Corporate sustainability

About: Corporate sustainability is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3517 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94075 citations.

Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Theoretical Integration of Catholic Social Teaching and the Natural-Resource-Based View of the Firm

Abstract: Even though management scholars have offered several views on the process of corporate sustainability, these efforts have focused mainly on the technical aspects of sustainability while omitting the fundamental role played by individual moral competences. Therefore, previous work offers an incomplete and somewhat reductionist view of corporate sustainability. In this article, we develop a holistic framework of corporate sustainability in which both the moral and technical aspects of sustainability are considered. We do so by integrating the ethical, normative perspective of the Catholic social teaching (CST) with the competitive view of the natural resource-based view. This framework highlights the importance of CST principles and ideas in developing executive moral competences such as moral sensitivity and awareness, and moral cognition and motivation. Moral competences, in turn, influence the organizational selection of environmental strategies, giving leaders the intrinsic motivation to promote both a longer-term stance on corporate sustainability efforts and a relentless search for greener business models. Such strategies move the firm closer towards achieving environmental sustainability. Hence, by bridging the individual, normative-ethical with the organizational, implementational levels of corporate sustainability, our framework provides a more realistic, coherent, and complete perspective on the complex process of achieving corporate sustainability.

Sustainable leadership: Rhineland practices at a Thai small enterprise

Abstract: This paper adopts Avery’s 19 Rhineland leadership practices derived from sustainable enterprises as a framework to examine the sustainable business practices of a small enterprise in Thailand. Using a case study approach, multi-data collection methods included non-participant observations during several enterprise visits, semi-structured interview sessions with multiple stakeholders, and reference to internal information and published documentation. Evidence was found for compliance with 14 of Avery’s 19 sustainable leadership elements, but to various degrees. The elements were categorised into six core groups of practices: adopting a long-term perspective, focusing on people priority, strong organisational culture, nurturing innovation, social and environmental responsibility, and ethical behaviour. The paper concludes that Avery’s 19 Rhineland practices provide a useful framework applicable to small enterprises in Thailand to evaluate their corporate sustainability. Small enterprises in Thailand and possibly in other Asian countries that wish to sustain their organisational success could adopt Avery’s 19 Rhineland leadership grid elements to investigate their leadership practices, and adjust them to become more sustainable.

The Governance of Corporate Sustainability

Abstract: This article assesses the current status of the governance of corporate sustainability. It does so from the perspectives of both corporations and of institutional investors. Topics covered include the evolution of responsible ownership, the required integration of corporate governance and sustainability agendas, implications for Board composition, alignment with incentive strategies, and stakeholder engagement mechanisms. We close with an action agenda that would take the governance of corporate sustainability to the next level.

Can democracy handle corporate sustainability? Constructing a path forward

Abstract: In this paper we argue that the unifying theme of this century will be sustainability; that is, how to accommodate the world's growing population, providing a decent standard of living for all, while preserving and renewing an effective societal infrastructure and the biosphere on which all life depends. Here we ask whether a sustainable world is more readily achievable under some forms of democracy than others. A series of 6 concrete steps or phases is defined, that can help organizations survive and thrive while developing the capabilities of their workforce members, contributing to a rich and varied community life and sustaining and renewing the biosphere We conclude that the social-democratic tradition, on the whole, provides advantages for the initial rejection, non-responsiveness and compliance phases compared to the economic-liberal tradition. For organizations to move beyond compliance they need the support of economic incentives, ideologically compatible with both democratic regimes. However, there is a major advantage with the newer versions of social democracy which can offer strong standard setting as well as a wider range of environmental incentives. Finally, for organizations to work towards the ideal and address global and local issues of sustainability, democratic systems must foster the decision-making conditions of 'compliance plus' and align them with the demands of a new, 'sub-political' arena where sustainability will be the critical focus of debate and action. It is in this self-determining, multiple stakeholder and collaborative arena that corporations can develop the flexible relationships necessary for building, sharing and diffusing the tacit knowledge that can be transferred into innovative solutions for sustainability.

Sustainability in business from a marketing perspective

Abstract: Why have the majority of companies not yet begun to integrate sustainability on a larger scale into their business strategies? In dealing with this question, we have developed and tested a theoretical model that combines a cognitive frame view with a capability perspective on company behaviour. Our analyses show that top management plays a conclusive role, provided they practise a transformational leadership style. Furthermore, the analyses show that marketing can act as a driver for the company's engagement in product responsibility and social issues. The potential for marketing to further strengthen its role in driving corporate sustainability is made apparent. The following courses are suggested: encompassing ideas and values that express a transformational perspective on leadership; integrating corporate brand management into marketing's portfolio of core capabilities; becoming further engaged in accomplishing an ambidextrous innovation strategy; and ensuring that marketing is practised on the basis o...