The difficulties in moving towards corporate sustainability raise the question of how environmental and social management can be integrated better with economic business goals. Over the last decade, the relationship between environmental and economic performance, and more recently the interaction between sustainability performance and business competitiveness, have received considerable attention in both theory and practice. However, to date, only partial aspects of the relationship between sustainability performance, competitiveness and economic performance have been studied from a theoretical as well as an empirical perspective. And, to date, no unique relationship has prevailed in empirical studies. A number of explanations have been put forward to explain this, including methodological reasons, such as the lack of statistical data, the low quality of that data, or the fact that such data is often available for short time periods only. Other theoretical explanations have been developed, such as the influence of different corporate strategies or the relatively small influence of environmental or sustainability issues as one factor among many on the economic or financial success of firms. So, how should the business case for sustainability be managed? This is the starting point for this book, which compiles insights on a large number of aspects of the link between sustainability performance, business competitiveness and economic success in an attempt to provide a comprehensive and structured view of this relationship. The book provides an unrivalled body of knowledge on the state of theory and practice in this field and identifies prospective future fields of work. The book includes: conceptual frameworks for the interaction of social, environmental and economic issues in business environments; case studies of companies that have successfully integrated social, environmental and economic issues; analyses of the causal and empirical relationship between environmental and/or social performance, business performance and firm-level competitiveness; concepts and tools useful for improving business value with proactive operational strategies; assessment of the factors influencing operational sustainability strategies and their economic impact; and comparisons of interactions between sustainability performance and firm competitiveness across industry sectors and countries. Managing the Business Case for Sustainability is the definitive work in its field: the most comprehensive book yet published on the theory and practice of managing sustainability performance, competitiveness, environmental, social and economic performance in an integrated way. It will be essential reading for managers, academics, consultants, fund managers, governments and government agencies, NGOs and international bodies who need a broad and comprehensive overview of the business case for sustainability.

In the past, 'Global Management' meant optimizing production and commercialization activities around the world in an international business context. With the emergence and rise of the creative economy, the global game has changed. This book is about the global management of creativity and related innovation processes, and examines how companies, organizations and institutions can foster the transformation of an original idea to its successful execution and international diffusion. The Global Management of Creativity gives a clear framework for analyzing creativeness in organizations in an international context, and pinpointing important key elements that should be tracked. Comprising expert contributions and written by a wide array of leading scholars in economics, management of innovation and creativity, this book is an insightful resource. This volume provides empirical and theoretical material for managers, students and academics in the field of international management of creativity and innovation. It is also suitable for those who are interested in industrial economics, management of technology, and innovation and industrial studies.

This book addresses the intersection of entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability (EIS), presenting high-quality research illuminating the relationship between the three fields. The EIS nexus is particularly relevant from a European point of view given the focus of the European Commission on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, as well as their prominent role the European Union in general. Also, the rapid economic growth witnessed especially in the BRIC countries in recent years requires that firms reconcile sustainability aspects with profitability and innovation, and entrepreneurs are seen as key diffusers of these aims. Sustainability requires both radical and incremental innovation at many different levels (technology, product, process, system). In many cases, such innovations come from small and medium-sized enterprises and so the role of the entrepreneur is key to their success.

Over the past decades, the Boundary Element Method has emerged as a ver satile and powerful tool for the solution of engineering problems, presenting in many cases an alternative to the more widely used Finite Element Method. As with any numerical method, the engineer or scientist who applies it to a practical problem needs to be acquainted with, and understand, its basic principles to be able to apply it correctly and be aware of its limitations. It is with this intention that we have endeavoured to write this book: to give the student or practitioner an easy-to-understand introductory course to the method so as to enable him or her to apply it judiciously. As the title suggests, this book not only serves as an introductory course, but also cov ers some advanced topics that we consider important for the researcher who needs to be up-to-date with new developments. This book is the result of our teaching experiences with the Boundary Element Method, along with research and consulting activities carried out in the field. Its roots lie in a graduate course on the Boundary Element Method given by the authors at the university of Stuttgart. The experiences gained from teaching and the remarks and questions of the students have contributed to shaping the 'Introductory course' (Chapters 1-8) to the needs of the stu dents without assuming a background in numerical methods in general or the Boundary Element Method in particular."

This introductory course on the classical Boundary Element Method also contains advanced topics such as the Dual Reciprocity and the Hybrid Boundary Element Methods. The latter methods are extensions that permit the application of BME to anisotropic materials, as well as multi-field problems and fluid-structure interaction. The class-tested textbook offers a clear and easy-to-understand introduction to the subject, including worked-out examples that describe all the basic features of the method. The first two chapters not only establish the mathematical basis for BEM but also review the basics of continuum mechanics for field problems, perhaps a unique feature for a text on numerical methods. This helps the reader to understand the physical principles of the field problems, to apply the method judiciously, and toe critically evaluate the results.

In the past, 'Global Management' meant optimizing production and commercialization activities around the world in an international business context. With the emergence and rise of the creative economy, the global game has changed. This book is about the global management of creativity and related innovation processes, and examines how companies, organizations and institutions can foster the transformation of an original idea to its successful execution and international diffusion. The Global Management of Creativity gives a clear framework for analyzing creativeness in organizations in an international context, and pinpointing important key elements that should be tracked. Comprising expert contributions and written by a wide array of leading scholars in economics, management of innovation and creativity, this book is an insightful resource. This volume provides empirical and theoretical material for managers, students and academics in the field of international management of creativity and innovation. It is also suitable for those who are interested in industrial economics, management of technology, and innovation and industrial studies.

Consistency and Credibility? identifies in its first part the extent of correlation between actual environmental performance, the use of physical environmental performance indicators and corporate environmental reporting in the paper and electricity industries in Germany and the UK. The results suggest environmental performance is mainly country-related, possibly due to differences in environmental legislation. This implies that any assessment of the relationship between environmental and economic performance of firms needs to be based on actual environmental performance data and cannot take reporting quality or information about the intensity of use of specific tools, such as environmental performance indicators as a proxy variable. The second part of the book therefore analyses the relationship between environmental and economic performance. Based on the results, the book's second part concludes that for firms in environmentally-intensive industries it is difficult to create a positive link between their environmental and economic performance, and that market settings as well as strategy considerations both can have an effect, but situational aspects determine which of these dominates. Consistency and Credibility? provides useful information for practitioners as well as deeper insights for academics about the link of environmental reporting and environmental performance measurement and how this interacts with economic success. It thus reveals valuable strategic insights in how aiming for corporate sustainability can help to create business success and which factors are critical for achieving this.