ABSTRACT
A positive outlook on business and society is more than just “feel good” wishful thinking. Mainstream publicly traded companies are now able to play a leading role in solving the world’s toughest problems because a new competitive environment has emerged. Pressing ecological and social challenges have become big business opportunities. “Sustainability-as-business-opportunity” is now shifting from the domain of niche players to global industry leaders, from Stonyfield Farms to Danone, from Patagonia to Wal-Mart, and from The Co-operative Bank to JP Morgan Chase. Three of the four case studies from my last book, The Sustainable Company, were about mid-size companies with partially non-public ownership. Three of the four cases in Sustainable Value are global industry leaders with publicly traded shares.
