a sustainable business means a business that can thrive in the long term.

Sustainability is
bigger than a PR stunt or a green product line, bigger even than a heartfelt but occasional nod
to ongoing efforts to save the planet. Imagined and implemented fully, sustainability drives a
bottom-line strategy to save costs, a top-line strategy to reach a new consumer base, and a
talent strategy to get, keep, and develop creative employees. True sustainability has four equal
components:

 social, to address conditions that affect us

all, including poverty, violence, injustice,
education, public health, and labor and human
rights
 economic, to help people and businesses
meet their economic needs—for people: securing
food, water, shelter, and creature comforts; for
businesses: turning a profit
 environmental, to protect and restore the
Earth—for example, by controlling climate
change, preserving natural resources, and
preventing waste
 cultural, to protect and value the diversity
through which communities manifest their identity
and cultivate traditions across generations

Although the challenges to sustainability are acute, there has never been a better time than the
present for a company to play a critical role in helping to resolve them while building up its
business. Many of the social and environmental trends we face are sad, even tragic, but
sustainability isn’t about throwing your business down the drain and embracing your inner saint.
That’s one reason for looking beyond the green aspects of sustainability and using its social,
economic, and cultural sides as tools for building successful companies. Green businesses,
green jobs, and emerging green economies will be a central part of the new world now being
born, but green alone isn’t a broad enough platform to sustain most businesses for the long
haul. Those that take into account broader social issues will be better able to thrive and to lead.

Corporate Stakeholder

In business, a stakeholder is any individual, group, or party that has an interest in an

organization and the outcomes of its actions. Common examples of stakeholders include
employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, communities, and governments. Different
stakeholders have different interests, and companies often face tradeoffs when trying to please
all of them.

Company Interests

Company stakeholders have a social responsibility to act for the good of the entire company,
not just their own self-interests. The policies for which stakeholders push must not be based
purely on financial gain. For example, stakeholders may have the opportunity to increase their
own wealth if they push to merge the company's subsidiaries into the parent company. This
merger, however, could limit the company's ability to serve multiple markets, hinder its product
diversification or create other problems. Stakeholders must push for a strategy that focuses on
long-term gain and growth for their company.

Market Interests

Stakeholders must consider the interests of their market when implementing company policy or
new business strategies. The needs and desires of stakeholders may not align with those of the
consumers for which the company produces products. For example, a company that produces
high-optioned vehicles for low prices might be able to squeeze more profit out of customers by
charging for the options, but it would alienate its customers. Stakeholders must consider the
social impact of their segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) in the marketplace. The
company's STP is the type of customer to which it sells products (segment), the advertising
method it uses to reach that customer (targeting) and the current marketing advantage it has
among competitors in the industry (positioning).