Sustainable Business: Managing the Challenges of the 21st Century

This open access book is a compact guide to the development of sustainable business, which has become the central concept in discussions about the future development of humanity and planet earth. It provides basic terminology and concepts on sustainable business and offers insights into a new management paradigm that integrates social and environmental dimensions into business models, strategies, and operations. New business concepts such as the donut economy, the circular economy, social innovation and sustainable leadership are introduced and the book outlines how they influence the way we run businesses today and in the future. This book lays the foundation for new management thinking in business and academia, making it a essential reader for professionals and students alike.

Intro -- Preface -- Introduction -- Contents -- About the Authors -- Chapter 1: Why Sustainability? -- 1.1 The Anthropocene -- 1.2 The Ecological Challenges: Planetary Boundaries -- 1.3 Adding the Social Dimension -- 1.4 The Role of Economic Growth -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Chapter 2: The Concept of Sustainable Development -- 2.1 ``Our Common Future´´ or The Brundtland Report -- 2.2 Three Dimensions of Sustainable Development -- 2.3 Three Approaches to Sustainable Systems -- 2.4 Policy Action and SDGs -- 2.5 Knowledge and Tackling Sustainability Challenges -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Chapter 3: Challenges of Managing Common Resources -- 3.1 What Is Meant by Tragedy of the Commons? -- 3.2 The Logic of Collective Action or the Prisoner Dilemma -- 3.3 Social Dilemma -- 3.4 How to Cope with the ``Tragedy of the Commons,´´ Prisoners or Social Dilemma? -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Chapter 4: Corporate Sustainability -- 4.1 Sustainability as the New Management Paradigm in Business Administration -- 4.1.1 Sustainability as Innovative Business Concept -- 4.1.2 Strategic Management -- 4.1.3 New Business Administration Model -- 4.2 Three Levels of Corporate Sustainability -- 4.2.1 Production Level -- 4.2.2 Product Level -- 4.2.3 Organizational Level -- 4.3 Technological Change: The Role of Green Innovation -- 4.3.1 Where Is the Largest Impact Reduction Possible? -- 4.3.2 The Speed of Technological Change -- 4.3.3 What Hampers Green Innovation? -- 4.3.4 The Importance of Policy Instruments -- 4.3.5 Green Innovation in a Spatial Context -- 4.4 Sustainability and Corporate Values -- 4.4.1 Functions of Corporate Values -- 4.4.2 Scope of Application -- 4.4.3 Vision, Mission, and Corporate Values -- 4.4.4 Definition of Corporate Values -- 4.5 Sustainability Reporting -- 4.5.1 Why Sustainability Reporting?.

4.5.2 Sustainability Reporting Standards -- 4.6 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) -- 4.6.1 The Business Case for CSR -- 4.6.2 The Ethical Fallacy of the Business Case for CSR -- 4.6.3 The Managerial Fallacy of the Business Case for CSR -- 4.6.4 Overcoming Business Case Thinking: Extending CSR -- 4.6.5 The CSR Arena and Its Various Players -- 4.6.6 Towards a Comprehensive Definition of CSR -- Literature -- Chapter 5: Social Innovation (or Why We Need the Civil Society) -- 5.1 Social Innovation: What Is It and How Can It Be Measured? -- 5.2 Implementing Social Innovation in Practice -- 5.3 Scaling and Replicating Social Innovations -- Literature -- Chapter 6: Policy Instruments and Financial System -- 6.1 Policy Instruments -- 6.1.1 Instruments for Dealing with External Effects -- 6.1.2 International Comparison of the Measures Implemented -- 6.2 Financial System -- 6.2.1 Sustainable Finance Is Becoming More Important -- 6.2.2 Accelerating the Impact of the Financial System -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Chapter 7: Sustainable Consumption -- 7.1 SDGs and Sustainable Consumption -- 7.1.1 The Relevance of Consumption in a Globalized World -- 7.1.2 Consumption of Natural Resources Over Time -- 7.2 What Is Sustainable Versus Unsustainable Consumption? -- 7.2.1 Sustainable Consumption Impact Areas -- 7.2.2 How to Achieve More Sustainable Consumption -- 7.3 Encouraging Sustainable Consumption -- 7.3.1 Behavioral Economics -- 7.3.2 The Role of Policy -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Chapter 8: Sustainability in a Digital Context -- 8.1 The Sustainability Potential of a Digital Society -- 8.2 Sustainability of ICT -- 8.3 Sustainability Through ICT -- 8.4 Sustainability of Digital Artifacts -- 8.5 Indirect Impacts of Digital Artifacts -- Literature -- Chapter 9: The Future of Sustainable Business: The Circular Economy.

9.1 The Concept of a Circular Economy -- 9.1.1 Macro-level Perspective -- 9.1.2 Micro-level Perspective -- 9.1.3 The Specific Challenges of a Circular Economy -- 9.2 The Impact of the Circular Economy Transition -- 9.3 Accelerating the Circular Economy Transition -- 9.3.1 Where Do We Stand in the Transition Process? -- 9.3.2 Political Initiatives -- 9.3.3 The Whole System Has to Transform -- Literature -- Further Reading -- Outlook -- Literature.