Author: David Chandler

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781003016199

The framework presented in this book, Sustainable Value Creation, is the result of more than twenty years thinking and writing at the intersection of two subjects, strategy and CSR. I teach strategy and I think about CSR, almost constantly. Given my academic home in the business school, I appreciate the importance of markets and the ability of their essential actors (for-profit firms) to create value. Equally, of course, I see the ability of firms to destroy value, on an all-too-frequent basis. As such, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to promote the beneficial work firms do and eradicate the harm. The result is this book: a framework through which managers can understand the essential purpose of the for-profit firm, the most powerful entity we have devised to drive societal progress. At its core, this book is structured around the ten principles that define Sustainable Value Creation. The foundation for these principles is a pragmatic philosophy, oriented around stakeholder theory and designed to appeal to managers skeptical of existing definitions of CSR, sustainability, or business ethics. It is also designed to stimulate thought within the community of academics committed to these ideas, but who approach them from more traditional perspectives. Ultimately, therefore, this book aims to reform both business practice and business education. By building a theory that redefines CSR as central to everything the firm does (as opposed to peripheral practices that can be marginalized), these ten principles redefine how firms approach each of their operational functions, but also how these subjects should be taught in universities worldwide. As such, this book will hopefully be of value to instructors as a complement to their teaching, students as a guide in their education, and managers as a framework to help them respond to the complex, dynamic context that they are expected to navigate every day.