From the Back Cover
"The Age of Responsibility is an important book that should be studied carefully by all those seriously interested in the past, present and future of CSR. This book is a significant contribution to the theory and practice of CSR and it will be valued by academics and practitioners alike. I strongly recommend it."
--Archie B. Carroll, Professor of Management Emeritus, Terry College of Business and author of Business and Society
"Executives, students and citizens should read this book, and make it an integral part of our conversation about business."
--R. Edward Freeman, Director of the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and author of Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach
"Rich with insight, information and analyses, and highly readable for its excellent writing and poignant stories."
--Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (book and documentary film)
"Wayne Visser is a consistently reliable guide to (and champion of) the emerging CSR 2.0 mindsets and practices."
--John Elkington, Co-Founder and Director, Volans Ventures and co-author of The Power of Unreasonable People
"Wayne Visser's The Age of Responsibility calls for a vital shift from rights to responsibility. It is a must read for all."
--Vandana Shiva, author of Earth Democracy and Soil Not Oil
Business is doing more than ever before to tackle issues like climate change, poverty, human rights and corruption. So why are things are getting worse, not better? Why are environmental and social trends still headed in the wrong direction? Wayne Visser argues that traditional approaches have failed, leaving business stuck in the Ages of Greed, Philanthropy, Marketing and Management. Using Web 2.0 as a metaphor, he shows how business needs to radically transform if we are to ever reach a true Age of Responsibility. The required systemic approach is dubbed CSR 2.0 and characterised by five key principles: creativity, scalability, responsiveness, glocality and circularity. Citing more than 300 cases to illustrate 'the good, the bad and the ugly' of corporate sustainability and responsibility, the book describes how the new DNA of business is fast being decoded in the areas of value creation, good governance, societal contribution and environmental integrity.
Having set out a compelling vision of the future, The Age of Responsibility describes how to get there by exploring change at the societal, organisational and individual level. Readers are left not only informed, but also inspired to make a difference. This book is the most challenging and exciting account of the future of business that you're likely to read all year.
Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank CSR International and the author/editor of twelve books, including nine on the role of business in society. In addition, he is a Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor in CSR at the La Trobe Graduate School of Management in Australia.
