Over the past decade, the risen concern regarding environmental and social issues asks enterprises to develop a new strategic paradigm, more focused on the ethical conduct of the firm, the social and environmental impact of their activities, and their duties and responsibilities towards all stakeholders. However, both the literature and empirical evidence highlight that the evolution of enterprises towards embedding sustainability in their strategy, organization and managerial systems is not smooth and simple, and it can follow different paths in different enterprises. This paper aims at analyzing “why and how” a company engage in sustainability. The “why” is analyzed by identifying main determinants of sustainability, as showed by previous studies. The “how” refers, on the one hand, to the ways sustainability can be integrated into the firm’s business strategy, and the relation between sustainable and business objectives and initiatives (strategy formulation). On the other hand, it refers to the impacts of sustainability on the organization’s structure and managerial systems (strategy implementation). We assume that the drivers of sustainability would determine the sustainability embedding into firm’s strategy, which influence organization structure and mechanisms. Then the degree of sustainability embedding in the company impacts on firm performance. Thus, we proposed a theoretical framework, that was applied to the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a large multinational company operating in the telecommunication industry.
The integration of sustainability and CSR into the firm strategy: why and how. A case study of an Italian large multinational company
SONGINI, LUCREZIA;PISTONI, ANNA ISIDE;PERRONE, ORIANA
2013
Abstract
Over the past decade, the risen concern regarding environmental and social issues asks enterprises to develop a new strategic paradigm, more focused on the ethical conduct of the firm, the social and environmental impact of their activities, and their duties and responsibilities towards all stakeholders. However, both the literature and empirical evidence highlight that the evolution of enterprises towards embedding sustainability in their strategy, organization and managerial systems is not smooth and simple, and it can follow different paths in different enterprises. This paper aims at analyzing “why and how” a company engage in sustainability. The “why” is analyzed by identifying main determinants of sustainability, as showed by previous studies. The “how” refers, on the one hand, to the ways sustainability can be integrated into the firm’s business strategy, and the relation between sustainable and business objectives and initiatives (strategy formulation). On the other hand, it refers to the impacts of sustainability on the organization’s structure and managerial systems (strategy implementation). We assume that the drivers of sustainability would determine the sustainability embedding into firm’s strategy, which influence organization structure and mechanisms. Then the degree of sustainability embedding in the company impacts on firm performance. Thus, we proposed a theoretical framework, that was applied to the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a large multinational company operating in the telecommunication industry.
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