ABSTRACT
Europe's recent corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy experiments are a relatively recent phenomenon, but they build on a long and rich tradition of responsibility in its member states, and this is especially true for Germany. The author's first visit to Germany was in 2002 when he was the Director of Sustainability Services at KPMG in South Africa. He also worked closely with the Frankfurt-headquartered Institute for Corporate Culture Affairs (ICCA), which has played a central role in promoting CSR in Germany. Tolhurst and Embaye explain how the national psyche of Germany is strongly predisposed to sustainable business, with influences ranging from German philosophers such as Kant and Marx to political developments such as the social welfare state and the Green Party. The author's other connection with Germany is less to do with the country and more to do with an individual, the German Michael Braungart, co-founder and co-author with Bill McDonough of the 'cradle to cradle' (C2C) concept.
