Product Description

The idea of sustainability has been embraced enthusiastically by some businesses and rejected by others. The first wave of corporate converts to sustainability was perhaps driven by a public relations crisis, regulatory pressures or the founder's personal passion. The next wave, however, requires different drivers if it is to build a critical mass for corporate responsibility in the business community.

The Next Sustainability Wave assesses why companies have resisted sustainability strategies and focuses on two emerging drivers that promise to spur corporate commitment to sustainability strategies:

A compelling business case
A "perfect storm" of threatening market forces on the horizon that range from climate change to the rising demands of stakeholders

An effective carrot-and-stick duo, these two drivers are both triggering the need for change and providing a vision of business success if the transition to sustainable operations, products and services is smartly managed.

Emphasizing the importance of how sustainability is presented to corporate leaders-using the right language and avoiding threats to the status quo that provoke habitual corporate defense mechanisms-the book applies effective selling techniques to reposition sustainability strategies as a means to achieving existing corporate ends, rather than as a separate priority to worry about. It sells sustainability as a solution, a business strategy and a catalyst for business transformation. An appendix gives a version of the sustainability business case for small- to medium-level enterprises.

Designed for quick reading and reference-right pages furthering the argument, while left pages provide support materials-the book is especially useful for those wanting to convince busy executives and board members.

Bob Willard is a leading expert on the business value of corporate sustainability strategies and in the last two years has given over 100 keynote presentations to corporations, consultants, academics and nongovernmental organizations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #222953 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Bob Willard is a leading expert on the business value of corporate sustainability strategies and has given hundreds of keynote presentations to corporations, consultants, academics, and non-governmental organizations. His first book, The Sustainability Advantage, was published with New Society in 2002, and his second book, The Next Sustainability Wave, was published in 2005.

Customer Reviews

A useful perspective
This book was required reading for a course in Environmental Intrapreneurism. The author's background in corporate management makes him ideally suited to help position environmental recommendations in the context of the corporation by helping to build the business case on a solid economic as well as "green" foundation. The writing is very straighforward and based on many interviews of corporate as well as non-profit leaders. The inclusion of quotation from many of the interviews (which seems at first to be a bit incidental) ultimately helps to reinforce the content.

Excellent Resource
My job brings me in contact with many F1000 executives who have responsibility for CSR/citizenship/responsibility/sustainability/etc and I read this book to broaden my view of the topic. I found it to be interesting in its format, content and point of view. I highly recommend it if sustainability is taking on a strategic importance to your business and you need to hold your own when discussing the finer points of it all with senior management and boards. Or, you are a senior manager and need to reach decisions about the role of sustainability in your planning. Read this book. You won't regret the investment of time or money.

Easy read, straightforward
This is the first book I read on the topic of sustainability and I found it to be very approachable. The concepts were easy to grasp and it was written/formatted to be part example, part theory. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.