Eco-Management and AuditingEco-Mgmt. Aud. 6, 98–99 (1999)

BOOK REVIEWS

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESSSTRATEGY: LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR THE 21STCENTURY by Bruce Piasecki, Kevin Fletcher and FrankMendelson, 1998. Wiley, 348pp, £17.99 (pbk). ISBN

add to the usefulness of the book to MBA audiences, whowill be able to link such cases to their own experiences, butthe book will also be of use to undergraduates who arestudying corporate environmental management courses.

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range that I should find myself reviewing a book of

The text is written by Americans largely for an Americanaudience, however. A European audience might be left withthe impression that it is US companies that are taking the

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the same title as one of my own, published in 1993 (withAndrew Gouldson). However, this is rather a different book,and, given the last six years of development in the field, notsurprisingly, rather different and probably better! Itsstrength is that rather than using the term strategy’ in arather loose and non-specific way, this book is firmlyembedded in the modern literature on business strategy,with particular emphasis given to issues such as competitiveadvantage, new product development and stakeholderaccountability.

Perhaps what makes this book different to its manycompetitors, however, is its emphasis on leadership. I havecome to believe that whatever systems and strategies areput into place in an organization, nothing will really be veryeffective without the leadership that can embed environ-mental considerations into a company’s culture. This bookmakes a bold attempt at doing that, and it works rather well.

Sections on compliance, business strategies for environ-mental improvement and leadership are well supported,with some interesting and well written cases, which does

lead in the area of environmental responsibility, whichwould be far from true.

The book is also perhaps overly optimistic, charting whatcan be done and showing what has been done, but neverreally getting to grips with the massive contradictionsbetween corporate environmentalism and the traditionalcapitalist system. Like too many publications on the subjectof business and the environment, perhaps too much empha-sis is placed on opportunities and not enough on therealities of having to manage business in a globalizedeconomic system where cost reduction is the most import-ant driving force in business.

The content of this book is nevertheless to be welcomed.Much of its content ought to be found within mainstreamcourses on business strategy where, sadly, environmentalissues are often completely neglected.

Richard WelfordProfessor of Corporate Environmental Management,

University of Huddersfield, UK

FUNDAMENTALS OF ECONOMICS FOR ENVIRON-MENTAL MANAGERS by William F. Barron, Robert D.Perlack and John J. Boland, 1988. Quorum, 224 pp, no pricestated (hbk). ISBN 1-56720-159-8

Written as a text-book for non-economists studyingenvironmental management, it sets itself the task of provid-ing readers with an understanding of what economics has tocontribute to environmental assessment and decision-making. In this regard it acquits itself well. Introductorychapters explain the basic concepts used by economists todescribe and deal with environmental problems. Readers areexposed to concepts of supply and demand, externalitiesand property rights, with reference to environmental prob-lems. The authors skilfully avoid making the explanation of

economic concepts too technical or overwhelming fornon-specialist readers, by using familiar environmentalissues to illustrate the concepts. At times some of theexamples used seem almost trivial, but these are linked tomore substantive problems as the text progresses.

Thereafter the emphasis of the text is very much ondecision tools and comparative analysis of policy andcontrol measures. This is a sensible approach given thetarget audience, and of particular merit is the clarity withwhich discounting and benefit cost analysis are handled.Throughout, the approach taken is that the analysis shouldmake sense on an intuitive level as well as theoretical, andthis sometimes results in overly long explanations of someconcepts.

More of the excellent, clear diagrams would havebeen welcome, and improvements could be made in thelayout and presentation in a publication with a largerprint run.

CCC 0968-9427/99/020098–02 $17.50Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The final chapter contains seven well chosen examples ofenvironmental economics at work in practice. Each exampleissue is described, the economic technique used is explainedand the analysis presented. The examples used highlight thepower of economics in understanding familiar types ofproblem, and offer illuminating hints on the limitations ofthe techniques employed. This approach is sure to beappreciated by the target audience, because while it empha-sizes the usefulness of economic analysis it also highlightsthe need for it to be employed in conjunction with otherdecision tools (an insight all too frequently lost on someenvironmental economists).

With any text-book there are always limits to what canand cannot be included. It would for example have beeninteresting to include discussion of extraction of non-renewable resources. Consideration of some of the key

international policy debates could also have been included(perhaps as an additional final chapter). Issues such asclimate change and the ‘limits to growth’ spring to mind asbeing relevant to the target audience.

A further group of readers not envisaged by the authors,who could profit from use of the text, are the increasingnumber of academics from engineering, science and businessstudies disciplines who encounter economics in pursuingtheir research interests in environmental policy. It will notmake them economists, but it will help them to understandthe basis on which economic debate is being conducted.

Evan WilliamsCentre for Corporate Environmental Management, Huddersfield

University Business School, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK

BOOK REVIEWS

Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. Eco-Mgmt. Aud. 6, 98–99 (1999)

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