Integrative Sustainable Intelligence: A holistic model to integrate corporate sustainability strategies
Corresponding Author
Winston Jerónimo Silvestre
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA'CET-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal
Correspondence
Winston Jerónimo Silvestre, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA'CET-IUL, Avenida das Forças Armadas Edifício ISCTE, Lisbon 1649-026 Portugal.
Email: winstonjeronimo@gmail.com
Search for more papers by this authorAna Fonseca
UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Winston Jerónimo Silvestre
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA'CET-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal
Correspondence
Winston Jerónimo Silvestre, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), DINÂMIA'CET-IUL, Avenida das Forças Armadas Edifício ISCTE, Lisbon 1649-026 Portugal.
Email: winstonjeronimo@gmail.com
Search for more papers by this authorAna Fonseca
UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Organizations have been showing a growing awareness regarding the importance of corporate sustainability. However, the integration of sustainability concerns in companies' long-term planning, strategic management, processes, and activities is still challenging, disconnected, and often conducted in isolation. Based on a qualitative exploratory research combining different perspectives found in the literature, the present research presents a theoretical framework that is expected to enhance the adequate development and management of organizational sustainability-oriented practices — the Integrative Sustainable Intelligence model. This model provides organizational managers with a structured framework to adequately understand, select, implement and assess sustainability promoting actions, based on the development of structural and systematic disruptive tools and involving the exchange of collaborative ideas between organizational stakeholders. The adoption of the Integrative Sustainable Intelligence model is expected to foster change processes and innovations in the search for solutions for sustainability-oriented business models.
REFERENCES
- Aarseth, W., Ahola, T., Aaltonen, K., Økland, A., & Andersen, B. (2017). Project sustainability strategies: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Project Management, 35(6), 1071–1083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2016.11.006
- Agle, B. R., Donaldson, T., & Freeman, R. E. (2008). Dialogue: Toward superior stakeholder theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, 18(2), 153–190.
- Aquilani, B., Silvestri, C., Ioppolo, G., & Ruggieri, A. (2018). The challenging transition to bio-economies: Towards a new framework integrating corporate sustainability and value co-creation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 4001–4009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.153
- Armindo, J., Fonseca, A., Abreu, I., & Toldy, T. (2019). Perceived importance of sustainability dimensions in the Portuguese metal industry. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 26(2), 154–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2018.1508524
- Asswad, J., Hake, G., & Marx Gómez, J. (2016). Overcoming the barriers of sustainable business model innovations by integrating open innovation In: Abramowicz W., Alt R., Franczyk B. (eds) Business Information Systems. BIS 2016. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 255. Cham: Springer.
- Bansal, P. (2005). Evolving sustainably: A longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development. Strategic Management Journal, 26(3), 197–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.441
- Baumgartner, R. J. (2014). Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual framework combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21(5), 258–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1336
- Baumgartner, R. J., & Rauter, R. (2017). Strategic perspectives of corporate sustainability management to develop a sustainable organization. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.146
- Beck, U. (2002). The terrorist threat: World risk society revisited. Theory, Culture & Society, 19(4), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276402019004003
- Berg, B. L. (2009). An introduction to content analysis. In Qualitative research methods for social sciences ( 7th ed., pp. 338–377). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Bonini, S., & Bové, A.-T. (2014). Sustainability's strategic worth. McKinsey Global Survey Results, 1–12.
- Bonn, I., & Fisher, J. (2011). Sustainability: The missing ingredient in strategy. Journal of Business Strategy, 32(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1108/02756661111100274
10.1108/02756661111100274 Google Scholar
- Carroll, A. B., & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00275.x
- Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Nurse Res, 13(4), 84. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.13.4.84.s4
- Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2011). Building theory about theory building: What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 36(1), 12–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0486
- Costanza, R., & Daly, H. E. (1992). Natural capital and sustainable development. Conservation Biology, 6(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.610037.x
- Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., … Turner, R. K. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global Environmental Change, 26, 152–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.002
- Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Inc, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
- DaSilva, C. M., & Trkman, P. (2014). Business model: What it is and what it is not. Long Range Planning, 47(6), 379–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.08.004
- Demil, B., & Lecocq, X. (2010). Business model evolution: In search of dynamic consistency. Long Range Planning, 43(2), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2010.02.004
- Doppelt, B. (2010). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Updated 2nd Edition, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield 296.
- Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11(2), 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323
10.1002/bse.323 Google Scholar
- Elkington, J. (1999). Triple bottom line revolution: Reporting for the third millennium. Australian CPA, 69, 75–77.
- Engert, S., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2016). Corporate sustainability strategy—Bridging the gap between formulation and implementation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 113, 822–834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.094
- Engert, S., Rauter, R., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2016). Exploring the integration of corporate sustainability into strategic management: A literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, Part 4, 2833-2850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.08.031
- Foley, G., & Timonen, V. (2015). Using grounded theory method to capture and analyze health care experiences. Health Services Research, 50(4), 1195–1210. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12275
- Fonseca, L., & Carvalho, F. (2019). The reporting of SDGs by quality, environmental, and occupational health and safety-certified organizations. Sustainability, 11, 5797.
- Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L., & Colle, S. d. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 357.
- Geissdoerfer, M., Vladimirova, D., & Evans, S. (2018). Sustainable business model innovation: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 401–416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.240
- Gianni, M., Gotzamani, K., & Tsiotras, G. (2017). Multiple perspectives on integrated management systems and corporate sustainability performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 168, 1297–1311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.061
- Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P., & Trow, M. (1994). The new production of knowledge—The dynamics of and research in contemporary science societies (p. 192). London: Sage Publications.
- Glaser, E. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. London, England: Weidenfeld and Nicplson.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.
- Goleman, D. (2010). Ecological intelligence: The hidden impacts of what we buy. New York: Broadway Books.
- Govindan, K. (2018). Sustainable consumption and production in the food supply chain: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Production Economics, 195, 419–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2017.03.003
- Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in sustainability management. Organization & Environment, 27(4), 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026614535786
- IIRC. (2013). The International Integreting Report Framework. http://www.theiirc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/13-12-08-THE-INTERNATIONAL-IR-FRAMEWORK-2-1.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2014).
- Iraldo, F., Testa, F., & Frey, M. (2009). Is an environmental management system able to influence environmental and competitive performance? The case of the eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) in the European union. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(16), 1444–1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.05.013
- Jerónimo Silvestre, W., Antunes, P., Amaro, A., & Leal Filho, W. (2015). Assessment of corporate sustainability: Study of hybrid relations using hybrid bottom line model. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 22(4), 302–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2015.1045955
- Jerónimo Silvestre, W., Antunes, P., & Filho, W. L. (2014). Hybrid bottom line: Another perspective on the sustainability of organizations. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 21(5), 456–464. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2014.959580
- Jerónimo Silvestre, W., Antunes, P., & Leal Filho, W. (2016). The corporate sustainability typology: Analysing sustainability drivers and fostering sustainability at enterprises. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 24(2), 513–533. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1213199
- Judge, W. Q., Naoumova, I., & Douglas, T. (2009). Organizational capacity for change and firm performance in a transition economy. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(8), 1737–1752. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190903087107
- Jupp, V. (2006). The SAGE dictionary of social research methods. London: SAGE Publications.
10.4135/9780857020116 Google Scholar
- Kiron, D., Unruh, G., Kruschwitz, N., Reeves, M., Rubel, H., & Felde, A. M. Z. (2017). Corporate sustainability at a crossroads, progress toward our common future in uncertain times, in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. MIT Sloan Management Review.
