Business’ Role in a Changing Society. Key Steps to Deliver a Purpose-Led Strategy that Responds to Climate Change and Social Inequality

Charlotte Wolff-Bye

Chapter Chapter 8 in Corporate Sustainability in Practice, 2021, pp 127-141 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Climate changeClimate change and inequality are rearing their ugly heads, and the purposePurpose of business is under question. Business seeks meaning in delivering sustainabilitySustainability ambitions. Climate changeClimate change and inequality, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, create seemingly unsurmountable challenges to business. At the same time, public sentiment and consumers call for a more sustainable world. The Paris AgreementParis Agreement and United Nations Sustainable Development GoalsSustainable Development Goals set out time-bound ambitions to prepare and deliver a better future by 2030. Expectations on business have never been greater. The purposePurpose of this chapter is to examine changes in societal norms and how this contributes to a new strategic context for business. Examples are drawn from leading business practice on how an organisation can navigate the “new normal” of great societal need, inform strategyStrategy, prepare and deliver the needed change. Consideration is also given to the growing acknowledgment of the merits for business to adopt a socialSocial purpose purposePurpose and commitment to serve broader sets of stakeholders, in addition to shareholders.

Keywords: Sustainability; Leadership; Strategy; Climate change; Paris agreement; United Nations sustainable development goals; Social purpose; Stakeholder capitalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:mgmchp:978-3-030-56344-8_8

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-56344-8_8

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