Resources for Responsible Business
This page offers a variety of resources for teaching, researching, and learning about Responsible Business.
Journals
These journals publish articles on Responsible Business. If the library does not subscribe, use our Interlibrary Loan system to request a copy of the article you need.
Books
Conscious Capitalism by
A New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller In this book, Whole Foods Market cofounder John Mackey and professor and Conscious Capitalism, Inc. cofounder Raj Sisodia argue for the inherent good of both business and capitalism. Featuring some of today's best-known companies, they illustrate how these two forces can--and do--work most powerfully to create value for all stakeholders: including customers, employees, suppliers, investors, society, and the environment. These "Conscious Capitalism" companies include Whole Foods Market, Southwest Airlines, Costco, Google, Patagonia, The Container Store, UPS, and dozens of others. We know them; we buy their products or use their services. Now it's time to better understand how these organizations use four specific tenets--higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management--to build strong businesses and help advance capitalism further toward realizing its highest potential. As leaders of the Conscious Capitalism movement, Mackey and Sisodia argue that aspiring leaders and business builders need to continue on this path of transformation--for the good of both business and society as a whole. At once a bold defense and reimagining of capitalism and a blueprint for a new system for doing business grounded in a more evolved ethical consciousness, this book provides a new lens for individuals and companies looking to build a more cooperative, humane, and positive future.
ISBN: 1422144208Publication Date: 2013-01-15- Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategy, Communication, Governance by This upper-level textbook offers an original and up-to-date introduction to issues in corporate social responsibility (CSR) from a global perspective. Written by an international team of experts, it guides students through key themes in CSR including strategy, communication, regulation and governance. Balancing critiques of CSR with a discussion of the opportunities it creates, it includes chapters devoted to critical issues such as human rights, anti-corruption, labour rights and the environment. Pedagogical features include customised case studies, study questions, key term highlighting, practitioner pieces and suggestions for further resources. The book is also complemented by a companion website featuring adaptable lecture slides, teaching notes for cases and links to related resources. Tailored for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate courses on corporate social responsibility, sustainability and business ethics, it is also relevant to non-business courses in political science, international relations and communications.Publication Date: 2017
Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management by
This book provides a concise and authoritative guide to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and related paradigms, including environmental responsibility, corporate sustainability and responsibility, creating shared value, strategic CSR, stakeholder engagement, corporate citizenship, business ethics and corporate governance, among others. It is primarily intended for advanced undergraduate and / or graduate students.
Call Number: Available online in Springer Link E-BooksISBN: 3319468480Publication Date: 2017-03-03- CSR and Sustainability: From the Margins to the Mainstream by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is steadily moving from the margins to the mainstream across the spectrum of private companies, NGOs and the public sector. It has grown from being a concept embraced by a small number of companies such as The Body Shop in the early 1990s to a widespread global movement. At its weakest level, it is represented by a few philanthropic gestures by organizations but, when applied in its most complete form, it can steer the organization or sector to deliver a fully fledged, system-wide, multi-stakeholder operation, accompanied by multiple types of certification.For the first time, a book brings together key issues relating to CSR as they apply to different aspects of business; it is not another generalist title about CSR. Michael Hopkins, a leading expert in the field, is joined by a number of outstanding contributors to the book, to explain how CSR has evolved since the 1990s and to offer ground-breaking insights and practical and specific applications of the concept. For example, Mervyn King explains Integrating Reporting, Deborah Leipziger looks at the laws and standards for CSR, Branding and the Supply Chain, George Starcher provides a framework for Socially Responsible Restructuring, and Adrian Henriques explores Social Accounting and Stakeholder Dialogue.Publication Date: 2016
Disciplining the Undisciplined? Perspectives from Business, Society and Politics on Responsible Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability by
This book explores how the interrelated concepts of responsible citizenship, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability can be interpreted, researched and taught. It contributes to the much-needed debate on the role of universities - and business schools in particular - in the context of rising social and environmental stakes and growing calls for 'doing business the right way'. The book offers diverse perspectives on the concepts of responsible citizenship, CSR and sustainability, with individual contributions focusing on the conceptual implications for specific disciplines, exploring associated challenges and opportunities, and raising methodological and theoretical concerns for the teaching and research of these concepts laden with complexity and ambiguity. The book is divided into three major parts, the first of which presents conceptual, theoretical and ethical issues. In turn, part two explores specific disciplines' perspectives. Lastly, part three presents hands-on experiences from the field. Thanks to this threefold approach, the book not only offers a guide to direct future research, but can also be used as a text for advanced courses on responsible citizenship, CSR and sustainability.
