Sustainable Development

In the midst of the economic downturn that began in 2008, existing companies struggled for survival, making many difficult decisions concerning how to leverage financial, physical, and human capital for competitive advantage. One of the interesting megatrends is the business-driven advancement of sustainable development activities within organizations. For entrepreneurs, sustainable development offers fresh areas of opportunity for value creation in new ventures.

In defining what sustainability is, it is important to understand what it is not. Conservation is one of the related concepts with which sustainability is often confused. Also known as “nature conservation,” this political and social movement was placed on the national agenda in the early 20th century by the Teddy Roosevelt administration with the passage of the Newlands Reclamation Act, and it was ...