ABSTRACT
Since the previous editions of this book were published in 2003 and 2007, there has been a dramatic increase in interest in the fields of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Corporate managers, government agencies and regulators as well as academics and change practitioners are now engaged in the debate on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of sustainability and social responsibility.1 In 2014 we are still faced with an extraordinary situation. Never before in the history of the world has the viability of much of the life on this planet been under threat from humanity; never before have so many of the world’s people experienced such material wealth and so many others lived in abject poverty; never before have so many had such interesting and fulfilling work and so many others such degrading work or no work at all. If we are to live healthy, fulfilling lives on this planet in the future, we must find new, lifeaffirming values and forge new patterns of living and working together. In the years since the first and second editions of this book, there have been some dramatic developments in our understanding of how business must change in order to achieve this aim. This new edition incorporates what we see as the most influential of these new understandings in terms of bringing about change. But we also explain why it is of increasing urgency to do so.
