Introducing and implementing corporate sustainability poses many challenges to business organizations. In this longitudinal, inductive study, we focus on how such challenges are handled in a Dutch bank that is developing its sustainability policies. We examine why there is such a high degree of tension and conflict within the organization and identify how the development of these policies is affected by the interplay between subcultures and institutional logics. We show how different subcultures affect the enactment of logics by infusing the (...) rational and mindful behavior coming from logics with (sub)cultural values, beliefs, and assumptions. In turn, conflicting logics amplify subcultural characteristics between groups by shaping different behavior and practices. Together, this leads to a magnification of subcultural differences while, at the same time, logics are increasingly being perceived as incompatible. (shrink)

This paper supplies a critique of the view that a practice which ought not to be followed is ipso facto not sustainable, a view recently defended by Nigel Dower. It is argued that there are ethical criteria independent of the criterion of sustainability. The concept of sustainability is thus retrieved for the distinctive role and the important service in which environmental and social theorists (paradoxically including Dower) have hitherto employed it, not least when debating the nature, merits and demerits (...) of sustainable development. (shrink)

The contours of sustainable systems are defined according to communities’ goals and values. As researchers shift from sustainability-in-the-abstract to sustainability-as-a-concrete-research-challenge, democratic deliberation is essential for ensuring that communities determine what systems ought to be sustained. Discourse analysis of dialogue with Michigan direct marketing farmers suggests eight sustainability values – economic efficiency, community connectedness, stewardship, justice, ecologism, self-reliance, preservationism and health – which informed the practices of these farmers. Whereas common heuristics of sustainability suggest values can be pursued harmoniously, we (...) discuss how this typology reflects the more intricate project of balancing values in tension with one another. (shrink)

Sustainability reporting and assurance of sustainability reports have been used by organizations in an attempt to provide accountability to their stakeholders. A better understanding of current practices is important to provide a base for comparative and trend analyses. This paper aims to consolidate and provide information on sustainability reporting, assurance of sustainability reports and types of assurance providers. Another aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of these practices for a global sample, comparing results with previous studies, (...) and suggesting opportunities for future research. To accomplish these objectives, a literature review was performed, an analysis of the organizations included in the Fortune Global 500 2010 was completed, and results were presented and consolidated by country. These results demonstrate that all organizations analysed provided some type of information in relation to their social or environmental performance in their official website. The percentage of organizations issuing a sustainability report has been increasing in the last few years. However, the percentage of organizations assuring their sustainability report has stagnated. Types of assurance engagements include those performed by accountants and non-accountants, and new practices have emerged, namely the “mixed approach” and the “stakeholder or specialist review”. The analysis also shows that the practices of issuing sustainability reports and having them assured have become a world-wide phenomenon, occurring in developed, and emerging economies around the world. (shrink)

Sustainable entrepreneurship—the pursuit of business opportunities that jointly create economic, social, and environmental value—offers a promising pathway to address societal challenges. Bridging sustainable entrepreneurship and women’s entrepreneurship literature, this study examines how diverse profiles of women entrepreneurs align environmental and social goals with the aspiration of venture growth, advancing firm objectives beyond purely financial performance. Using a sample of approximately 20,000 women entrepreneurs from 63 countries and applying hierarchical linear regression analysis, our results show that rural women entrepreneurs (...) prioritize social and environmental concerns more than their urban counterparts, with younger rural women entrepreneurs showing a stronger focus on social and environmental impact. Women entrepreneurs can balance social, environmental, and economic Triple Bottom Line goals, but those in rural areas face greater obstacles, particularly those focusing on innovation efforts. These findings offer important implications for policymakers seeking to promote inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial environments, revealing the complex interplay between gender, age, and rurality and how these factors can shape sustainable impact and firm growth. (shrink)

Sustainability initiatives and Indigenous realities are increasingly engaging with each other across the world. Developed through diverse frameworks and supported by public and private actors, these initiatives involve claims of conservation and development. However, notions of development often assume common ground between Indigenous realities and sustainability initiatives, neglecting foundational differences that can lead to contemporary forms of colonization and violence. In this article, we explore how sustainability initiatives and Indigenous realities engage with each other by empirically examining the Paiter Suruí (...) Carbon Credit REDD+ Project in Rondônia, Brazil. Drawing from a political ontology lens, we analyze moments of engagement between Indigenous realities and external actors, through which we theorize what we call ethical imposition and ontological violence—the disruption of foundational modes of life due to the unilateral enforcement of one’s own ethical framework onto others. We argue that despite the potential benefits of such programs, sustainability initiatives can ultimately lead to the disruption of Indigenous ways of life through the imposition of external ethical frameworks. (shrink)

The "old" sustainability : a story of listening and harmony -- The 1960s to the present : key conferences and statements -- Rise of the "new" sustainability : the weak and the strong -- Economic sustainability : coming to grips with endless growth -- Ecological sustainability : essential but overlooked -- Social sustainability : utopian dream or practical path to change? -- Overpopulation and overconsumption -- Worldview and ethics in sustainability -- An unsustainable denial -- Appropriate technology for sustainability -- (...) Solutions for sustainability. (shrink)

