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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 September 2022

Indra Abeysekera

A sustainability reporting framework must demonstrate that resources are fairly bought and used to support diverse life on earth within habitable ranges. The purpose of this paper…

10273

Abstract

Purpose

A sustainability reporting framework must demonstrate that resources are fairly bought and used to support diverse life on earth within habitable ranges. The purpose of this paper is to propose a principle-based sustainability reporting framework that measures, audits and reports based on sustainability outcomes and impacts as part of the corporate reporting framework.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and targets for preparing a reporting framework. It uses Gaia Theory and the Theory of Distributive Justice constructs that align with sustainable development principles to delineate a reporting approach.

Findings

Frameworks that promote sustainability reporting have increasingly embraced UN SDGs but overly focus on performance promoting inter-firm comparisons. This framework introduces principle-based sustainability reporting where firms demonstrate their chosen contribution to sustainable development using 17 UN SDGs as goal posts.

Research limitations/implications

This conceptual paper presents theoretical constructs that future research can empirically validate to enhance sustainability reporting.

Practical implications

This principle-based sustainability reporting framework is implementable for corporate reporting, where sustainability reporting integrates with the financial and economic intellectual capital reporting frameworks.

Social implications

This framework highlights the importance of acquiring and using resources to distribute justice and fairness. It is a joint project between firms and stakeholders.

Originality/value

This framework promotes integrated thinking for firms to engage in principle-based sustainability reporting and provides a roadmap for sustainability reporting using the SDG Compass logic model.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1994

W. Edward Stead and Jean Garner Stead

Economic wealth is humankind′s most dominant myth. However, this mythmust be significantly altered if economic activity and ecologicalsustainability are to be achieved for…

2283

Abstract

Economic wealth is humankind′s most dominant myth. However, this myth must be significantly altered if economic activity and ecological sustainability are to be achieved for posterity. Changing the economic myth means shifting the paradigms which underlie it, and shifting these paradigms means changing the assumptions and values which lie at the heart of business′s relationship to the planet. Research supports the notion that widescale, fundamental change efforts are required to achieve such shifts. Examines the magnitude of the changes which probably will be necessary in order to achieve a truly sustainable society in the future. Discusses the nature of some of the scientific, economic, and management paradigm shifts which need to take place in business organizations before the myth of economic wealth can be truly modified to include Mother Earth.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2006

Daniel F. Fahey

The purpose of this article is to present an alternative theory to why publicly‐traded physician practice management companies in the US were popular and successful for a limited…

980

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to present an alternative theory to why publicly‐traded physician practice management companies in the US were popular and successful for a limited number of years and then essentially self‐destructed.

Design/methodology/approach

The short history of publicly‐traded practice management companies suggests that they had limited value and utility in the US healthcare industry. It is the premise of the paper that the sudden appearance these for‐profit companies upset the natural order within the healthcare industry and created a disequilibria which ultimately resulted in their demise. While Gaia theory is most commonly applied to the natural sciences, it has been applied to a number of interdisciplinary issues.

Findings

Physicians gravitated to these for‐profit companies either out of fear of encroaching managed care or out a desire to sell their practice to the highest bidder. Physician practice management companies, on the other hand, saw a way to entice stockholders to invest in a growth industry. The paper suggests that the physician practice management companies added little new value to the health care industry and applies Gaia theory as a possible explanation for this phenomena. Gaia theory was first postulated in 1979 to address the evolution of the material environment and corresponding organisms as a tightly coupled system which attempt to manipulate the environment for the purpose of creating biologically favorable conditions.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first to suggest that the laws of nature, as understood from the perspective of Gaia theory, may have applicability to the US health care industry.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2012

Göran Svensson and Beverly Wagner

Companies and their business networks impact on Earth's life and ecosystems must be seriously addressed and minimized. The purpose of this paper therefore proposes and describes a…

11391

Abstract

Purpose

Companies and their business networks impact on Earth's life and ecosystems must be seriously addressed and minimized. The purpose of this paper therefore proposes and describes a generic model as well as a network model of business sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

“Business sustainability” is defined as a company's or an organization's efforts to manage its impact on Earth's life‐ and eco‐systems and its whole business network. The work concentrates on one research question, namely: how can business sustainability and E‐footprints be conceptualised?

Findings

The model introduced emphasises not only the importance of business networks adopting an E‐footprint and an Earth‐to‐Earth (EE) cradle‐to‐cradle approach, but also a transformative Earth (E) footprint‐model derived and inspired from a causal framework in complexity sciences.

Research limitations/implications

Research is rare that simultaneously focuses on EE‐approaches, E‐footprint stakeholders and zero‐sum cycles. The authors have striven to address this gap by introducing a business sustainability model in an EE‐approach and with an interconnecting transformative E‐footprint‐model.

Practical implications

It is crucial to embed appropriate routines and processes within the company in the first instance with the aim of business sustainability. This may cause a ripple effect in the company's business network as raw material producers, value‐adding suppliers and customers become drawn into make appropriate strategic, tactical and operative adaptations in their own business dealings. This stresses the importance of E‐footprint stakeholders fostering networks of both interdependent and collaborative corporate efforts aimed at business sustainability.

Originality/value

The main contribution should be a business sustainability model of life and ecosystems from an EE‐approach with a transformative E‐footprint.model. Each company within a business network must endeavour to minimise its E‐footprint through its zero‐sum cycles. These should be seen as interdependent and interconnected thereby contributing to the total E‐footprint of the business network.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 24 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2009

Helen Borland

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of global “strategic sustainability”, represented by a conceptual framework, the “spheres of strategic sustainability”. The…

4678

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of global “strategic sustainability”, represented by a conceptual framework, the “spheres of strategic sustainability”. The paper examines routes, solutions and a vision for corporate strategic sustainability in the macro context of the global physical environment and the planet. This builds on previous research identifying key drivers and strategies for corporate sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual in nature and underpinned by Gaia theory, ecosystems theory and the laws of thermodynamics. These three offer specific foci for sustainability research including holism, integration and synthesis: without which, sustainability research would be difficult to achieve.

Findings

The paper identifies two major domains – “corporate” and “consumer” strategic sustainability. It examines the corporate domain in which routes are identified through responses to existing globalisation, corporate strategy and corporate culture.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides insight and preliminary conceptual development towards a full theoretical model of corporate and consumer strategic sustainability. The framework will guide future conceptual and empirical investigations and broaden and deepen our understanding of how firm's can construct strategic business models that incorporate sustainability.

Originality/value

The paper offers a conceptual framework that develops the concept of “corporate strategic sustainability” and provides positive, practical solutions to incorporating sustainability into business models. It also challenges the current dominant socio‐economic paradigm and sets the scene for a more positive eco‐paradigm that serves the present and future needs of the planet, environment, businesses and human society.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 26 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Content available
168

Abstract

Details

European Business Review, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Abstract

Details

Philosophy of Management and Sustainability: Rethinking Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in Sustainable Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-453-9

Book part
Publication date: 1 October 2013

Jennifer Thomson

This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.

Methodology/approach

The historical analysis combines archival research with oral history interviews.

Findings

This study argues that applications of “health” to describe the environment are more diverse than generally acknowledged, and that environmental activists were at the forefront of connecting the two terms within broader public discourse.

Originality/value of chapter

This study provides a historical context for understanding the contemporary diversity of perspectives on the links between ecology and health. It illustrates the cross-fertilization between scientists, philosophers, and environmental activists in the 1970s that led to this contemporary diversity.

Details

Ecological Health: Society, Ecology and Health
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-323-0

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Sustainability After Rio
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-444-7

Abstract

Details

Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-162-5

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