Introduction

The contemporary society is going through rapid dynamic changes in the new global economy context in which organizations are facing new opportunities and threats to attain sustainable organizational development at their own pace and speed. A more comprehensive presence at work and organization embedded in the society is affected by complex economic and societal factors where besides the organizational policies and job descriptions, the individual workers involved in their interactions have their own backgrounds and personal histories. The global economy has penetrating and changing organizations and their work processes and practices lagging behind the organizational structures, processes, practices, etc., which are requiring organizational solutions. In the new global contextual economic and technological changes, organizations have to develop under specific environmental conditions.

Sustainability has become a relevant issue around the world because organizations and consumers today are more concerned enough on both green ecological and social issues when consuming and using products and services, and therefore, they are taking more responsibility for strategic organizational sustainability and environmental management. Organizations may have different approaches to achieve these means and goals due to differential in capabilities, resources, knowledge, expertise, etc. Organizations engage in operational relationships of interactions between individuals, groups organizations, and institutions at the workplace making decisions channeled for sustainable organizational and personal development.

Organizational changes in culture, structure, and individual behaviors have influence on community development. The organizational structure states the responsibilities of all the workers and manages a communication and consultation system to facilitate the knowledge exchange, organizational changes and progress, cooperation, and collective bargaining, and ensures the implementation of employment policies, agreements agreed upon procedures, as well as the settlement of disputes and grievances. Traditional organizational structures are struggling with new internal, external, and environmental demands.

Organizational sustainability is affected by global and local sustainability challenges, concerns, and issues which need to be assessed and analyzed for designing policies, strategies, and practices that may have broader economic, social, and environmental impact.

The study begins with the analysis of the notions of sustainability and organizations to continue linking both in the conceptualization of organizational sustainability and its components: economic growth and efficiency, social justice, equity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability. Finally, this study relates all the above components explained and analyzed in the topic of strategic organizational development before elaborating the final conclusions.

Sustainability

Around the world, more organizations are taking responsibility for sustainability and environmental management [1]. Sustainability has become a relevant issue because consumers today are concerned enough on both green ecological and social issues when consuming and using products and services.

Sustainability originally was defined as “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” [2]. Sustainability is a critical issue for the organizations concerned with meeting the current needs of society without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations. Sustainability in essence is concerned with meeting the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [3].

Sustainability is an ecological concept and environmental development concerned with environmental stewardship, economic growth, and social justice, which are essential factors to characterize the sustainable organizational development. Sustainable organizational development is a concept that leads to promote growth and development [4]. Organizational development has some basic constituents such as recognition and identification in an organizational diagnosis of the current situation, issues, and problems to be solved and improved. Then, a planned organizational intervention through actions and corrective efforts was followed by a follow-up of sustainable maintenance updating the measures on results as a continuous feedback to accomplish sustainable organizational development.

The framework that leads towards the environmental sustainability [5] revolves around the organizational development management of life cycle synergies, involving workers in commitment development and decision-making process. Environmental sustainability is feasible with the development of the internal competencies. The ability for organizations to create and manage sustainable core competencies enables to implement interventions and initiatives on biophysical, economic, social, environmental, and technical sustainability [5].

Ethics and sustainability has to do the right things when caring about others such as responding to human justice and fairness and in favor of a culture of peace. That is, the three more relevant values are as follows: global ethics, a culture of peace, and sustainable development. Organizational sustainable ethics analyzes the issues regarding moral obligations of organizations regarding the bio socio ecosystems, environment, and natural resources to future generations. Violation of organizational obligations should produce organizationally an intense and detrimental response on the expectations in terms of individual costs and rewards that may vary in different organizations.

Individuals are engaged in a system of relationships in organizations which in turn are connected in units and workplaces with different contextual characteristics, space and time, etc., creating an interest in finding the best methods to organize them [6]. To create and develop a sustainable organizational solution, it is required to invest in resources and capabilities to create a systemic thinking pattern at all organizational levels, that is, in terms of Senge [7], a systems thinking.

Individuals become integrated to organizations that meet their needs and demands, development of human relations, and provide satisfaction by rewarding the work performed and contributions to production of goods and services with the best working conditions [8]. An organization is a group of individuals that work together towards specific goals through the development of values used to operation and processes. The new organizational context from the economy and technology perspectives is complex, uncertain, and dynamic system. Since Taylor, organizational science has tried to define organizational solutions to the human dimension leading towards a gradual development of flexible, liberation, and democratization of organizational work.

Individuals in organizations are encouraged to freely develop relationships and connections in the workplace to share their ideas more democratically, regardless of their position [9]. The work organization takes into account the physical, the psychological needs of workers, and the nature of operations and work. Organizational operations derive some internalities from connecting functional organizational structure to more centralized and controlled structure making difficult to build conscious trust and openness to match the management standards. Organizational communication enables the development of group’s identity in a self-categorization process leading to the sense of organizational community.

