Sustainable development: a marketing strategy for ingforming business leaders

Abstract

Sustainable development has become a touchstone for the establishment of environmental policy. There is however, little evidence of the concept being applied extensively by industry. Given the significant role industry plays in our society, this study was intended to determine what actions are required to expand its application within business strategy. Qualitative face-to-face interviews were conducted with Chief Executive Officers of fossil-fuel related industries to explore their understanding of sustainable development and to what extent they have applied the concept in their business's strategy. The research revealed their understanding of sustainable development concepts was low or nonexistent. It also identified that CEOs had a value system which recognized the natural environment and social responsibilities of business. A high level of mistrust of government environmental policy makers was also established. Recommendations for a strategy to market the concept of sustainable development were developed based on the findings. These recommendations, if implemented, would provide a higher level of adoption of the principles of sustainable development by business.