**8. Why sustainability?**

Almost all corporations in the contemporary period voice their concerns regarding stakeholder groups beyond the realm of financial stakeholders (shareholders and creditors). Customers, employees, and suppliers are all targets of concerns since they are groups who interact and have a direct influence upon a firm's operation and profitability. More extrinsic stakeholders such as social groups, community groups, or environmental activists are indirectly affected by a firm's operations—but they are also targeted. As indicated in stakeholders' theory, a business's operation in the current business climate cannot be sustained if their stakeholders are not satisfied.

Corporate sustainability is not just a new concept in management theory—but the concept has been proposed and discussed by economist for a few decades now. The questions as to why it is needed for current business strategies can be evidenced by many concrete demonstrations and by the work of many academicians. In general, corporate sustainability or stakeholder theory has become the prominent theory because the conventional theory, which emphasizes on a single group of stakeholders or stockholders, is not sufficient to explain the vagaries of the current business climate. Business in this current environment of high and effective internet communication has lowered its wall against outside influences. Their policies or practices are exposed to stakeholders who are more collective in voicing their demand against unjustified policies or unfair policies. There are many business cases which aptly demonstrate how businesses are in a situation of turmoil when stakeholders' welfare requirements are not satisfied. For example, the case of *Nike* in the middle of the 1990s where a transnational was blamed for the use of child labor in Pakistan; in addition, "KFC" has been the target of criticism for its use of trans-fat in its operations. In 2009, *W.R. Grace and Company* the Maryland-based chemical conglomerate had a case filed against if for exposing workers and residents to asbestos contamination in Libby, Troy, and Montana. The case has been the subject of a film entitled "A Civil Action." These cases are all good examples of businesses that got into trouble when their practices adversely affected various stakeholders, both extrinsic and intrinsic. In fact, their practices and standards did not meet the required ethical standards of a wide range of stakeholders.

Zingales [82] described the changing characteristics of modern firms by claiming that:

*"The nature of the firms is changing. Large conglomerates have been broken up, and their units have been spun off as stand-alone companies. Vertically integrated manufacturers have relinquished direct control of their suppliers and moved toward looser forms of collaboration. Human capital is emerging as the most crucial asset."*
