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Entangled Political Economy, the idea that the economy and the polity are a nexus of interrelations often with unplanned outcomes, is close to the concept of economics that Adam Smith presents, a concept which was not shaped by strict discipline barriers. I show that Adam Smith analyzes the nature and causes of the wealth of nations by analyzing the interaction of the economy with politics, ethics, and the law. In particular, Smith presents each of these systems as a network of relations with all the other systems: the economy is entangled not just with the polity, but also with other systems of behavior such as the law and morality. Adam Smith may help expand the horizons of the entangled political economy analysis and the explanatory powers of economics.

The triple bottom line (TBL) is still commonly explored in research without joint consideration of economic, social and environmental elements of business sustainability (BS). The purpose of this paper is to re-test and validate a BS framework based on the TBL approach.

This study is based on a questionnaire survey consisting of the largest firms in corporate Sweden. A total of 107 usable questionnaires were ultimately received, for a response rate of 36.5 percent.

The findings validate and extend a framework of a TBL-dominant logic for BS. A total of 19 dimensions indicating satisfactory validity and reliability of the BS framework were identified.

The BS framework offers relevant insights to monitor and assess a TBL-dominant logic for BS. It also provides opportunities for further research.

Managers can use the BS framework as a tool to map firm priorities in connection with BS. Each dimension of the BS framework offers insights into how to monitor and assess firms’ efforts in the TBL.

This study contributes to validate and extend the TBL-dominant logic for BS. The BS framework also offers a timely and relevant contribution to both scholars and practitioners engaging in business sustainability.

Companies and their business networks impact on Earth's life and ecosystems must be seriously addressed and minimized. The purpose of this paper therefore proposes and describes a generic model as well as a network model of business sustainability.

“Business sustainability” is defined as a company's or an organization's efforts to manage its impact on Earth's life‐ and eco‐systems and its whole business network. The work concentrates on one research question, namely: how can business sustainability and E‐footprints be conceptualised?

The model introduced emphasises not only the importance of business networks adopting an E‐footprint and an Earth‐to‐Earth (EE) cradle‐to‐cradle approach, but also a transformative Earth (E) footprint‐model derived and inspired from a causal framework in complexity sciences.

Research is rare that simultaneously focuses on EE‐approaches, E‐footprint stakeholders and zero‐sum cycles. The authors have striven to address this gap by introducing a business sustainability model in an EE‐approach and with an interconnecting transformative E‐footprint‐model.

It is crucial to embed appropriate routines and processes within the company in the first instance with the aim of business sustainability. This may cause a ripple effect in the company's business network as raw material producers, value‐adding suppliers and customers become drawn into make appropriate strategic, tactical and operative adaptations in their own business dealings. This stresses the importance of E‐footprint stakeholders fostering networks of both interdependent and collaborative corporate efforts aimed at business sustainability.

The main contribution should be a business sustainability model of life and ecosystems from an EE‐approach with a transformative E‐footprint.model. Each company within a business network must endeavour to minimise its E‐footprint through its zero‐sum cycles. These should be seen as interdependent and interconnected thereby contributing to the total E‐footprint of the business network.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a transformative business sustainability (TBS) model of stakeholders and sources in sustainable business practices with an interface and exchange node of resource residuals.

The research is based upon a grounded methodology drawn from four in-depth case studies, spanning over six years in different countries and industries. Data were gathered from multiple sources, and interview transcriptions were returned to interviewees for clarification, accuracy, final proofreading and approval.

The TBS model complements existing research by emphasising the importance of commitment to an overarching vision through corporate leadership assigning areas of strategic priority that respond to current and future environmental regulation and social needs.

Efforts aimed towards business sustainability and application of sustainable business practices in business networks include interfaces and interactions between involved stakeholders and sources. We argue that stakeholders and sources should be recognised as intertwined, where resources used in activities in a business network causing resource residuals may be recovered and reused by other actors in the business network.

The TBS model can be used by managers to plan, implement and assess practices to provide a holistic view of sustainable business activities that supports the development of a company and its network. It may also be used to map and navigate interactions between elements within and external to the company.

The principal contribution of the current research is twofold, a TBS model and a tool to map and navigate corporate sustainability efforts.

Analyses changes taking place within purchasing and its environment. Interpreting such trends wisely will be necessary to achieve an optimal relationship between purchasing and other organizational units. Addresses how changes in purchasing affect profit generation, securing of new and better suppliers, achieving higher “real value” in products bought, dealing with new and emerging forms of sales pressure (including related supplier strategies and tactics), improving price hike rationale assessment, and determining effective purchasing strategy relative to prevailing economic conditions‐all of which are leading to a broadened role and relevance of purchasing today. Discusses current, significant purchasing trends, how they will influence future decision making, and the need for purchasing to help establish and maintain strong cross‐functional ties with all relevant parties. Directs analysis and discussion towards all individuals and groups affecting or being affected by the purchasing function domestically and abroad.

The purpose of this paper is to validate a triple bottom line (TBL) construct, as well as to describe the TBL reasons for implementing sustainable business practices in companies and their business networks.

This study reports on the validation of a TBL construct, in a Spanish context, of a study originally conducted in Norway. In this validation study, 230 companies were selected for participation. A total of 89 usable questionnaires were returned, generating a response rate of 38.5 per cent.

The empirical findings indicate major similarities and minor differences between organizations in Spain and Norway across two studies. By extension, the empirical findings appear to be valid and reliable across contexts and through time.

This study explains the structural properties of the main reasons for business sustainability (economic, social and environmental) and business sustainability efforts in companies and the supply chains or business networks.

Business sustainability efforts need to be assessed in a systematic manner, and the validated TBL construct offers a foundation for doing this, though it needs to be complemented with other elements and details in connection with business sustainability.

Business sustainability efforts have been evolving over time and are increasingly seen to consider economic viability, as well as environmental sustainability and social responsibility. This study deals with how these elements of TBL are interrelated with respect to business sustainability.

Purchasing continues to be asked to keep prices down while securing more and better services. Operating under rapidly changing conditions, purchasing personnel are experiencing anxiety due to constraints that are not easily controlled. Such uncertainty calls for improvements in operational and strategic purchasing. To buy more for less under such uncertain conditions requires considerable discipline in buying. Yet, it can offer a valuable hedge against increasingly stiffer competition.

The performance of the industrial purchasing department must be reconsidered and re‐evaluated in the light of the recent importance found in quality orientation, persistent economic uncertainty, supply shortages and expected service commitment. There is a need to determine feasible price‐service options. The price objectives of suppliers now include impact on organisational image, and the effects of prices charged on investment, market share and profit maximisation. Pricing tactics, rather than other cost‐related concerns, are used to gain market share, so industrial buyers need to be aware of suppliers' strategies, and must also assess service levels and performance quality. This examination of the factors in purchasing strategy suggests that it must be capable of reaching to a complex environment.Both buyer and seller must re‐think (a) the value the buyer places in the product, (b) the costs incurred and (c) the price structure and behaviour of competitors.