Sustainability and Competitive Advantage: A Study in a Brazilian Cosmetic Company

Sustainability is an increasingly common and important issue in daily life, which in turn becomes an advantage when handled strategically by managers in their businesses. Nevertheless, in the Brazilian cosmetics and personal care industry one can find companies that consciously resist this trend. In this context, this article aims to highlight the advantages of using sustainability as a business strategy. The method used was a case study with a qualitative approach. In the case of the company, which was the subject of study of this work, the reasons that have led it to remain inert are strongly related to its model for running the business, especially the lack of long-term planning, a strong hierarchy, low leadership awareness and overvaluation of investors, making sustainability a seemingly incompatible matter for the organization. The studied company's own stakeholders, particularly employees, have identified several innovative opportunities for it to progress toward sustainability. However, in most cases, managers have been prevented from pursuing sustainable actions on the grounds that such initiatives are subjective and have no value.