IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i5p2546-2567.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aligning digitalisation and sustainable development? Evidence from the analysis of worldviews in sustainability reports

Author

Listed:
  • Silke Niehoff

Abstract

The digitalisation of industrial production and the actual positive and negative consequences for sustainable development are not yet sufficiently understood. This study describes and evaluates the linkages between corporate digitalisation and sustainability management based on qualitative data analysis of sustainability reports of DAX 30 companies and applying the concept of sustainability worldviews. The results show a predominate worldview of weak or business‐centred sustainability on digitalisation, which could potentially pose a threat to sustainable development. In particular, the focus on customer demands without stakeholder involvement and the worldview of digitalisation as a way of doing ‘business as‐usual’ but in a more effective way reproduces unsustainable economic patterns. A holistic sustainable approach on digitalisation should also include possible negative impacts like increased resource consumption which is not the case yet in the studied companies. Different types of ‘sustainability worldviews on digitalisation’ can be distinguished. While ‘Pioneer’ companies can inform policy‐making, the other types of ‘Intermediates’, ‘Indecisive’ and ‘Laggards’ could be addressed by information exchange, support and regulation to promote a more sustainable worldview on corporate digitalisation. The ‘Unsustainable’ digitalisation type would be the most difficult to address with soft policy instruments and requires a more regulated approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Silke Niehoff, 2022. "Aligning digitalisation and sustainable development? Evidence from the analysis of worldviews in sustainability reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2546-2567, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:5:p:2546-2567
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3043
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3043
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.3043?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy E. Landrum & Brian Ohsowski, 2018. "Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 128-151, January.
    2. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    3. Andrea Chiarini, 2021. "Industry 4.0 technologies in the manufacturing sector: Are we sure they are all relevant for environmental performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3194-3207, November.
    4. Thomas Clarke & Martijn Boersma, 2017. "The Governance of Global Value Chains: Unresolved Human Rights, Environmental and Ethical Dilemmas in the Apple Supply Chain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 111-131, June.
    5. Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Bauwens, Thomas & Calisto Friant, Martin, 2022. "Challenging dominant sustainability worldviews on the energy transition: Lessons from Indigenous communities in Mexico and a plea for pluriversal technologies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    6. Wendy Stubbs & Chris Cocklin, 2008. "An ecological modernist interpretation of sustainability: the case of Interface Inc," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(8), pages 512-523, December.
    7. Johan Rockström & Will Steffen & Kevin Noone & Åsa Persson & F. Stuart Chapin & Eric F. Lambin & Timothy M. Lenton & Marten Scheffer & Carl Folke & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Björn Nykvist & Cynthia , 2009. "A safe operating space for humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7263), pages 472-475, September.
    8. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    9. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He, Kai & Bouncken, Ricarda B. & Kiani, Ataullah & Kraus, Sascha, 2024. "The role of strategic orientations for digital innovation: When entrepreneurship meets sustainability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Arindam Das, 2023. "The Relationship between International Trade in Industry 4.0 Products and National-Level Sustainability Performance: An Empirical Investigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Bie, Fan & Zhou, Luyao & Liu, Shuo & Yang, Tao, 2024. "Government digital transformation, resource curse and green total factor energy efficiency in Chinese cities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Yan Peng & Hanzi Chen & Tinghui Li, 2023. "The Impact of Digital Transformation on ESG: A Case Study of Chinese-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-21, October.
    5. Wen, Huwei & Wen, Changyong & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2022. "Impact of digitalization and environmental regulation on total factor productivity," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Valero-Gil, Jesús & Suárez-Perales, Inés & Garcés-Ayerbe, Concepción & Rivera-Torres, Pilar, 2024. "Navigating toward the promised land of digitalization and sustainability convergence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Gritsenko, Daria, 2024. "Advancing UN digital cooperation: Lessons from environmental policy and governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    8. Sebastiano Cupertino & Gianluca Vitale, 2024. "Exploring the nexus between corporate digitalisation and environmental sustainability: The moderating role of slack resources," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(1), pages 87-108.
