This book features 13 Japanese entrepreneurs who made a significant contribution to the development of society from 1868, when modernization in Japan began, to the 1950s, after World War II. They worked on solving social issues at the time through their businesses and succeeded in creating social value by solving social issues and economic value through the development of their businesses. The business philosophies they practiced have been passed on to their successors, and the companies they founded are now providing value to consumers around the world. Those 13 entrepreneurs anticipated the integration of solving social issues into corporate management, which modern companies are expected to realize under the umbrella of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by United Nations in 2015. Their trajectories provide a wealth of practical knowledge necessary to survive in a changing society and provide many valuable lessons for modern companies and their managers.

This book features 13 Japanese entrepreneurs who made a significant contribution to the development of society from 1868, when modernization in Japan began, to the 1950s, after World War II. They worked on solving social issues at the time through their businesses and succeeded in creating social value by solving social issues and economic value through the development of their businesses. The business philosophies they practiced have been passed on to their successors, and the companies they founded are now providing value to consumers around the world. Those 13 entrepreneurs anticipated the integration of solving social issues into corporate management, which modern companies are expected to realize under the umbrella of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by United Nations in 2015. Their trajectories provide a wealth of practical knowledge necessary to survive in a changing society and provide many valuable lessons for modern companies and their managers.

From being the last country in the world to open its doors to global trade in the 1850s to becoming the second industrialized nation in the 1960s, Japan has experienced impressive economic and social development over the last two centuries. In the last three decades, however, it became entrenched in a long phase of economic stagnation, dropping from second to third place in the global economy, having been overtaken by China in 2010. Inspired by the recent works on the history of capitalism, this history of business shows that the Japanese company was not the product of a unique national culture. Japanese capitalism was largely shaped by a political, economic, and institutional environment, which offered a variety of new opportunities to entrepreneurs, who also played a central role in the process of change. Rural capitalism that formed during the period of national seclusion shifted to industrial capitalism after the opening of the nation to global trade: this form of capitalism was close to those observed in other late industrializing countries, and was characterized by the monopolistic domination of large business groups or zaibatsu during the interwar years. The Second World War saw the emergence of wartime capitalism with the central government as the dominant actor in the economy, and, after 1945, the need to reconstruct the country and catch-up with advanced Western economies gave birth to a new form of capitalism based on a cooperative relationship between business and the state: communitarian capitalism, more broadly known as the Japanese Business System. The liberalization and deregulation brought new changes in the business system, marked by the emergence of financial capitalism in the 1980s and 1990s.

This open access book discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by companies in an age that increasingly values sustainability and demands corporate responsibility. Beginning with the historical development of corporate responsibility, this book moves from academic theory to practical application. It points to ways in which companies can successfully manage their transition to a more responsible, sustainable way of doing business, common mistakes to avoid and how the UN Sustainable Development Goals are integral to any sustainability transformation. Practical cases illustrate key points. Drawing on thirty years of sustainability research and extensive corporate experience, the author provides tools such as a Step-by-Step strategic guide on integrating sustainability in collaboration with stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers and investors. The book is particularly relevant for SMEs and companies operating in emerging markets. From a broader perspective, the value of externalities, full cost pricing, alternative economic theories and circular economy are also addressed.

This book tells the story of how the convergence between corporate sustainability and sustainable investing is now becoming a major force driving systemic market changes. The idea and practice of corporate sustainability is no longer a niche movement. Investors are increasingly paying attention to sustainability factors in their analysis and decision-making, thus reinforcing market transformation. In this book, high-level practitioners and academic thought leaders, including contributions from John Ruggie, Fiona Reynolds, Johan Rockström, and Paul Polman, explain the forces behind these developments. The contributors highlight (a) that systemic market change is influenced by various contextual factors that impact how sustainable investing is perceived and practiced; (b) that the integration of ESG factors in investment decisions is impacting markets on a large scale and hence changes practices of major market players (e.g. pension funds); and (c) that technology and the increasing datafication of sustainability act as further accelerators of such change. The book goes beyond standard economic theory approaches to sustainable investing and emphasizes that capitalism founded on more real-world (complex) economics and cooperation can strengthen ESG integration. Aimed at both investment professionals and academics, this book gives the reader access to more practitioner-relevant information and it also discusses implementation issues. The reader will gain insights into how "mainstream" financial actors relate to sustainable investing.

Social entrepreneurship and social innovation both seek to improve the world through social change. Whereas social entrepreneurship revolves around the business side of change, social innovation focuses on the processes through which that change is generated. This textbook provides a comprehensive analysis of both topics, covering all the characteristics and elements of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, from a conceptual and practical perspective. The book has four sections: 1) Basics and concepts of Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship; 2) Business models and generation of value in social enterprises; 3) Social innovation within traditional companies, and 4) Definition and alignment of the impact of social innovation and entrepreneurship. Students and any practitioners that want to know about social innovation or social entrepreneurship will be exposed to contemporary topics in the field as well as a variety of cases and tools for its development. With its learning objectives, reflective questions, the definition of key concepts, and exercises, this book is the definitive text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in social innovation and social entrepreneurship.