[INTRODUCTION]: Sustaining Sustainability in Organizations

• Published in: Journal of business ethics Vol. 110; no. 2; pp. 151 - 156
• Main Authors: de Lange, Deborah E., Busch, Timo, Delgado-Ceballos, Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.10.2012; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business and Management; Business Ethics; Business strategies; Corporate social responsibility; Economic performance; Education; Environmental protection; Ethics; False information; Management; Multinational corporations; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Philosophy; Quality of Life Research; Social responsibility; Stakeholders; Studies; Sustainability; Sustainability reporting
• ISSN: 0167-4544; 1573-0697
• DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1425-0

The importance of social issues and the natural environment to societies and firms has dramatically evolved in the preceding 50 years. Corporate managers are becoming aware of the need to broaden their goals, beyond the traditional financial expectations. Since the term sustainability has entered the business world, an ever increasing number of firms realize the importance of sustainability and emphasize the social and environmental goals of their organizations (Bansal 2005; Hoffman 1999; GRI 2011). How seriously are these goals considered in corporate strategy? Is sustainability a trendy buzzword without any substantial meaning for operational processes? Or, can we observe tangible improvements in corporate social and environmental performance over time? These and related questions lead to an overarching question: How can sustainability be sustained in organizations? Sustainability can be defined, based on earlier definitions, as an approach to business that considers economic, environmental and social issues in balanced, holistic, and long-term ways that benefit current and future generations of concerned stakeholders (Elkington 1998; World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). In other words, organizations aiming to be sustainable are required to pay attention to their performance on three dimensions: economic performance, social equity, and ecological preservation (Gladwin et al. 1995). [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]