Here is another book I had to read during the course of my MBA in Sustainable Business and Energy at Presidio Graduate School. I recently realized that althought I had written most of the review, I had never finished my draft or published this review. This is now done.
This book, written by Bob Willard, can be an excellent primer to Sustainability in Business. It shows ” how the benefits of the “triple bottom line” can increase a typical company’s profit by at least 51 to 81% within five years, depending on the company’s size and industry sector, while avoiding risks that could jeopardize its financial wellbeing. “
First published in 2002, a second 10-year anniversary version was published in 2012. This is the one I read. If the case for sustainability was compelling then, imagine how much more it is now that renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are at grid parity.
The book is divided in seven parts., one for each kind of benefits :
Benefit 1 : Increased revenue and market share
Benefit 2 : Reduced energy expenses
Benefit 3 : Reduced waste expenses
Benefit 4 : Reduced material andwater expenses
Benefit 5 : Increased employee productivity
Benefit 6 : Reduced hiring and attrition expenses
Benefit 7 : Reduced strategic and operational risks.
Prescient, Bob Willard describes in this book the business case for working from home and telecommutting eight years before COVID 19, talks about the war for talent and how to retain employees thru corporate social responsability and so on, all while delivering plenty of facts and figures. The many business cases provided and quoted are compelling and make you seriously think about making your company more sustainable and resilient.
To conclude, this is a great read whether you are new to sustainability in Business or if you need a quick recap of the main ways of how doing business in a more responsible manner can lead to new sources of revenues, ample savings of resources as well as a decreased risk.
A solid five stars read.
