Ecological Footprint as a management tool for corporations: Corporate Social Responsibility

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Ethics, Corporate Ethics, grade: A, course: Corporate Social Responsibility, language: English, abstract: In this paper, the value of the Ecological Footprint as a management tool for corporations that wish to operate in an environmentally responsible manner will be discussed. The paper will be outlined as followed: First, the macro context of today’s corporations operating in a globalized economy will be outlined briefly in order to disclose the environmental challenges economic entities are currently facing. Second, I will analyse the key features of the Ecological Footprint in relation to a discussion of the key characteristics that constitute corporate environmentally responsible behaviour and how environmental responsibility relates to the concept of Sustainable Development (SD). Subsequently, the third and main part of the paper will discuss the application of the Ecological Footprint using case studies to demonstrate possible business outcomes. In the conclusion, the results of the analysis will be revised in order to achieve a well- rounded understanding of the potentials and limits of the Ecological Footprint as a management tool to monitor and manage ecological assets.