Management for sustainability

Authors: Dror Etzion

Publication: Nature Sustainability, Volume 1, Issue 12, Pages 744 -749, December 2018

Abstract: 

Much of the unsustainable activity that occurs in the world can be traced to organizations. Yet, because organizations are social systems, they cannot be managed for sustainability in the same way as ecosystems and natural resources. Using social systems theory, and employing the concepts of emergence, resilience and scale, I identify management principles for pursuing sustainability across an array of organizational contexts. These principles serve as a basis for an agenda to promote sustainability through logic models and experimentation. The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide an opportunity for putting these principles into action.