The Triple Bottom Line: How Todays Best–Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success – and How You Can Too

"Savitz makes a lively and cogent case that no company or manager can afford any longer to ignore the world around them. A thoughtful guide for managers who still harbour doubts about the point of sustainability." The Financial Times

"Required reading." Fortune

"The main challenge of sustainability is how to take it from concept to action. Andy Savitz communicates in plain language what sustainability is and how everyone in the organization can help achieve it." Charles O. Holliday Jr., chairman, Bank of America

"Andy Savitz gets it. He also happens to be witty, sensible, and a good writer as well as a good business strategist sort of a modern Ben Franklin. That makes this book a joy to read as well as indispensable for businesspeople who wish to succeed in this new age." Walter Isaacson, author, Steve Jobs

"Whether you are a corporate manager, investor, consumer, or public official, this book will change your view of how corporations can succeed for themselves and for society. Savitz combines vision and practical advice in an elegant presentation." George Stephanopoulos, chief political correspondent, ABC News; anchor, This Week With George Stephanopoulos

"A bold and readable foray into this complex subject. Readers will come away enlightened." Kert Davies, research director, Greenpeace US

Introduction 1

Part One The Sustainability Imperative 11

1 A Bitter Aftertaste: Hershey Struggles to Master the Sustainability Challenge 13

2 The Sustainability Sweet Spot: How to Achieve Long–Term Business Success 33

3 The Age of Sustainability 53

4 Business Responds 76

5 The Backlash Against Sustainability 92

6 Renewing the Penobscot: A More Productive Use of Capital 107

Part Two How Sustainability Can Work for You 129

7 Where Do You Stand Today? Your Sustainability Self–Assessment 131

8 Sustainability Jiu–Jitsu: Turning Short–Term Challenges into Opportunities 145

9 Shaping Your Sustainability Strategy 156

10 Implementing Your Sustainability Program 175

11 Managing Stakeholder Engagement 190

12 Dealing with Special Stakeholder Challenges 211

13 Measuring and Reporting Your Progress 237

14 Aligning Your Culture to Support Sustainability 256

15 The Emerging Multipurpose Company 270

Appendix: Creating a Sustainability Management System 289

Notes 300

Acknowledgments 314

About the Authors 320

Index 323

Andrew W. Savitz heads Sustainable Business Strategies, a consultancy that assists organizations to improve their Triple Bottom Line. Previously, he was a lead partner in the sustainability services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He served as general counsel of Environmental Affairs for Massachusetts and founded the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters. He is the author of Talent, Transformation, and the Triple Bottom Line (Jossey–Bass, 2013). Savitz′s online newsletter, The Savitz Report, helps companies leverage their human capital to accelerate the transformation to sustainability. Savitz lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

For more information, please visit getsustainable.net and thesavitzreport.com

Karl Weber is a writer and editor who specializes in business, politics, current affairs, history, and social issues. Among many other books, he coauthored the New York Times bestseller Creating a World Without Poverty with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. He lives in Irvington, New York, with his wife, Mary–Jo Weber.