Even less progress in defining this concept
appears to have been made by the organizations
that employ “sustainability” professionals.
“Sustainability” was recently identified in an annual
guide to corporate newspeak as one of the most
abused terms in the corporate vernacular (“Urban
Intelligence Network”). The term has become a
corporate buzzword, applied so commonly and
ubiquitously that it has become simply “a synonym for
everything that is positive,” (Kiss). This is strongly
evidenced in recent employment advertisements
for sustainability managers and directors. In their
analysis of posted job descriptions associated
with employment opportunities for sustainability
managers in US corporations, Greenwood and Bliss
reported great diversity in expectations regarding the
associated scope of duties (Greenwood and Bliss).
The descriptions varied in emphasis from not much
more than straightforward accounting to an almost
evangelistic extreme of sustainability championing,
(Morelli et al., “Sustainable Consumption”).