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Sustainable Development in Business: A Strategic View

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Theory and Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

This chapter addresses sustainable development in business. Drawing upon corporate objective, corporate responsibility, and corporate stewardship perspectives, a definition of sustainable development in business is proposed as “creating value for current stakeholders – without compromising the ability to create value for future stakeholders – by ensuring that economic growth is achieved through the demonstration of environmental integrity and social responsiveness”. The definition suggests that firms take on a broader objective beyond that of a singular focus of maximising profits. However, businesses cannot be expected to solve all of society’s problems or its development needs, nor bear the full cost of doing so. Thus, a strategic approach is required. This chapter lays out an approach to engaging in sustainable development strategically, and describes how the automotive giant Toyota leverages market-based, regulatory-based, and operational-based actions to achieve sustainable development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    By “surpluses”, I mean internalizing the negative externalities imposed on stakeholders from economic activities.

  2. 2.

    LEED is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Business, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Jeremy Galbreath

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  1. Jeremy Galbreath
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan Business School, London Metropolitan University, Moorgate 84, London, EC2M 6SQ, United Kingdom

    Samuel O. Idowu

  2. Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Reep 1, Ghent, 9000, Belgium

    Celine Louche

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Galbreath, J. (2011). Sustainable Development in Business: A Strategic View. In: Idowu, S., Louche, C. (eds) Theory and Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16461-3_6

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