Luka Karalus01/06/2011ID: 1064836STMG580 Book CritiqueSustainable Value: How the worlds leading companies are doing well by doing good, by Chris Laszlo. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf.Reviewed by Luka Karalus, University of Waikato.Chris Laszlos Sustainable Value provides an exemplar for managers and students alike in how to provide value to an organisations shareholders and stakeholders through addressing the three pillars of sustainability: economic, environmental and social performance. The book is split into three parts. Part one is a fictional story about Deena and her companies move to become more sustainable. The story is a great way to create interest at the start of the book as many managers will be able to relate to the journey that Deena takes from a corporate executive who is primarily focused on financial performance and the bottom line to a sustainability champion within her organisation. The story leads in nicely to part two which encompasses a section on the new competitive environment that businesses of today must operate within followed by a number of case studies on large corporations who are global leaders in this new competitive environment and are doing well by doing good. Part two gives examples of companies who have been able to create not only stakeholder value but also improved financial performance through becoming more sustainable. This inspires the reader to think about how their own organisation could become more sustainable as the examples invoke a feeling that creating sustainable value is the best way forward in todays competitive environment. Finally, part three focuses on the methods, tools and frameworks used to create sustainable value within an organisation. It is a useful manual for all managers which will enable them to implement sustainability focused strategies that will result in competitive advantage through sustainable value creation.Part one of the book is made up of the first three chapters which tell the story of Deena the general manager of a business unit in a large multi-national corporation. The story allows readers to follow Deena from her initial reluctance to address environmental and social issues within her business; to her chance meeting with Doug, president of an apparel division of a global retailer, who enlightens Deena about sustainable value in business and whose story acts as a turning point in Deenas working life; through to Deenas commitment to making her company more sustainable which results in large financial benefits for the organisation. The story is basically used to highlight the business case for sustainability and draw the reader into having a positive mindset about the need to create sustainable value within business. It serves its purpose well as the story is not only enjoyable and easy to relate to but it also provides an underlying lesson as to how sustainability focused change can be brought about within business. The story also provides a thorough description of how to initiate and implement a sustainability strategy. However, the story does have a slight fairytale element to it, in terms of the quick success the company achieves from their sustainability strategy, which the more cynical reader is likely to find hard to believe.Chapters four to eight make up part two of Sustainable Value. In chapter four, Laszlo discusses the trends that are driving the focus towards stakeholder value as opposed to a primary focus on shareholder value and which form the basis of the new competitive environment. Many of the trends that are highlighted relate to issues that were discussed in classes throughout the 580 course and include: the public sectors ineffectiveness at addressing social and environmental issues; the rising expectations society places on business to be responsible; the ease in which stakeholder groups can communicate and gain attention through the internet; new market mechanisms which attach a price to pollution e.g. carbon taxes; and legislation requiring tougher regulations on social and environmental impacts. Public companies of today are increasingly being put under pressure by the above trends to act more responsibly in the areas of environmental and social performance. As Laszlo demonstrates there are companies which are making the most of these trends through creating sustainable value resulting in competitive advantage.Chapters five to eight are dedicated to case studies of large publicly listed companies who exemplify the benefits to be gained from the introduction of a sustainability strategy. The companies studied are DuPont, Wal-Mart, Lafarge and NatureWorks LLC. The case studies provide a relatively in-depth look at the catalysts for change, how the company initiated and implemented their sustainability strategy and the successes that arose from the implementation of the strategy. Like the story in part one of the book, the case studies are used to demonstrate to the reader that even large companies can successfully make organisation wide changes that result in the creation of sustainable value and financial gains. These case studies further support the authors goal to portray sustainable companies as being successful companies. The case studies are also a valuable learning tool for managers who may have previously struggled to see how sustainable initiatives could be implemented within their own organisation.Part three of the book, chapters nine to ten, consists of the sustainable value toolkit. This section provides managers with a manual that will enable them to implement a sustainability focused strategy within their own organisation. The section takes a highly practical approach and as a result is not the most riveting of reads. However, it does provide a lot of useful information that will benefit managers greatly through teaching them the tools needed to maximise sustainable value. Throughout the section, Laszlo uses real life industry and company examples to aid in the readers understanding of the tools used in creating sustainable value. Chapter ten defines the eight disciplines that form the core competencies required to create sustainable value (Laszlo, 2008, p. 135). These disciplines must be used in conjunction with one another to create a complete process that will enable companies to be successful in the new competitive environment. The description of each discipline provides an easy to understand explanation of why it is necessary, how it works in action and the challenges that may arise in implementing the specific discipline. The step-by-step nature of this how to manual makes it easy to follow and provides a good representation of how all the necessary disciplines fit together to create a system focused on creating value for stakeholders. Chapter 11 ends the book nicely by providing a system overview of the inter-connectedness of the disciplines. This chapter also highlights the distinction between incremental versus breakthrough sustainability initiatives. It is important to note this distinction as it is an area of sustainability management that is often the topic of debate.On the whole Sustainable Value is a highly accessible book that does not require the reader to have any background knowledge about sustainability before reading it. This makes it a good read for students and managers who have limited time and who maybe only just beginning to explore the topic of business sustainability. The inclusion of real life examples and case studies throughout the book are valuable as they aid readers in understanding the concepts and also provide evidence of the benefits that can be achieved through acting sustainably. The recommendations made in part three are easy to follow and provide a good start to those managers who are looking to begin their organisations journey into becoming more sustainable. Because of its relative simplicity the book is likely to have limited value for managers who are experienced in the area of sustainability management. However, these people are not likely to be the target audience and the book serves its purpose well as an introductory look at how companies can create sustainable value for their stakeholders.

Reference:Laszlo, C. (2008). Sustainable value: How the worlds leading companies are doing well by doing good. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf.