The driving forces of sustainability
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an integrative model for how commitment to sustainability emerges at the organizational, functional, and individual levels within organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted through a multi‐site, comparative case study using three large corporations with exemplary sustainability standings. Key employees from each organization were interviewed. Interview transcripts and sustainability reports were analyzed using discourse analysis, and a constructivist approach to grounded theory was used to build a model for how sustainability emerges at the organizational, functional, and individual levels.
Findings
Within the corporations studied, different perspectives toward sustainability exist. At the organizational level, senior leadership defines sustainability and establishes an integrated culture by aligning sustainability with business purposes and driving sustainability priorities through the organization. At the functional level, managers assume a differentiated perspective and translate organizational sustainability goals into tools and programs for facilities, suppliers, and employees. At the individual level, based upon different cultural influences, independent actors assume a fragmented perspective. Each of these perspectives influences the others and is essential to the long‐term success of a commitment to sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Viewing sustainability through multiple perspectives presents an interesting approach for research. Most sustainability literature addresses change from an organizational level. Therefore, addressing sustainability change from an organizational, a subcultural, and an individual level provides further insight into how sustainability develops within organizations.
Originality/value
There are different and often contradictory views of how sustainability develops within organizations. This paper provides fresh insight into this process.
Keywords
Citation
Stoughton, A.M. and Ludema, J. (2012), "The driving forces of sustainability", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811211239191
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited