CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Not until recently, the issue of corporate sustainability was not taken seriously among business owners and shareholders. To them, it is just another avenue to waste funds that would otherwise be used for profitable production. But this is no longer the case, as a lot of corporations and businesses now see corporate sustainability as a prerequisite for organizational growth and profitability. (Chukwuweike, 2014). Corporate sustainability is an approach that creates long-term stakeholder value by implementing a business strategy that considers every dimension of how a business operates in the ethical, social, environmental, cultural, and economic spheres. It also formulates strategies to build a company that fosters longevity through transparency and proper employee development (Wikipedia, 2014).Corporate sustainability is an evolution on more traditional phrases describing ethical corporate practice. Phrases such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate citizenship continue to be used but are increasingly superseded by the broader term corporate sustainability. Unlike phrases that focus on “added-on” policies, corporate sustainability describes business practices built around social and environmental considerations. (Wikipedia, 2014).Corporate sustainability does not just increase a corporation’s performance, it increases their goodwill, strong brand name and reputation and by so doing brings about customer loyalty which, in turn, result in repeat purchase