Trust on the information and operational communication patterns between individuals in an organization is reflected on a higher motivation and sense of commitment reducing uncertainty of changes and outcomes [10, 11]. A mutual trusted organization is one that improves its workplace and best performs its operations. Organizational loyalty towards its workers must be demonstrated supporting them by recognizing their energy consumed at the workplace as well as the experiences of organizational fairness. Changes and developments require information and communication to find solutions to these grievances and conflicts, which may result in psychological contracts between employers and employees related to alignment of interests and goals, agreements on organizational events and actions.

The psychological contract assumed between employer and worker has the expectations to be fulfilled, being met or likely to meet focusing on the driving energy to achieve personal development. The discrepancies between organizational setting and the worker aspirations in the work place result in tensions, stress, and burnout in the working life. Workers accept the changes of their work and the institutional setting to derive support but if they do not have this support become dissatisfied and frustrated for a sense of imbalance between their work performance and the work emerging from the organization, having always the option to leave the organization, although they may consume their own personal human resources to bridge the gap. This sense of an imbalance leads to dysfunctional experiences of social and organizational stress.

It was assumed that organizations are operated in a stable in a predictable context, but now is not the case. Organizations are confronting a complex, uncertain, ambiguous, and discontinues environment [12,13,14]. Adequate organizational environment makes the workers feel to become genuinely interested in their own personal development and offers to provide appropriate interventions and programs. Organizations that have the goals of economic growth and wealth creation must care of all the socio-ecological systems and living species. Organizations need to have a viable relationship between economic and environmental goals aimed to increase the economic growth and efficiency while at the same time improving the environment.

The organizations create opportunities and possibilities for the individuals and organizations to develop capabilities to create, manage, and use resources framed by power structures and distribution of authority within an organization which enables the purposes and goals [15, 16].

The impact of economic globalization on organizations has shortened the cycles of change making faster to improve increasingly faster information, knowledge, processes, practices, uses of technologies, services, etc., leading to potential continuous need-oriented improvement, a holistic management system, and business models. The organizational work activity is already changing while the organizational change is not always taking place. The organizational structure of the economy is related with the development, qualitative growth, and efficiency of the economic system and the global economy.

Sustainable organizations are created by groups of individuals working together [17]. Organizations focused on sustainable development aimed at created common value need to be beyond profit-making. The objective of sustainable organization initiative must be aligned with the workforce motivation and awareness for the sustainable organizational development.

Organizations can be analyzed using the core competence in-out and out-in analysis [18] placing relevance to the knowledge usage to identify courses of action supported by diversification strategies to develop the workforce and enable the new organizational position and the sustainable organizational growth.

Interaction among organizational stakeholders increases the potential of networked structures to achieve sustainable organizational development initiatives [19]. Organizational networking that includes collaboration among academic and research institutions, government agencies, and business make up the triple helix [20]. A sustainable work system is one that meets the needs of the well-being of all the stakeholders involved and develops their creative potential in a continuous individual and organizational development.

Through continuous improvement of organizational processes, organizations create an organizational climate and implement a sustainable growth and development initiative in response to the environmental changes and challenges. The development of low-carbon products was achieved through environmental training aimed to climate change mitigation [21]. Organizational development requires specialized environmental training [22] to achieve a higher organizational performance of an environmental management system [23].

Organizations must develop strategic leadership centered on strategic sustainability practices pervading all the functional areas across the organization and embedding them for sustainable development systems and processes, and requiring greater involvement and commitment of all the stakeholders. Macke and Genari [24] analyze the state-of-the-art and the elements of sustainable leadership and human resources management and environmental sustainability embedded in principles, organizational values, processes, and practices.

Holistic green organizations integrate and implement practices of green human resources management in facilitating the responsibilities to ensure policies and strategies, systems, and processes to achieve the goals of profit-making and to allocate resources for an environmental sustainability. The holistic green organization meets its finances’ objective with practices of making-profits and sets a sustainable environment through the creation of common good and value.

Green organizations may limit the usage of paper and avoid printing by accessing an online portal of the organization to most of the important documents, bills, procedures, etc. Paper shreds from the organization can help waste management and be sold as a waste paper recycle. A green cafeteria may try to make customers consciously serve themselves from the buffet with minimum use of plastic, while making them aware that the food wasted and left is collected for making fertilizer. Jute bags can be used for fruits and vegetables. Recycle plastic dustbin can be used to dispose water cups. Green organizations are responsible towards profit-making, responding to the good and wellness of all its stakeholders and for the impact of its policies, practices, and activities on the environmental sustainability and the creation of common value.

