Stages of Corporate Sustainability: Integrating the Strong Sustainability Worldview

Businesses are increasingly adopting sustainability, yet the environment continues to decline. This research responds to Dyllick and Muff’s assertion that this paradox is caused by a constricted understanding of the meaning of corporate sustainability, lack of inclusion of constructs from related streams of literature, and failure to integrate micro and macro perspectives of sustainability. The current research addresses these concerns through an integration of 22 microand macro-level models of stages of development from literature in corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility, environmental management, and sustainable development. This integration results in a new unified model of stages of corporate sustainability that broadens the current narrowly constricted understanding of corporate sustainability, extends the paradigm of corporate sustainability beyond the business case and into the realm of ecological science and strong sustainability, and sheds light on the paradox

The Global Goals: Bringing Education for Sustainable Development into U.S. Business Schools

Purpose – This paper aims to learn how sustainability and the circular economy were being integrated into the curriculum of a Dutch university and to transfer that knowledge back to a US university business school curriculum. Given the resistance toward integrating sustainability into the US business school curriculum, the Dutch university served as a role model for education for sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach – This case study used ethnographic methods of participant observation over a four-month residency at the Dutch university. Findings – Themes observed are as follows: success in the current context relied upon sustainability being integrated into the culture and lifestyle, legislative enforcement, a focus on urban sustainability, use of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and collaboration as a key to success. The course proposal shifted to a class on the SDGs which is broader, more inclusive, and interdisciplinary. The proposal to integrate circular economy into the US business school curriculum shifted to a class on the SDGs. It was determined that the SDGs presented a more amenable approach to introduce sustainability into the business school curriculum and meet the objectives of education for sustainable development. Research limitations/implications – This case study is based upon the author’s experience at one university in the Netherlands. Limitations include the generalizability of the findings to another university as well as the question of transferability across cultures. Practical implications – This case study offers one suggestion for integrating sustainability into the business school curriculum. Social implications – Integrating sustainability into the business school curriculum through the SDGs might help overcome resistance. Originality/value – The findings offer an alternative approach for integrating sustainability into the business school curriculum that is aligned with AACSB standards and which might face less resistance. Keywords Sustainability, Management education, Sustainable Development Goals, Business education, Education for sustainable development, Circular economy Paper type Case stud

A critical discourse analysis to explain the failure of BoP strategies

Purpose This paper aims to highlight differences between business and non-business literature regarding base of the pyramid (BoP) and subsistence contexts and reveal discourse’s powerful role in influencing goals, solutions and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses critical discourse analysis to review a convenience sample of business versus non-business literature on the BoP and subsistence contexts. Findings Discourse used in business literature on the BoP is oriented toward hegemonic Western capitalist approaches that result in the depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation and, therefore, cannot alleviate poverty. Research limitations/implications There are two primary limitations: the study relied on a convenience sample that was not random and comparatively, the business BoP literature is not as mature as the non-business subsistence literature and, therefore, the BoP field of study is not yet fully developed. Practical implications Discourse has a powerful role in revealing assumptions and guiding actions. A change in BoP discourse toward a strength-based approach can serve as a model of sustainability and can help powerful entities enact structural and systemic change. Originality/value This paper reveals the role of discourse in business BoP literature and how it perpetuates and even exacerbates the problems they were designed to alleviate: depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation. The paper challenges researchers, economists and powerful guiding entities to reorient their discourse of the BoP to be more aligned with those of non-business researchers of subsistence markets

In Search of Environmental Sustainability at the Base of the Pyramid

This paper proposes a revision to Hart and Sharma’s 2004 model for corporate engagement with the base of the pyramid (BoP) by making the BoP community and the natural environment, not the firm, the central focus for engagement. The revised model proposes that core stakeholders must include the BoP community, the poor, weak, and illiterate, as they can benefit most from the community collective action model presented herein to address sustainability in the natural environment. These are the core stakeholders rather than fringe stakeholders, as indicated in the Hart and Sharma model. Our model recognizes the legitimacy of the firm as an enabler that possesses the power to help core stakeholders address the causes of environmental degradation that act as barriers to poverty alleviation and natural resource access

Is Strategic Management (Still) Responsible for the Demise of Society?

Over fourteen years ago, Bill Richardson stated that modern strategic management is leading to the demise of society with its profit-maximization focus. Furthermore, there is criticism that strategic management research is lacking relevance for practitioners. In contrast to this criticism of academia, practitioners are increasingly engaged in sustainability-related activities and reporting and are moving beyond the historical focus on profits. This study examined trends in strategic management academic and practitioner publications since Richardson\u27s claim. Since academicians are charged with educating future managers for the workforce, we sought to determine if academic strategic management research publications are reflecting the practitioner sustainability movement incorporating social and environmental performance alongside financial performance. Suggestions for future research are presented

Virtual Teams in the Classroom: A Case Study

With the increase in technology and globalization, virtual teams are to the new century what self-managed work teams were to the past. Virtual teams are cross-functional teams that operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries with members whocommunicate mainly through electronic technologies (McShane & Von Glinow, 2000, p. 271). A virtual team is a tool that the organizations can employ to make quick decisions in a complex environment, especially, in an environment where employees are spreadacross the globe (Duarte & Snyder, 1999; Manz & Sims, 1987; McShane & Von Glinow, 2000). Both traditional and self-managed work teams have long been used in organizational and educational settings. Research on virtual teams in organizational settings has increased as virtual teams are becoming more widely utilized. Virtual teams are also being utilized in higher education. We know little, however, of how virtual teams function in higher education. It is the purpose of this paper to initially determine the development of the team and the impact of leadership in virtual teams in higher education and to determine how they differ from co-located teams in higher education. Secondly, we would like to determine how to increase the success of virtual teams in higher education. These questions will be addressed by drawing upon and integrating literature and anecdotal evidence

An Integral Theory Perspective on the Firm

We propose that Ken Wilber’s (2000) integral theory can serve as a new paradigm by which to view the organization and present a broader view of the roles and responsibilities of business. Through an integral theory of the firm, we see individual desires, capabilities and limitations, economic profit and humanitarian interest working in synergy to maximize firm performance. This holistic approach is innovative and is presented as a way to redefine the existence, boundaries, and organization of the firm and to show how organizations can become more ecologically sustainable, socially responsible, and economically competitive. An integral theory of the firm allows metatriangulation of various theoretical approaches, simultaneous consideration of multiple levels of analysis, simultaneous pursuit of market and non-market strategies, and challenges existing paradigms

Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports

Companies commonly issue sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. This study seeks to understand worldviews of corporate sustainability, or the corporate message conveyed regarding what sustainability or CSR is and how to enact it. Content analysis of corporate sustainability reports is used to position each company report within stages of corporate sustainability. Results reveal that there are multiple coexisting worldviews of corporate sustainability, but the most dominant worldview is focused on the business case for sustainability, a position anchored in the weak sustainability paradigm. We contend that the business case and weak sustainability advanced in corporate sustainability reports and by the Global Reporting Initiative are poor representations of sustainability. Ecological embeddedness, or a locally responsive strategy that is sensitive to local ecosystems, may hold the key to improved ecological sensemaking, which in turn could lead to more mature levels of corporate sustainability worldviews that support strong sustainability and are rooted in environmental science. This must be supported by government regulation