Centre for Sustainable Business Practices

Welcome to the research Centre for Sustainable Business Practices (CSBP) at the University of Northampton

The impact of sustainability is being felt across all business activities and is a consideration with any stakeholder relationship whether it is adopting a social responsibility approach with customers, defining environmental regulations with suppliers or exploring ways to protect shareholders and optimising decisions. CSBP was established in 2016 and has been home to active researchers within the Faculty of Business and Law. This Centre creates an interdisciplinary platform for research activity across the Faculty of Business and Law. In addition to this, it facilitates co-operation with colleagues across the University and with external partners with the goal of producing valuable research with demonstrable impact.

A fast-growing area of interest for business and for the CSBP is the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR), i.e. what businesses do for society and the environment, to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), which refers to how businesses measure, monitor and report on their social and environmental impacts. There are growing consumer, press and government pressures on businesses in this regard.

Implicit in this is the need for the public-private-third-academic sectors to work more closely together for a greater ‘collective impact’ in generating ‘social value’ and addressing some of the society’s most pressing challenges. These are encapsulated in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is significant need at a local level, where perhaps the greatest impact can be made. This means developing cross-sector social partnerships, for working together for a better, fairer and more inclusive community.

CSBP and its members are at the heart of this movement within Northamptonshire and the SE Midlands and beyond, nationally and internationally, helping charities, civic institutions and businesses work together to improve the social and business environment within which businesses operate. We help businesses ‘do well by doing good’.

Areas of Expertise

The Centre for Sustainable Business Practices has a wide range of research expertise:

§  Sustainable and Innovative Business Models, Markets & Strategies

§  Ethics, and Social Responsibility

§  Social, Psychological, Cultural & Ecological Dimensions of Organisational Sustainability

§  Standards, Sustainability Assessment, and Reporting

§  Cyber Security, Risk, and Resilience

§  Legal Frameworks and Implications

§  Technology Enhanced Greening

§  Data Analytics for Sustainability

§  Applied Systems Analysis

§  Disaster and Crisis Management

§  Business Operations, Supply Management, and Circular Economy

Application Domains

Sustainability has become more important for all companies across many industries. This has resulted in innovative business models, and new ways of working. The industries that our research fits in vary from manufacturing to agri-food, and embraces both service and product-based operations.

There is a wide range of opportunities to work with CSBP including but not limited to collaboration on research projects, graduate student sponsorship (PhD, DBA, MSc), knowledge transfer partnerships, and research contract consultancies.

Moreover, we offer advisory and consulting services that include:

§  Strategy advice & development

§  Market research

§  Business development support

§  Corporate social responsibility CSR & ESG guidance and impact measurement

§  Expert witness

§  Internationalisation support

§  Non-Executive Directorships, Trustees

§  Management training & development

If you are interested in working with CSBP, please contact:

Chair of the Centre: Dr Ebenezer Laryea  Ebenezer.Laryea@northampton.ac.uk

Deputy Chair of the Centre: Dr Chijioke Uba Chijioke.Uba@northampton.ac.uk

Outreach Lead: Adrian Pryce Adrian.pryce@northampton.ac.uk

Address:

Centre for Sustainable Business Practices (CSBP)
LH201, Faculty of Business & Law
University of Northampton
University Drive, Northampton, NN1 5PH

Website:

https://www.northampton.ac.uk/research/research-centres/centre-for-sustainable-business-practices/