Fundamentals of Sustainable Business
A Guide for the Next 100 Years
Second Edition
World Scientific Series on 21st Century Business
ISSN: 1793-5660
| Vol. 5 | Fundamentals of Sustainable Business: A Guide for the Next 100 Years Second Edition by Matthew Tueth |
| Vol. 4 | Fundamentals of Sustainable Business: A Guide for the Next 100 Years by Matthew Tueth |
| Vol. 3 | China Rising: Will the West be able to Cope? The Real Long-Term Challenge of the Rise of China — and Asia in General by Jan Willem Blankert |
| Vol. 2 | Indian Economic Superpower: Fiction or Future edited by Jayashankar M. Swaminathan |
| Vol. 1 | New Business in India: The 21st Century Opportunity by Paul Davies |
Fundamentals of Sustainable Business
A Guide for the Next 100 Years
Second Edition
Matthew Tueth
Oklahoma State University
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tueth, Matthew, 1953– author.
Title: Fundamentals of sustainable business : a guide for the next 100 years / Matthew Tueth, Oklahoma State University, USA.
Other titles: World Scientific series on 21st century business ; vol. 5
Description: Second edition. | New Jersey : World Scientific, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020014380 | ISBN 9789811210266 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9789811210273 (ebook) | 9789811210280 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development.
Classification: LCC HC79.E5 T84 2020 | DDC 658.4/08--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014380
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2020 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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Printed in Singapore
This book is dedicated to the natural world thatcontinues to support, inspire, and teach us and tothe many people who recognize its splendor.
Preface
Fundamentals of Sustainable Business was written for students, businesspersons, and all others who are curious about the topic of sustainable business and are looking for a clear, thorough, and intriguing overview of this movement. Although other books discuss certain aspects of sustainability, Fundamentals of Sustainable Business provides a comprehensive outline of the often misunderstood and over-simplified topic of sustainable business. This book offers considerable insight into the relatively new and compelling approach to human enterprise. Whether you are an ardent environmentalist, a conservative business owner, or somewhere in between, you will find that this book challenges a number of common and fundamental beliefs about the relationship between the natural world and human endeavor. It does not merely suggest an adjustment of conventional business assumptions or environmental theory, but rather outlines a radical departure from these traditional and seemingly disparate ideologies and proffers a unified and congruent body of thought. This book addresses the problems of business, not simply the problems in business.
We will depart from traditional environmental and business perspectives so that you may consider some of the biggest challenges faced by humankind from a different, and perhaps unfamiliar, perspective. The extensive economic, environmental, and social problems accompanying the first industrial revolution that have intensified over time are briefly reviewed but are not discussed in great detail in this text. Other books by contemporary authors, such as Paul Hawken, Amory and Hunter Lovins, and William McDonough, have previously documented this increasingly troubling predicament. Rather, this book concentrates on describing a shift from our current path of undermining vital support systems to a legacy of long-term opportunity and prosperity. People from a wide variety of experiences, perspectives, and places have already begun to embrace this extraordinary movement, and we hope an even more diverse fabric of society will continue to discover its relevance and value.
Let’s turn our attention to our own lives for a moment to examine the movement’s relevance to each of us. Most adults work long and hard in a variety of ways to earn a living and to perhaps even support a family. Although many of us enjoy our chosen professions, nearly all of us look forward to our free time spent in a variety of pleasurable activities. Family and friends may be high on such a list of activities, along with travel, the theater, music, books, movies, sporting events, exercise, camping, and service to church or community. Our education, life experiences, and personal likes and dislikes all influence the free-time activities we select. Even though the amount of leisure time in many developed nations has been shrinking for the past several decades, our free-time pursuits remain very important to us and to the quality of our lives.1
Our material belongings also influence the quality of our lives because they enable us to reside comfortably in our homes, travel to distant places, communicate with others, and enjoy a relatively comfortable life. Most readers of this book likely have a large inventory of possessions including vehicles, furniture, appliances, electronic devices, clothes, and recreational equipment. We have access to nearly