This critical book presents ways to improve the impact of corporate sustainability programs on the ecological and social systems that we rely upon. Integrating three decades of multidisciplinary empirical and conceptual research undertaken by three leading management scholars in three countries, this book addresses the current state of, and the prospects for, business to help create a truly sustainable society. Providing a balanced perspective, Salvaging Corporate Sustainability expertly charts the path from the promises of corporate sustainability, to where it has gone wrong, and on to where it needs to go from here. The authors conclude by outlining a research agenda for finding a working balance between free market and formal governance that can yield substantive corporate sustainability programs. Overall, this book will challenge readers to take a broader view of how we use the planet’s limited resources and the ways in which corporations can work with their stakeholders and the government to address our global sustainability challenges. Offering new directions for uncovering better ways to increase sustainability through business, this book will be core reading for academics and students of business leadership, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, and strategic management. It will also be useful for practitioners who oversee and implement sustainability practices, helping them to conceptualize how to approach their jobs.

This critical book presents ways to improve the impact of corporate sustainability programs on the ecological and social systems that we rely upon. Integrating three decades of multidisciplinary empirical and conceptual research undertaken by three leading management scholars in three countries, this book addresses the current state of, and the prospects for, business to help create a truly sustainable society. Providing a balanced perspective, Salvaging Corporate Sustainability expertly charts the path from the promises of corporate sustainability, to where it has gone wrong, and on to where it needs to go from here. The authors conclude by outlining a research agenda for finding a working balance between free market and formal governance that can yield substantive corporate sustainability programs. Overall, this book will challenge readers to take a broader view of how we use the planet's limited resources and the ways in which corporations can work with their stakeholders and the government to address our global sustainability challenges. Offering new directions for uncovering better ways to increase sustainability through business, this book will be core reading for academics and students of business leadership, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, and strategic management. It will also be useful for practitioners who oversee and implement sustainability practices, helping them to conceptualize how to approach their jobs.

Protecting the environment is often not the primary objective of businesses. As the world has become more environmentally aware, the necessity of environmental regulations becomes apparent. Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Policy Perspective examines different approaches to environmental protection in business. Environmental improvements on the part of industry often result from government regulations that command certain action on the part of industry and then control how well they perform. An alternative approach is Voluntary Environmental Agreements (VEA), where firms voluntarily commit to make certain environmental improvements individually, as part of an industry association, or under the guidance of a government entity. For example, many new initiatives targeted towards climate change originate from companies that voluntarily commit to reduce their carbon output or "footprint." Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEP) provides an overview of current research on VEPs, looking at issues such as what motivates firms to participate, how a VEP structure affects a company's efficiency and credibility with stakeholders, and who monitors compliance of participants. This current work examines how a firm's environmental performance over time compares with VEP commitments. This book also discusses the particular considerations for VEPs in developing countries, where information flows and regulatory oversight capacities differ from the U.S.