Summary

A major dilemma for businesses has been the struggle to understand how to adopt and implement proactive environmental practices while meeting the core business objectives of growth and competitive advantage. The international contributors - leading scholars in the field of environmental strategy and management - shed light on this difficult balance as they examine the generation and deployment of capabilities, processes, and routines that help a business develop advanced environmental practices while simultaneously lowering costs and creating differentiation benefits.

The first book to gather cutting-edge research on this complex relationship, Corporate Environmental Strategy and Competitive Advantage presents conceptual ideas and empirical findings, as well as a valuable review of extant literature and future directions for researchers. At an organizational level of analysis, the topics covered include the external and internal antecedents of environmental capability-building including public policy, stakeholder engagement, managerial and organizational values, and human resource practices, and the outcomes of such capabilities in terms of environmental innovation. At a macro level, the topics covered include an examination of capabilities that will help organizations detect and prepare for extreme environmental events, and the development of clusters/networks of innovation to tackle sustainability problems that transcend organizational boundaries.

Scholars, consultants and managers from business, the public sector, NGOs, international development institutions, and government working at the interface of business and the natural environment will find this book a necessary addition to their library.