The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations 3rd Edition

Easy to read and interesting. More people should read this text in or out of class.

Great Resource for Sustainability students and gurus. Easy to read and not over complicated! Excellent mixture of examples. Highly recommend.

Great book, good life examples.

I used, and liked, the previous 2009 edition of this book that I used as an ISSP member, and in the lead up to my certification as an ISSP Sustainability Associate. I was therefore keen to see what the 3rd edition looked like given its about 6 years since the last edition. I intend to use the updated book as a resource as a licensed SCORE assessor and in my consulting in Asia. The updated resources at the end of each section are particularly welcome for practitioners like myself.While organizational sector chapter headings have remained largely the same the book has been updated and improved overall to make it more reader-friendly. The new chapter formats include better structuring with better use of sub-headings as well as a new subsection on Application Questions, and has Notes at the end of each chapter. Also, the earlier appendices – on sustainability frameworks, and certification schemes - has been incorporated into the book itself.The newly structured and more readable Part 1 Sustainability as a Strategic issue is also welcome with a greater emphasis on the Natural Step framework. However the overhaul seems to have been at the unfortunate cost of the international examples in the earlier edition. A book on sustainability practice would do well in being inclusive of practices throughout the globe.I particularly appreciated the references to the various roles of stakeholders – the technical, discipline and the advocate experts – in organizations pursuing sustainability. And the practical tips and tools to stakeholder engagement is also very useful especially since it’s divided into the real-day situations of the level of authority that you have as a change agent.All in all it’s a great book, with useful tips, for practitioners, who wish to support organizations pursuing sustainability.Kiran DhanapalaFounder, KIRA Sustainability Consulting,and ISSP Member & Sustainability AssociateSri Lanka

A treasure trove of sustainability knowledge.

The Third Edition of The Business Guide to Sustainability: Practical Strategies and Tools for Organizations shows the evolution of the field of sustainability, and the increasing business value of practical sustainability implementation. The guide expanded on the case studies offered in previous versions, tailoring cases specifically to address the conditions after the Great Recession suffered in 2008. The depth of knowledge exhibited by the authors, Hitchcock and Willard, provide valuable guidance and insights into the directionality of sustainability trends and insights for how businesses can leap-frog beyond linear business assumptions.The book is predicated on the use of the S-CORE Assessment, the proprietary Sustainability Competency, Opportunity, Reporting, and Evaluation software that assesses sustainability initiatives, measures progress, and benchmarks that progress against others in the sectors and industry. Although the full benefit of this tool is best realized by having a licensed professional conduct the assessment, the guide retains its value by inviting the reader to critically assess how their organization behaves and brainstorm more sustainable solutions.The book is structured so that within each chapter, the reader can gain a proficient overview of sustainability, understand why it is important, and how it affects the reader and their organization. It is arranged by sectors (services, manufacturing, and government), then focuses on individual departments (functions), such as purchasing, senior management, facilities, and human resources. The conclusions of each functional chapter includes Application Questions and an S-CORE self-assessment for the reader to use for identifying strengths and areas for improvements.As the authors point out in the introduction, “think of this book as a sustainability idea book”. Indeed, reading this book will cause the reader to generate many helpful ideas for improving the Triple Bottom Line of Planet, People, and Profit. Highly recommended!

I like the content of the book and I use it to teach my students. However I ordered 30 books for my students and half of the books pages were falling off. I contact the publisher and 2 years down the line they have not responded to my request.........

This is a good book. Had this with the author, reads well, informative.