3rd Edition

Responsible Business Foundations of Ethical and Sustainable Management

By Oliver Laasch, Alex Hope Copyright 2025
    496 Pages 97 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    496 Pages 97 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    As sustainable development becomes an increasingly important strategic issue for all organizations, there is a growing need for management and executive education to adapt to this new reality. This textbook provides a theoretically sound and highly relevant introduction to the topic of socially and environmentally responsible business. The authors take a “competence-based approach” to responsible management education. The book aims to go beyond the traditional domains of teaching and towards the facilitation of learning across key competences. Each chapter in this book has a section dedicated to exercises that cover five core competences – know, think, do, relate, be – to enable self-directed transformative learning.

    Drawing from the classic background theories such as corporate sustainability, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility, these concepts are applied to the most up-to-date practices. The book covers an international perspective, featuring cases from countries all around the world, has a strong theoretical basis, and fully integrates the topics of sustainability, responsibility and ethics. The book includes a wide variety of tools for change at individual, company and systemic levels resulting in both an essential resource for business students at all levels and self-study, practical handbook for executives.

    Introduction to the third edition  A. Contextualizing  1. The state of the planet  2. A history of business, society and environment  3. Climate Change  B. Conceptualizing  4. Sustainability  5. Sustainable Development Goals  6. Responsibility  7. Ethics  C. Managing  8. Responsible management process  9. Practice norms  10. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion  D. Strategizing  11. Sustainable Economics  12. Envisioning responsible business  13. Strategic management  E. Implementing  14. Implementation basics  15. Main business functions  16. Business support functions  17. Supply chain management  F. Communicating  18. Communication in responsible business  19. Communication challenges  20. Responsible Business Certification  G. Innovating  21. Innovation for change  22. Individual change  23. Organizational change  24. Systemic change

    Biography

    Alex Hope - Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor and Associate Professor of Responsible Business, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, UK.

    Oliver Laasch - Professor of Responsible Management at ESCP Berlin, adjunct professor in social entrepreneurship at the University of Manchester, and founder of the Center for Responsible Management Education.