Sustainability managers represent a key stakeholder in implementing and diffusing sustainability initiatives. However, there is a significant gap in the literature examining the impact of greenwashing on sustainability managers. This research examines the effects of greenwashing on sustainability managers' job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions, and job performance from a social identity/person–organization (P‐O) fit perspective. Our sample consists of practicing sustainability managers (n = 125) in high‐ (77%) or mid‐level (23%) positions. Results indicate that perceived greenwashing negatively affects the attitudinal outcomes (...) and job performance of sustainability managers. The results also indicate that for sustainability managers whose social responsibility identity is higher than that of their firm, greenwashing has a significant association with lower satisfaction and job performance and higher intentions to leave. However, for managers whose social responsibility identity is lower than that of their firm, employer greenwashing had no effect on the sustainability managers' attitudes, even though they recognized their own poor job performance. The cumulative effect may be a situation in which managers in the best position to enhance a firm's CSR leave the firm, and vice versa. (shrink)

Moving sustainability towards flourishing for all implies a care for all and for the future. However, in this commentary I note that many corporate and political leaders do not care for others or the future because, embodying egotistical, ruthless, remorseless, and dishonest (psychopathic) characteristics, their concern is only for themselves. This commentary argues that toxic leadership and governance, in the form of corporate psychopathy and corporate psychopaths, are important barriers to achieving sustainability. Notably, and of relevance to this argument, the (...) embodiment of psychopathic traits can give people the ability to brazenly push themselves to the top, unimpeded by emotional distractions and thereby attain leadership. However, due to their deep indifference to corporate social responsibility and a readiness to falsify environmental impact reports, engage in faking corporate social responsibility and illegally dump toxic waste materials; the influence of such psychopathic leadership may be detrimental to sustainability and to flourishing for all. Leaders high in psychopathy will ignore or dismiss scientific evidence of unsustainable practices because they do not care about the future or about dismissing scientific evidence of detriments to the prospects for humanity. Accordingly toxic leadership and governance are arguably the critical factors in achieving a flourishing sustainability. The future of all life thus depends on who we choose as our leaders. (shrink)

The agreement on Sustainable Development Goals is a tremendous achievement. The goals represent an advance on the Millennium Development Goals, by aiming to eliminate poverty, by including an equality goal and by bringing sustainability into the agenda. Nonetheless, three outstanding issues remain. First, national ownership is likely to be a problem. The centrally agreed goals need to be interpreted nationally to allow for national priorities and circumstances and to secure national commitment to them. Secondly, the goals are silent on (...) the underlying economic structures needed to realize some of the goals, particularly of reducing inequality. Existing economic structures and policies are likely to result in a move away from achievement of this goal. Thirdly, most important, there is not true integration of the sustainability and economic goals. The goal of promoting economic growth needs to be seriously qualified for middle and high income countries, if the sustainability objectives – partic.. (shrink)

The interpretations of sustainability are varied. In most cases, the focus is on reinterpretations and transformations of human attitudes towards the natural environment and certain (unacceptable) social practices and conditions, i.e. the task would be to shape these spheres of human existence in the interests of sustainability. However, the creation and widespread use of the Internet is fundamentally changing human life that is no longer confined to the natural and social spheres. Web life, as a third sphere of human existence (...) created by the universal use of the Internet, is also a component of human condition, both in itself and through its interactions with the natural and social spheres. It is essential to take this into account: the sustainability of these “three spheres” should be addressed together. The continuous construction of web life can be decisive for the sustainability of the whole human existence. (shrink)

It is argued that 'sustainable development' has been defined in such a way as to be either morally repugnant or logically redundant. 'Strong' sustainability, overriding all other considerations, is morally unacceptable as well as totally impractical; and 'weak' sustainability, in which compensation is made for resources consumed, offers nothing beyond traditional economic welfare maximisation. The 'sustainability' requirement that human well-being should never be allowed to decline is shown to be irrational. Welfare economics can accommodate distributional considerations, and, suitably defined, (...) the concept of welfare can include the subjective effects of changes in – as well as the levels of – well-being. Hence there is no reason why welfare maximisation should not remain an overriding policy objective. Nor can sustainability be regarded as a 'constraint' on welfare maximisation unless there is a clear conflict between the two – which has yet to be demonstrated. This is not to deny the importance of intergenerational justice, nor the need for economic incentives to correct market imperfections if the environment is to be managed in a socially optimal manner. Apart from a few small developing countries heavily dependent on minerals or other finite primary products, the measurement of some wider concept of 'sustainable' GNP is a waste of time and such estimates as have been made are virtually worthless. (shrink)

Sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and was famously defined as such in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development. In addition to the commission’s report identifying the three pillars of sustainability as environmental protection, economic development, and social equity, more recently culture was identified as a fourth pillar.

