RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A JAPANESE APPROACH

Abstract

There is a growing recognition of the positive effects the activities carried on by conscious and responsible
 companies have on various stakeholders such as employees, customers, business partners, investors, shareholders,
 governments, communities,and the environment. This is why corporate management has understood that long-term
 business success is based on the establishment and development of good relationships with a wide range of
 stakeholders. In recent decades, the debate about the need for responsible management has risen above average and
 an impressive amount of literature on this topic has emerged. Business managers increasingly understand that
 engaging in the sustainability issue brings benefits to companies, the environment and to society as a whole. The
 purposes of the paper are to present -based on an extended literature review- the concepts of responsible management
 and sustainable development and to exemplify their relationship in the case of a Japanese company. In order to achieve
 such ends, the authors have used a quantitative research method. The paper demonstrates that there is a relationship
 between these two concepts. First, responsible management and sustainable management represent multidimensional
 concepts that encompass not only an economic dimension, but also a social dimension and an environmental
 dimension. Second, both concepts involve a wide range of duties and obligations assigned to various actors such as
 governments, multinational corporations or small companies. Also, it shows that responsible management contributes
 to sustainable development in a multitude of ways.