Preface

Summary

One of the most important questions facing humanity is “how can we structure our interactions to that the choices of individual people and organizations are not incompatible with the welfare of society?” We confront this challenge in our everyday social interactions and in how institutions such as governments and businesses interact with each other. Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons provided a framework for understanding how and when people can construct self-governing institutions for common property resources. This book takes a similar approach to provide a framework for understanding how and when companies can produce win–win interactions with their stakeholders by improving their environmental performance. The chapter includes with acknowledgements.