ABSTRACT
This chapter ecological economics is set out clearly on a business level. Waldemar Hopfenbeck was one of the first European academics in marketing to develop a comprehensive theory for environmentally and socially responsible marketing management. His theory is based on a holistic view of academics where interdisciplinary collaboration is central. He also argues that neither a Marxist planned economy nor liberalistic market economy is suited to solve today's complex challenges. The implication of introducing a holistic worldview in academic study was to give increased focus on the necessity of interdisciplinary cooperation. In Umweltsorientiertes Management und Marketing Hopfenbeck stated that an increasing number of economists and business leaders are aware that "our limited, linear way of thinking and decision making, which fails to take account of this web of contexts, can bring about unintended and undesirable effects".
