Chapter 1 Conceptualizing Sustainability: The Business Opportunity

Abstract

A key factor in business success in developed economies is the quality of those who work for the organization. The ability of an organization to attract and retain the best professional talent depends increasingly on its record in sustainability, including creating a constructive culture underpinned by effective leading-edge human resource strategies that increase the skills portfolios and career prospects of those who work there.A recent experience illustrates the following. I was dining with a friend, a specialist in Human Resource Management. She had just taken a call from her niece, Jodie, a 30-year-old with a well-paid finance job in a large corporation. Jodie called to let her aunt know that she had turned down the outstanding job offer she received from another organization than the one she worked for – an offer she had previously discussed with her aunt.“What made you decide to turn down such an excellent offer?” my friend asked her niece. Her reply was: “I went on to their website and checked out the number of women in senior management positions – that didn't look very good. Then I checked out their latest sustainability report; that was wishy-washy. I located informal contacts in the company who confirmed that the company was not playing a leading role in gender equity or sustainability so I decided to stay where I am. When I told my boss, he quickly organized a meeting to review my career path and I received a salary raise. However even so I won't be as well off financially right now but I would rather be with a company that is on the leading edge in these areas.”This chapter explores how, in a variety of ways such as this, the drive to create a more sustainable society increasingly defines business opportunity and performance. For many of the world's leading corporations, sustainability is now simply part of their mainstream business. But first, to understand how business opportunity is changing, we examine key factors that are reshaping the future, including business itself.