Print and Web Resources
There are a great many print and web resources that relate to sustainability, corporate responsibility or corporate citizenship. We have sought to identify and catalog some of the more popular and more read of these resources. Please bring your favorites to our attention so that we can include them in the future.
Journals, Magazines, and Reports
Subscribe for the quarterly magazine, or sign-up for the free monthly email newsletter BizEthicsBuzz. Magazine focuses on social responsibility topics by examining government regulations, do-good corporations, and effective community-based businesses. It also gives advice for employers, investors, and citizens to propel social responsibility in business.
Resource for the most up to date information on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Provides press releases, corporate reports, advertises CSR events, and various other resources. Promotes CSR through solution-based information and positive industry examples.
For more on CSR, Ashridge and The Guardian newspaper recently ran a competition to find the best MBA essay on the changing role of business in society.
The Grand Illusion of Corporate Social Responsibility, Tim Wright (2003 Winner)
CSR Doesn’t Matter – Business Profits Do, Nick Tilston (2004 Winner)
The Economic Value of Corporate Eco-Efficiency
There is an ongoing debate in the business and investment communities as to whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) pays. The paper, entitled The Economic Value of Corporate Eco-Efficiency, finds a “positive and significant” relationship between eco-efficiency and financial performance. The study also finds that the least eco-efficient firms display significant operational underperformance relative to the remainder of firms. This paper is the winner of the 2005 Moskowitz Prize for the best paper on socially responsible investing.
Independent publisher of a monthly print magazine that examines global corporate responsibility. Separates news stories on continent-by-continent level, and also focuses on corporations and individuals on a monthly basis. Produces reports for institutions such as World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Both reports and email newsletter are free.
Environmental Science & Technology
Environmental scientists, researchers, and engineers the world over consistently rank Environmental Science & Technology as the essential resource in their field. Environmental Science & Technology reports on aspects of the environment and its protection by scientific, engineering, and political means.
A publication dedicated to telling the stories of ecological pioneers, products and systems that are driving an important change in corporate and bureaucratic America. The focus of Green@work is pro-business and positive. Its goal is to reinforce sustainable initiatives by sharing success stories and profiling the individuals who are making a difference. Green@work explores the social, ideological, economic and political issues that advance green design strategies, as well as the intellectual and charismatic expressions of the visionaries who are fostering mainstream acceptance of ecological advocacy.
Publication directed towards businesses to give them the tools, research, strategies and advice to profit from environmental responsibility. Focus is on improving efficiency and quality to improve environmental value. Provides tools to become green in all realms of business from personnel management to waste-reduction principles.
Greener Management International
GMI is the leading quarterly management journal drawing together strategic environmental and sustainability issues as they affect organizations worldwide. GMI enjoys a growing global reputation for innovation, readability and quality. Now in its ninth year of publication, the journal has recently been redesigned and was the recipient of an Anbar Golden Award for a general management journal in 1999.
A quarterly journal publishing articles on socially responsible investing with goal of building foundation of knowledge for future investors and firms alike. “Our heart-driven goal has been to help people make money while creating a more positive future, from the supermarket to the stock market.” Articles authored by leaders in sustainability such as William McDonough, Paul Hawken, and Amy Domini.
This link takes you to a website for JG Press, publishers of In Business as well as BioCycle and Compost Science & Utilization magazines. In Business is “the Magazine for Sustainable Business”, but the website offers very little content, and mostly information on subscriptions. There is an Article Search feature that allows you to look through the magazine’s archived issues, though it is not free.
What makes the Journal of Business Ethics such a vibrant journal is its commitment to presenting the perspectives of scholars all over the world on how to make businesses ethical and better able to serve the interests of people and the environment.
“Your source for executive-level news and information about the rapidly growing, $227 billion Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) marketplace.” A bit technical, it offers a weekly stock index of the LOHAS market, as well as new product information and work being done by companies to tap into this market.
“The Activist Publisher.” The front page of this website advertises “New Green Building Books”, which goes hand in hand with the publisher’s focus on “books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society”. Topics as varied as education, conflict resolution, community building, and “the sustainable kitchen” are addressed in the books offered here.
“Ode is an independent magazine about the people and ideas that are changing the world.” The website for this magazine – published in the Netherlands, in Dutch, English, and Portuguese – is free and packed full of information and articles from the print version. Aimed at overcoming the cynical approach of the mass media, Ode takes on an optimistic, “pro” stance, focusing on what is bringing hope and change to the world. A very positive and informative site.
Sustainable Development Update (SDU)
The Sustainable Development Update (SDU) focuses on the links between ecology, society and the economy. It is produced by Albaeco, an independent non-profit organization, in cooperation with the Department of Systems Ecology, at Stockholm University. This newsletter focuses on the latest research where ecologists team with social scientists, policymakers and managers to understand how ecological systems that contain humans as an essential component really work. The Sustainable Development Update will also describe the latest insights about how social institutions influence the use and enjoyment of nature’s resources and services.
WaveFront is the international newsletter for Sustainability Change Agents, the professionals, professionals-in-training, and dedicated sustainability amateurs who are working to create a better world. WaveFront is a free service of the AtKisson Group, a global sustainability services network.
On the site, you can browse articles on global sustainability trends and get up to date information about new sustainability initiatives.
Important Articles
There are many articles that are published each year that are worthy of cataloging and mentioning. We are not trying to capture all of these, but when we find one that is truly exceptional, we will provide a place for it to live here. We are open for additional suggestions from our readers.
Interview with a Fungus, Diane Brooks Pleninger
Interview with a Fungus, the Shell Economist 2003 Prizewinning Essay by Diane Brooks Pleninger. Sounds strange, but thought provoking. This was the 2003 prizewinner in the Shell Economist 2003 essay contest, which posed the question “Do we need nature?”
For other winners of this distinguished competition, see http://www.socialinvest.org/resources/research/index.cfm
Patagonia: The Next Hundred Years, Yvon Chouinard
Excerpt from Sacred Trusts
