Profits and Sustainability

G.  Jones

Book | 2017

Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This book explores whether profits and environmental sustainability are compatible through the lens of a global history of green entrepreneurship between the nineteenth century and today. It tells the story of the extraordinary and often eccentric men and women who defied convention and imagined that business could help save the planet rather than consume it. The social and religious beliefs that drove many of these individuals are explored as the book explores how they overcame huge obstacles to execute their strategies in industries as diverse as renewable energy, organic food, natural beauty, eco-tourism, recycling, architecture, and finance. The pioneering efforts to build certification schemes and environmental reporting are examined, alongside the contested relationship between green business and governments. The struggles of entrepreneurial pioneers have rarely proved profitable, as they were forced to compete with conventional businesses that ignored negative environmental externalities and were often subsidized by governments in the United States and elsewhere. Yet the book shows that these entrepreneurs contributed significantly to the growth of environmental awareness among consumers, business leaders, and others. However the Earth's environmental health has continued to deteriorate. If combining profits and sustainability has proved challenging in the past, and remains so today, the book argues that one reason was how they have both been defined.

Keywords: Environmental Entrepreneurship; business history; Green Business; sustainability; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Business History; Religion; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Banking Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Alternative Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Green Technology Industry; Tourism Industry; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America; Oceania;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Jones, G. Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves

Geoffrey Jones

This working paper examines the impact of modern business enterprise on the natural environment of Latin America during the globalization waves between the 19th century and the present day. It argues that although global capitalism created much wealth for the region, this was at the cost of massive ecological destruction in Latin America. During the first global economy considerable wealth was created from the exploitation of natural resources for the land-owning elite in Latin America, at the cost of large-scale ecological destruction. During the Great Reversal in the mid-20th century, public policies aimed at “catching up” resulted in the co-proliferation of hydro-electric schemes and resulting co-creation of ecological damage by firms and governments. In the new global economy since 1980, renewed economic growth and consumerism resulted in mountains of waste in increasingly polluted mega-cities. Biodiversity and the natural environment have been challenged across the subcontinent. However, there were interesting positives as these ecological horrors also created opportunities for a surprising cohort of green businesses across sectors ranging from beauty and health to ecotourism. In the 21st century, both business and governments in the region needed to address sustainability issues far more seriously, before a point of no return was reached.

Keywords: Globalization; Natural Environment; Outcome or Result; Business History; Pollution and Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Tourism Industry; Latin America;

Citation:

Jones, Geoffrey. "Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-009, August 2018. View Details

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This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career of Joan Bavaria, who created Trillium Asset Management in 1981, and went on to found the Social Investment Forum and the Ceres Principles. Ceres launched the Global Reporting Initiative in 1997. The case enables a critical discussion of Socially Responsible Investment and certification for corporate social and environment responsibility.

This case examines the role of Cisco led by John Chambers in facilitating web filtering in China. It begins by tracing the origins of Cisco as a pioneer of networking equipment. John Chambers, who had worked as a sales manager at IBM and Wang Laboratories, joined Cisco in 1991 and became CEO in 1995. The company expanded rapidly thereafter, acquiring many firms and growing globally, including in China, where it virtually created the internet. The case explores how the firm facilitated surveillance and monitoring of the internet under the Golden Shield project launched in 2000, and in 2004 served as a key participant in the CN2 upgrade which greatly enhanced official capability to filter content online. The case ends in 2007 with Chambers announcing further capital expenditure in China, but facing growing criticism by US Congress and others for Cisco's human rights record. At the same time, Cisco faced a powerful domestic competitor in China, Huawei, which had grown rapidly by investing in innovation even as Cisco pursued a share buy-back campaign after experiencing a sharp fall in its share price following the end of the Dot Com bubble. The case provides a vehicle for exploring the ethical and human rights responsibilities of corporations in the technology sector, as well as the impact of the internet on democracy.

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Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship

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