Corporate sustainable innovation is a major driver of institutional change, and its success can be largely attributed to employees. While some scholars have described the importance of intrinsic motivations and flexibility to facilitate innovation, others have argued that constraints and extrinsic motivations stimulate innovation. In the context of sustainable innovation, we explore which employee work practices are more conducive to firm-level innovation in corporate sustainability. Our results, based on a sample of 4640 French employees from 1764 firms, confirm (...) the positive impact of intrinsic motivations, and the negative impact of job strain, on corporate sustainable innovation. We also find that extrinsic rewards, through pay satisfaction, counteract the negative effect of job strain to promote sustainable innovation. This indicates that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards can work in tandem to facilitate sustainable innovation. (shrink)

Sustainability in healthcare is getting considerable research attention as systems worldwide tend to balance environmental, social, and economic factors. In this context, digital technologies have demonstrated significant potential to enhance engagement among different consumer groups across various industries. Recognizing the importance of patient engagement and its impact on patient–doctor relationships for sustainable value creation in healthcare (i.e., when creating value for all stakeholders contributes to a sustainable society), this paper aims to investigate the extent to which a technological (...) factor stimulates and fosters the engagement of patients in their own healthcare journey and how this favors long-term benefits' generation. With the aim to identify and map the available evidence, we conduct a scoping literature review. To disclose the current state of research in the studied field, we performed a literature search with the Scopus database. A total number of 76 studies published up to October 2023 were included in our literature review. By synthesizing the existing knowledge base and highlighting the role of digital technologies in fostering sustainable value creation in healthcare through improved patient engagement, this study addresses the identified research gap. As a result, this research provides three valuable contributions: (1) theoretically, this manuscript proposes a novel framework that advances the academic understanding of the potential of digital technologies to enhance patient engagement and support sustainability practices in healthcare; (2) practically, this study offers a comprehensive guidance to managers to enable effective adoption of technologies in clinical practice; (3) finally, this work suggests strategies to promote more inclusive and sustainable healthcare destined for all practitioners and policymakers. (shrink)

Sustainability reporting has become a well-entrenched practice in the mining sector. Failure to adequately live up to societal expectations is now considered a significant threat to the viability of the industry. There is general agreement that broad endorsement of standards for nonfinancial disclosure supports mining companies to improve their image, while conflicts persist. Because sustainability reports “speak” on behalf of sustainably operating organizations and may create socio-political effects, we explore the symbolic nature of SR. We conceive of SR as a (...) performative practice to research how it interferes with the world that it seeks to represent. Our case study research suggests that conformity with global templates is not an end in itself but might create below-compliance effects if a common interest in mining is developed in local arenas that avoids clarification of impacts and maintains ambiguity over responsibility. (shrink)

This study explores the sustainability transition in Iran's oil towns, emphasizing Masjed Soleyman’s evolution. Stemming from the Industrial Revolution, the search for new energy led to the early 20th century D'Arcy Concession, catalyzing oil exploration in Iran. This resulted in the pivotal discovery of oil in Masjed Soleyman in 1908, transforming an uninhabited area into a thriving town intricately linked to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). This research critically analyzes the unsustainable nature of oil exploration, particularly highlighting APOC's colonial practices, (...) like racial segregation between European and Iranian staff. Despite these challenges, the study identifies pathways for sustainable development, emphasizing the role of Masjed Soleyman's oil heritage. It advocates for the adaptive reuse of historical buildings for diverse community functions, thereby promoting sustainability and cultural preservation. This approach not only safeguards the town's rich historical and cultural fabric but also marks a significant stride towards sustainable urban development in oil-dependent towns. (shrink)

This article investigates whether sustainability labels for mutual funds in Europe provide consistent signals regarding funds’ sustainable characteristics. Specifically, we assess the alignment of signals conveyed by third-party and self-declared labels. Among the first typology, we consider labels sponsored by government and nonprofit organizations (GNPOs) alongside Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings from commercial data vendors. The latter category includes the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) classification and an ESG-related name. Our findings indicate that equity funds with GNPO (...) labels are more likely to exhibit top-tier ESG ratings and alignment with self-declared sustainability signals, namely Article 9 of SFDR and fund names. Furthermore, holding government and multiple GNPO labels is linked to other signals indicating higher sustainability standards. In addition, funds tend to experience an improvement in Morningstar globes after receiving a GNPO label, consistent with GNPO labels signaling funds of the high-quality type. The results regarding label alignment in fixed-income funds are less conclusive. Our findings underscore the need for credible signals in view of the growing number of sustainability labels available to investors. (shrink)

While there is agreement on the need to improve sustainability in university hospitals, there are strong differences of opinion on how such goals interact with responsibilities of the medical profession, including research activities. To facilitate sustainability transitions in university hospitals, we need to gain a better understanding of the multiple incentive structures and ethical responsibilities related to sustainability that influence the physicians working there. Furthermore, there needs to be greater awareness and systematic consideration of the health co-benefits of sustainability transitions. (...) Both are necessary to prevent the sustainability agendas in hospital settings from becoming deadlocked due to disagreements over priorities and implementation, despite initial consensus in principle. (shrink)

Cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) are relevant units of analysis for understanding sustainable business models (SBMs). This research examines how organizations value their motivations to participate in large sustainability-focused partnerships, how they perceive the value captured, and their structures implemented to address sustainability partnerships. Two hundred and twenty-four organizations partnering within four large sustainability CSSPs were surveyed using an augmented resource-based view (RBV) theoretical framework. Results show that partners were motivated by and captured value related to sustainability-, organizational-, and human-oriented (...) resources, and that organizations prefer more informal than formal structural elements to implement their partnerships’ sustainability strategies. Contributions to SBM and CSSP fields are revealed. SBM thinking is a provocation toward seeking integrated sustainable value creation, helping show the value of large CSSPs. Conversely, by conceiving of large, pluralistic CSSPs as “collaborative SBMs,” we extend the idea of the “business model” to the societal level, exploring how value is captured in partnership. (shrink)

Despite the growing public awareness of social sustainability issues, little is known about what drives firms to emphasize social criteria in their supplier management practices and what the precise benefits of such efforts are. This is especially true for relationships with international suppliers from the world's emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Building on stakeholder theory, we address the issue by examining how pressures from customers, the government, and employees as primary constituencies of the firm determine the (...) extent to which firms consider social aspects in the selection of emerging economy suppliers. Further, we analyze how such socially sustainable supplier selection relates to the capabilities of the firm's suppliers, its market reputation, and the learning in its supply management organization. We test the developed research framework empirically using data from 244 U. S. and German corporations. Our findings, consistent with our hypothesized model, suggest that middle-level supply managers as internal stakeholders play a major driving role for firms' socially sustainable supplier selection, and that strong positive links exist between that selection and the investigated outcomes. (shrink)

This paper aims at gaining a better understanding of the inherent paradoxes within sustainability discourses by investigating its basic assumptions. Drawing on a study of the metaphoric references operative in moral language, we reveal the predominance of the ‘well-being = wealth’ construct, which may explain the dominance of the ‘business case’ cognitive frame in sustainability discourses. We incorporate economic well-being variables within a philosophical model of becoming well :221–231, 2005), highlighting the way in which these variables consistently articulate a combination (...) of ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ concerns. We then compare this broad understanding of well-being with the metaphors operative in the sustainable development discourse and argue that the sustainability discourse has fallen prey to an overemphasis on the ‘business case’. We proceed to draw on Georges Bataille to challenge the predominance of these value priorities and to explore which mindshifts are required to develop a more comprehensive understanding of what is needed to enable ‘sustainable development’. (shrink)

The study of the essence of the sustainable tourism, transformation of the modern functions of global tourism, rethinking of its basic principles made it possible to form the conceptual framework of the sustainable tourism. The conditions for promotion of the sustainable tourism to the world market and the factors of impact on its development in the global economy have been determined. The technique for calculation of the tourism sustainability index, taking into account the anthropogenic factor, was improved.

This paper supplies a critique of the view that a practice which ought not to be followed is ipso facto not sustainable, a view recently defended by Nigel Dower. It is argued that there are ethical criteria independent of the criterion of sustainability. The concept of sustainability is thus retrieved for the distinctive role and the important service in which environmental and social theorists (paradoxically including Dower) have hitherto employed it, not least when debating the nature, merits and demerits (...) of sustainable development. (shrink)

Sustainability assessments bring together different perspectives that pertain to sustainability in order to produce overall assessments and a wealth of approaches and tools have been developed in the past decades. But two major problematics remain. The problem of integration concerns the surplus of possibilities for integration; different tools produce different assessments. The problem of implementation concerns the barrier between assessment and transformation; assessments do not lead to the expected changes in practice. This paper aims to analyze issues of complementarity in (...) sustainability assessment and transformation as a key to better handling the problems of integration and implementation. Based on a generalization of Niels Bohr’s complementarity from quantum mechanics, we have identified two forms of complementarity in sustainability assessment, observer stance complementarity and value complementarity. Unlike many other problems of sustainability assessment, complementarity is of a fundamental character connected to the very conditions for observation. Therefore complementarity cannot be overcome methodologically; only handled better or worse. Science is essential to the societal goal of sustainability, but these issues of complementarity impede the constructive role of science in the transition to more sustainable structures and practices in food systems. The agencies of sustainability assessment and transformation need to be acutely aware of the importance of different perspectives and values and the complementarities that may be connected to these differences. An improved understanding of complementarity can help to better recognize and handle issues of complementarity. These deliberations have relevance not only for sustainability assessment, but more generally for transdisciplinary research on wicked problems. (shrink)

This article explores the value of small-scale, intimate, and personal everyday practices, often hidden from the public eye, for sustainability transformations. It invites fellow humans to see value, depth and hope in small-scale transformations and relies on a long-term autoethnographic project of its author as a practitioner of voluntary simplicity and extreme minimalism. Via methodological contemplations underpinned by critical realism, the article celebrates deviation from positivistic conceptions of science that encourage researchers to maintain distinct identities: scientists during our working hours (...) and humans beyond this. It aims to nurture a more holistic approach to ourselves as both researchers and practitioners and reveal the struggles of navigating and reconciling these different roles. (shrink)