Green organizations should be green corporate social responsibility creating value for the common good measured in terms of the impact in economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social development by benefitting the different involved and engage stakeholders [25]. A team or task-force can have assignments to analyze the organizational environment issues, concerns, and hazards, to promote green behavior, implement environmental interventions, and monitor within the organization. Some organizational green behaviors are socially responsible behaviors such as efficient use of water, energy and lights, and less printing, which may require organizational learning and training.

Organizations need to focus on development to overcome any challenges that arise from the environmental changes [18]. Organizational management plays a critical role and responsibility in promoting innovation sustainability by creating the right behaviors, values, and attitudes engaged towards the organizational visions. Organizations set out long-term strategic planning aiming at specific goals of increased quality and profitability and reducing the risks, costs, and time [26].

Organizations are implementing management systems based on international principles and standards, organization strategies and objectives, business processes and optimization, and resource management, which are implemented in a systematic and structured way. The continual sustainable organizational development needs internal structure and systems [5].

Organizations design, develop, and implement an incentive plan, motivation and communication system, and leadership guidance. Organization needs to create support for the workers together with managers and peer to re-confine and make sense of their own work at the workplace on priorities, tasks, and roles, to make choices, personal judgments, and communicate to others.

Organizational structures, norms, rules, regulations, communication processes, values, etc. are related to the logic of organizational bureaucratic model. Organizational structure defined as the organizational system of relationships between authorities and tasks has an impact on organizational sustainable development through the use of resources and coordination of people to achieve the goals [27].

Sustainable organizational development needs and internal structure to constantly motivate, balance power, and opportunities to perform positive behaviors [15]. The organizational structure is a hierarchical arrangement of communications and authorities depending of the organizational objectives and strategies. Coordination of activities is a structural factor needed among the organizational abilities in which communication develops the social identities within the organization [17].

Organization and communication are dependently intertwined in corporate or organizational communication developing in competitive advantage and ability to retain more proficient, motivated, and talented workers [28]. The communication channels of the organization must focus on empowering the workers to improve the level of development, motivation, and commitment of its individuals enabling sustainable organizational growth.

Organizational communication develops the structure and processes enabling the development of sustainable organizational development and growth. Organizational communication is a tool that helps to sensible all the stakeholders with the concept of organizational proudness, purpose, goal, and most important with the sense of organizational community ties. Organizational communication is the foundation for the interactions among individuals and sets the group’s norms and social identity, promotes social cohesion, and improves communication and collaboration, and individual commitment [10, 17, 29, 30].

Organizational communication enables development of the personnel in areas of commitment as the foundation for motivation, involvement, and quality of life [10, 11]. Organizational communication enables the interpersonal relationships of all the agents and stakeholders involved in the attainment of the strategic goals of the organization [17]. Organizational communication results in creating, expanding, and transferring knowledge in a continuous process of the workforce while developing a feeling of community of individuals with ties in with society enabling the improvement of the local and regional communities.

The organizational models of Barley and Tolbert [31] and Crossan et al. [32] are in contradiction between the organizational setting and work to emerge with societal changes which have an impact in the work processes and challenge the institutions and organizations to adopt new post-bureaucratic organizational designs. Regenerative work emerges through collectively organizing the transitional development of work processes from bureaucratic structures to more post-bureaucracy challenging the implications on the work organizations and the working life.

Models for organizations across different contexts may duplicate organizational structures and processes although may be presented as autonomous analysis are based on similar decisions and norms for how to organize [33] in what is well known as organizational isomorphism.

The organizational post-bureaucratic work is emerging and changing in human considerations, an approach that should support work despite the classes between work without boundaries and the bureaucratic type of traditional work with strict rules and norms. Creating collective and regenerative work is specific to the type or organization but may be generalized to organizations with more post-bureaucratic working quality of life. Post-bureaucratic working quality of life is influenced by economic, ideological, social, technological, and political issues and developments leading to more sustainable organizational work systems characterized by more elusive and subtle nature of control subject to internal and external factors. There is a mismatch between the organizational post-bureaucratic design and work. This current situation leads to the need to design new organizational approach to work.

The post-bureaucratic characteristics and problems of work systems can be related to traditional bureaucratic workplaces and occupations subject to the internal and external factors as well as the type of organizations. Some elements of the organizational post-bureaucratic structures can co-exist beyond the formal structures in the functions within the bureaucratic structures making it more stable. The nature of organizational work is changing rapidly and drastically with the transitional emergence of post-bureaucratic structures and posing new challenges to traditional organizational structures, although certain elements of post-bureaucratic organizations may be still found in more traditional ones with bureaucratic work [34].

Self-organizing structures in horizontal interaction have a synergetic effect to manage the large-scale economic system. The organizational synergic effects of resources and capabilities lead to innovativeness and productivity. Self-organization system aiming at synergetic effect is open and provides feedback of processes to the organizational structure based on objectives, resources, capabilities, policies, rules, values, etc. to strengthen the organization.

