Sustainability, the triple bottom line and corporate social responsibility.

Abstract

The traditional economic business model is focussed on generating profits for shareholders, and as such, it is quite short-term in focus. It takes resources (whether natural, human or financial) and uses them to make products or deliver services with the aim of making profit which is then returned to shareholders. Traditionally, there has been little regard for the sustainability of this model. This is now changing as the world recognises the finite nature of many resources and the social issues which unchecked growth bring. This chapter discusses what is meant by sustainability, and discusses some approaches used at both policy-level and corporate level to address these challenges.