The Sustainable MBA: The Manager's Guide to Green Business »

Giselle Weybrecht's commitment to sustainable development goes back to before her university years. Since then she has expanded her reach to local and national government, business, social entrepreneurs, and the international community. She worked for the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme, is a fellow of the UC Berkeley-based Beahrs Environmental Leadership Programme, and holds an MBA from London Business School. She is currently developing new approaches to raise awareness among managers of how they can incorporate sustainability into their businesses and everyday professional lives.

"... The Sustainable MBA, offers a refreshing, straight-forward and highly readable tour of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses and employees in a rapidly changing and swiftly unfolding 21st century. ... This book offers the kind of advice people from all walks of life can appreciate and offers it in a down to earth and practical way. ..."

—Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director UN, Environment Programme

"...this book should be read by CEOs, CFOs, CSOs (the new breed of Chief Sustainability Officers) and everyone else in - or aspiring to enter - the C-Suite."

—John Elkington, Co-Founder of Environmental Data Services, SustainAbility and Volans. Co-author of The Power of Unreasonable People (Harvard Business School Press, 2008)

"Giselle has provided practising managers with this helpful and thought-provoking green business guide."

—Sir Andrew Likierman, Dean, London Business School

"This book...presents a comprehensive overview of business and sustainability issues structured around the core business functions from accounting through to strategy. Giselle's book reminds us that jobs and age are not barriers to sustainable business practices - everyone can make a difference."

—Katherine Madden, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

"...The Sustainable MBA will be a valuable guide for young graduates. It will give them the tools they need to embed sustainability into their day to day business practices in a way that is profitable both to their companies and to society as a whole."

—Paul Polman, chief Executive, Unilever

"If people are central to the purpose of a business, then corporate responsibility or sustainability cannot be an add-on. ...Giselle Weybrecht, in her comprehensive book, perhaps first of its kind, has shown how this can actually happen. The book is a must for management students, researchers and practitioners."

—Anant G. Nadkarni, Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, Tata Group

"The Sustainable MBA... is a highly relevant and utterly useful guide for executive sand mangers seeking to redefine business value in the spirit of sustainability."

—Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact

"An essential read for mangers and entrepreneurs alike..."

—Tom Szaky, CEO Terracycle

"This groundbreaking book...is full of useful tips and advice for those looking to apply sustainability to their job, whatever job or business that may be."

—Liz Maw, Executive Director, Net Impact

"...I hope The Sustainable MBA book becomes a prerequisite text for all MBA programmes as 'sustainability' is a key issue that the next generating of managers cannot afford to miss."

—Professor Eric Cornuel, Director General & CEO, EFMD

Dedication.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

PART 1: SETTING THE SCENE.

Chapter 1: About this book.

Who is The Sustainable MBA for and why should I read it?

What you will fi nd in The Sustainable MBA?

How The Sustainable MBA is organized.

Ideas on how to use this book.

Planet Earth fact sheet.

Chapter 2: What is sustainability?

The basics.

Other definitions.

Sustainable development: a global effort.

Chapter 3: What does this mean for business?

The sustainability sales pitch.

Chapter 4: The sustainability journey.

What does a leading company look like?

Chapter 5: Getting started.

Getting past internal excuses.

PART 2: THE CORE TOPICS.

Chapter 6: Accounting.

Why is it important?

The Key Concepts.

Full or true cost accounting.

Materiality.

Key performance indicators.

Measuring social impact.

Sustainability in financial statements.

Assurance.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Bringing it all together.

Increased disclosure.

Recognizing unrecognized assets.

Sustainability reporting.

Chapter 7: Economics.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Sustainable consumption.

The commons.

Externalities.

Regulatory instruments.

Market based instruments.

Re-evaluating metrics.

Emerging markets.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Alternative trading system.

A new economic model.

Estimating the costs of inaction.

From free to fee.

Valuing future generations.

Environmental valuation.

Business and the world’s poor.

Chapter 8: Entrepreneurship.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Social/environmental ventures.

Social/environmental entrepreneurs.

Intrapraneurs.

Generating ideas.

Funding.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Microbusinesses.

Social stock exchange.

Big business working with SMEs.

Marketing on a shoestring.

Some advice for entrepreneurs.

Chapter 9: Ethics and corporate governance.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Business and human rights.

Labour and working conditions.

Ethics and the individual manager.

Corporate governance.

Corruption.

Bribery.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Transparency and honesty.

Management 2.0.

The company of the future.

Whistleblowing.

The role of the CEO.

Chapter 10: Finance.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Sustainable investment.

Fiduciary responsibilities.

Tracking performance.

Mergers and acquisitions.

Project finance.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

New landscape for corporate ownership.

Insurance and sustainability.

Focus on long-term value.

A new kind of bank.

Microfinance.

Chapter 11: Marketing.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

People.

Products.

Price.

Place: retailers and sustainability.

Packaging.

Eco-labels.

Social marketing.

Cause-related marketing.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Green = inexpensive.

From eco-iconic to eco-embedded.

Understanding how people think.

Communicating with the customer . . . virtually.

The barcode reinvented.

Advertising dos and don'ts.

Chapter 12: Operations.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Eco-design.

‘Green’ chemistry.

Doing more with less.

Sustainable technology.

Suppliers.

Transportation.

Waste management.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Inspiration from nature.

Products that do more.

Traceability.

Instant Feedback focused on better use.

Exploring new materials.

Life cycle analysis.

Chapter 13: Organizational behaviour.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Creating a 'sustainability' culture.

Communicating sustainability internally.

Recruiting—who is interviewing whom?

Employee engagement in sustainability.

Aligning incentives.

Talent development and training.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Sustainability balanced scorecard.

Diversity.

Creating great workplaces.

Changing the way we talk.

Managing change.

Chapter 14: Strategy.

Why is it important?

The Key concepts.

Understanding the wider business environment.

Understanding where you stand.

Understanding risk.

Exploring different strategies.

Setting objectives and goals.

Working with others.

Influencing change.

Challenges.

Trends and new ideas.

Reinventing the business model.

Zero and 100 %.

Instant information.

Strategic philanthropy.

Transformation of partners.

Why do Initiatives fail?

Stakeholder engagement.

PART 3: TOOLS.

Chapter 15: Tools for monitoring, managing and improving performance.

Assessments.

Example: Conducting an environmental or social risk assessment.

Audits.

Example: waste audit.

Environmental and social management systems.

Choosing standards and codes.

Chapter 16: Tools for greening offices and buildings.

Steps for setting up offi ce greening programmes.

Buildings.

Energy.

Water.

Waste and recycling.

Paper.

Electronics.

All those other little things.

Commuting to work.

Organizing green events and meetings.

Putting together a green team.

Performance contracting.

PART 4: WRAPPING IT ALL UP.

Chapter 17: What can I do?

As an employee—leading by example.

As a consumer—putting your money where your mouth is.

As a citizen—be active in your community.

Chapter 18: What will the future bring?

Twenty-one wise words of advice.

Additional resources: who, what, where and how.

Who: different groups.

What: sustainability issues.

Where: around the world.

How: keeping up to date.

Endnotes.

Index.