- Klarner, P., Probst, G., & Soparnot, R. (2008). Organizational change capacity in public services: The case of the World Health Organization. Journal of Change Management, 8(1), 57–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/14697010801937523
10.1080/14697010801937523 Google Scholar
- Kok, R. A. W., & Driessen, P. H. (2012). Antecedents of market orientation in semi-public service organizations: A study of Dutch housing associations. The Service Industries Journal, 32(12), 1901–1921. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.574281
- Kyaw, K., Olugbode, M., & Petracci, B. (2017). The role of the institutional framework in the relationship between earnings management and corporate social performance. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 24(6), 543–554. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1426
- Lamberton, G. (2005). Sustainable sufficiency—An internally consistent version of sustainability. Sustainable Development, 13(1), 53–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.245
- Lankoski, L. (2016). Alternative conceptions of sustainability in a business context. Journal of Cleaner Production, 139, 847–857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.08.087
- Linnenluecke, M. K., & Griffiths, A. (2010). Corporate sustainability and organizational culture. Journal of World Business, 45(4), 357–366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2009.08.006
- Littell, J. H., Corcoran, J., & Pillai, V. (2008). Systematic reviews and meta-analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326543.001.0001 Google Scholar
- Lozano, R. (2015). A holistic perspective on corporate sustainability drivers. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(1), 32–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1325
- Lozano, R., & von Haartman, R. (2018). Reinforcing the holistic perspective of sustainability: Analysis of the importance of sustainability drivers in organizations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(4), 508–522. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1475
- Lundvall, B.-Å. (1992). National systems of innovation: Towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning. London: Printer Publishers.
- Maas, K., Schaltegger, S., & Crutzen, N. (2016). Integrating corporate sustainability assessment, management accounting, control, and reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 136, Part A, 237-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.008
- Manning, B., Braam, G., & Reimsbach, D. (2019). Corporate governance and sustainable business conduct—Effects of board monitoring effectiveness and stakeholder engagement on corporate sustainability performance and disclosure choices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 351–366. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1687
- Michelon, G., Boesso, G., & Kumar, K. (2013). Examining the link between strategic corporate social responsibility and company performance: An analysis of the best corporate citizens. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(2), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1278
- Minbaeva, D. (2007). Knowledge transfer in multinational corporations. Management International Review, 47(4), 567–593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-007-0030-4
10.1007/s11575-007-0030-4 Google Scholar
- Montiel, I., & Delgado-Ceballos, J. (2014). Defining and measuring corporate sustainability: Are we there yet? Organization & Environment, 27, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026614526413
- Moratis, L., & Melissen, F. (2019). The three components of sustainability intelligence. Geoforum, 107, 235–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.05.023
- Morioka, S. N., & de Carvalho, M. M. (2016). A systematic literature review towards a conceptual framework for integrating sustainability performance into business. Journal of Cleaner Production, 136, 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.01.104
- Muñoz-Torres, M. J., Fernández-Izquierdo, M. Á., Rivera-Lirio, J. M., & Escrig-Olmedo, E. (2019). Can environmental, social, and governance rating agencies favor business models that promote a more sustainable development? Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1695
- Oertwig, N., Galeitzke, M., Schmieg, H.-G., Kohl, H., Jochem, R., Orth, R., & Knothe, T. (2017). Integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy. In R. Stark, G. Seliger, & J. Bonvoisin (Eds.), Sustainable manufacturing: Challenges, solutions and implementation perspectives (pp. 175–200). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
10.1007/978-3-319-48514-0_12 Google Scholar
- Ortiz-Avram, D., Domnanovich, J., Kronenberg, C., & Scholz, M. (2018). Exploring the integration of corporate social responsibility into the strategies of small- and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 201, 254–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.011
- Ostrom, E. (2009). A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science, 325(5939), 419-422.
- Pain, G. C. F. (2014). Why organizations fail at sustainability: An integrative sensemaking view. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2014(1), 16376. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2014.16376abstract
10.5465/ambpp.2014.16376abstract Google Scholar
- Para-González, L., & Mascaraque-Ramírez, C. (2019). The importance of official certifications in globalized companies' performance: An empirical approach to the shipbuilding industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1692
- Poddar, A., Narula, S. A., & Zutshi, A. (2019). A study of corporate social responsibility practices of the top Bombay stock exchange 500 companies in India and their alignment with the sustainable development goals. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(6), 1184–1205. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1741
- Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), 78–92.
- Qi, G. (2013). ISO and OHSAS certifications: How stakeholders affect corporate decisions on sustainability. Management Decision, 51(10), 1983–2005. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2011-0431
- Ragsdell, G. (2000). Engineering a paradigm shift?: An holistic approach to organisational change management. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 13(2), 104–120. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534810010321436
- Ramaswamy, V., & Ozcan, K. (2014). The co-creation paradigm. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 360.
