Consulting for Business Sustainability

by Chris Galea (Editor)

Overview

The fast-emerging sustainability consulting firms are nipping at the heels of the established consultancy giants who are scrambling to find their way in the emergent field of sustainability. The upstarts are challenging many of the established notions of how to add value to their clients' operations. By looking at the business world through what the sustainability expert Stuart Hart calls "new sustainability lenses", sustainability consultants are able to make sense of challenges that are baffling their clients. Moreover, they are also beginning to help their clients uncover new and sustainable value streams, the ultimate goal of good consulting practice. In Consulting for Business Sustainability sustainability consultants from around the world offer some of their perspectives and lessons on how to truly create sustainable value for their clients. Packed with new tools, advice and approaches, the book comprises a unique collection of wisdom from some of the leading lights in sustainability consulting practice. The areas covered include: developing best-in-class environmental management systems; sustainable design; supporting organisational change agents; working with key stakeholders; social impact assessments; human rights; and regulatory risk. The book will be essential reading for practitioners in business searching for advice and toolkits on how to make their sustainability initiatives bear fruit, for consultants looking for advice on how others have provided value to clients, and for students of sustainability looking for best-practice examples and exploring future careers in this burgeoning field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351279468
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/08/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Chris Galea

Table of Contents

Introduction Chris Galea, Nova Scotia, Canada 1. CSR consultancies in the United Kingdom Jennifer MacCarthy, EIRIS, UK, and Jeremy Moon, Nottingham University Business School, UK 2. Supporting the change agents: keeping ourselves effective on the journey of change Penny Walker, Independent Consultant, London, UK 3. The Stakeholder Dashboard Robert Strand, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, USA 4. Strategic sustainability consulting Brent Couper, Julian Crawford and Carole Young, EcoSTEPS, Australia 5. Human rights informing social impact assessments: the end of assessing social impact with one eye shut Sune Skadegaard Thorsen, Troels Børrild and Kamilla Vejergang Lembcke, GLOBAL CSR, Denmark 6. Profitable environmental management: a best practice approach from consultancy in international cooperation Edith Kürzinger, ProSEMa – Profitable, Socially and Environmentally Sound Management, Germany, and Joyce Miller, CAPRESE – Capacity Building Resource Exchange, Switzerland 7. The Meta-trend Stakeholder Profile: the changing profile of stakeholders in a climate- and water-stressed world Barb Brown and Margie Flynn, Principals and Co-owners, BrownFlynn 8. The Meta-trend Stakeholder Profile: impacts on the real estate development industry Barb Brown and Margie Flynn, Principals and Co-owners, BrownFlynn 9. The Meta-trend Stakeholder Profile: impacts on the mining industry Barb Brown and Margie Flynn, Principals and Co-owners, BrownFlynn 10. The Meta-trend Stakeholder Profile: impacts on the finance and banking industry Barb Brown and Margie Flynn, Principals and Co-owners, BrownFlynn 11. Achieving sustainable value: Sustainability Portfolio Assessment Richmond Graham, SaskEnergy, Canada, and Stephanie Bertels, University of Michigan, USA 12. A guide to sustainable design consulting Steve Belletire, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA 13. Consulting for sustainability: creating a new organisational narrative Guy J. Vaccaro, PolyBrite International, Inc., Illinois, USA 14. Regulatory risk: challenges and opportunities for sustainability consultants Tom Cooper, Memorial University, Canada

Editorial Reviews

"Consulting for Business Sustainability is a collection of guidelines for business sustainability written by the sustainability professionals around the globe. These lessons represent different aspects of business sustainability while introducing some of the concepts to be implemented and further developed by the practitioners.

Even though in its embryonic stage, sustainability consulting is taking share in the industry and stepping out into competition with the established consulting giants. Sustainability consultants are looking out for ways to add value to businesses by dealing with high-importance but low-urgency issues. This approach prevents firms from dealing with high-importance and high-urgency issues as in case of Exxon Valdez oil spill or Shell Oil Brent Spar public relations disaster where timely action was required.

The book starts with the chapter on CSR consultancies in the United Kingdom presenting findings of undertaken research in order to gain understanding of the CSR consultancy industry. The following chapters cover different areas of adding value to the clients though sustainability consulting. These areas include supporting organisational change agents, working with key stakeholders, human rights, social impact assessments, developing environmental management systems, sustainable design, and regulatory risk. Several tools and approaches are introduced, among them Stakeholder Dashboard and Sustainability Portfolio Assessment.

With a hint from the title, the book is addressed to the sustainability consultants. However, in the same way it can bring value to the working professional or entrepreneur who is looking forward to transform the company into sustainable business. The book is especially valuable for the concrete guidelines and approaches which can be replicated within organisations."

CSR International Book Review Digest 2.2 Karina Toonekurg

"Consulting for Business Sustainability is a collection of guidelines for business sustainability written by the sustainability professionals around the globe. These lessons represent different aspects of business sustainability while introducing some of the concepts to be implemented and further developed by the practitioners.

Even though in its embryonic stage, sustainability consulting is taking share in the industry and stepping out into competition with the established consulting giants. Sustainability consultants are looking out for ways to add value to businesses by dealing with high-importance but low-urgency issues. This approach prevents firms from dealing with high-importance and high-urgency issues as in case of Exxon Valdez oil spill or Shell Oil Brent Spar public relations disaster where timely action was required.

The book starts with the chapter on CSR consultancies in the United Kingdom presenting findings of undertaken research in order to gain understanding of the CSR consultancy industry. The following chapters cover different areas of adding value to the clients though sustainability consulting. These areas include supporting organisational change agents, working with key stakeholders, human rights, social impact assessments, developing environmental management systems, sustainable design, and regulatory risk. Several tools and approaches are introduced, among them Stakeholder Dashboard and Sustainability Portfolio Assessment.

With a hint from the title, the book is addressed to the sustainability consultants. However, in the same way it can bring value to the working professional or entrepreneur who is looking forward to transform the company into sustainable business. The book is especially valuable for the concrete guidelines and approaches which can be replicated within organisations."

From the Publisher