Human resources’ motivation and job satisfaction are relevant behavioral factors supporting sustainable organizational development and main priorities of long-term management [35, 36]. Human resources’ motivation, job satisfaction, and wage policies are critical factors for economic and social activities [37,38,39] supporting sustainable organizational development [35, 36]. Workers hope that the wage policy of the organization can meet their personal needs by requiring a salary, duties, functions, benefits, and cash rewards [40] in exchange of work performance and contribution to production.

The development of traits and human relations at work is related to the existing work conditions and welfare state benefits [8]. The wage policy of the organization is linked to work satisfaction and to organizational climate which results and the level of organizational stress influencing the organizational development. There is a need to introduce an integrated differential motivation system including incentives to encourage performance of human resources and contribute to a sustainable organizational development. Organizations have to confirm that the organizational performance appraisal has to develop, adopt, adapt, implement, and receive feedback on pro environmental policies and criteria though the involvement of human resources and the stakeholders in the execution of the environmental management system.

Organizational motivation is created by an enabling organizational climate that maintains communication and improves performance among the involved members [41]. Organizational communication has a relevant role on the attainment of the workforce commitment [10] to develop a sustainable competitive advantage within the organizational strategic core competencies [30]. Organizational communication allows members to interact and participate in solving problems and making decisions empowering them for innovation.

Empowerment has a significant positive impact on organizational sustainable development [42]. The empowerment awards powers to employees to get involved in making decisions, and performing them within the organization has an impact on organizational sustainable development while creating citizenship behavior by giving moral, ethical, psychological, social, and financial support [43].

Trust and accuracy on information lead to make organizational decisions across the hierarchical structure with an impact on the overall performance [44]. Many decision-making issues and details decided at the management group vanish in a black hole at the top management of the organization, one of the deteriorated symptom of bureaucracy [45]. Top management is responsible of making the organizational work system more comprehensible and manageable at all the levels of the organization.

The quality of information transmitted between individuals hinges on their level of trust, organizational behavior, and satisfaction [44]. Trust development among individuals emerges from interpersonal relationships and interactions through communication which are tied to organizational behavior and structure that create a cohesive work environment enabling organizations to facilitate the transferal of information [44].

Organizational structures may mismatch work activities consuming more resources that are challenge for a more balanced situation demanding more rational consumption and a more comprehensive presence of resources at the workplace. One possible solution is that work activities may be pre-defined in many workplace situations. Organizations adopting structures, practices, processes, etc., similar to other organizations, are the result of organizational isomorphism and may be dysfunctional when the local factors are not taken into account. An organizational structure emerging from the internal interaction patterns and responsibilities may be more directive top-down decision-making while from the external factors may emerge as functional organizational structure with the expert departments and supporting functions.

The organizational structure correlates with the organizational behavior, motivation, communication, and the overall cohesion through the organizational climate. Organizational climate is the representation of the events that affects the level of motivation and performance at individual and organizational levels within an organization [41, 46].

Organizational climate is the symbol of organizational ambitions that refers to the collective opinions on regulations, processes, protocols, etc., and the method of attained goals [10]. Organizational climate allows all the stakeholders and actors to reach a consensus regarding the methods to be used to achieve the goals of the organization. Actions consistent with the goals enable the improvement of relationships leading to a higher level of performance [46]. The organizational climate has effects within the organization with a high degree of validated impact on the workforce.

The organizational climate enhances positive motivation, balances the structure of power, and improves the performance [41] adjusted to the needs satisfaction of all the stakeholders and leads consistent and continual sustainable organizational development [47]. Determinants of organizational behaviors refer to the structure of proportions between the alignment of individuals and organizations in different situations, as a tool to determine the social type. This difference in proportions is referred to individual attitudes and organizational needs [15].

Top management must leverage efforts to improve sustainable organizational practices by creating an environment where the talent retained work in harmony with the strategic vision of leadership. The organization top management must be confident about support for the promotion of initiatives for green behaviors in favor of greening and sustainability of the environmental development of the organization with green products, protecting natural resources, combating climate change. The environmental management system as an independent variable has challenges and offers opportunities mediated by the teamwork empirical-environmental training and employee involvement and the organization’s environmental performance [48].

The organization’s performance is measured in terms of a balance between economic, social, and environmental outcomes on attaining organizational growth and protecting, conserving, and maintaining natural resources for the use of future generations [48,49,50].

Organizations have to report on sustainability initiatives implemented in conformity with regulations to show their commitment with their results. Organizations designed with agile sustainability structures are more responsive to internal and external environmental changes.

The future of organizations presents several challenges, risks, and opportunities that requires the development of abilities and capacities to cope with these concerns to make decisions on planning organizational change and improvement for sustainable organizational growth and development.

