Skip to main content

Sustainability Transformations—From Theory to Practice

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Corporate Sustainability in Practice

Part of the book series: Management for Professionals ((MANAGPROF))

Abstract

There is evidence that sustainability is becoming more central to the way organisations create and capture value. As sustainability strategy becomes business strategy, organisations need to change, aligning structures, cultures, systems and skills to embed sustainability. What does sustainability transformation look like in practice? What are the drivers, challenges and promising practices in change management for sustainability? In this chapter, the author provides sustainability practitioners with a review of existing evidence on change management for sustainability. The author grounds insights from the literature with learning form primary research conducted in the engineering consulting sector in the UK. Then, change management practices that have been adopted successfully in a variety of contexts are highlighted, to support readers in shaping sustainability transformation in their organisations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold, M. (2017). Fostering sustainability by linking co-creation and relationship management concepts. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(Part 1), 179–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ates, A., & Bititci, U. (2011). Change process: A key enabler for building resilient SMEs. International Journal of Production Research, 49(18), 5601–5618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battacharya, C. B, & Polman P. (2017). Sustainability Lessons from the Frontline. MIT Sloane Review, Review, 58(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennis, W. G., Benne, K. D., & Chin, R. (1969). The Planning of change, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn, W. R. A. (2007). The sustainability handbook: the complete management guide to achieving social, economic and environmental responsibility. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brannmark, M., &Benn, S. (2012). A proposed model for evaluating the sustainability of continuous change programmes. Journal of Change Management, 231–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnes, B. (2004). Managing change: a strategic approach to organisational dynamics (4th ed.). Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clara da Cunha Bezerra, M., Gohr, C. F., Morioka, S. N. (2019). Organizational capabilities towards corporate sustainability benefits: A systematic literature review and an integrative framework proposal. Journal of Cleaner Production, In press, corrected proof, Available online 1 November 2019, Article 119114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1995). 1994, Built to last: Successful habits of visionary companies. London: Century.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgaard-Park, S., & Dahlgaard, J. J. (2008). A strategy for building sustainable innovation excellence, Äì A danish study. In K. J. Zink (Ed.), Corporate Sustainability as a Challenge for Comprehensive Management (pp. 77–94). Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag HD.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dalal-Clayton, D. B., Bass, S. (2002). Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development & United Nations. Development Programme 2002, Sustainable development strategies: a resource book, Earthscan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K., & Boulet, M. (2016). Transformations? skilled change agents influencing organisational sustainability culture. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), 109–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Matos, J. A., & Clegg, S. R. (2013). Sustainability and organizational change. Journal of Change Management, 13(4), 382–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delai, I., & Takahashi, S. (2013). Corporate sustainability in emerging markets: Insights from the practices reported by the Brazilian retailers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dervitsiotis, K. N. (2010). A framework for the assessment of an organisation’s innovation excellence. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 21(9), 903–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doh, J. P., & Quigley, N. R. (2014). Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. Academy of Management Executive, 28(3), 255–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunphy, D. C., Griffiths, A., & Benn, S. (2010). Organizational change for corporate sustainability: A guide for leaders and change agents of the future. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunphy D., & Stace, D. (1993). The strategic management of corporate change, human relations, 46(8).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11(2), 130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairfield, K. D., Harmon, J., & Behson, S. J. (2011). Influences on the organizational implementation of sustainability: An integrative model. Organization Management Journal, 8(1), 4–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, A. (2005). Conducting research literature review: From paper to the internet. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Formentini, M., &Taticchi, P. (2016). Corporate sustainability approaches and governance mechanisms in sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 1920–1933, ISSN: 0959-6526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuente, J. A., García-Sánchez, I. M. & Lozano, M. B. (2017). The role of the board of directors in the adoption of GRI guidelines for the disclosure of CSR information.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (2002). Change management–or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, 3(4), 307–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gladwin, T. N., Kennelly, J. J., & Krause, T. (1995). Shifting paradigms for sustainable development: Implications for management theory and research. