ABSTRACT
By May 2008, it was clear that the evolutionary concept of Web 2.0 held many lessons for sustainable business. The transformation of the internet through the emergence of social media networks, user-generated content and open source approaches is a fitting metaphor for the changes business is experiencing as it begins to redefine its role in society. As our world becomes more connected, and global challenges such as climate change and poverty loom ever larger, businesses that still practise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 1.0 will be rapidly left behind. Highly conscientious and networked stakeholders will expose them and gradually withdraw their social licence to operate. Peripheral CSR is evident when one asks any sustainable business managers what their greatest frustrations are and they tell him/her: lack of top-management commitment. Reliance on sustainable business departments will disappear or disperse, as performance across responsibility and sustainability dimensions are increasingly built into corporate performance appraisal and market incentive systems.
