New Definition of Sustainable Enterprise

The interest in the concept of sustainable development is a form of a scientific response to the challenges of transforming economies, growing expectations of local communities and societies and environmental degradation. Despite numerous definitions of sustainable development, the literature lacks a widely recognised definition of an entity that operates in a sustainable way – a sustainable enterprise. The literature review identified two definition gaps: 1) the lack of defined boundaries within which a company must operate in order to be called sustainable, and 2) the lack of a definition of the relationship between the areas in which sustainability is assessed. The authors of the article propose a new definition of a sustainable enterprise. Moreover, they give examples of organisations that, although in a selected area they carry out sustainable activities, they cannot be called sustainable.The interest in the concept of sustainable development is a form of a scientific response to the challenges of transforming economies, growing expectations of local communities and societies and environmental degradation. Despite numerous definitions of sustainable development, the literature lacks a widely recognised definition of an entity that operates in a sustainable way – a sustainable enterprise. The literature review identified two definition gaps: 1) the lack of defined boundaries within which a company must operate in order to be called sustainable, and 2) the lack of a definition of the relationship between the areas in which sustainability is assessed. The authors of the article propose a new definition of a sustainable enterprise. Moreover, they give examples of organisations that, although in a selected area they carry out sustainable activities, they cannot be called sustainable