Synopses & Reviews
* The "triple bottom line" -- the business strategy that delivers simultaneous financial, social and environmental benefits -- is the main rallying cry for business sustainability* Does it provide a coherent framework for business? How far does it work in practice?* Key practitioners -- including John Elkington and Jonathon Porritt -- analyse its scope and the real contribution it can make by catalysing improved business performance on all three frontsLeading experts examine the implications of the idea of the "triple bottom line," showing what it has already achieved by stimulating change and bringing business to appreciate the importance and benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and good environmental performance. They go beyond this to explore the limits of the metaphor, and what remains to be done through regulation and legislation and with detailed professional procedures in environmental accounting and management and social auditing. They show how much more attention is now being focused by business on delivering more than just financial targets, and make clear where the next steps must be taken in continuing along this trajectory.Contributors include: Carol Adams, Tom Baxter, Jan Bebbington, David Cutteridge, Deborah Doane, John Elkington, Geoff Frost, Rob Gray, Adrian Henriques, Rupert Howes, Vernon Jennings, Alex MacGillivray, Paul Monaghan, Markus Milne, Jonathon Porritt, Julie Richardson, Ros Oakley, Rupesh Shah, Cornis van der Lugt, Wendy Webber
Synopsis
The concept of the 'triple bottom line' (TBL) - the idea that business activity can simultaneously deliver financial, social and environmental benefits - was introduced in the early 1990s. A decade on, The Triple Bottom Line: Does it All Add Up? brings together the world's leading experts on corporate responsibility to assess the implications, benefits and limitations of the TBL.This collection provides a review of what has already been achieved in stimulating change in corporate culture and bringing businesses to an appreciation of the importance and benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and good environmental performance. It further explores the conceptual and practical limits of the metaphor of the TBL and sets out what can be achieved through regulation and legislation, presenting detailed professional procedures for environmental accounting and management and social auditing. The contributors' wealth of experience and insight provides a vivid picture of how much attention is now being focused by businesses on delivering more than just financial targets, and they clearly outline the necessary steps for successfully continuing along this trajectory.