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 874–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grewatsh, S., & Kleindienst, I. (2017). How organizational cognitive frames affect organizational capabilities: The context of corporate sustainability, Long Range Planning 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, A., & Petrick, J. A. (2001). Corporate architectures for sustainability. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1573–1585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerci, M., & Pedrini, M. (2014). The consensus between Italian HR and sustainability managers on HR management for sustainability-driven changetowards a ‘strong’ HR management system. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(13), 1787–1814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ha, H. (2014). Change Management for Sustainability. New York: Business Expert Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesselbarth, C., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Educating change agents for sustainability—learnings from the first sustainability management master of business administration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huisingh, D., Tukker, A., Lozano, R., & Quist, J. (2013). ‘Knowledge Collaboration & Learning for Sustainable Innovation’: an introduction to this special volume.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanaj, S., Ivanaj, V., McIntyre, J., Guimarães Da Costa, N., & Lozano, R. (2015). Multinational Enterprises’ strategic dynamics and climate change: drivers, barriers and impacts of necessary organisational change.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johannsdottir, L., Olafsson, S., & Davidsdottir, B. (2015). Leadership role and employee acceptance of change: Implementing environmental sustainability strategies within Nordic insurance companies. Journal of OrgChange Mgmt, 28(1), 72–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, S., Whiteman, G., & van den Ende, J. (2017) Radical innovation for sustainability: The power of strategy and open innovation. In Long Range Planning, 50(6), 712–725, ISSN 0024-6301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ketprapakorn, N. (2019). Toward an Asian corporate sustainability model: An integrative view, Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 239, 1 December 2019, Article 117995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiron, D., Unruh, G., Kruschwitz, N., Reeves, M., Rubel, H., & Meyer Zum Felde, A. (2017). Corporate sustainability at a crossroads, progress toward our common future in uncertain times, in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. MIT Sloan Mgt. Rev.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahtinen, S., & Yrjölä, M. (2019). Managing sustainability transformations: A managerial framing approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 223(20), 815–825.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1947). Field theory in social science. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linnenluecke, M. K. & Griffiths, A. (2010). Corporate sustainability and organizational culture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2008a). Developing collaborative and sustainable organisations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2008b). Envisioning sustainability three-dimensionally.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2010). The Top 50 sustainability books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2011). Embedding sustainability. The Next Big Competitive Advantage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2013a). Are companies planning their organisational changes for corporate sustainability? an analysis of three case studies on resistance to change and their strategies to overcome it. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(5), 275–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2013b). Sustainability inter-linkages in reporting vindicated: a study of European companies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2015). A holistic perspective on corporate sustainability drivers. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(1), 32–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R. (2018) Proposing a definition and a framework of organisational sustainability: A review of efforts and a survey of approaches to change. Sustainability, 10(4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R., Carpenter, A., & Huisingh, D. (2015). A review of ‘theories of the firm’ and their contributions to Corporate Sustainability.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, R., Nummert, B., & Ceulemans, K. (2016). Elucidating the relationship between Sustainability Reporting and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macke, J., & Genari, D. (2019). Systematic literature review on sustainable human resource management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 208(20), 806–815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhotra., N, Course slides (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangham, I. L. (1995). Organizational change: A Processual approach by patrick dawson (Paul Chapman Publishing, London, 1994), pp. xii + 211, £14.95, ISBN 1-85396-237-6”, Prometheus, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 272–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins, V. W. B., Rampasso, I. S., Anholon, R., Quelhas, O. L. G., & Leal Filho, W. (2019). Knowlegde management in the context of sustainability: Literature review and opportunities for future research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 229, 489–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinuzzi, A., & Krumay, B. (2013). The good, the bad, and the successful—how corporate social responsibility leads to competitive advantage and organizational transformation. Journal of Change Management, 13(4), 424–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matinaro, V., & Liu, Y. (2017). Towards increased innovativeness and sustainability through organizational culture: A case study of a Finnish construction business.