us, the Natural Step framework includes four core processes for sustainable development that companies must integrate into their organizations. Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, on whose scientific and environmental research the framework is based, likened these core processes or "first order principles" to a tree's trunk; they are the stable entities that provide the foundation for the entire system (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 21).
The first core process of the Natural Step framework is that businesses must perceive their self-interested need to shift to sustainable development (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 18). The authors maintain that businesses that do not fully appreciate the symbiotic relationship between the corporation and its ecology are unlikely to succeed (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 27). The second core process of the Natural Step is that businesses must understand what Dr. Robert identified as the four system conditions that define social sustainability: (1) it is unnatural for substances to be systematically extracted from the Earth; (2) it is unnatural for human-produced substances to be systematically released into the Earth; (3) it is unnatural to systematically degrade the Earth by physical means; and (4) human needs must be met worldwide (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 23).
The third process in the Natural Step framework is what Nattrass & Altomare (1999, p. 18) call "strategic visioning." This means that businesses must envision a sustainable future and adapt their system to achieve that vision. This vision is the responsibility of corporate executives who must then inspire that vision as a goal in their shareholders and employees (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 25). Fourth and finally, businesses must draft the plan to achieve their vision (Nattrass & Altomare, 1999, p. 18).
Nonetheless, despite this outlining of the Natural Step, the the authors hint at the relative novelty of their approach by first su...