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6 J. Mgmt. & Sustainability 1 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/jms6 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Management and Sustainability; Vol. 6, No. 1; 2016 ISSN 1925-4725 E-ISSN 1925-4733 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Sustainable Evolution for Global Business: A Synthetic Review of the Literature S. J. Chang' 'Illinois State University, USA Correspondence: S. J. Chang, Illinois State University, USA. E-mail: sjchang ttilstu.edu Received: October 3, 2015 Accepted: December 21, 2015 Online Published: February 25, 2016 doi: 10.5539/jms.v6nlpl URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jms.v6nlpl Abstract This paper reviews the recent literature on business sustainability. While it is almost impossible to give a universally agreeable definition of sustainability due to its scope, depth, and inclusive nature, this paper reviews a fairly large set of research efforts, both empirical and normative, that examine the sustainability issue in regards to the theoretical development, the interface between business and society, the interrelationships among firms, markets, and the public interest, sustainability measurement and assessment, as well as the changes, developments, and evolution in recent years along those lines. The uniqueness of the study is to review the literature by following the developmental and evolutionary sequences in business sustainability in order to shed light on how the concept of corporate sustainability has evolved from the traditional shareholders-focused neoclassical view and how it is advanced from the ideas of environmentalism, stakeholder theory, and CSR. Keywords: business ethics, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder theory, sustainability, sustainable evolution 1. Introduction Ever since it was first introduced by the Sierra Club in the 1970s, the term sustainability has been used in various areas with various meanings, and today it is probably one of the most overused buzzwords in business lexicon. When the term is mentioned, oftentimes other related buzzwords are also spoken, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmentalism, stakeholder theory or stakeholderism, triple bottom line (TBL), green business, 3-P (people, planet, and profits) business, socially responsible investing (SRI), corporate citizenship, ecopreneur, natural capitalism, sustainable value added (SVA), and so forth. With growing concerns over the long-run welfare of diverse corporate stakeholders, these phrases are increasingly superseded by the broader term, corporate sustainability. Thanks to continuous expansion and proliferation of global business, today people, capital, information, and technology travel more freely, rapidly, and widely than ever, and thus impact the society more widely and deeply than ever. In this rapidly changing environment, global businesses act as evolutionary change agents for the creation of a sustainable global civilization (Laszlo, 2001; Van Marrewijk, 2003; Benn, Dunphy, & Griffiths, 2006; Dunphy, Griffiths, & Benn, 2007; Visser & Crane, 2010; Hoffman, Badiane, & Haigh, 2012). In 1987 Our Common Future, the so called Brundtland Commission Report by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) formally described sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Within more academic management circles, Elkington (1994) proposed the concept of the triple bottom line (TBL) based on the idea that business goals are inseparable from the society and environment, which is essentially consistent with the corporate sustainability concept. Hawken, Lovins, & Lovins (1999) suggested the idea of natural capitalism where proper design and conceptualization of products and services can produce better results with minimal negative impact upon the environment. Dyllick & Hockerts (2002) also offer three types of capital-economic, natural, and social-in line with TBL and corporate sustainability. Considering all the discussions transpired over the years, we may define corporate sustainability as an inclusive concept that encompasses a variety of social impact issues such as environmental protection, social justice, business ethics, governance, product safety, employee welfare, diversity, and community well-being. In a world of increased demand for social welfare, on the rise is a strong normative proposition that sustainability should be

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