Ethical Corporation’s guide to the best in new publications
Sustainability Reporting for SMEs
By Elaine Cohen
epub: 90 pages, £25 (+ VAT)
ISBN: 9781909293342
Publisher: Dō Sustainability
Published: January 2013
Part of the DōShorts series, this no-nonsense book by Ethical Corporation’s regular corporate reporting reviewer shows not only how SMEs can produce a report but the management benefits that derive from the process too.
Firm Commitment: why the corporation is failing us and how to restore trust in it
By Colin Meyer
Hardcover: 320 pages, £16.99
ISBN: 0199669937
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: February 2013
Firm Commitment sets out to stop the rot, forcing us to consider how the destructive elements of modern corporations can be tamed and their upsides strengthened. A good mix of blue-sky thinking and down-to-earth analysis.
By Mirjana Golusin, Stevan Popov and Sinisa Dodic
Hardcover: 436 pages, £48.99
ISBN: 012415978
Publisher: Academic Press
Published: February 2013
To maximise the potential of new energy technologies, apt management systems are required. This practical book spells out how engineers and project managers can transition to more sustainable energy technologies, covering everything from scaling up renewables to risk mitigation.
Capitalism, Corporations and the Social Contract: a critique of stakeholder theory
By Samuel Mansell
Hardcover: 208 pages, £55
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: January 2013
ISBN: 1107015529
Academic in tone but radical in spirit, this book seeks to take on the central premise of stakeholder theory – namely, that a corporation should be run in the interests of all its primary stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and financiers. A modern take on Milton Friedman's landmark critique.
Conscious Capitalism: liberating the heroic spirit of business
By John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia
Hardcover: 288 pages, £17.99
ISBN: 1422144208
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: January 2013
If you had any doubt that free-enterprise capitalism is the best answer to human progress, then this is the book to convince you. Packed with examples from many of today’s best-known companies, this manifesto to Conscious Capitalism will have you positively skipping to work.
Eco-Business: a big-brand takeover of sustainability
By Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister
Hardcover: 208 pages, £17.95
ISBN: 0262018764
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: February 2013
Greenwash or genuine commitment? It’s an old debate, but one that this challenging account revisits with a vengeance. What’s new about this book is the notion that corporate self-interest could be limiting the pursuit of alternative solutions to pressing problems. Thought-provoking.
Sustainability: essentials for business
By Scott Young and Kanwalroop Kathy Dhanda
Paperback: 440 pages, £38.99
ISBN: 1412982847
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: February 2013
As the title suggests, this helpful compendium seeks to lay out what’s what in the sustainable business field. A neat balance between macro context, micro issues and solutions. Very useful for those new to the subject.
REDD+ and Business Sustainability
By Brian McFarland
epub: 75 pages, £25 (+ VAT)
ISBN: 9781909293373
Publisher: Dō Sustainability
Published: January 2013
REDD+ formed the focal point of 2012’s UN climate change conference in Rio. Picking up on this theme, this up-to-the-minute book provides detailed business case studies and best practice examples for putting REDD+ forest conservation initiatives into practice.