Bookshelf

Doing Business by Respecting the Earth

January 6, 2013 675

confessions_radical_industrialistIs it possible to be a part of big business and a citizen of the earth at the same time? Get a primer on these issues in “Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose—Doing Business by Respecting the Earth” (St. Martin’s Press, 2010) by Ray C. Anderson with Robin White. The book, reviewed in Organization & Environment’s September 2012 issue by Linda C. Forbes of Western Connecticut State University, offers a “compelling” personal tale:

Ray Anderson’s story of his company, Interface, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of carpet tiles, is a compelling one. It ranks among the most legendary and notable of our time. In 1994, in response to a simple, but critical question about what his company was doing for the environment, Anderson had an epiphanal experience. He had been given and read Paul Hawken’s Ecology of Commerce: A O&E_Mar03_72ppiRGB_150pixDeclaration of Sustainability (1993). So moved was Anderson that he set a course not only to change how his company did business, but also to establish Interface as a leader in a far-reaching campaign for sustainable enterprise. Self-convicted in this book and elsewhere as a “plunderer, a destroyer of the earth, a thief of my grandchildren’s future” (p. 8), Anderson documented the challenges of and the progress made toward achieving a goal of “Mission Zero” (zero footprint) at Interface.

Click here to read the review in Organization & Environment, and sign up for customizable e-alerts to be notified about the latest book reviews from O&E.

Business and Management INK puts the spotlight on research published in our more than 100 management and business journals. We feature an inside view of the research that’s being published in top-tier SAGE journals by the authors themselves.

View all posts by Business & Management INK

Related Articles

Challenging, But Worth It: Overcoming Paradoxical Tensions of Identity to Embrace Transformative Technologies in Teaching and Learning
Business and Management INK
March 27, 2024

Challenging, But Worth It: Overcoming Paradoxical Tensions of Identity to Embrace Transformative Technologies in Teaching and Learning

Read Now
Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in the Complex Environment of Megaprojects: Implications for Practitioners and Project Organizing Theory
Business and Management INK
March 21, 2024

Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in the Complex Environment of Megaprojects: Implications for Practitioners and Project Organizing Theory

Read Now
Putting People at the Heart of the Research Process
Business and Management INK
March 20, 2024

Putting People at the Heart of the Research Process

Read Now
Coping with Institutional Complexity and Voids: An Organization Design Perspective for Transnational Interorganizational Projects
Research
March 19, 2024

Coping with Institutional Complexity and Voids: An Organization Design Perspective for Transnational Interorganizational Projects

Read Now
Empowering David: How Smaller Firms Reconfigure National Dependency on Foreign Multinationals in the Era of Disruptive Technological Change

Empowering David: How Smaller Firms Reconfigure National Dependency on Foreign Multinationals in the Era of Disruptive Technological Change

In this article, Sonja Avlijaš, Pavle Medić, and Kori Udovički reflect on foreign direct investment (FDI) and the way it impacts the development of political economies.

Read Now
The Complexities of Making Key Career Decisions

The Complexities of Making Key Career Decisions

practice. Career decision-making is a process that is difficult to analyze because it is much more complex than selecting the best option in a one-off choice.

Read Now
Revolutionizing Management Research with Immersive Research Methods

Revolutionizing Management Research with Immersive Research Methods

In this article, Anand van Zelderen, Nicky Dries, and Elise Marescaux reflect on their decision to explore nontraditional research.

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments