Sustainability Corporate responsibility
How business can lead a sustainability revolution
The triple bottom line—social responsibility, economic value, and environmental impact—is built into the student experience at Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business. Students learn how to succeed at business while also supporting all stakeholders and the planet.
Nancy E. Landrum, PhD, professor of sustainability management with an appointment in both Quinlan and Loyola’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability, outlines the key reasons all business leaders should care about the environment and what they can do to create a healthier planet.
Business and sustainability
At current rates of production and consumption, it is estimated that by 2050 we will need 2.3 planets to sustain us. Nine billion people cannot share this planet and live well if business and industry do not take leadership and make a change.
Nancy Landrum, PhD, is a leader in helping businesses adopt more sustainable practices.
Why should business care about the environment?
- We need a healthy planet to live.
- Companies need a healthy planet to operate.
- Caring about the environment can provide companies with a competitive advantage.
Environmental health is directly correlated with health care costs, quality of life, and other factors that make healthy communities and healthy employees.
Companies rely upon the resources provided by a healthy planet, such as water, energy, clean air, healthy soil, and more.
Customers are demanding more responsible companies that make more environmentally-friendly products, yet research shows that most companies are just making minor incremental changes and gradually advancing through a progression of stages of corporate sustainability. A radical change based upon science will set the company well beyond its competitors and produce benefits such as increased market share, reduced costs, and increased profits.