ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents a model or framework to aid companies in identifying, measuring, and integrating social, environmental, and economic impacts into corporate strategy and into management decisions to successfully manage those impacts and increase profitability. It explains how various inputs and processes affect sustainability performance and stakeholder reactions, and how they drive long-term corporate financial performance. The book offers guidance to help translate sustainability strategies into specific policies, programs, systems, and measures that will provide direction and boundaries for decision-making and move the entire company toward its sustainability and financial performance goals. It discusses various organizational designs issues that can improve sustainability. The book provides specific guidance on how to implement social, environmental, and economic impact measurement systems, including an extensive list of useful measures that can be used or adapted to measure the inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes of sustainability investments.
