In his paper on the role of HRD in sustainability and corporate social responsibility,
Tome (2011) pointed out that modern societies tend to equate success with constant
economic expansion. Challenging this fascination with growth he suggested that HRD
should play a central role in ensuring that societies, organizations, and individuals
develop a new mindset, under which success is not defined by increases in earnings
and other financial indicators alone, and satisfaction with one’s work and life is not
dependent on ever increasing levels of income.
Schumacher (1973) was one of the first scholars to point out that more is not always
better, and constant economic growth cannot be sustained in the long run. According
to Schumacher (1973), perpetual expansion is incompatible with the systems view of
economics and society; it leads to depletion of environmental resources and results in
loss of collective wisdom, degradation of moral standards, and cultivation of greed,
inequality, and oppression.