Principles of Sustainable Business: Frameworks for Corporate Action on the SDGs (The Principles for Responsible Management Education Series)

The basic function of companies is to add value to society.Profits are a means to an end, not an end in itself.The ability of companies to innovate, scale and invest provides them with a powerful base for positive change.But companies are also criticized for not contributing sufficiently to society’s grand challenges.An increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world creates serious governance gaps that not only require new ways of regulation, but also new ways of doing business.Can companies effectively contribute to sustainable development and confront society’s systemic challenges?Arguably the most important frame to drive this ambition was introduced and unanimously adopted in 2015: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The SDG-agenda not only defines a holistic set of global goals and targets, but also foundational principles to guide meaningful action to their achievement by 2030.Multinational companies have signed up to the SDGs as the world’s long-term b