Call Number: Available online in Springer Link E-BooksISBN: 3319714481Publication Date: 2018-02-08- The Ecology of Commerce Revised Edition: a Declaration of Sustainability by The Ecology of Commerce is the provocative national bestseller that addresses the necessity of merging good business practices with common sense environmental concerns. Nearly two decades after its initial publication, this controversial work by Paul Hawken has been revised and updated, arguing why business success and sustainable environmental practices need not—and, for the sake of our planet, must not—be mutually exclusive any longer. An essential work, Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce belongs on the bookshelf of every concerned citizen—alongside Capitalism at the Crossroads by Stuart Hart and Al Gore’s Earth in the Balance and An Inconvenient Truth.Publication Date: 2013
- The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good by An expert on ethical leadership analyzes the complicated history of business people who tried to marry the pursuit of profits with virtuous organizational practices—from British industrialist Robert Owen to American retailer John Cash Penney and jeans maker Levi Strauss to such modern-day entrepreneurs Anita Roddick and Tom Chappell.Publication Date: 2019-2-26
- Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by In this newly revised 10th anniversary edition, Yvon Chouinard—legendary climber, businessman, environmentalist, and founder of Patagonia, Inc.—shares the persistence and courage that have gone into being head of one of the most respected and environmentally responsible companies on earth.Publication Date: 2016-9-6
Profits and Sustainability: a history of green entrepreneurship by
Are profits and sustainability compatible? This book brings unique perspectives to this key debate by exploring the history of green entrepreneurship since the nineteenth century, and its spread globally in industries including renewable energy, organic food, natural beauty, ecotourism, recycling, architecture, and finance. The book uses the lens of the extraordinary and often eccentric men and women who defied convention and imagined that business could help save the planet, rather than consume it. The social and religious beliefs that drove many of these individuals are explored as the book looks at how they overcame huge obstacles to execute their strategies. The green entrepreneurs seen here are shown to have created new markets and industries, and driven innovations in sustainable practices, even at times when most consumers and governments marginalized the entire subject. The struggles of early pioneers appear to have been rewarded by the growth of environmental awareness among consumers, business leaders, and others in recent years, but the Earth's environmental health continues to deteriorate. If profits and sustainability have proved challenging to reconcile, this book argues that one reason was how they were both defined.
Call Number: Available online in Oxford Scholarship ebooksISBN: 0198706979Publication Date: 2017-06-20- Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire by A renowned Harvard professor debunks prevailing orthodoxy with a new intellectual foundation and a practical pathway forward for a system that has lost its moral and ethical foundation. Free market capitalism is one of humanity’s greatest inventions and the greatest source of prosperity the world has ever seen. But this success has been costly. Capitalism is on the verge of destroying the planet and destabilizing society as wealth rushes to the top. The time for action is running short.Publication Date: 2020
- The Responsible Company: What We've Learned From Patagonia's First 40 Years byPublication Date: 2014
Key Resources for Faculty and MBA Students
- Aspen Institute - Ideas Worth Teaching ProgramThe Ideas Worth Teaching initiative is designed to draw attention to important new ideas about the role of business in creating a sustainable, inclusive society. We produce a tightly curated, weekly email for business school faculty and others, with the goal of prompting new conversations in the classroom about relationships between corporations, capital markets, and the public good.
- MBA Edge"What every MBA needs to know"
- NBS - Network for Business SustainabilityThe Network for Business Sustainability (NBS) offers evidence-based sustainability guidance for business leaders thinking ahead.
Case Studies
- Business Case Studies for FacultyCase studies for teaching support on a variety of topics from Harvard Business Publishing Education. Search within the catalog for specific topics.
- Circular Economy Case StudiesCase studies on the circular economy from the Ellen Macarthur Foundation.
- Leadership and Ethics Case StudiesA library of case studies for teaching leadership and ethics from the MIT Sloane School of Management.
- Sustainability Case StudiesCase study reports on sustainability available for purchase from Ivey Publishing.
Mass Media and Other Resources
- CNBC - EvolveFrom cable news channel CNBC: "In an era of rapid technological advances and demographic change, how do legacy companies adapt, innovate and evolve? CNBC Evolve features iconic global companies and executives who are embracing change and transforming for the future."
- Financial Times - Climate CapitalFrom respected news source The Financial Times: "Climate Capital is the new go-to hub for the latest on climate change from a business, economic and political perspective."
- WikiRate"WikiRate is an open, collaborative tool for asking and answering important questions about corporate impacts."
- En-ROADS"En-ROADS is a transparent, freely-available policy simulation model that gives everyone the chance to design their own scenarios to limit future global warming. "
- Aim 2 Flourish"We connect students with business innovators using Appreciative Inquiry to celebrate business innovations aligned with the UN Global Goals." AIM2Flourish is an initiative of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at the Weatherhead School of Management — Case Western Reserve University.
- Giving Voice to Values"Giving Voice to Values (GVV) is an innovative approach to values-driven leadership development in business education and the workplace." - from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
- Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia"Building a just, green, and thriving economy in the region." "We envision a future where businesses are investors in the quality of life for all citizens. We challenge and support the business community to build profitable enterprises that serve community needs, share wealth, and protect the environment."
- New Jersey Sustainable Business Council"Building on their proven approaches, NJSBC is where like-minded businesses are joining together for the purpose of creating a new and dynamic 21st century economy for the Garden State based on the “triple bottom line”: people, profit, and planet." A state affiliate of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC).
- Principles for Responsible Management Education"The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is a United Nations-supported initiative founded in 2007. As a platform to raise the profile of sustainability in schools around the world, PRME equips today's business students with the understanding and ability to deliver change tomorrow."
- The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education"AASHE is the leading association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education. We serve a full range of higher education faculty, administrators, staff and students who are change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation." Rowan University recently became a member.