Environmental sustainability is increasingly pressing. Achieving it depends on the contribution of all of us. There is a broad spectrum of evidence that points to a generational gap in the way of viewing and dealing with environmental issues. This evidence is, however, mixed. This paper intends to explore whether there are differences between the Portuguese Generations X, Y, and Z about general environmental concerns, their involvement in collective actions for environmental protection, and specific pro-environmental behaviors. The data gathered from 757 (...) Portuguese citizens were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistical methods. Overall, we found that members of Generation Z showed the least environmental concerns and adopted fewer sustainable behaviors and little or no participation in collective actions for environmental protection. On the contrary, members of Generation X demonstrate more sustainable attitudes, followed by Millennials. In sum, the two younger generations have more in common with each other than they do with members of Generation X. This is the first attempt to understand generational differences in Portugal on specific environmental issues, helping to define policies emphasizing civil society's serious and consistent involvement in protecting the planet. Recommendations of the research enable us to understand the behaviors of individuals from different generations and allow producers and policymakers to develop and adopt measures to meet the specificities of each generation, leading them to adopt more sustainable practices, especially younger people. (shrink)

A flourishing literature assesses how sustainable business models create and capture value in socio-ecological systems. Nevertheless, we still know relatively little about how the organization of sustainable business models—of which cross-sector partnerships represent a core and distinctive mechanism—can support socio-ecological resilience. We address this knowledge gap by taking a complex adaptive systems (CAS) perspective. We develop a framework that identifies the key strategic, institutional, and learning elements of partnerships that sustainable business models rely on to support socio-ecological (...) resilience. With our analytical framework, we underpin the importance of assessing sustainable business initiatives in terms of their impact on resilience at the level of socio-ecological systems, not just of organizations. Therefore, we reveal how cross-sector partnerships provide the organizational support for sustainable business models to support socio-ecological resilience. By combining the key features of CAS and the key elements of partnerships, we provide insight into the formidable task of designing cross-sector partnerships so that they support socio-ecological resilience and avoid unintended consequences. (shrink)

This study investigates the antecedents and mechanisms of consumers’ adoption of a public bicycle-sharing scheme as a form of shared sustainable consumption. Drawing on marketing ethics and sustainability literature, it argues that cultural and consumption values drive or deter the adoption of PBSS through the mediating mechanism of ethical evaluation. This study tests its hypotheses using a sample of 755 consumers from one of the largest PBSS programs in China. The results confirm the significance of collectivism, man–nature orientation, materialism, (...) and face-consciousness as key determinants of the adoption of PBSS. Interestingly, these values play mixed roles in influencing PBSS adoption. It also finds that such values and beliefs need to be effectively translated into ethical evaluations of PBSS adoption, and need to be addressed in the specific social context. Thus, ethical evaluation constitutes a cognitive strategy that allows consumers to justify and defend their adoption of sustainability practices. The results suggest that a desirable sustainability program needs to not only cater to the cultural and psychological motivations of consumers, but also reflect the social norms and social context in which the sustainability practices and consumers are embedded. (shrink)

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is synonymous with sustainable investment for socially responsible investors. Unfortunately, the diversity of ESG investing remains unattended amidst the growth in ESG literature, as the academic literature focuses dominantly on measuring performance. An understanding of a wide range of subjects entailing ESG is required before future research on ESG investing is performed. To overcome the challenge, this systematic literature review uses bibliometric mapping to reveal four significant research themes within the ESG investing literature: (...) investor behavior and motivations for ESG investing; cost and risk mitigation in ESG investing; portfolio screening and ESG investing; and ESG performance. The review critically examines each theme and broadens the research agenda for future studies. In addition to the significant themes, this paper also discusses theoretical and recent research trends in the ESG investing literature. The review identifies clashes and crossovers between these themes to appropriately interpret one theme using another and emphasizes the heterogeneity in ESG investing. Lastly, discussion over concerns and criticisms of ESG investing highlights greenwashing as a major cause of concern for investors. (shrink)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments are proliferating at an astonishing rate. Unsurprisingly, the number of meaningful studies addressing the social impacts of AI applications in several fields has been remarkable. More recently, several contributions have started exploring the ecological impacts of AI. Machine learning systems do not have a neutral environmental cost, so it is important to unravel the ecological footprint of these techno-scientific developments. In this chapter, we discuss the sustainability of AI from environmental ethics approaches. We examine the moral (...) trade-offs that AI may cause in different moral dimensions and analyse prominent conflicts that may arise from human and more-than-human-centred concerns. (shrink)

