Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

The best practices in corporate sustainability performance are no longer the exclusive domain of companies like Ben & Jerry's or The Body Shop, as they were a decade ago; now, large, multinational companies like G.E. and Wal-Mart are leading the way with significant financial and organizational commitments to social and environmental issues. However, good intentions aren't enough. Whether motivated by concern for society and the environment, government regulation, stakeholder pressures, or economic profit, managers and strategists need to continue making significant changes to more effectively manage their social, economic, and environmental impacts – and to remain competitive. The guidance they need to do that is in this book.

Marc Epstein has produced the ultimate "how-to-do-it" guide for corporate leaders, strategists, academics, sustainability consultants, and anyone else with an interest in actually making sustainability work for organizations. With a growing number of corporate leaders asking for urgent help in "getting this done," the timing of the book could not be better.

Marc J. Epstein is Distinguished Research Professor of Management at Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining Rice, Dr. Epstein was a professor at Stanford Business School, Harvard Business School, and INSEAD (European Institute of Business Administration). In both academic research and managerial practice, Dr. Epstein is considered one of the global leaders in the areas of innovation, sustainability, governance, performance measurement and accountability in both corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

Dr. Epstein has extensive academic and practical experience in the implementation of corporate strategies and the development of performance metrics for use in these implementations. He has extensive industry experience and has been a senior consultant to leading corporations and governments throughout the world for over 25 years. In many recent articles and books Epstein shows how the use of new strategic management systems can help companies focus strategy, link to performance metrics, and drive improved performance in organizations.

He has focused and published extensively on sustainability and corporate social responsibility for most of his career and was in at the beginning of the development of the corporate social audit and the measurement of corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts.

He is also currently working extensively in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America on innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges and measuring and managing the social impacts of corporations, NGOs, and foundations. Each year he takes all of his MBA students to Africa as part of his course “Commercializing Technology in Developing Countries.” His publications include Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts (Berrett-Koehler/Greenleaf Publishing, 2008, 2014); Joining a Nonprofit Board: What You Need to Know (Jossey-Bass, 2011); Pharmacy on a Bicycle: Innovative Solutions for Global Health and Poverty (Berrett-Koehler, 2013); and Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors (Berrett-Koehler/Greenleaf Publishing, 2014).

His 20 authored or co-authored books and well over 200 professional papers have won numerous top academic, professional, and business awards.