Abstract

Maintaining the sustainability of our planet is an important issue as it affects the wellbeing of future generations. Businesses can potentially play an instrumental role in addressing global warming and maintaining the ecological equilibrium of nature. Attitudes held by business executives and professionals regarding sustainable business practices can help determine the outcome of this battle. A survey instrument was administered to 166 business professionals in the Midwest United States to assess these attitudes. In general, we found that the surveyed business professionals have positive attitudes toward sustainable business practices. These attitudes were correlated with utilitarianism ethics and new business opportunities hypothesis, but not with the cost factor or a belief in a free market economy. Several background variables were found to explain the variation of the subjects’ overall attitudes toward sustainability: age, religious affiliation, political affiliation, and education.

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