The term Sustainable Development has been used in many different contexts and consequently has come to represent many different ideas. The purpose of this paper was to explore the underlying meaning of the term Sustainable Development, and to assess the dominant ethic behind such meaning. Through this exploration, we uncovered a change in the semantic meaning of the term, and described what that meaning entails. The term Sustainable Development had the potential, we argue, to stimulate discursive engagement (...) with respect to the future development of society within an ethical framework based around the values of inclusivity, diversity, and integration. The importance of philosophical context within which the term is used influences the definitional process of meaning, and has been simulated into the language of the dominant scientific-economic paradigm. We go on to explore how this meaning change has come about. In doing so we looked to the Enlightenment period and the resulting philosophies to explore the foundations of meaning, and then to the work of Jürgen Habermas to explain how the scientific-economic paradigm came to dominate the meaning of Sustainable Development. (shrink)

The human capacity for sustained attention represents a critical cognitive paradox: while essential for numerous high‐stakes tasks, perfect vigilance is fundamentally impossible. This commentary explores the theoretical impossibility of maintaining uninterrupted attention, drawing from extensive interdisciplinary research in cognitive science, neuroscience, and psychology. Multiple converging lines of evidence demonstrate that sustained attention is constrained by neural, biological, and cognitive limitations. Neural mechanisms reveal that attention operates through rhythmic oscillations, with inherent fluctuations in frontoparietal networks and default mode network interactions. Neurochemical (...) systems and cellular adaptation effects further underscore the impossibility of continuous, perfect vigilance. Empirical research across domains—including aviation, healthcare, industrial safety, and security—consistently demonstrates rapid declines in attention performance over time, regardless of individual expertise or motivation. Even elite performers like military personnel and experienced meditators exhibit inevitable attention lapses. This paper presents an argument against traditional approaches that seek to overcome these limitations through training or willpower. Instead, it advocates for designing human–technology systems that work harmoniously with cognitive constraints. This requires developing adaptive automation, understanding individual and cultural attention variations, and creating frameworks that strategically balance human capabilities with technological support. (shrink)

We point out the need to clarify some of the ideas related to the connection between development and sustainability in the Report of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development. In particular, the meaning of ‘sustainable’ is not clear when applied to specific areas of human activity. A more detailed explanation of the kind of equality sought for in the proposal is also needed. Because of potential conflicts between goals, we miss some considerations on (...) the impact of population increase both on development and on sustainability. A distinction is made here between two kinds of goals included in the Report. Some of the proposed 17 goals can then be seen as ends in themselves, whereas others seem to be means for the first set. The two sets thereby established should be seen in theory and dealt with in practice in a differentiated manner. (shrink)

This article explores the role of financial markets for sustainable development. More specifically, the authors ask to what extent financial markets foster and facilitate more sustainable business practices. The authors highlight that their current role is rather modest and conclude that, on the old paths, a paradoxical situation exists. On one hand, financial market participants increasingly integrate environmental, social, and governance criteria into their investment decisions, whereas on the other hand, in terms of organizational reality, there seems to (...) be no real shift toward more sustainable business practices. The authors identify two main challenges within the field of sustainable investments that are relevant for entering new avenues that may help overcome this situation. First, a reorientation toward a long-term paradigm for sustainable investments is important. Second, ESG data must become more trustworthy. From a theoretical point of view, the authors finally highlight the potential market consequences when ESG investment criteria are used. (shrink)

Although sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) has quite recently become a hot research topic, scarcely any systematic research has been paid to the performance of this non-conventional approach to investment during the financial crisis that emerged in mid-2008 when the resilience of the financial markets was sorely tested. Such real-world resilience in practice is the subject of the current research which tests whether environmental, social and governance screens provides ethical investors with adaptive resilience in bull and bear market conditions (...) by focussing on the SRI equity index of one of the most active markets in Europe in terms of ethical investment, the FTSE4Good-Ibex in Spain. Multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (M-GARCH) analysis indicates that ethical investors in the equity market examined with evidence that greater resilience in severe business cycle shocks could be attributable to SRI by companies. Although limited to a single country study, the results have implications for investors seeking resilience in crisis: when individual values and beliefs towards sustainability tie with personal investment strategy, the end result is adaptive financial resilience, social well-being and environmental defence. (shrink)

While green innovation has a positive impact on firms’ performance, some established firms that initiate green innovation activities could suffer from insufficient new green knowledge and skills. Since adopting a sustainability orientation helps firms commit to the creation of superior sustainable practices, and efficiently invest resources necessary to develop appropriate new green products, leading to superior green innovation performance, sustainability orientation offers an alternative approach for diversifying green entrants to achieve green innovation success. Building on resource-based, knowledge-based, and capabilities (...) theories, this study aims to identify key factors that enable sustainability orientation of diversifying green entrants and enhance its effect on green innovation performance. As sustainability issues frequently occur upstream at the supplier level, and since supplier involvement effectively determines new product success, this study theorizes that diversifying green entrants that adopt sustainability orientation require two types of green supplier involvement to enhance the effect of sustainability orientation on green innovation performance. Green knowledge-processing capability and green R&D capability complement green supplier involvement as a knowledge source and green supplier involvement as a co-creator, respectively, to further enhance the amount of green innovation performance. Based on a longitudinal dataset of 336 diversifying green entrants, the results support all our hypotheses. Interestingly, an additional analysis suggests that when diversifying green entrants implement green supplier involvement as a co-creator, they achieve greater green innovation performance than those who implement green supplier involvement as a knowledge source. These findings provide important theoretical implications and practical guidance for established firms to pursue green innovation. (shrink)

