“To bring three billion new middle-class consumers into the global economy will require a revolution in resource productivity in everything from farms to fisheries to factories. Zhexembayeva’s groundbreaking book provides a road map for turning resource scarcity—the ‘overfished ocean’—into a competitive advantage. She shows how forward-looking businesses are already doing this and explains how any business can do the same.”
—Joel Makower, Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group, Inc., and author of Strategies for the Green Economy
“This book should be required reading for all business leaders who have a sensitivity for our common dependence on natural systems, whether fisheries, water, air, or soil. A compelling case for business to do good and do well!”
—Chuck Fowler, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Fairmount Minerals, Ltd.
“A resource-depleting world such as the one we currently live in entails a radical shift toward new governing principles, innovative ideas, and creative mindsets. It means taking a step back from the traditional linear economy, where everything is consumed and subsequently wasted, and finding the ‘disruptive innovation’ (as the author skillfully names it) that transforms the line into a circle. This book provides the set of rules that will guide you in taking this leap of faith, while telling the inspiring stories of the ones who have already done so. As CEO of an oil and gas company that has placed ‘resourcefulness’ as the stepping-stone of its strategy, I strongly recommend this book as an absolute must-read for any business professional ready to embark on this challenging but rewarding journey.”
—Mariana Gheorghe, CEO, OMV Petrom, and one of Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women: The International Power 50”
“If you are looking for a recipe against sustainability fatigue, this book is definitely an eye-opener. Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva makes a clear analysis of the need for a real radical, disruptive innovative approach to cope with resource scarcity. She does not aim to offer quick fixes, but she does recommend a strong thinking framework. Her business examples are intriguing and hopeful. She definitely offers the sustainability debate a new meaning and businesses the appetite to consider new business models. Refreshing!”
—Wilfried Grommen, Chief Technologist, Hewlett-Packard
“This is the best sustainability business book of the decade, no question, because it is truly a business book—it’s not about sustainability as an add-on but the future of a sensational business model innovation. If you want to lead in the circular economy, inspire new sources of value, and consistently create uncontested market space, place this book at the core of your breakthrough performance agenda. ‘This is what I’ve been looking for for a long time’—that’s exactly what I think you are going to say when you read this stunning and special book.”
—David L. Cooperrider, Fairmount Minerals Professor and Faculty Chair, Fowler Center for Sustainable Value, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
“What would happen if a smart researcher and businesswoman wrote a book on the broken state of our global economy and how to set it right? In the best case, the outcome would resemble the artful storytelling and crisp advice Nadya Zhexembayeva delivers us in Overfished Ocean Strategy. We need every person inside business and out to read Nadya’s book today. The good news: in doing so, readers will not only learn key principles for enabling a flourishing future but enjoy the process along the way. Kudos to Nadya for this fresh addition to the short list of truly hopeful and helpful guidebooks to the 21st century!”
—KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, founder and CEO, Sustainable Brands
"Nadya’s book is not about future, it’s about here and now. And a great eye opener, a call for leadership with a view."
—Patrice Briol, Group Human Resources Director, Knauf Insulation Business
“Amid the sea of dry sustainability books, Overfished Ocean Strategy is a forceful tide of cutting-edge business stories and essential facts brought vividly to life. Zhexembayeva writes with passion and experience about radical business strategies for a smarter, not just greener, world. She engages our senses and emotions to deliver the broad brushstrokes of what it will take to succeed in the future in business. A brilliant and refreshingly fast-paced read!”
—Chris Laszlo, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Case Western Reserve University, and coauthor of Embedded Sustainability
“Overfished Ocean Strategy delivers five simple principles for transforming business, not just through the next generation of sustainability but through truly smart innovation. All those who want to create new market space while creating deeper meaning for themselves and customers need to read this book.”
—Soren Kaplan, author of Leapfrogging and speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur
“The famous quote attributed to Albert Einstein warns that we cannot solve complex problems from the same mindset that first detects or diagnoses them. This important book helps us create that shift of perspective necessary to address and embrace the call of our times: to cocreate human institutions for a sustainable future. Through the five principles underlying the Overfished Ocean Strategy, the author gives practiced and actionable ways we can re-vision our current and future challenges or opportunities to produce truly sustainable enterprises that ensure individual and collective flourishing for generations to come.”
—Ronald Fry, PhD, Professor of Organizational Behavior, Case Western Reserve University
“When the question is not if but when, our responses in past decades have been more like the ocean’s waves rather than tsunamis. Today, at the edge of the tipping point, businesses, shareholders, and governments need nothing less than the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the New Reality.’ Some of the guidance we need is revealed here in this book. Nadya Zhexembayeva provides exquisite navigation through fundamental questions of meaning and of real needs, through the search beyond the boundaries of risk and of opportunities, and toward radical change. Enjoy the journey and hope to see you in the New Reality.”
—Andreja Kodrin, founder and President, Challenge: Future
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