The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations / Edition 1

by Darcy Hitchcock, Marsha Willard

Overview

Winner of Choice Magazine - Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 Sustainability promises both reduced environmental impacts and real cash savings for any organization - be it a business, non-profit/NGO or government department. This easy-to-use manual has been written by top business consultants specifically to help managers, business owners, organizational leaders and aspiring environmental managers/sustainability coordinators to improve their organization's environmental, social and economic performance. The authors demystify 'sustainability', untangle the plethora of sustainability frameworks, tools and practices, and make it easy for the average person in any organization to move towards sustainability. Organized by sector (manufacturing, services and office operations, and government) and common organizational functions (senior management, facilities, human resources, purchasing, environmental affairs and compliance, marketing and public relations, and finance and accounting), the authors show how organizations can incorporate sustainability into their everyday work through the application of useful tools and self-assessments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844073207
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/01/2006
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard are experts in implementing sustainable business practices with a gift for making this abstract and technical topic easy to understand. They have written several other popular business books on related topics as well as countless articles. Their firm, AXIS Performance Advisors, is based in Portland, Oregon, a hotbed of sustainability-related activity. They designed and ran an 8-course Implementing Sustainability certificate programme with Portland State University and publish the Sustainability Series a set of practical how-to booklets. They also act as senior associates for the Zero Waste Alliance, leading their sustainability assessment programme. They are both on the faculty for Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business and the executive management team for the International Society of Sustainability Professionals.For more information, please go to www.axisperformance.com

Table of Contents

PART I FOUNDATION CONCEPTS * Sustainability as a Strategic Issue * Change Agent/Sustainability Coordinator: How to Keep a Sustainability Effort on Track * PART II SUSTAINABILITY BY INDUSTRY SECTOR *Sustainability in Services and General Office Practices * Sustainability in Manufacturing and Product Design * Sustainability in Government Agencies * PART III SUSTAINABILITY BY ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTION * Senior Management: How to Lead the Sustainability Effort * Facilities: How to Save Energy and Water, Improve Productivity and Reduce Waste * Human Resources: How to Support the Change Process and Bolster Employee Commitment * Purchasing: How to Determine What to Buy and How to Work with Suppliers * Environmental Affairs: How to Support the Move Beyond Compliance and Eco-efficiencies to Sustainability * Marketing/Public Relations: Whether and How to Promote Your Sustainability Efforts * Accounting and Finance: How to Account for Environmental and Social Impacts *

Editorial Reviews

'I have thumbed through [The Business Guide to Sustainability] so much the binding has disintegrated.' Rich Carlson, founder, Viridian Advisors 'If you want your business to be part of the green-is-sexy movement and aren't quite sure how to get there, then this guide should be on the top of your business book stack' Sustainable Industries Journal 'Clear/concise and laid out in a way that made real sense. The way the chapters were structured (into the functions and sectors) was particularly helpful.' Jacqueline Drumheller, Alaska Airlines 'An indispensable business guide that will serve as the fundamental tool in addressing the beginning of the Sustainability Revolution!' Keith H. Whitworth, Ph.D., Texas Christian University, Department of Sociology, Criminal Justice, & Anthropology 'Many organizations have made some progress toward more sustainable practices but don't know where to go next. SCORE is an excellent, systematic process for establishing where you are and where you need to go to become more sustainable.' Ned Tillman, Chair, Environmental Sustainability Board, Howard County, Maryland 'Provides a clear methodology on how to take the first steps down the path toward being a sustainable business.' Marco Mazzoni, Bainbridge Graduate Institute's MBA in Sustainable Business. 'At last a business guide that's really about Business and a sustainability guide that's really about Sustainability. In this book, Hitchcock and Willard cut through the polarizing debates and the all or nothing arguments with a stepwise approach that clearly articulates how businesses can improve their performance without it being at the expense of those around them.' Christopher Sheldon, co-author of Environmental Management Systems (3rd edition) 'At a time when 'big' business is beginning to mean 'sustainable' business, small businesses can easily get left out.Hitchcock and Willard have filled this vital gap admirably. This is a practical guide, dotted with heartening examples, of helping small businesses to adopt their sustainability mantles. An optimistic read.' Tim O'Riordan, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK 'People are frequently frustrated by the process of applying the broad, theoretical concept of sustainability to concrete and practical applications. Hitchcock and Willard are uniquely skilled at helping organizations translate vision into action. They make sustainability accessible and understand how to leverage organizational dynamics to make a journey to sustainability possible.' Rick Woodward, Corporate Director of Operations and Sustainability, Coastwide Laboratories, USA

From the Publisher