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, G., & Stahl, B. (2017). The significance of organizational change management for sustainable competitiveness in manufacturing: exploring the firm archetypes. International Journal of Production Research, 03, 55(15), 4450–4465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalf, L., & Benn, S. (2013). Leadership for sustainability: an evolution of leadership ability. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(3), 369–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meuleman, L. (2013). Trans-governance: Advancing Sustainability Governance, Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mustapha, M. A., Manan, Z. A. & Wan Alwi, S. R. (2017). Sustainable Green Management System (SGMS)—An integrated approach towards organisational sustainability.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (1989). Organization frame bending: Principles for managing reorientation. The Academy of Management Executive, III(3), 194–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nawaz, W., & Koç, M. (2018). Development of a systemic framework for sustainability management in organisations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171(10), 1255–1274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niesten, E., Jolink, A., Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz, Chappin, M., & Lozano, R. (2017). Sustainable collaboration: The impact of governance and institutions on sustainable performance.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul, A. C., Jonas, W. B., Lang, B., Rupert, J. Baumgartner, A.C (2017). A multilevel approach for assessing business strategies on climate, Journal of Cleaner Production, 160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, T., & Waterman, R. (1982). In search of excellence. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E., & van der Linde, C. (1995b). Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relation-ship. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(4), 97–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragsdell, G. (2000). Engineering a paradigm shift?: An holistic approach to organisational change management. Journal of OrgChange Mgmt, 13(2), 104–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ram Nidumolu, C. K. Prahalad, & Rangaswami, M. R. (2009). Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation. Harvard Business Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raut, R. D., Mangla, S. K., Narwane, V. S., Gardas, B. B., & Narkhede, B. E. (2019). Linking big data analytics and operational sustainability practices for sustainable business management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 224(1), 10–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadler-Smith, E. (2015). Communicating climate change risk and enabling pro-environmental behavioral change through human resource development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 17(4), 442–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, A., & Schmidpeter, R. (2012). Corporate social responsibility. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S. 1. (2014). Competing for a sustainable world: Building capacity for sustainable innovation, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shvindina, H. (2017). Organizational changes: new challenges in search for sustainability. Environmental Economics, 8(4), 80–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siqueira, R. P., & Pitassi, C. (2016). Sustainability-oriented innovations: Can mindfulness make a difference?.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprengel, D. C., & Busch, T. (2011). Stakeholder engagement and environmental strategythe case of climate change. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20(6), 351–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, R. (2017). Integration and organizational change towards sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, 315–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephan, U., Patterson, M., Kelly, C., & Mair, J. (2016). Organizations driving positive social change. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1250–1281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taticchi, P. (2017). Course Slides, Imperial College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teles, M. D. F., & Freire de Sousa, J. (2017). Linking fields with GMA: Sustainability, companies, people and Operational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, B. (2012). Lawrence, Namrata Malhotra and Tim Morris, 2012, Episodic and Systemic Power in the Transformation of Professional Service Firms, USA. Journal of Management Studies, 49, 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Touboulic, A., & Walker, H. (2016). A relational, transformative and engaged approach to sustainable supply chain management: The potential of action research. Human Relations, 69(2), 301–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Programme Finance Initiative, Integrated Governance, a new model of Governance for Sustainability, A report by the Asset Management Working Group, June 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • van den Berg, J., Zijp, M. C., Vermeulen, W. J. V., & Witjes, S. (2019) Identifying change agent types and its implication for corporate sustainability integration based on worldviews and contextual factors. Journal of Cleaner Production, 229, 1125–1138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdantix. (2015). Sustainability strategy & sustainability researchsustainability reporting.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiesner, R., Chadee, D. & Best, P. 2017, “Managing Change Toward Environmental Sustainability”, Organization & Environment,, pp. 1086026616689292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, A., Kennedy, S., Philipp, F., & Whiteman, G. (2017). Systems thinking: A review of sustainability management research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148(1), 866–881.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana L. Copper .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Copper, D.L. (2021). Sustainability Transformations—From Theory to Practice. In: Taticchi, P., Demartini, M. (eds) Corporate Sustainability in Practice. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56344-8_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics