Business and the Natural Environment

1 Introduction

Every field of inquiry goes through a life cycle; a new idea emerges, it develops into a growing body of literature and either continues to grow or enters into decline (Downs, 1972). A sure sign of the successful growth of a field is an effort to institutionalize its history, categorize its accomplishments and project its future directions. The field of Business and the Natural Environment (B&NE) has reached that stage. After expanding in the early 1990s as a distinct field of empirical inquiry, it has grown to include contributions from the full gamut of business disciplines. By 2010, the field had matured and interest (as measured by article counts and society membership) had reached a plateau. Looking forward, there are new ...