The goal of this paper is to examine whether business performance is affected by the adoption of practices included under the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). To achieve this goal, we analyse the relation between CSR and certain accounting indicators and examine whether there exist significant differences in performance indicators between European firms that have adopted CSR and others that have not. The effects of compliance with the requirements of CSR were determined on the basis of firms included in the (...) Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), and specific accounting indicators were applied to measure performance. For the purposes of this study, we selected one group of firms belonging to the DJSI and another comprised of firms quoted on the Dow Jones Global Index (DJGI) but not on the DJSI. The sample was made up of two groups of 55 firms, studied for the period 1998–2004. Empirical analysis supports the conclusion that differences in performance exist between firms that belong to the DJSI and to the DJGI and that these differences are related to CSR practices. We find that a short-term negative impact on performance is produced. (shrink)

Two types of sustainability definitions are contrasted. ‘Social scientific’ definitions, such as that of the Brundtland Commission, treat sustainability as a relationship between present and future welfare of persons. These definitions differ from ‘ecological’ ones which explicitly require protection of ecological processes as a condition on sustainability. ‘Scientific contextualism’ does not follow mainstream economists in their efforts to express all effects as interchangeable units of individual welfare; it rather strives to express sensitivity to different types and scales of impacts that (...) present activities can exert on the future. We can therefore express the moral obligation to act sustainably as an obligation to protect the natural processes that form the context of human life and culture, emphasizing those large biotic and abiotic systems essential to human life, health, and flourishing culture. Ecosystems, which are understood as dynamic, self-organizing systems humans have evolved within, must remain ‘healthy’ if humans are to thrive. The ecological approach to sustainability therefore sets the protection of dynamic, creative systems in nature as its primary goal. (shrink)

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate around sustainability by proposing the need for an ecocentric stance to sustainability that reflexively embeds humans in—rather than detached from—nature. We argue that this requires a different way of thinking about our relationship with our world, necessitating a engagement with the sociomaterial world in which we live. We develop the notion of ecocentrism by drawing on insights from sociomateriality studies, and show how radical-reflexivity enables us to appreciate our embeddedness and responsibility for (...) sustainability by bringing attention to the interrelationship between values, actions and our social and material world. We examine the implications of an ecocentric radically reflexive approach to sustainability for management education. (shrink)

Concerns about the unsustainability of the conventional food system have brought attention to so called alternative food networks (AFNs), which are widely thought to be more sustainable. However, claims made about AFNs’ sustainability have been subject to a range of criticisms. Some of them present counterevidence, while others have pointed to problematic underlying features in the academic literature and popular discourse that may hamper our understanding of AFNs’ sustainability. Considering these criticisms, together with the fact that the literature often (...) addresses a specific type of AFN or a specific sustainability-related issue, it is hard to form a clear overall picture of the sustainability promise of AFNs. In this article, we seek to contribute to a clearer understanding of this promise through a structured review, focusing on links between AFN characteristics and sustainability. Through an analysis of AFN conceptualizations reflected in the literature, we identify and consolidate their key characteristics. We then synthesize claims of how these characteristics may translate into sustainability, finding a wide range of potential direct and indirect impacts. Examining these from different angles, we find that the sustainability promise of AFNs found in these claims is qualified by the presence of potentially unaddressed issues, by criticisms regarding for example the evidence base of the assumed impacts and their power in addressing sustainability, and by considerations of how these impacts might play out in actual, real-life food networks. Indirect impacts of learning and participation may be highly significant for sustainability. We conclude with recommendations for research and practice. (shrink)

Our study explored the relationships between supply chain (SC) members and their local and global stakeholders in achieving sustainability goals based on requisite holistic analysis and system dynamics modeling, which goes beyond the previous attempts to improve SC sustainability. In this research, we first developed a model that addresses the basic holistic treatment of SC sustainability; in a second model of sustainable SC (SSC), we then considered requisite holistic interactions among its stakeholders. We used the theory-based viable system model (...) to diagnose the proposed holistic model of SSC. The results show that especially the low-tier SC members require supporting frameworks to develop and maintain the capacity for sustainable interactions with nature and society. These supportive frameworks should be provided by the regulatory bodies, society, and nature representatives to surpass the limited SC profit-oriented incentives and structures. The implications of the proposed models are aimed at developing supportive SC sustainable policies and improving the capacities of SC members to coexist with local social and natural environments. Regulators, society, and the natural environment representatives can apply the proposed models to establish new policies for sustainable interactions between SC members and other societal stakeholders. (shrink)

