Sustainable development makes sense for businesses because of new market opportunities and added value for the corporation, while also increasing profitability in the long run. Additionally, individuals have become more aware of issues related to sustainability and put more pressure on businesses. This trend is expected to continue in the following years.
Social/Environmental Sustainability
This concept has taken off so rapidly in the last years because companies realized there is a distinct advantage for the company that integrates corporate responsibility into its business strategy. The primary advantage is the fact that the company is able to create value for the organization through a better integration of its services with the primary stakeholders, which are not always limited to the customers or the shareholders (Heine, Scheurecker, 2009).
This overarching effect that sustainable development has is the result of an effort to comprise environment, business growth and society in the company's business strategy (Galvao, 2008). A company that is active in all three of these areas can capitalize, as pointed previously, through the added value that such an approach brings. By including all these three directions, the company can better coordinate its activities, including by drawing advantages from a closer cooperation with the local community or with the civil society. Just as a simple example, a sustainable development policy can mean that the company is involved in its community and that it can eventually recruit human resources from the community, increasing company value.
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