Fundamentals of Sustainable Business. Matthew Tueth

workforce, and the surrounding community. Movement-oriented leaders have learned that circumstances benefitting their employees and communities also benefit their companies. They are finding that becoming more involved in the fabric of community life pays dividends in terms of recognition as solid community members and supporters of civic improvement. Further, they are cultivating mutually beneficial associations with other nearby businesses by combining resources for a common purpose, such as group purchasing, or by exploring whether one company’s waste product could be an asset for another. Chapter 4 discusses in detail business leaders who are particularly focused on developing strong support structures with their employees and the surrounding communities.

      Strategic philanthropy results in an improved local living community that attracts and holds top employees. Often locally owned businesses with deep roots have a rich history of investing in their local communities, and they subsequently enjoy the long-term benefits of a more stable and productive workforce. Conversely, because corporations have philanthropic restraints placed on them by their corporate charters, inspired leaders will sometimes establish foundations with the role of allocating sizeable financial resources toward a variety of social causes. Indeed, creative minds in business have devised impressive community partnerships that help all parties involved.

      Today, we find numerous examples of benevolent projects that benefit society, nature, and the organization. An endowment scholarship fund for low-income students who enroll in an undergraduate sustainable business program is an example of a particularly effective hybrid initiative that provides a critical cutting-edge education experience to those who may not otherwise have this opportunity. The underwriting organization would then have an opportunity to advance its own efforts toward sustainable practices by providing internships for these students and then hiring the most promising interns to participate in the company’s transition. In addition to providing real value to the participating business, this ingenious program also benefits the natural world and the human community, and it offers disadvantaged but talented students the opportunity to apply sustainable business theory in a real-world setting.

      Let’s now briefly turn our attention to an opportunity for improvement of the durable goods manufacturing sector. Product demand volatility is a constant challenge for supply-chain manufacturers and big-ticket item producers. Drastically reducing the frequency and intensity of product demand changes (both downturn and upturn) can help stabilize a company’s business operation and the size of its workforce. Cyclical expansion and contraction of a company’s labor force in order to align with product demand is an expensive proposition for business and a negative influence for communities. In Chapter 2 we will discuss at length one particular about-face strategy that, among other things, works to significantly reduce the oscillating demand cycle for products over time, lower long-term production costs, decrease the extraction of raw materials, and stabilize community jobs.

      For the past several decades, concerned citizens have looked toward government for relief from the litany of serious problems that accompany commercial endeavors, and most have been largely disappointed. A remaking of business by business with the outcome of simultaneously promoting profitability, people, and the planet is outlined in the chapters that follow. Today, manufacturing, engineering, architecture, construction, health care, and a variety of service sectors are already actively involved in the evolution of this movement. As we will see, government and our formal education system also play important roles, and the coordinated efforts of private, non-profit, and government sectors are needed to give this movement the best chance of lasting success.

      Interestingly, sustainable business differs from previous social reform movements in that it lacks both a single visionary leader and a central location of origin; rather, it is inspired by an assortment of creative thinkers and doers throughout the world and, in some ways, is linked to traditional Eastern thought. Many people from a variety of backgrounds and settings have set the ball rolling, and hopefully, a much larger group will add to the current momentum of change and further champion this emerging revolution. But the evolution of the movement is at a critical point in its early stage, and the next set of choices by engaged businesses will significantly influence the depth and intensity of these efforts.

      We now face a sobering dilemma in the redesign process for commerce that most of us did not see coming. What guides do movement leaders use to ensure our best chance for success in this monumental planning process? Taking this question one step further and keeping in mind the track record of humanity in the last few centuries, we ask ourselves if our best interests are served by assuming that we have the ability to successfully transition to a thriving and sustainable society? The feel-good answer may well be “yes,” but is it the thoughtful and rational response? The best and brightest minds of the first industrial revolution have brought us to our current situation, so do we reasonably expect drastically different results this next time around? Any delay in hammering out and implementing our best possible approach could further jeopardize our chance for success.

      An existing model of flourishing long-term industrial achievement would be exceedingly useful for us to emulate, but is such a prospect available? If we are able to set aside our hubris in favor of open-mindedness, we have an opportunity for all businesses to emulate an amazingly successfully production system that has incorporated all the necessary strategies required for continuous prosperity. We will now turn our attention to a surprising source of invaluable guidance for every step of business and societal reformation.

       Guide Point 1: Our conventional approaches for producing goods and services routinely include unnecessarily insidious and tragic consequences for future generations of all life.

      ²See Cunningham, Houston, and Sheppard (2004).

      ³See Hardin (1968) for a harsh but convincing pessimistic argument.

      ⁴See Walker, Hopkin, Sibly, and Peakall (2006) for this and other numerous pertinent pollution statistics.

      ⁵See Costanza, et al. (1997) for a detailed accounting.

       Chapter 2

       Selecting a Design Consultant

      A daunting challenge ahead of us is the redesign of our commercial systems in a manner that simultaneously provides profitable businesses and enhances the natural and human communities throughout time. Bringing such a bold set of intentions to fruition transports modern man into entirely uncharted waters and requires comprehensive, outside-the-box innovation. In the past, we have operated as if the earth held unlimited resources and a boundless capacity to absorb our potent array of debilitating pollutants. To this point, the focus of business endeavors has been overwhelmingly opportunistic with relatively short planning horizons that focus mostly on near-term financial gain. A sustainable business evolution involves a radical departure from conventionality and necessitates interdisciplinary challenges that were previously never considered.

      A number of ideas in this book are outside traditional thought and, as yet, are not common topics of discussion around the proverbial water cooler. Recalling the earlier appeal for open-mindedness, you might find that our next point of discussion will push that request to its limit. I ask that you seriously consider the following proposition, even if it’s out of your comfort zone. Another option is to file it in the “maybe” category for future consideration, keeping in mind that many movement supporters have found it helpful and elucidating.

2.1The Problem with Stewardship

      The design task at hand would be less overwhelming if our efforts merely relied on tweaking conventional business theory, adding to current bodies of knowledge, and using our collective human ingenuity. But that formula has been mankind’s approach for advancement in the last several millennia. An examination of the overall results of our “business-as-usual approach” has exposed many serious systemic problems, and therefore, a reconsideration of certain core pivotal concepts is essential. Using the same basic premises and assumptions that have landed us in our current predicament would obviously prove unsuccessful. Our