Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

Senior executives who have committed their organizations to improved sustainability are realizing that implementation is particularly challenging. While there is a lot written on ethical and strategic factors, there is a dearth of information on the practical nuts and bolts of implementation. And whereas with most other organizational changes, functions, and initiatives the sole objective is improved financial performance, which is clear and easy to measure, sustainability broadens the focus to include both social and financial performance. This creates significant challenges in evaluating the tradeoffs between social and financial performance.

Now completely updated with new examples and new research, this book offers a complete guide to implementing and measuring the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives. It draws on Epstein and new coauthor Rejc Buhovac’s solid academic foundation and extensive consulting work, and includes best practices from dozens of companies in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Australia, and Africa.   It is intellectually rigorous yet accessible to corporate managers. This is the first and still the best book to provide managers with detailed guidance on how to implement sustainability and objectively measure its success.