BUSINESS ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This paper begins with a brief analysis of some typical processes which affect in a dramatic way the present and the future resources of world development. Sustainability is one of the key-concepts on which a solution of these negative processes could be based. The abstract idea of sustainability can get a more substantial practical support in connection with the concept of triple bottom line, proposed by J. Elkington. The triple bottom line views the industrial performances of a corporation, considering in a synthetic perspective its environmental, economic, and social effects. But Elkington's model has its flaws, and we suggest a new way to rebuild his triple bottom line. In the end, we argue the relevance of the triple bottom line for business ethics, searching for a better conceptual frame in Archie Carroll's Four-Part Social Responsibility Model.