Introduction

Overview

Leading business corporations in the industrialized world are changing their SMSs to incorporate the principles, strategies, processes, and practices of SBD. They are moving from the company-centric structures of the twentieth century to highly interactive management constructs framed in the global context of the social, political, economic, environmental, market, and technological realities of the twenty-first century. The transformation process is subtle and involves evolutionary changes that have been dramatically reshaping the business world since the 1970s. With globalization, technological changes, economic drivers, and social and environmental mandates, the global business environment is less predictable and more challenging than it was even a decade ago. Customers, stakeholders, and society expect and demand superior products, services, and operations with less waste, reduced impacts on health, safety, and the environment, and enhanced corporate responsibilities for the decisions, technologies, products, processes, and activities of every facet of the business enterprise. Moreover, these expectations also apply to the operations, actions, and contributions of supply networks, partners, allies, and others that are directly and indirectly linked to the corporation.

The implications of such expectations and demands are profound. Leading and managing a large corporation has become more complex and challenging, yet also more exciting and rewarding. Corporations have broadened the scope of their thinking and include many more considerations in their decision-making. They have moved beyond concentrating on core competencies in order to satisfy customers with high-quality products: that thinking characterized the 1990s.