Product Description

From the Publishers Weekly review:
"Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake–up–call du jour–environmental responsibility–from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long–term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward–thinking, green–friendly (or at least green–acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company′s bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal–Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys–watchdogs and industry associations, mostly–working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take–back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29602 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
"An excellent, updated primer that tracks the A to Z of getting a grip on green as a business leader." (CNBC European Business, April 2009)

Review
`... [a] must read.'

From the Back Cover

The leading guide to driving growth and profits through green strategy—now revised and updated

"Green to Gold provides the definitive thinking on how business leaders can address environmental issues."
—Michael E. Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School

"The future of our country depends on getting on a sustainable track . . .Green to Gold blazes a trail for businesses of all kinds to follow."
—Michael Morris, CEO, American Electric Power

"Rich with both big–picture thinking and practical suggestions."
—Larry Linden, Advisory Director, Goldman Sachs

"A compelling blueprint for how companies can address critical environmental problems."
—William K. Reilly, former administrator,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

"Green to Gold is a must–read for the twenty–first–century CEO."
—Tensie Whelan, Executive Director, Rainforest Alliance

Customer Reviews

Straightforward sustainability manual
Sesame Street's Kermit the Frog famously observed, "It's not easy being green." Whether easy or not, environmental and social pressures are pushing more and more companies to ride the "green wave" to ecological sustainability. In this beautifully organized, crisply written book, Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston, both Yale professors, describe how sustainability can create competitive advantage. They succinctly make the business case for sustainability, and then provide a playbook of green strategies and tactics. The presentation is neither too abstract nor too detailed: It's just right. Nor is their presentation one-sided: They enumerate many ways sustainable products and strategies can go wrong. While some of their suggestions may seem obvious, the authors deserve praise for collecting so many excellent tips and tricks, and for describing them in memorable (mostly) jargon-free prose. We highly recommend this smart book to any business leader who wants to move beyond rhetoric to action. While Kermit's wisdom is doubtless correct, this handbook makes being green much easier.

Great strategy book
This book provides a very straightforward and non-emotional approach to sustainability. The authors succeed in putting forward a logical case for why sustainability matters in business terms. There are plenty of examples along the way that help to flesh out their argument and provide food for thought.

The first part of the book provides background and context to the issues that we are all facing today. The latter parts of the book explores the strategies that the "best in class" companies are using.

I found the book a really useful introduction to the business rationale behind sustainability. We didn't get bogged down in environmental facts and figures and it didn't try to scare us into action. Just a well balanced, practical approach to making businesses more sustainable. Highly recommended reading for those interested in strategies around building sustainable business.