The Natural Step for Business Brian Nattrass and

The authors begin with the position that the natural world provides "ecosystem services" such as oxygen production, climate regulation, detoxification and recycling of human waste, regulation of the chemical composition of the earth and the oceans, and other such services free of charge (1999, p. 4). However, they contend that these are not services that human beings can reproduce technologically, yet human beings are altering these services, perhaps irrevocably, thereby placing both the global ecosystem and human existence at risk.

Somewhat implicit in the authors' initial discussion is the belief that business motivations for impairing and altering the natural world are based on profit. But Nattrass & Altomare maintain that businesses need not compromise their commercial profits for environmental health (1999, p. 4). Rather, the authors reveal that the motivation for their book is to argue for the Natural Step framework, a business practices model th

. . .
e model. Nattrass & Altomare contend that learning organizations are able to adapt quickly to changing external circumstances (namely, the environment) because they are organized around basic corporate values and aspirations that are personified in the members of the organization (1999, p. 11). The company personnel, therefore, are able to guide corporate action toward a common vision even as internal or external circumstances change. But Nattrass & Altomare go even beyond that. They argue that fully-realized learning organizations are evolutionary in the sense that they understand that business success in a changing environment requires adaptations that anticipate and precede external (environmental) change (1999, p. 13). Thus, the authors refer to Carl Frankel's outline of four keystones for what they believe to be the current era of corporate eco-vision: (1) progress toward zero waste; (2) whole systems thinking; (3) a global vision of environmental accountability; and (4) moving toward sustainable development (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 15). In this era, the authors contend, all products and processes are designed for environment (DfE) or designed for disassembly (DfD), meaning that each product's or process' reuse or
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nattrass Altomare, Natural Step, Collins Pine, nattrass altomare, nattrass altomare 1999, altomare 1999, Dr Robert, natural step, Carl Frankel's, War Waste, Nattrass Altomare's, Step Business, Karl-Henrik Robert, Scandic Hotels, step framework, natural step framework, sustainable development, development nattrass altomare, collins pine, core processes, development nattrass, sustainable development nattrass, step framework means, global ecosystem, environmental responsibility,
Approximate Word count = 2182
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)