Although present research shows that ambitious corporate sustainability objectives improve employee engagement in business organizations, there is scarcity of research showing how employees engage in corporate sustainability objectives and become autonomous sustainability thinkers. We suggest that a strong, individual level of psychological ownership of corporate sustainability is a precondition for the development of sustainability thinking, and examine the factors that influence the emergence of such feelings of ownership. Our qualitative study, based on 29 interviews conducted in seven Finnish local business (...) units from three different technology-oriented multinational enterprises (MNEs), shows that several key factors can have contradictory effects, both strengthening and hindering the routes to psychological ownership of corporate sustainability. While these contradictory effects may potentially lead to confusion among employees, our findings may help managers to avoid pitfalls in developing a more sustainability-oriented organizational culture. Moreover, by applying the theory of psychological ownership, our study contributes to the business sustainability research by providing new theoretical opportunities to understand the process of how individuals may become engaged in enhancing business sustainability. (shrink)

The central place accorded the notion of ‘sustainable development' among those attempting to overcome ecological problems could be one of the main reasons for their failure. ‘Ecological civilization' is proposed and defended as an alternative. ‘Ecological civilization' has behind it a significant proportion of the leadership of China who would be empowered if this notion were taken up in the West. It carries with it the potential to fundamentally rethink the basic goals of life and to provide an alternative (...) image of the future. It could both inspire people and provide the cultural foundations for the cultural, social and economic transformations necessary to create a new world order, a world order in which humans augment rather than undermine the ecosystems of which they are part. This paper explicates these implications. (shrink)

In this article, I propose a business paradigm that allows and enables the integration of environmental ethics into business decisions while creating a competitive advantage through the use of an ethical framework based on classical American pragmatism. Environmental ethics could be useful as an alternative paradigm for business ethics by offering new perspectives and methodologies to grant consideration of the natural environment. An approach based on classical American pragmatism provides a superior framework for businesses by focusing on experimentation and innovation, (...) driving a long-term focus, and providing actionable clarity. Under a pragmatic approach to ethics, the choice for sustainability becomes self-evident for business performance and moral reasons. (shrink)

The role of the cultural assets as one of the pillars of sustainable development is undeniably of great significance in the cultural sustainability of cities. Indeed, the way users understand and interpret cultural heritage sites would be highly critical to managing cultural organizations properly. It means by improving users’ perception of these sites, it can expect a fair distribution of comprehensive awareness among generations about the values of cultural assets. Past studies in spatial psychology have demonstrated that environmental properties (...) can positively Influence human emotions. On the other hand, using computational–mathematical methods used to examine spatio-visual properties have rarely been compared to human perceptions. This paper examines the impact of spatio-visual properties on human perception as a clever cultural management strategy to promote cultural sustainability. It is discussed how environmental features in general, and visibility in particular, can shape the way users interpret cultural heritage. Results indicate that not only visibility of users’ paths within cultural heritage sites can be an influential factor for the development of users’ perception, but also the visibility of the entrance of these complexes can change their understanding. This means that decision-makers, architects, and managers of the cultural organizations can apply these findings as cultural management framework by defining predefined paths in these sites in the way that they possess high visibility and visible entrance. Consequently, the distribution of public awareness among generations can be improved to strengthen the role of cultural aspects in sustainable development. (shrink)

Background: While sustainability is a key concept in many different domains today, it has not yet been sufficiently emphasized in the healthcare sector. Earlier research shows that ethical values and evidence-based care models create sustainability in care practice. Objective: The aim of this study was to gain further understanding of the ethical values central to the realization of sustainability in care and to create an ethical practice model whereby these basic values can be made perceptible and active in care practice. (...) Research design: Part of the ongoing “Ethical Sustainable Caring Cultures” research project, a hermeneutical application research design was employed in this study. Participants: Dialogues were used, where scientific researchers and co-researchers were given the opportunity to reflect on ethical values in relation to sustainability in care. Findings: An ethical practice model with ethos as its core was created from the results of the dialogues. In the model, ethos is encircled by the ethical values central to sustainability: dignity, responsibility, respect, invitation, and vows. Discussion: The model can be used as a starting point for ethical conversations that support carers’ reflections on the ethical issues seen in day-to-day care work and the work community, allowing ethical values to become visible throughout the entire care culture. Conclusion: It is intended as a tool whereby carers can more deeply understand an organization’s common basic values and what they entail in regard to sustainability in care. (shrink)

For nearly as long as the topic of sustainable business has been taught and researched in business schools, proponents have warned about barriers to genuine integration in business school practices. This article examines how academic sustainability centres try to overcome barriers to integration by achieving technical, cultural and political fit with their environment :67–92; Ansari et al., Academy of Management Review 35:67–92, 2010). Based on survey and interview data, we theorise that technical, cultural and political fit are intricately related, (...) and that these interrelations involve legitimacy, resources and collaboration effects. Our findings about sustainability centres offer novel insights on integrating sustainable business education given the interrelated nature of different types of fit and misfit. We further contribute to the literature on fit by highlighting that incompatibility between strategies to achieve different types of fit may act as a source of dynamism. (shrink)