- Rauter, R., Jonker, J., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2017). Going one's own way: Drivers in developing business models for sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, Part 1, 144-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.104
- Reiter, B. (2017). Theory and methodology of exploratory social science research. International Journal of Science and Research, 5(4), 129–150.
- Ridenour, C. S., & Newman, I. (2008). Mixed methods research: Exploring the interactive continuum. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
- Rockström, J., Gaffney, O., Rogelj, J., Meinshausen, M., Nakicenovic, N., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2017). A roadmap for rapid decarbonization. Science, 355(6331), 1269–1271. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah3443
- Rockstrom, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, A., Chapin, F. S., Lambin, E. F., … Foley, J. A. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461(7263), 472–475.
- Rosati, F., & Faria, L. G. D. (2019). Business contribution to the sustainable development agenda: Organizational factors related to early adoption of SDG reporting. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(3), 588–597. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1705
- Rose, A., & Krausmann, E. (2013). An economic framework for the development of a resilience index for business recovery. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 5, 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.08.003
- Sawik, T. (2013). Selection of resilient supply portfolio under disruption risks. Omega, 41(2), 259–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2012.05.003
- Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F., & Hansen, E. G. (2016). Business models for sustainability. Organization & Environment, 29(3), 264–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026616633272
- Scherrer, Y., Daub, C.-H., & Burger, P. (2007). Toward integrating sustainability into business strategy. Business Strategy and the Environment, 16(7), 459–460. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.594
10.1002/bse.594 Google Scholar
- Schrettle, S., Hinz, A., Scherrer -Rathje, M., & Friedli, T. (2014). Turning sustainability into action: Explaining firms' sustainability efforts and their impact on firm performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 147, 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.02.030
- Shields, J., & Shelleman, J. M. (2015). Integrating sustainability into SME strategy. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 25(2), 59–78.
- Spraggon, M., & Bodolica, V. (2012). A multidimensional taxonomy of intra-firm knowledge transfer processes. Journal of Business Research, 65(9), 1273–1282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.043
- Stubbs, W. (2019). Strategies, practices, and tensions in managing business model innovation for sustainability: The case of an Australian BCorp. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(5), 1063–1072. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1786
- Testa, F., Boiral, O., & Heras-Saizarbitoria, I. (2018). Improving CSR performance by hard and soft means: The role of organizational citizenship behaviours and the internalization of CSR standards. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(5), 853–865. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1502
- Tranfield, D., Denyer, D., & Smart, P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management, 14(3), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375
- UN (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations. Available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf, (Accessed May 10, 2019).
- United Nations. (1972). Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference). New York, 1-77.
- Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2008). Service-dominant logic: Continuing the evolution. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-007-0069-6
- Vargo, S. L., Maglio, P. P., & Akaka, M. A. (2008). On value and value co-creation: A service systems and service logic perspective. European Management Journal, 26(3), 145–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2008.04.003
10.1016/j.emj.2008.04.003 Google Scholar
- Verhoef, P. C., Kooge, E., & Walk, N. (2016). Creating value with big data analytics: Making smarter marketing decisions. London: Routledge.
10.4324/9781315734750 Google Scholar
- WCED. (1987). Our Common Future. World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford University Press, New-York, 416.
- Wood, D. J. (2010). Measuring corporate social performance: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 50–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00274.x
- Zott, C., Amit, R., & Massa, L. (2011). The business model: Recent developments and future research. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1019–1042. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311406265
- Saarijärvi, H., Kannan, P. & Kuusela, H. (2013), “Value co-creation: theoretical approaches and practicalimplications”, European Business Review, Vol, 25 No. 1, pp. 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1108/09555341311287718
10.1108/09555341311287718 Google Scholar
- Sherman, R. (2015). Chapter 12 – Data Integration Processes. In R. Sherman (Ed.), Business Intelligence Guidebook (pp. 301–333). Boston: Morgan Kaufmann. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-411461-6.00012-5
10.1016/B978-0-12-411461-6.00012-5 Google Scholar