Research Methods: Holistic, Humanistic, and Critical Analysis

Holistic, humanistic, and critical analysis are the basic conditions for a correct interpretation of the argumentation presented in any organizational research. The methodology of critical analysis instrumented in this organizational development research is based on various levels of analysis of texts that report theoretical and empirical research on the subject in question. The first level of this critical analysis is constituted by the discrimination perceived in the topic related to this research, where those segments of the theoretical and empirical research reports are selected and the arguments that support the topic are presented, in such a way that there are established analytical categories proposed and incorporated into the analysis.

For the gathering and selection of information segments, it is contextualized as an indicator and assigned to the corresponding category, making it possible to find similarities and non-similarities that allow to discriminate and survey the topics followed by the analysis that is recorded. At a second level of critical analysis, the argumentation of the different authors is reviewed to identify where the sequence begins and where it ends and to be circumscribed in the context and environment in which the authors develop their arguments. The argumentative sequences are recorded in such a way that it allows inferring and reconstructing the argumentative structure. The argumentation of the academic work is built on the basis of the argumentative analysis of the authors, identifying the possible reasons that determine the strength of the argument.

At a more advanced level, the argumentation strategies developed by the authors are analyzed to develop a meta-argumentative level that serves as the basis for the preparation of the research report. These strategies provide greater legitimation of the facts, judgments, and arguments that are intended to develop awareness of the implications of the topics discussed. This argumentative critical analysis scheme serves as the basis for the preparation of the final research report, emphasizing the findings produced by the analysis to be specified in the discussion, the implications, and the conclusions.

In this critical analysis, a reflection is established in what it is found may be related to all the works analyzed from the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological perspectives, in the convergences and differences of the argumentative approaches taking into account the context and the type of research. Finally, after the findings are finalized, major criticisms and potential improvement academic concerns are established.

Organizational Sustainability

Mindful organizations invest in sustainability which is one of the key drivers of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, with a positive impact on brand image, improving morale, increasing return on investments, etc. Sustainable organizational practices are a mindset that affects all levels of the organization through effective change management that enable economic growth and customer satisfaction. Organizational transformation structures and processes are subject to the innovative development and maturity of the economic system able to ensure economic growth, social, and sustainable organizational development of the economic system.

A holistic approach to organizational sustainability enhances reputation, reduces costs, and gives a leadership position to the organizations. Holistic green organizations should utilize used and recycled components for design new green products and green packaging. Naudé [51] has proposed a tridimensional approach to sustainable development to include economic, social, and environmental dimensions combined with initiatives and strategies. The organizational sustainable development has the economic, social, and environmental dimension which can be managed by strategies aimed to face the socio-economic development and environmental protection and maintenance.

Organizational sustainability has various benefits among which it builds brand reputation, improves confidence, attractiveness, and environmental consciousness to talent, investors, suppliers, customers, confidence, better performance, etc. Organizational sustainability encompasses the need of motivation and cohesiveness of the teamwork towards setting guidelines and establishing the processes for the achievement of organizational goals. However, human resources’ management practices focused on profits and cost reduction are in tension with long-term social dimension of organizational sustainability, relationships with stakeholders, and performance.

Sustainability is the organizational ability to achieve its goals improving long-term shareholder value by integrating economic, environmental, and social opportunities into its organizational sustainable strategies [52]. The organizational sustainability framework [5] analyses as determinants are the biophysical, economic technical, and social sustainability.

Sustainable development in organizations is guided by some principles such as the active ownership, cooperation among actors, and learning through ongoing evaluation. The principles of organizational sustainability provide the foundations for the managerial strategies and policies aimed to attain sustainable organizational growth and development [4]. Principles of mimic natural ecosystems affect the environmental sustainability of supply chains leading towards sustainable design and managed supply chains. Some of these ecological principles are the dialog and synergies between industrial ecology, supply chain management, and organizational ethics.

Emotional energy could be a source of individual and organizational sustainability by continuously changing the internal and external factors of the working environment and well-being issues. Developing proactive initiatives of sustainable organizational practices is dependent of the talent and leadership who are conscious of the value creation drive though the delivery of sustainability. Leadership committed to developing more sustainable organizational model must practice the values attached to sustainability with the example and encourage workers to follow while assessing accurately the economic, social, and environmental risks and opportunities derived.

The facilitator of organizational sustainability processes facilitates the formulation and implementation of strategic change taking care that the organization responds to internal, external, and environmental challenges remaining committed to the economic efficiency and growth, social justice and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.

Organizational sustainability values must have to be inculcated at all levels in the system of the organization to engage the initiatives while performing the tasks. Workforce diversity initiatives contributing to recruit, develop, and retain talent respond to sustainability challenges with economic, social, and environmental awareness. Organizational values must be consistent with sustainability in the workplace supported by the leadership of top management in charge of designing and implementing the organizational sustainability strategy for sustainable organizational practices.

