Embedded Sustainability

by Laszlo, Chris; Zhexembayeva, Nadya

• ISBN13: 9780804775540
• ISBN10: 0804775540
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-13
• Publisher: Stanford Business Books

Summary

We are in the midst of a sea change. Corporate social responsibility may have been seen as a feather in a corporation's cap in years past. But, today, ecological and social pressures require a business response--one that existing strategy frameworks fail to adequately address. In Embedded Sustainability, authors Chris Laszlo and Nadya Zhexembayeva explain and predict how companies can better leverage global challenges for enduring profit and sustained growth. This text introduces the marquis concept of embedded sustainability: the incorporation of environmental, health, and social value into the product life cycle with no trade-off in price or quality--no social or green premium. Restructuring the way that we strategize to account for this concept is vital in today's marketplace. When Clorox introduced its new line of Green Works cleaners or Toyota developed its Hybrid Synergy Drive train, for instance, those firms pursued new and profitable market segments, hastening the market shift underway. The more mainstream "green" becomes, the more it sets the standards for all businesses. Thus, embedded sustainability is now a requisite for every sector of the economy - whether managers realize it or not. This book helps readers to comprehend and begin to implement the notion of embedded sustainability. At its best, embedded sustainability is invisible, similar to quality. In addition to churning out conscious products for consumers at large, it is capable of hugely motivating employees. Most of all, it enables smart companies to create even more value for their investors, while excelling in the marketplace and meeting customers' demands and personal standards.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Foreword	p. xii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
The wasp and the frog: an introduction	p. 1
Sustainability on the shores of business	p. 5
Business reality reshaped: the BIG three trends	p. 6
To the desert and back: a brief history of value	p. 30
What it means for business strategy	p. 53
The tree of profit: introduction to Part II	p. 54
What would a strategist do?	p. 57
Cool strategies for a heated world	p. 75
Embedded sustainability	p. 98
Getting it done	p. 123
The roots of change: introduction to Part III	p. 124
Hot competencies for a cool world	p. 126
Change management redux	p. 149
Putting it all together	p. 171
Leaping into the future	p. 189
Fruits of the future: introduction to Part IV	p. 190
The world in 2041: a job interview	p. 192
Sustaining inquiry	p. 207
Afterword. Sustainability for strategy (not strategy for Sustainability	p. 225
Endnotes	p. 234
Index	p. 258
About the authors	p. 270
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