Strategic Planning for Sustainability

Abstract

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become mainstays of business activities: the percentage of large global companies professing to practice some form of sustainability and CSR has been steadily increasing, sustainability reporting has become the norm and businesses of all sizes are subject to sustainability and CSR drivers including the philanthropic motivations of their employees and the expectations of other stakeholders such as customers and investors. As such, sustainability management now includes finding a way to forge a coherent strategy that is can accommodate the broad range of sustainability and CSR activities including corporate funding of community activities, grants for nonprofits/NGOs, environmental sustainability programs to reduce energy and resource use, “cause” marketing and comprehensive system-level efforts to remake a business’s entire value chain. This chapter discusses research and practical advice on creating a sustainability strategy and managing an enterprise based on sustainable development principles.