Serious beach reading

If the latest John Grisham just doesn’t cut it, here are a couple of recommended new books for those interested in corporate responsibility and business growth in the developing world.

First, "Untapped: Creating Value in Underserved Markets" by Weise, Kahane, Rochlin and Landis. Building on Prahalad and Hart’s seminal “Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”, the authors bring together lessons of more recent research and a greater set of cases to emphasize how working in low-income markets can reinforce the bottom line. Visit NextBillion to read Rob Katz's interview with the authors.

Second, Andrew Savitz’s "The Triple Bottom Line – How Today’s Best-Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success and How You Can Too". One review was referenced in Christine’s July 28 blog entry, and here's another review from the Financial Times. Despite following the trend for interminable subtitles, Savitz provides a great guide to why sustainability issues should matter to managers and highlights the goal of finding “sustainability sweet spots” where shareholder and society interests are aligned.