forces behind these developments. The contributors highlight (a) that systemic market change is influenced by various contextual factors that impact how sustainable investing is perceived and practiced; (b) that the integration of ESG factors in investment decisions is impacting markets on a large scale and hence changes practices of major market players (e.g. pension funds); and (c) that technology and the increasing datafication of sustainability act as further accelerators of such change. The book goes beyond standard economic theory approaches to sustainable investing and emphasizes that capitalism founded on more real-world (complex) economics and cooperation can strengthen ESG integration. Aimed at both investment professionals and academics, this book gives the reader access to more practitioner-relevant information and it also discusses implementation issues. The reader will gain insights into how "mainstream" financial actors relate to sustainable investing.