Creating Ecological Value

'Boons has produced a thoroughly well researched, informed and informative study on creating economic and ecological value. Written for those interested in business and sustainability whether they be academic faculty, students or business people who have both the interest and time, this book will repay some careful and close reading.' -- John Blewitt, Environmental Values
'Creating Ecological Value is a timely contribution that matches recent trends in innovation economics suggesting that an evolutionary notion of system innovations and a sector-specific industrial dynamics perspective are a suitable analytical framework for the way in which firms address sustainability challenges through innovation.' -- Marcus Wagner, University of Wurzburg, Germany
'We cannot expect to solve the environmental problems we face today by narrowing our focus on single firms. We need to think more systemically. In his book, Creating Ecological Value, Frank Boons takes on this challenge. While his research begins by exploring the diversity of environmental strategies adopted by companies, he moves his analysis next to the level of the production and consumption systems to understand how these strategies shape and alter them. His work considers how the diffusion of strategies and novel approaches can be facilitated but also finds that the systems into which these strategies are imposed are resilient and, at times, resistant to change. He offers plenty of ideas to ponder as we consider how the market system as a whole addresses environmental issues.' -- Andrew J. Hoffman, The University of Michigan, US
'Humans as scientists and managers often draw on metaphors to help describe and understand the complex issues they observe or manage. As human activities begin to bump up against the constraints set by natural systems there is a tendency to search for metaphors from natural science - biomimicy or industrial ecology - have been around for some time now. In this book, Frank Boons explores the power of ideas from evolutionary science as metaphor to understand economic systems. This is complex work, but, he does it with skill; remembering that a metaphor is powerful not just in what it explains but even more in what it doesn't serve to explain.' -- Nigel Roome, Free University of Brussels, Belgium and TiasNimbas Business School, Tilburg, The Netherlands