Abstract:
ABSTRACT
REDEFINING BUSINESS AS USUAL: A CASE STUDY FOCUSING
ON THE SOCIAL ASPECT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
IN BUSINESS
by
Tami Wanda Kautz
Master of Arts in Social Science
California State University, Chico
Summer 2009
A systems approach to monumental change requires solidarity between people,
business and government. Redefining and reestablishing eco conscious social
norms to bridge the gap between current social apathy and continued ‘business as usual’
is imperative. Redefining the current scope of social sustainability in general, in business,
and in government and recreating social sustainability to encompass people based
solutions is the focus of this thesis.
This is a study measuring the impact of a sustainable intervention. CSU,
Chico students developed a program called SCOOP, Sustainable Consultation of Office
Practices, which assesses campus offices and offers recommendations aimed at benchmarking
sustainable office practices (n = 84 pre survey; 55 post survey; mean age: 18–25, female = 85.7% pre survey; 64.3% post survey). The study collected data pre and
post intervention.
Research found that a sustainable intervention such as SCOOP successfully
impacted participants’ knowledge of sustainable office practices in nearly 50% of the
staff exposed to the intervention. The study finds that an increased level of environmental
knowledge, interests and networks effects people’s willingness to change their
behaviors. Networking was an identifiable factor in the intervention population. The
study found that 50 of the office staff had discussed the intervention in some capacity
and 70 % of the 50 had discussed SCOOP with a co-worker, staff council or an office
manager.
It was found that a significant portion of the staff polled were indeed concerned
regarding environmental issues and those concerns had impacted their behavior.
The study found that environmental concerns impacted some behaviors but not others.
