In my last post I listed 10 books of the Noughties that make the case that contemporary capitalism is failing most of us. So what if you are convinced that business has to change: how do you set about changing it?

This second list features ten of the best titles published over the last decade on the subject of advancing sustainability in business.

The first five books help you make the case for change within your organization. Whereas the majority of books on sustainability argue that change should be advocated using the argument that “being good generates more profit”, - an argument that fails to bring about necessary change in those cases where behaving responsibly costs money - the selected books make the case that business has to change because society’s expectations of business have changed – with social and political consequences if business resists.

The second five books present management frameworks, perspectives and skills that will help to transform a business into a more responsible and sustainable organization.

1.  Value Shift: Why Companies Must Merge Social and Financial Imperatives to Achieve Superior Performance by Lynn Sharp Paine

Written by one of the only business school professors around with the intellectual integrity to point out the devastating flaw in the argument that you can rely on the pursuit of profit to motivate business to act responsibly. Paine argues clearly that there is something beyond shareholder value changing the business landscape, though she stops short of detailing what those other forces might be.

2.  The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy by Lisa Dodson

This book looks at the consequences of failing to reconcile business practices and ideologies with the better side of human nature. Put people in a situation where their freedom of conscience is restricted and they will find opportunities to resist. People like Bank of America’s Jackie Ramos.

3.  The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society by Frans De Waal

De Waal's latest exploration of what makes people tick. Why is it here on a list of books about business sustainability? Because the ideology and institutions of contemporary capitalism systematically undermine the application of empathy, and I argue that is a core reason why capitalism is in crisis, and why we will increasingly witness resistance like that illustrated in The Moral Underground above.

4.  The Market for Virtue: The Potential And Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility by David Vogel

David Vogel's book is here because he articulates clearly the limits of the supposed "business case" for responsible business behavior on which 90% of corporate responsibility advocates rely.

5.  The Civil Corporation: The New Economy of Corporate Citizenship by Simon Zadek

Zadek does a great job of describing the phenomenon of civil regulation - the pressures being brought to bear on business to improve its conduct. My only criticism is that Zadek is too focused on non-governmental organizations engaged in civil regulation, and ignores the more organic way in which individuals inside and outside business are advancing the movement for responsibility

6.  Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman

Daniel Goleman is best known for his old book on Emotional Intelligence, but this newer book is more than an excuse to include Goleman's work in the present list. Social Intelligence brings the focus to bear on the importance of relationships at work, and what it takes to nourish them. Crucial for those seeking ways to move from business based on transactions to one of relationships.

7.  Making Sustainability Work: Best Practices in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts by Marc J. Epstein

A very solid, reasonably comprehensive sustainability management framework in a single volume. The main criticism is that the case for action relies on the business case, and Epstein pays almost no attention to questions of character and empathy.

8.  Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success (The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics Series in Ethics and Lead) by R. Edward Freeman

This book is the most recent encapsulation of Edward Freeman's stakeholder view of the firm. Freeman is the father of stakeholder theory.

9.  Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough

A simple but popular book that is great simply for throwing into question the way in which products are designed. Simple and radical.

10.  Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by L. Hunter Lovins

Add together these new ways of doing business and what kind of economy will take shape? This book presents a now classic vision of sustainable business.

If you have enjoyed these two selections of books, do take a look at the other selections available at the APEsphere bookshop. This is an Amazon affiliate focused on responsible business and engaged, sustainable living. By buying your books from our bookshop you help cover the costs of running APEsphere – and you pay the same price that you would on the main Amazon site. Please take a visit and support APEsphere.