Critical knowledge and skills regarding organizational sustainability have to be integrated to the agenda into programs, activities, and practices linked with economic and social betterment. A sustainability organizational agenda drives to design and implement sustainability strategic and operational planning at all levels to device the initiatives, practices, and activities leaded by top management with a proactive role and with the strategic support of professionals playing the roles of facilitation and agency. Sustainability strategic imperatives are in the most of the organizational agendas.

Sustainable organizations must be able to attract, retain, and align the talent with the sustainability agenda and organizational practices. Organizational communication and information flows between the leaders, managers and workers engage them in the commitment to an organizational sustainability agenda. Informal organizational work structures and organizational communication have to be adapted to more functional structure evolving into a more matching organizational structure supportive of a more sustainable organizational development.

Corporate and organizational communication refers to the stakeholders developing organizational reputation and identity [28]. The development of organizational leading to corporate communication requires investments to receive the benefits [28]. The quality of information transmitted between individuals hinges on their level of trust, organizational behavior, and satisfaction [44]. Trust development among individuals emerges from interpersonal relationships and interactions through communication which are tied to organizational behavior and structure that create a cohesive work environment enabling organizations to facilitate the transferal of information [44].

Top management is responsible to fulfill the organizational agenda of expectations on sustainability development, from the search of new environmental, internal, and external development design of a suitable structure, recruiting and developing the right talent to drive the sustainability initiatives and allocating efficient resources and implement the sustainable practices using the knowledge and skills. Organizational clusters, units, and groups should undergo changes and modifications towards sustainable organizational development, health, and efficiency.

Organizational practices that have an impact on the sustainability of the environment and community have the obligation for organizations to undertake sustainable reporting. Organizations and corporations have the obligation to show that they are transparent issuing sustainability reports.

Organizational sustainability is productive as the result of a congruent ideology of economic, societal, and ecological concerns that have influence on human resources management. Organizational growth is the natural expansion of size and development is the ability to improve taking advantage of opportunities. Sustainable organizational development has been considered a pervasive philosophy, but environmental sustainability makes possible to protect, maintain, and manage natural resources, have economic growth, to achieve more social equality, and to respond to the global outcry of climate warming. Sustainable regenerative work systems build development from individual and organizational sustainable organizations [53] contextualized in economic growth, social equity and justice, and environmental sustainability.

Organizational ethics has a direct link with the economic growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability in relationship with practices of sustainable organizational development. The relationship between organizational ethics and sustainable development in terms of the organizational economic and social goals is the equitability, as for example in ensuring a balance between pricing and quality and health of products. The ethical principles are in usage requirement in the analysis of sustainable organizational development and growth [54] focusing on issues such as economic growth, social inclusion and equity, environmental sustainability, technological innovation, policies and regulations, and branding. All these being important factors that affect the ability for sustainable growth have to be considered when identifying the strategic focus of an organization.

Organizational performance management supported by organizational ethics and governance foster sustainable organizational development, conceived as radical change in organizational practices, are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. That is, sustainable organizational development must be efficient, equitable, and green. Sustainable organizational development environmental is concerned with the so-called triple bottom line sustainable activities and measures on natural resources and environment, the social impact on the organizational welfare, health and safety, protection of human rights, etc., and the economic well-being, labor productivity, investments in training, and economic efficiency and growth.

Economic Growth and Efficiency

The organizational sustainable objectives of economic development are achieved through industrial development based on the industrial harmony relationship between the employer and the workers for sustainable personal development. Sustainable organizational performance focuses on the economic performance more than in the narrow financial performance, incorporating the social and ecological effects of production processes while maintaining image, and sustainable outcomes. Organizational development interventions give meaning to practices, activities, duties, and commitments of personnel and facilitate accomplishments on efficiency and health performance.

The core competencies of organizations are the foundations for sustainable growth and development such as the capabilities to create organization intangible resources, knowledge, and innovation [55] focusing on the economic benefit and encompassing environmental sustainability as the drivers for sustainable development [56,57,58]. Human motivation considers the effective organizational wage policies within the policy of the organization to stimulate sustainable economic efficiency [35, 37].

Organizational development is a regulated, integrated, and planned approach designed to cope with challenges and difficulties to boost efficiency in organizations. Organizational development is a response to the contextual and environmental changes through planned and implemented effort engaging the whole structural organization to revolutionize values, attitudes, beliefs, etc., aimed to improve the efficiency and health [59]. The prevalent attitudes within the organization are related to the motivation and the output [11]. The efficiency management principles are based on the equilibrium and the ability of well-balancing working and labor time, fully devotion involving activities and flexibility.

