ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 gives an overview of why a company should care about becoming sustainable, defined as its ability to sustain competitive advantage over the long term through strong financial performance, and the integration of environmental, social, and governance factors into the core of the company’s strategy and operations. Employees, especially millennials, customers, investors, and communities want to know who we are and what our company stands for. They want companies to contribute to the well-being of society by pursuing a purpose beyond profits
Everyone should care about organizational culture because it affects employee well-being, customer loyalty, and company productivity. Toxic cultures can ruin a company while positive cultures support superior company performance and outcomes. Sustainable purpose-driven companies have sustainable cultures composed of unique and positive characteristics.
This chapter presents arguments for why all companies should be sustainable, a term meaning the integration of commitments to the well-being of society into the core of a business and performance across three dimensions: Environmental, social, and financial. The chapter includes a profile of the unique cultures of a sustainable company. Sustainable cultures differ from others in the following ways: Leadership, company identity, trust, internal culture, external relationships, change capabilities, and mental models.
