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[Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business]
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The "triple bottom line" John Elkington reports, will be the business imperative of the 21st century. In Cannibals with Forks, Elkington argues that social justice, economic prosperity and environmental quality -- the three key elements of this triple bottom line -- will be the yardsticks against which corporate performance will be measured.
The book is divided into four main parts. The first, entitled "Sustaining Capitalism", provides an overview of the "business-and-environment" debate to date. The second, "Seven Revolutions", identifies seven imminent "sustainability revolutions", which are poised, Elkington argues, to lead us to a world full of "sustainable corporations". These seven characteristics (or "7-D thinking", in Elkington's words) are: markets, values, transparency, life-cycle technology, partnerships, time and corporate governance. For each, Elkington identifies society's particular goal, gives some examples of situations in which the goal has been reached, and identifies some barriers to, and opportunities for, widespread achievement of the goal. Part 3 of the book is entitled "Transition". In this, Elkington tells businesses how they too can become sustainable corporations. Finally, the fourth part, "Toolbox", summarizes much of the book by presenting a brief analysis of how we might audit for sustainability.
The book is lively and the arguments are supported by many different examples. In fact, this is probably the book's greatest strength: Elkington presents fascinating insights into corporate thinking and illustrations of corporate action. Many of these have been acquired through his experience as a consultant, heading one of Europe's most-visible environmental consulting companies (SustainAbility).
Cannibals with Forks is by no means conservative in its presentation. It is full of terms which will probably be new to those not used to reading business publications: "mind bombs" (as in companies "use mind bombs to dislodge established competitors and open up new markets") and "shear zones" (as in the intersection...