Towards a sustainable view of the competitive system

The international debate on sustainable development has traditionally focus ed on the importance of respecting community values and safeguarding the na tural environment, privileging the social and ecological dimensions of sust ainable development. In contrast, the financial, managerial and competitive implications have been rather neglected. Such a lack is, in our opinion, e xtremely critical since the pursuit of sustainable development requires fir ms to deploy significant financial resources and managerial effort. Assumin g a business perspective on sustainable development, this article suggests a framework which may help firms and public institutions to identify the ne cessary competitive conditions for an effective evolution towards sustainab le development, and to understand the major managerial implications of such evolution. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.