Building the Responsible Enterprise: Where Vision and Values Add Value provides students and practitioners who are new to sustainability and corporate social responsibility with a practical, yet academically rooted, introduction to the state-of-the-art in the field. Sandra Waddock and Andreas Rasche help readers to understand key, complex dilemmas for responsible companies and the multiple perspectives embedded in every decision about these quandaries.
The book consists of four parts, highlighting different aspects of corporate responsibility. Part I starts by discussing the context in which corporate responsibility occurs. Part II focuses on developing corporate responsibility, looking at three critical issues: the development of vision at the individual and organizational levels, the integration of values into the responsible enterprise, and the ways that a responsibility vision and core values create added value for a firm. Part III highlights the actual management practices that enable enterprises of all sorts to achieve excellence, and focuses on the roles that stakeholder relationships play in improving performance. The book concludes with a conversation about responsible management in the global village, examining the emerging responsibility infrastructure in which enterprise finds itself today.
The text relies on unique frameworks to explain the relationship between business and society, and to better understand the role that vision, supported by core values, plays in a company's success. Throughout the text, cases exemplify key concepts and highlight companies that are guiding us into tomorrow's business environment.
Industry Reviews
"Waddock and Rasche expertly mix theory with practicality to introduce students and practitioners to corporate social responsibility and how it is developed and applied in companies ... [T]his work brings a much-needed perspective to the sustainability discussion. It is a very timely and comprehensible read, even given its attention to academic literature. The authors present research findings in a readable fashion, lacing the details of studies with current examples to make the mundane come to life ... Recommended." - B. B. Vitali, CHOICE "This is a timely book. Not only does it synthesize the work of many, but also it has the potential to shift the conversation about 'corporate social responsibility' from the periphery into the mainstream where 'corporate responsibility' is the future. It is an excellent resource for students and scholars." - R. Edward Freeman, University of Virginia and author of Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art "This book is extremely readable without sacrificing attention to relevant studies. It does a wonderful job of translating research for those who do not spend their professional lives immersed in this topic." - Ann Buchholtz, Professor of Leadership and Ethics and Research Director of the Institute for Ethical Leadership, Rutgers University and coauthor of Business and Society "In their must-read book, Sandra Waddock and Andreas Rasche make a compelling case for value-creation through values. It confirms: infusing enterprises with a vision of sustainability is an indispensable ingredient for long-term success." - Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact
