This chapter starts by discussing the changing overall context in which business, nature and society operate. It is important to understand this context, because it shapes the problems that corporate sustainability aims to address, and it influences how firms can cope with these problems. We then introduce the concept of corporate sustainability. We discuss similarities and differences to related concepts such as corporate social responsibility and business ethics. Next, we review some of the main environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that firms are asked to address as part of their corporate sustainability commitments. Finally, the chapter reviews four key motivations (instrumental, ethical, stakeholder-based and political) that underpin firms’ corporate sustainability commitments.

This chapter presents an introduction to the relationship between government policy and corporate sustainability. It opens with a review of the dichotomous and related perspectives on government and corporate sustainability, revealing why the question of a relationship is quite contentious. Having established the normative, conceptual and empirical significance of the relationship, it proceeds by indicating the types of corporate sustainability issues that government policies address, the types of policies that are deployed and the alternative corporate responses to such policies. These relationships are illustrated with reference to four well-known corporate sustainability issues: corporate philanthropy, ethical trade, corporate sustainability reporting and corporate taxation. Finally, the chapter focuses on two cases of complementarity between government policies and private initiatives for corporate sustainability, responses to: dangerous work conditions in the Bangladesh ready-made garment industry; and corrupt uses of payments to government by corporations in the extractives industry.

This chapter assesses the mechanisms of reporting, impact measurement, and certification. I first examine the actual reporting practices of the social enterprises in common law Asia, and then analyze the reporting requirements of the public benefit corporations, social purpose corporations, and community interest companies. Next, I examine whether social enterprises in common law Asia have disclosed impact and I explain why so few of them have done so, and I analyze whether social enterprises should be required or incentivized to do so. Subsequently, I propose a three-step framework to guide social enterprises on impact measurement. Finally, I critically assess three types of certification regime in the US, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.

This chapter introduces business model innovation for sustainability as a new way of achieving corporate sustainability. Why is thinking about business models and business model innovation useful in this regard? Because business models are essentially about how companies create value for themselves and for their stakeholders, such as customers, employees or business partners. And value creation, in turn, relates in various ways to the natural environment and society. Hence, the business model perspective is very helpful in dealing with corporate sustainability challenges. In this chapter, we explain how business models support proactive approaches to corporate sustainability; how business model innovation can help integrate sustainability principles (such as efficiency, consistency or sufficiency) into companies’ activities; and how it can help companies extend their value creation potential to be more inclusive towards non-financial stakeholders. Finally, some patterns and tools to develop business models for sustainability are introduced.

In the concluding chapter of the book, we reflect on the future of corporate sustainability. We summarise the key topics covered in each of the four sections – approaches, actors, processes and issues. We present past and future developments for each of these sections. We also reflect on how some of the tensions as presented in the introduction remain and become core to corporate sustainability debates. Finally, we end on a reflection of our personal roles in advancing sustainability.

Along with traditional organisational forms, such as SMEs and MNCs, a variety of alternative types of organising exist in the business world. As hybrid organisations between traditional for-profit businesses and non-profit organisations, alternative types of organising often integrate social and environmental concerns deeply into their business models. Hence, these organisations aim at combining economic goals with the pursuit to proactively create a positive social and environmental impact.

In this chapter, we will take a deeper look into alternative types of organising for corporate sustainability as a promising pathway to integrate sustainability into the business sector and discuss the challenges they face as well as the social and environmental impact they create. Specifically, we will discuss four examples of these organisations: foundation-owned companies, which are companies that are fully or partially owned by an industrial foundation instead of shareholders; cooperatives, which are community-based organisations that are owned by their members (i.e., individuals who voluntarily join their forces and collaborate); social businesses, defined as organisations that pursue a social or environmental mission while engaging in commercial business activities; and B Corps as a specific form of social businesses, meaning those that have applied for and passed a certain certification process.

This chapter discusses the nature, legitimacy, impact and critique of voluntary standards for sustainability. We first develop a definition of sustainability standards and distinguish three different types of standards. This discussion shows that, while standardisation in the field of sustainability has grown in recent years, existing initiatives differ in several important ways. Next, we discuss how the legitimacy of sustainability standards can be assessed. We differentiate between standards’ input and output legitimacy. We then focus on the impact that sustainability standards can potentially have on adopting firms, end consumers and the regulated issue area. The final section takes a detailed look at the critique that has been raised against selected standards (e.g., the coexistence of multiple standards with a similar purpose).