Our guide to the best new reading
The World We Made: Alex McKay’s story from 2050
By Jonathan Porritt
Hardcover: 320 pages, £24.95
ISBN: 978-0714863610
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2013
Unrepentantly upbeat, Porritt presents a future vision of our planet that is green, fair, connected and collaborative. Part history, part personal memoir, this book seeks to show potential ways for building a sustainable world by 2050. Includes futuristic photographs, graphics and hand-drawn sketches.
Everybody’s Business: the unlikely story of how big business can fix the world
By Jon Miller and Lucy Parker
Hardcover: 480 pages, £20
ISBN: 978-1849546089
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Published: October 2013
Is big business part of the problem or part of the solution? This book falls firmly on the side of the latter. It introduces readers to businesses that are helping to find “new ways to solve old problems”. A trumpet call to those who believe the power of business can be levered for good. (Royalties go to TechnoServe, an NGO working on business solutions to poverty.)
Can Green Sustain Growth? From the religion to the reality of sustainable prosperity
By John Zysman and Mark Huberty
Hardcover: 352 pages, £28.47
ISBN: 978-0804785259
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: November 2013
“Green growth” has proven to be politically popular, but economically elusive. This intriguing book interrogates how we can move from theoretical support to implementation. The authors draw on eight international case studies, demonstrating that green growth requires radical experimentation and cross-sector collaboration to succeed.
The Triple Bottom Line: how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too
By Andrew Savitz, with Karl Weber
Hardcover: 352 pages, £19.99
ISBN: 978-1118226223
Publisher: Jossey Bass
Published; November 2013
An updated version of this classic guide to sustainability strategy and implementation, this book spells out the competitive advantages that companies can gain when they align their business interests and the interests of society and the environment. With new examples from brands such as Wal-Mart, GE, DuPont and PepsiCo, it remains a critical resource for all business managers and leaders.
The Solution Revolution: how business, government, and social enterprises are teaming up to solve society’s toughest problems
By William Eggers and Paul Macmillan
Hardcover: 304 pages, £17.99
ISBN: 978-1422192191
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: September 2013
This book provides a scholarly assessment of how public and private are converging to solve today’s most urgent social problems. Key themes include healthcare, poverty, housing, recycling and obesity – all analysed through a cross-sector, collaborative lens.
Managing Corporate Legitimacy: a toolkit
By Dorothée Baumann-Pauly
Hardback: 237, £40
ISBN 978-1-906093-94-5
Publisher: Greenleaf Publishing
Published: September 2013
This practically orientated book sets out to share the latest tools for devising and systematically assessing corporations’ social and environmental investments. Drawing heavily on the practices of five Swiss multinationals, the book also presents methods for setting corporate citizenship priorities and improving external stakeholder engagement.
The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility
By Oyvind Ihlen, Jennifer Bartlett and Steve May (eds)
Paperback: 608 pages, £29.99
ISBN: 978-1118721384
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: November 2013
This book represents the definitive research collection for corporate social responsibility communication, offering cross-disciplinary and international perspectives from 28 top scholars in the field. Issues under discussion include public relations, organisational communication, reputation management, marketing and management.
Corporate Accountability in the Context of Transitional Justice
By Sabine Michalowski (ed)
Hardback: 268 pages, £80
ISBN: 978-0-415-52490-2
Publisher: Routledge
Published: September 2013
Human rights abuses by corporations are increasingly coming under scrutiny by truth and reconciliation commissions or in the course of litigation. This book offers a valuable overview of current legal and political trends concerning the application of transitional justice methods to the private sector.
