tailieunhanh - Business strategies for sustainable development

Businesses and societies can find approaches that will move towards all three goals - environmental protection, social wellbeing and economic development - at the same time. Sustainable development is good business in itself. It creates opportunities for suppliers of ‘green consumers’, developers of environmentally safer materials and processes, firms that invest in eco-efficiency, and those that engage themselves in social well-being. These enterprises will generally have a competitive advantage. They will earn their local community’s goodwill and see their efforts reflected in the bottom line | Business strategies for sustainable development Based on the book Business Strategy for Sustainable Development Leadership and Accountability for the 90s published in 1992 by the International Institute for Sustainable Development in conjunction with Deloitte Touche and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Sustainable development a business definition The concept of sustainable development has received growing recognition but it is a new idea for many business executives. For most the concept remains abstract and theoretical. Protecting an organization s capital base is a well-accepted business principle. Yet organizations do not generally recognize the possibility of extending this notion to the world s natural and human resources. If sustainable development is to achieve its potential it must be integrated into the planning and measurement systems of business enterprises. And for that to happen the concept must be articulated in terms that are familiar to business leaders. The following definition is suggested For the business enterprise sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. This definition captures the spirit of the concept as originally proposed by the World Commission on Environment and Development and recognizes that economic development must meet the needs of a business enterprise and its stakeholders. The latter include shareholders lenders customers employees suppliers and communities who are affected by the organization s activities. It also highlights business s dependence on human and natural resources in addition to physical and financial capital. It emphasizes that economic activity must not irreparably degrade or destroy these natural and human resources. This definition is intended to help business directors apply the .