Cranfield on Corporate Sustainability

Business schools have a special contribution to make in developing globally responsible, critical and independent-thinking future leaders and managers. In fact, the Cranfield School of Management acknowledges this as one of its important responsibilities. Its core ideology is to transform the practice of learning and create leaders who action their knowledge and become stewards of the common good. Such thinking forms the basis of this book and its theme of developing responsible and ethical leaders for next-generation enterprises. These leaders will be passionate, purposeful and responsible; their primary aim will be to make a difference in the lives of people and create sustainable value premised on sound ethical values. This book aims to provide a roadmap both for business students – the leaders of tomorrow – and for existing and engaged leaders who need support, coaching and counselling to address the challenges of the sustainability agenda.

With contributions from more than 30 Cranfield faculty and associates across multiple management disciplines, the book emphasises the need for cross-disciplinarity when confronting sustainability dilemmas. Many corporate responsibility practitioners find themselves isolated from core business issues. Conversely, many managers in traditional departments have little or no knowledge of what sustainability and corporate responsibility means to their day-to-day role. Today, there is an urgent need for learning, for conversation and for sustainability to become embedded throughout an organisation’s DNA.

"Cranfield on Corporate Sustainability" is designed to stimulate debate about what sustainable development means for business and, therefore, on what business schools across the globe should research, teach and advise.