    9. Calabrese, Armando & Costa, Roberta & Tiburzi, Luigi & Brem, Alexander, 2023. "Merging two revolutions: A human-artificial intelligence method to study how sustainability and Industry 4.0 are intertwined," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    10. Päivi Luoma & Romana Rauter & Esko Penttinen & Anne Toppinen, 2023. "The value of data for environmental sustainability as perceived by the customers of a tissue‐paper supplier," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 3110-3123, November.
    11. Eleonora Annunziata & Tommaso Pucci & Jacopo Cammeo & Lorenzo Zanni & Marco Frey, 2023. "The mediating role of exogenous shocks in green purchase intention: evidence from italian fashion industry in the Covid-19 era," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2023(1), pages 59-79, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuan-Shuh Lii & May-Ching Ding & Chih-Huang Lin, 2018. "Fair or Unfair: The Moderating Effect of Sustainable CSR Practices on Anticipatory Justice Following Service Failure Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Mario Morales-Parragué & Luis Araya-Castillo & Fidel Molina-Luque & Hugo Moraga-Flores, 2022. "Scientometric Analysis of Research on Corporate Social Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Galbreath, Jeremy, 2017. "Drivers Of Environmental Sustainability In Wine Firms: The Role And Effect Of Women In Leadership," Working Papers 253851, American Association of Wine Economists.
    4. Robin Hogrefe & Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, 2023. "The Social Dimension of Corporate Sustainability: Review of an Evolving Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Resource-Based Perspectives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 111-132, December.
    6. Ruixin Su & Bojan Obrenovic & Jianguo Du & Danijela Godinic & Akmal Khudaykulov, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for Corporate Sustainability and Society: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-23, January.
    7. Christina Deselaers & Alina Dahmen & Sonia Lippke, 2022. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on CSR Activities of Healthcare Providers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, December.
    8. Lis, Bettina, 2012. "The Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility for a Sustainable Human Resource Management: An Analysis of Organizational Attractiveness as a Determinant in Employees’ Selection of a (Potential) Emp," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    9. Mehrnaz Ashrafi & Gregory M. Magnan & Michelle Adams & Tony R. Walker, 2020. "Understanding the Conceptual Evolutionary Path and Theoretical Underpinnings of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Charlotte Leire & Oksana Mont, 2010. "The implementation of socially responsible purchasing," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 27-39, January.
    11. Silvia Gherardi & Oliver Laasch, 2022. "Responsible Management-as-Practice: Mobilizing a Posthumanist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(2), pages 269-281, November.
    12. Assunta Di Vaio & Luisa Varriale & Angelo Di Gregorio & Samuel Adomako, 2022. "Corporate social performance and non‐financial reporting in the cruise industry: Paving the way towards UN Agenda 2030," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 1931-1953, November.
    13. Abagail McWilliams & Annaleena Parhankangas & Jason Coupet & Eric Welch & Darold T. Barnum, 2016. "Strategic Decision Making for the Triple Bottom Line," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 193-204, March.
    14. Brunella Arru, 2020. "An integrative model for understanding the sustainable entrepreneurs’ behavioural intentions: an empirical study of the Italian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3519-3576, April.
    15. Tiba, Sofien, 2023. "Unlocking the poverty and hunger puzzle: Toward democratizing the natural resource for accomplishing SDGs 1&2," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    16. Kudla, Nicole & Stölzle, Wolfgang, 2011. "Sustainability Supply Chain Management Research," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 65(3), pages 263-301.
    17. Jay Joseph & Helen Borland & Marc Orlitzky & Adam Lindgreen, 2020. "Seeing Versus Doing: How Businesses Manage Tensions in Pursuit of Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 349-370, June.
    18. Grażyna ŚMIGIELSKA, 2018. "A business case for sustainable development," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 10(1), pages 49-66, April.
    19. Tao, Hu & Zhuang, Shan & Xue, Rui & Cao, Wei & Tian, Jinfang & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Environmental Finance: An Interdisciplinary Review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    20. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 59-74, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:5:p:2546-2567. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.