IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v29y2021i5p974-986.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The imperative of embedding sustainability in business: A model for transformational sustainable development

Author

Listed:
  • Hana Trollman
  • James Colwill

Abstract

Sustainable development is the current strategic trajectory with transformative intent for complex global challenges including eradication of poverty, full social inclusion and prevention of ecological collapse. However, discourses related to the private sector emphasise economic and social development over the environmental components of sustainable development. Embedding sustainability is the related management imperative for business, supported by numerous frameworks, yet there is confusion about implementation in both literature and practice. This research addresses these issues with a mixed methods study combining a scoping literature review with a qualitative e‐Delphi study. The main findings are that the economic system constrains the embedding of sustainability in business; and that a paradigm shift towards ecocentric business models lacks support. The results are used to develop a novel model to aid transformational sustainable development that acknowledges the influences of the economic system in business whilst respecting social and ecological embeddedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Hana Trollman & James Colwill, 2021. "The imperative of embedding sustainability in business: A model for transformational sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 974-986, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:29:y:2021:i:5:p:974-986
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2188
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2188
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2188?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. Hana Trollman & James Colwill & Alan Brejnholt, 2020. "Ecologically Embedded Design in Manufacturing: Legitimation within Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Amr ElAlfy & Kareem M. Darwish & Olaf Weber, 2020. "Corporations and sustainable development goals communication on social media: Corporate social responsibility or just another buzzword?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1418-1430, September.
    3. Ahi, Payman & Searcy, Cory & Jaber, Mohamad Y., 2018. "A Quantitative Approach for Assessing Sustainability Performance of Corporations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 336-346.
    4. Sarah Cummings & Anastasia‐Alithia Seferiadis & Leah de Haan, 2020. "Getting down to business? Critical discourse analysis of perspectives on the private sector in sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 759-771, July.
    5. 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.
    6. Bill Hopwood & Mary Mellor & Geoff O'Brien, 2005. "Sustainable development: mapping different approaches," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 38-52.
    7. Marc Vilanova & Josep Lozano & Daniel Arenas, 2009. "Exploring the Nature of the Relationship Between CSR and Competitiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 57-69, April.
    8. Stefan Schaltegger & Markus Beckmann & Kai Hockerts, 2018. "Collaborative entrepreneurship for sustainability. Creating solutions in light of the UN sustainable development goals," International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 131-152.
    9. Catherine Le Roux & Marius Pretorius, 2016. "Conceptualizing the Limiting Issues Inhibiting Sustainability Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-22, April.
    10. Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Emma García‐Meca, 2020. "Internal corporate governance strength as a mechanism for achieving sustainable development goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1189-1198, September.
    11. Adam G. Pfleegor & Matthew Katz & Matthew T. Bowers, 2019. "Publish, Perish, or Salami Slice? Authorship Ethics in an Emerging Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 189-208, April.
    12. H. Trollman & J. A. Colwill, 2020. "A Transformational Change Framework for Developing Ecologically Embedded Manufacturing," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(4), pages 341-368, December.
    13. Frank Montabon & Mark Pagell & Zhaohui Wu, 2016. "Making Sustainability Sustainable," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 11-27, April.
    14. Regina Scheyvens & Glenn Banks & Emma Hughes, 2016. "The Private Sector and the SDGs: The Need to Move Beyond ‘Business as Usual’," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 371-382, November.
    15. Diane L. Swanson, 2014. "Embedding CSR into Corporate Culture," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-30008-9, December.
    16. Stefan Schaltegger & Roger Burritt, 2018. "Business Cases and Corporate Engagement with Sustainability: Differentiating Ethical Motivations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 241-259, January.
    17. Sharlene Biswas & Winnie O’Grady, 2016. "Using external environmental reporting to embed sustainability into organisational practices," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(2), pages 218-235, July.
    18. Jason Hickel, 2019. "The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 873-884, September.
    19. Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2009. "Organizational culture and leadership: Preconditions for the development of a sustainable corporation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 102-113.
    20. Tineke Lambooy & Pjotr Anthoni & Aikaterini Argyrou, 2020. "Aren't we all pursuing societal goals in our businesses? Defining “societal purpose” as pursued by social enterprises," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 485-494, May.
    21. Øyvind Ihlen & Juliet Roper, 2014. "Corporate Reports on Sustainability and Sustainable Development: ‘We Have Arrived’," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 42-51, January.
    22. Alessandro Liberati & Douglas G Altman & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Cynthia Mulrow & Peter C Gøtzsche & John P A Ioannidis & Mike Clarke & P J Devereaux & Jos Kleijnen & David Moher, 2009. "The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-28, July.
    23. Maxim Vlasov & Karl Johan Bonnedahl & Zsuzsanna Vincze, 2018. "Entrepreneurship for resilience: embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks," Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 374-394, August.
    24. E. R. Osagie & R. Wesselink & V. Blok & T. Lans & M. Mulder, 2016. "Individual Competencies for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Literature and Practice Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 233-252, May.
    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. Hildegunn Mellesmo Aslaksen & Clare Hildebrandt & Hans Chr. Garmann Johnsen, 2021. "The long-term transformation of the concept of CSR: towards a more comprehensive emphasis on sustainability," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Xin Guan & Naveed Ahmad & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Jacob Cherian & Heesup Han, 2023. "CSR and organizational performance: The role of pro‐environmental behavior and personal values," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 677-694, March.
    3. Mahesh Shaw & Abhijit Majumdar & Kannan Govindan, 2022. "Barriers of social sustainability: an improved interpretive structural model of Indian textile and clothing supply chain," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1616-1633, December.
    4. Ratri Parida & Manoj Kumar Dash & Anil Kumar & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Sunil Luthra & Eyob Mulat‐weldemeskel, 2022. "Evolution of supply chain finance: A comprehensive review and proposed research directions with network clustering analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1343-1369, October.

    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. Chiara Mio & Silvia Panfilo & Benedetta Blundo, 2020. "Sustainable development goals and the strategic role of business: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3220-3245, December.
    2. Teun Wolters, 2022. "Why is ecological sustainability so difficult to achieve? An in‐context discussion of conceptual barriers," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 2025-2039, December.
    3. Hervé Corvellec & Johan Hultman & Anne Jerneck & Susanne Arvidsson & Johan Ekroos & Niklas Wahlberg & Timothy W. Luke, 2021. "Resourcification: A non‐essentialist theory of resources for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 1249-1256, November.
    4. Stephen Taiwo Onifade & Bright Akwasi Gyamfi & Ilham Haouas & Simplice A. Asongu, 2024. "Extending the frontiers of financial development for sustainability of the MENA states: The roles of resource abundance and institutional quality," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 1971-1986, June.
    5. Hametner, Markus, 2022. "Economics without ecology: How the SDGs fail to align socioeconomic development with environmental sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    6. Jennifer Adolph & Markus Beckmann, 2024. "Corporate sustainability strategy: From definitional ambiguity toward conceptual clarification," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4708-4729, July.
    7. Wei Xu & Hongyong Fu & Huanpeng Liu, 2019. "Evaluating the Sustainability of Microfinance Institutions Considering Macro-Environmental Factors: A Cross-Country Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    8. Yao Li & Michael Rockinger, 2024. "Unfolding the Transitions in Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-31, January.
    9. Elías Domingo‐Posada & Pilar L. González‐Torre & Marta M. Vidal‐Suárez, 2024. "Sustainable development goals and corporate strategy: A map of the field," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 2733-2748, July.
    10. Witjes, Sjors & Lozano, Rodrigo, 2016. "Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 37-44.
    11. Enrico Fontana & Prapassorn Siriwichai, 2022. "Understanding transgender persons' careers to advance sustainable development: The case of Trans for Career Thailand," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1573-1590, December.
    12. Samuel Wicki & Erik G. Hansen, 2019. "Green technology innovation: Anatomy of exploration processes from a learning perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 970-988, September.
    13. Constantin Torcătoru & Dan Săvescu & Angela Repanovici, 2022. "Literature Review by Scientometric Methods on the Impact of the Circular Economy on Sustainable Industrial Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, April.
    14. Elsa Diez-Busto & Lidia Sanchez-Ruiz & Ana Fernandez-Laviada, 2021. "The B Corp Movement: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, February.
    15. Heike Schulze & Lydia Bals & Jon Warwick, 2022. "A sustainable sourcing competence model for purchasing and supply management professionals," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 1418-1444, December.
    16. Hana Trollman & James Colwill & Sandeep Jagtap, 2021. "A Circularity Indicator Tool for Measuring the Ecological Embeddedness of Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-23, August.
    17. Witjes, Sjors & Vermeulen, Walter J.V. & Cramer, Jacqueline M., 2017. "Assessing Corporate Sustainability integration for corporate self-reflection," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 132-147.
    18. Hana Trollman & Guillermo Garcia-Garcia & Sandeep Jagtap & Frank Trollman, 2022. "Blockchain for Ecologically Embedded Coffee Supply Chains," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-17, June.
    19. Juan Telleria & Jorge Garcia-Arias, 2022. "The fantasmatic narrative of ‘sustainable development’. A political analysis of the 2030 Global Development Agenda," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 40(1), pages 241-259, February.
    20. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.

    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:wly:sustdv:v:29:y:2021:i:5:p:974-986. 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)1099-1719 .

    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.