A significant proportion of authors of green business texts proposes that managers should be the instigators and guardians of a societal change towards sustainable development. There is the notion of managerial duty towards the environment. This paper attempts to unravel the implications of this call for managerial eco-heroism. The reason that this unravelling is important is that there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that win-win situations -the 'low hanging fruit' -are progressively becoming less apparent for many firms. This implies a conflict between profitability and environmental performance.
This translates into a (perhaps familiar) scenario for business: one greener option is more expensive, and the financial gains associated with it are insufficient to justify it on the grounds of profitability -'going green' then means losing potential profits. A neoclassical and a socio-economic perspective are provided as foundations for managerial reasoning. Even though the corporate social responsibility debate is not resolved, it is nonetheless of importance, not least because environmentally proactive managers might intend to increase social well-being but actually reduce it through their green decision-making. Thus the real-world applicability of the positions adopted by the opposing philosophical schools is analysed.