Organizational development indexes are used to diagnose and identify the organizational problems, steer the interventions, and plan the actions towards improving the organizational development through the implementation of the corrective measures by units and groups aimed to achieve organizational efficiency and health. The worker is more efficient and cohesive in a stable workplace environment that enables to maintain standards and code of conduct in a more cohesive team leading to more initiatives and better performance [11]. Personal development of any worker is provided by the organization through behavioral and training interventions achieved through harmonious and cordial relationships aimed to result in higher performance, efficiency, and productivity.

Organizational democracy is sound relations between management and the workforce based on motivation and consultation, to contribute with their best to the organizational performance, health, and efficiency. Organizational democracy motivates management and workers to mutual cooperation and agreement, to increase efficiency, productivity, and other tangible benefits, to contribute with their best efforts to economic growth, development, organizational health, and prosperity.

The sustainable organizational development requires high ability for changes in the new context that cannot be avoided, taking advantage of the environmental opportunities, and achieved by the capabilities of an efficient resource management.

The institutional environment development of any economic system has an impact on the economic growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability through the organizational management and property structure, distribution of income, etc. in such a way that any increase on the level of institutional development, the economic growth also increases [60]. High institutional quality is related with negentropic processes in economic systems of developed economies while low institutional quality creates entropic processes in less developed economies where the environment is dissipative in economic growth and human capital [61]. The dissipative system has certain order in the organization determined by the order of the economic system and characterized as a no equilibrium open system that maximizes the efficiency with the minimum entropy and energy dissipation. The organizational entropy is measured by its orderliness based on the structure and its impact on the economic system in terms of synergies, syncretic, and entropic [62].

Organizational development has an impact on the qualitative economic growth in national and global economic systems. Regional economic growth, competition, and technological innovation networks are some external factors that can be standardized for organizational growth and development [63,64,65].

Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion

Social sustainability in organizations refers to sustainable human resources management practices that have an impact on the well-being of workers [65]. Social sustainability as a system may have institutionalized factors that provide some inertia to change. Organizational social systems are always in continuous change process in which people are able to be aware and participate to grow and develop in an ever ending path [66]. Organizational actors have different personal contacts, informal, and formal social relationships through interconnected communication networks that facilitate their presence and their roles at the workplace as a source of well-being and development.

A sustainable organization holds a group of individuals with different characteristics and backgrounds which lead to grievances, normal strife, and conflicts due to concerns and issues for justice an equity. Organizational conflict may be inevitable as a fact where people compete for scarce resources and power and may arise as intra- and interpersonal, inter- and intraorganizational, inter- and intragroup, etc.

Organizational power is shown in the hierarchical domination where individuals have capabilities to structure resources and get the desired results [15]. When only a group of individuals have the monopoly of power, they make decisions regarding the management of resources and methods. When inevitable conflict emerges in the organization, it should be managed and minimized ensuring organizational harmony. Measurement of human development takes into account physical, psychological, and social variables such as quality of life, living standards, health, and education levels.

A sustainable organizational development has some features such as open awareness and communication and self-actualization, meets the needs for growth and development, implements open, inclusive, and transparent policies for all the stakeholders, creates an organizational environment of trust, and supports commitment for all the members.

Environmental Sustainability

Environmental sustainability and sustainable organizational growth can be maintained through the development of organizational knowledge and the community development with high standards in cultural diversity, ethics social responsibility, safety issues, etc. Organizational structure and behavior continuously evolve to cope with environmental changes and needs to develop and manage the core values. Sustainable organizational growth focuses on environmental sustainability, diversity, social responsibility, code of conduct, and worksite safety, supported by a clear technological and business approaches, leadership, innovation, creativity and responsible management, and alignment of individual involvement with organizational goals, all aimed to the development of core competencies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Organizations achieve environmental performance and sustainable development by developing and empirical environmental sustainability management system through the moderate and direct influence of human resources’ training and development. The intrinsic organizational competencies supporting the organizational development and focusing on environmental sustainability lead to sustainable organizational development and growth encompassing environmental sustainability.

Strategic Organizational Sustainability

Organizational sustainability is a critical concern in designing and implementing strategies and practices and leveraging management vision and leadership aimed to organizational sustainable development. Organizational sustainability is a competitive strategy to enhance the ability to develop sustainable change [67]. Organizations adopt different approaches and initiatives for achieving environmental sustainability and protecting the environmental growth avoiding disruptions by managing internal factors such as managing the causal human behavior and the role of human behavior [68,69,70], and undertaking other environmental development initiatives outside the organizational boundaries [71].

Organizational development planning and implementing the interventions for change of practices, processes, procedures, and actions in relation to the environmental and contextual factors to design formulate and execute organizational structures, strategies, and policies aimed to achieve the goals [47]. The planning and control approach for sustainable organizational development projects and programs can be supplemented with an open process and learning to promote long-term sustainability [72,73,74,75]. Strategic organizational planning for the formulation, implementation, and set-up long-term sustainability strategies provides a guide to all the stakeholders for theory involvement in sustainable development initiatives and practices across all levels of the organization to reap the best benefits.

