Sustainable Enterprise: In the Western Business Monoculture

A growing number of sustainable businesses are successfully using alternative organizational models, such as employee ownership and decentralized decision making. In addition to the material sustainability of their operations, their workplace policies and procedures are reflective of socioeconomic equality and democratic values. This all-encompassing approach—known as Holistic Business—is a progressive model well suited for an interconnected world, and holds the promise of catalyzing more just and sustainable human societies. Still, tremendous energy and capital is being invested into the century-old Western business model as a means of social change. Is this dated business vehicle equipped to transport today's change-based groups to their hopeful destination? What were the ideas that shaped the conventional model and what was it designed to do? In this highly accessible work, Timothy Clayton addresses the historical development of the Western business model and its impact on employees, communities and the environment. His insights produce an impressive and thoughtful list of ways in which changed-based organizations—despite good intention and a visionary mission statement—are often limited by the standard business vehicle from fully realizing their potential.