Why sustainability makes business sense

SMU Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) Joanne Tay opined that sustainability is neither solely about being green and charitable, nor solely about maximizing profit. Instead, it combines the three aspects of economic performance, environmental impact and social contribution. Sustainability is not about handicapping SMEs with more regulations and cost, but about enabling companies to profitably grow over the long-term by meeting the combined needs of owners, employeers, society and the environment. The real question is whether the SMEs can afford not to be sustainable.