Sustainable organization is the enabler of sustainable human resources management strategy [76]. Environmental and internal analysis of the organization is needed to link environmental management and human resources management to formulate sustainable strategies to contribute towards greater environmental sustainability of the organization.

Development and management of sustainable core competencies focusing on environmental sustainability can lead to design and implementation of strategies aimed to sustainable organizational development and growth. An organizational strategy designed on management and communication of the workforce is crucial to enable sustainable organizational development and growth, more oriented towards environmental sustainability.

Design and implementation of a sustainability strategy throughout the organization need a structure to give support to operationalization of practices and activities at the workplace. Sustainable organizational strategies from the perspective of the whole sustainable core competencies must fit the core business model within the environment in order to implement the sustainable organizational practices, taking into account training and development of talent to fulfill the economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Global, local, and internal social networks can be used to get sustainability awareness, examining and analyzing specific issues related to the industry in order to design the sustainability strategy.

Change facilitation and agency must be aware of developing structures and systems to support sustainability initiatives in accordance with the agenda and aligned with the organizational culture and environmental strategy development. Organizational strategies should be aligned with human resource system to link workforce capabilities with environmental sustainability growth management systems and sustainable development [48, 77,78,79,80,81,82,83].

Organizational leaders must recognize that the human resources’ function is in charge of implementing the sustainability strategy [84]. Organizational sustainability strategies must ensure to meet the short-term needs and obligations while sustain the long term as well focusing on profits and economic growth, social justice, and inclusion and environmental sustainability.

An organizational strategy to integrate workers can be that the organization has to develop the right organizational values and offer incentives, and fulfillment of personal perspectives of the workforce framed by a common organizational vision on diversity must reflect the society to create new perspectives on benefits. The formulation and implementation of an organizational sustainability strategy are beyond public and investor relations or environmental compliance and must be mandatory integrated into the fabric of the organizational making and practices to reap the value proposition from all the economic, social, and environmental benefits.

Social and environmental sustainability assessment of the impact of organizational decisions results in incorporating social responsibility practices in sustainable social strategies. All the organizational stakeholders need more clarity on the importance and meaning of green corporate social responsibility initiatives for the organization and the benefits in terms of the environmental sustainability. Green corporate social responsibility is related to social issues and environmental development aimed to improve the impacts of organizational activities on sustainability, such as reducing carbon dioxide emissions, eco-friendly cafeterias and dining halls, planting of trees, etc.

Sustainable strategies of organizations have to be held accountable for their impacts on economic growth and profits, but also on society inclusion and environment sustainability.

Conclusions

The impact of economic globalization on sustainable organizations has shortened the cycles of change to keep the pace of environmental sustainability through the design and implementation of more holistic organizational and business models, as well as strategic management systems and policies aimed to improve the use of organizational and technological knowledge, processes, and practices. However, while the organizational change is not always taking place at the level of the economic structure, the organizational work activities and practices are already changing towards more related with the development, qualitative growth, and efficiency of the economic system and the global economy.

Organizations facing sustainability challenges need to adopt integral and holistic approaches and to develop the talent by recruiting, educating, and training human resources centered on sustainability value based as the source of a sustainable competitive advantage which can leverage sustainability performance targets.

The development of a sustainable organizational vision and mission is facilitated by the incorporation of a sustainable agenda in core values. Shaping the organizational sustainability aligned on the vision and values of the organization must assess the impact the stakeholders including local communities and consider issues of cultural diversity, intercultural dialog, and organizational climate and environment to support improved performance. Sustainable organizational development dynamics implement innovation knowledge and processes in human resource management and development practices aimed to develop infrastructure and increasing knowledge and innovativeness.

The individual and organizational abilities to the need to adapt to environmental changes are the task of developing organizational leadership and managerial effectiveness through adaptive processes in continuous developing stages gathering information, diagnosing, designing interventions, and implementing practices. Organizational leadership must be aligned with the sustainability initiatives besides playing a modeling role and getting contacted with the external environmental communities and volunteering with nonprofit organizations for organizational and supervisory support. Organizational management is responsible motivation and communication to set what is expected of individuals on the workforce and how to improve the functions of the organization that encompass the community and society as a whole. Communication is an intrinsic organizational competency an ability to retain the workforce.

Organizational sustainable development supports and concentrates more on regenerative and collaborative working processes to develop embedded organizational roles, practices, and tasks in the organization. To create collaborative and regenerative work enables sustainable individual and organizational development to be characterized in the post-bureaucratic working practices and their influences on the organizational structures, behaviors, and technological processes, during a long period of time.

Implementing sustainable organizational practices must take into account the current economic, social, and environmental needs as well as the future needs of all the stakeholders involved in sustainability to develop the organizational strategy able to transform and make it happen.