ABSTRACT
In heterodox ecological economics, the focus of the supply chain is on the ecologically sustainable production of goods or service provision. This requires not just optimization of primary activities, but also considered approaches to secondary functions. Ecologically sustainable production extends not just to production processes; through the secondary functions of product creation and development, ecological sustainability may be built-in. Theory on new product development is large and widespread across many disciplines. Theory around business sustainability in all of its forms is less coherent, because it falls into different or loosely related literatures focused on financial performance, corporate reputation and the ecological and social impacts of organizations. Ecological sustainability in business, whilst heavily researched, does not yet enjoy an established academic consensus. Opinion is widely divided between those who dispute the basis of arguing for ecological sustainability, climate change denial, and those who adopt a much more radical position-corporations are evil.
