Business and the Natural Environment

5 Conclusion

B&NE research has established more than a 20-year foundation of scholarly output, with trajectories showing an upward trend until the late 2000s (see figure 2.1) followed by a plateau (see figures 2.4–2.6). As we look to the future, we can expect continued work within both the mainstream literature and the specialty journals, and on both existing research streams as well as new and contradictory streams. This duality of being both on the “inside” and on the “outside” is critical to the growth and vitality of the field. It represents a healthy tension of focusing on environmental issues within the existing models, theories and paradigms of “normal science” (Kuhn, 1970) to contribute to the field while also stepping outside the domains ...