Sustainability: A Cross-industry Study

Abstract

BUSINESS SCHOLARS AND INDUSTRIES HAVE advocated sustainability for over three decades, but best practices from the field have yet to be captured in a model or framework that informs practitioners of how to engage in sustainability. During the 1980s emphasis was on controlling environmental pollution, and during the 1990s the focus shifted to product stewardship and ethical consumerism (Elkington, 1994). Recently, the focus has been on developing technologies that offer positive influences on the environment (Demirel et al., 2015; Hansen et al., 2015; Toth, 2014; Wong, Nelles, Yong, and Kumar, 2014; Preston, 2001). Sustainability theory is easy to understand, but translating the concept into actionable steps and investments is challenging. This paper identifies firms that are at the forefront of sustainability, and examines common themes advocated, policies set, practices implemented, and outcomes measured for sustained performance and profitability.The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987) defines sustainable development as the ability of the current generation to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. We use the Dow Jones definition of sustainability: A business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments (Robecosam, 2013, p. 7). Sustainability is not a fad; it is about creating a permanent shift in the nature of business (Crews, 2010). Since the advent of the paradigm in the 1980s, during which the concern was pollution control, the private sector shifted from a narrow economic conceptualization of responsibility towards a comprehensive approach that balances economic objectives with environmental pressures and changing societal expectations (Robinson et al., 2006; Tanulku, 2014; Kirschke, 2014; Fong and Harris, 2015; Kostevsek et al., 2015). Based on the pioneer work of Stead and Stead (1992), who systematically treated the subject of sustainability with an urgent call for a new economic model, green stakeholders, and strategic positioning, we want to investigate the current landscape of sustainability in firms after more than 20 years and ask, are firms' motivations for wanting to engage in sustainability, and what elements identify, formulate, and measure sustainability?Theoretical underpinningsMajor sustainability frameworks cited commonly in the field include the ecological footprint (Rees, 1992), triple bottom line (Elkington, 1997), the Natural Step (Karl-Henrik, 2002), and Graedel and Klees' (2002) Sustainability and Resource Usage. All of these frameworks address sustainability from natural, economic, and social spheres. Stead and Stead (2014) even suggest a spiritual dimension as a basis for sustainable competitive advantage. Sustainability research into a variety of specific communities is emerging (US Fed News, 2015; Bouabid and Louis, 2015; Van Wesenbeeck et al., 2015). All sustainability frameworks provide broad guidelines for corporate policy formation, but actionable steps such as those Rowe and Bansal (2013) suggest are limited. In Rowe and Bansal's (2013) ten initiatives on helping companies become more sustainable, political agendas (e.g., national dialogue and reduced burden for sustainability reporting) are also advocated. However, several suggestions remain vague and challenging for corporate practitioners to execute (e.g., create an organizational culture that supports sustainability, prepare organizations and society to mitigate and adapt to climate change, etc.). Sustainability theories and sustainability-related studies are abundant. According to Stead and Stead (1992), several critical biophysical and socioeconomic factors for achieving sustainability include:* Creating total materials recycling* Transitioning to a sustainable worldwide energy system* Stabilizing or reducing human populations* Reconciling disparities between developed and developing nations* Creating community-based decision-making structures that allow widespread, coordinated involvement in decisions about the Earth's common resources* Changing relationships between economic and evolutionary time scalesAll of these factors are intimately connected to one another. …