Handbook of Sustainability-Driven Business Strategies in Practice

Sustainability is a top priority for organizations and a key strategy in corporate agendas, but the effective deployment of any strategy demands that the strategy is consistent, functional, and aligned. This Handbook advocates sustainability strategies that encompass environmental, social, and economic dimensions at department-level. Split into sections covering business strategies in marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship, operations management and information systems, finance and accounting, and human resources, this Handbook provides a comprehensive view of the development and deployment of sustainability-driven business strategies across an entire organization. The last section uses case studies to provide a better understanding of the features and tools needed to develop and implement a sustainability-driven business strategy in practice. Distinguishing the important role of each functional area, this Handbook will be a key reference for those researching on sustainability-related topics across business and management. Beyond the academic contributions, this Handbook also provides practical guidelines for managers interested in implementing sustainability-driven business strategies in their workplace.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface xxxiii PART 1 DEFINING A SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGY 1 Developing a sustainability strategic agenda 3 François Maon, Adam Lindgreen and Valérie Swaen 2 Corporate foundations as vehicles for sustainable development: how do corporate foundations work with parent companies to achieve sustainability? 18 Pilar Acosta 3 Materiality analysis as the basis for sustainability strategies and reporting – a systematic review of approaches and recommendations for practice 35 Sophia Schwoy and Andreas Dutzi 4 Defining a sustainability-driven business modeling strategy with a “storytelling science” approach 59 David M. Boje and Mohammad B. Rana PART 2 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN MARKETING 5 Corporate responsibility as an effective marketing practice for improving consumers’ brand evaluations – critical overview, new insights, and future directions 79 Ilona Szőcs and Milena Micevski 6 Promises, promises: how to showcase the authenticity of sustainability claims through digitalization 94 Nicholas Ind and Oriol Iglesias 7 Interactive network branding: towards a sustainability-driven strategy of small and medium-sized enterprises 108 Nikolina Koporcic and Jan-Åke Törnroos 8 How does brand-cause fit influence the success of CrM campaigns? 121 Inês Padilha Campelos, Susana Costa e Silva and Joana César Machado PART 3 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 9 Business model innovation for sustainability: the intersections among business models, innovation, and sustainability 144 Stefan Markovic and Karin Tollin 10 Social challenges within sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems 158 Roberto Hernandez-Chea, Maral Mahdad and Minh Thai 11 The UN Global Compact SDG Action Manager: how benefit corporations and purpose-driven businesses are driving the change 173 Giorgia Nigri, Armando Agulini and Mara Del Baldo PART 4 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN OPERATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS 12 SMEs, environmental sustainability and waste management: a comparative empirical study of Spain and Chile 191 Francisco Villegas Pinuer, Joan Llonch Andreu and Pilar López Belbeze 13 Adoption of environmental management systems: perspectives from UK, Finland and Thailand 226 David B. Grant, Sarah Shaw, Siriwan Chaisurayakarn and Alex Nikolai Shenin 14 The role of purchasing in the diffusion of sustainability in supply networks 244 Thomas E. Johnsen, Federico Caniato and Toloue Miandar 15 Sustainability assessment in the food supply chain 260 Verónica León-Bravo and Federico Caniato 16 Sustainable data management 278 Sreyaa Guha and Polina Landgraf PART 5 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING 17 Do CSR reports impact firms’ stock returns? A pilot study analysis 304 Andreas Dutzi, Julian Schröter and Eshari Withanage 18 An analysis of business actions in private social reporting 323 Natalia Semenova 19 How environment, social and governance scores impact company financial performance indicators: evidence from Denmark 338 Slobodan Kacanski 20 The role of the internal audit function in fostering sustainability reporting 352 Mara Del Baldo, Selena Aureli and Rosa Lombardi PART 6 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES IN HUMAN RESOURCES 21 Sustainability-driven HRM: the WHAT, the WHAT FOR and the HOW 371 Rosalía Cascón-Pereira, Tahereh Maghsoudi and Ana Beatriz Hernández-Lara 22 The role of human resource management function in the institutionalization of sustainability: the case study of the Dutch hotel industry 392 Andrew Ngawenja Mzembe 23 Profits with purpose: corporate and entrepreneurial toxic leadership and threats to organizational sustainability 413 David Coldwell and Robert Venter PART 7 SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES ACROSS FUNCTIONAL AREAS IN AN ORGANIZATION 24 Cross-functional integration in sustainability-driven business practice 432 Duane Windsor 25 Strategic alignment of purchasing for sustainability: a multi-level framework 454 Melek Akın Ateş and Nüfer Yasin Ateş 26 Purchasing and marketing of social and environmental sustainability in high-tech medical equipment 477 Adam Lindgreen, Michael Antioco, David Harness and Remi van der Sloot PART 8 CASE STUDIES ON SUSTAINABILITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS STRATEGIES 27 Ecoalf: a brand with a conscience 497 Nicholas Ind 28 Sustainability as strategy: the case of Comwell Hotels 503 Kristian J. Sund and Rasmus Downes-Rasmussen 29 Boat trip adventure changing the lives of thousands: the story of Song Saa Private Island 507 Ilia Gugenishvili and Nikolina Koporcic 30 Doing business the sustainable ‘Novo Nordisk Way’ 514 Marija Sarafinovska and Yuqian Qiu 31 Sustainability in the chemical industry through an industrial spin-off: the case of Apricot 523 Miguel Saiz García Index 527

About the Author :
Edited by Stefan Markovic, Full Professor of Marketing, Department of Marketing, NEOMA Business School, France, Cristina Sancha, Associate Professor, Department of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences, ESADE Business School, Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain and Adam Lindgreen, Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark and Extraordinary Professor, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Review :
'Addressing the grand challenges of our time will require collaborative efforts across organizational and disciplinary boundaries. Sustainability is arguably one of the major challenges that has received attention for quite some time but for which progress is also hampered due to limited perspectives on both problems and solutions. Luckily, this book offers a step in the right direction as it not only bridges sustainability and business strategies--in itself a major factor for actually achieving change--but it also does so by drawing on different disciplines. By offering a basis for comparing and contrasting different domains and perspectives, this book helps to better understand the complexity of the underlying problem and thereby also contributes to research and practice.' 'I strongly recommend the Handbook of Sustainability-Driven Business Strategies in Practice as an essential reading for all stakeholders in the sustainability ecosystem, wishing to make concrete and practical efforts in driving sustainable business in the real world. The challenge in sustainability is always moving beyond rhetoric to actual practice and implementation, and this Handbook can provide useful tips and strategies to push for more progress and make our world a better place.' 'Sustainability is high on the corporate and public agenda but developing and implementing strategies for sustainability often remains challenging. In this edited volume, Markovic, Sancha, and Lindgreen bring together a rich collection of chapters examining sustainability-driven business strategies from a holistic perspective. Considering sustainability strategies across the main functional business areas, the different chapters offer an inspiring set of ideas and experiences that can guide both research and practice on this important theme.' 'Sustainability has quickly become a key business imperative in contemporary markets. Stefan Markovic, Cristina Sancha, and Adam Lindgreen have edited a timely Handbook that covers the perspectives of versatile business domains and functions in a comprehensive manner, and offers rich insight for developing and researching sustainability-driven business strategies. This book is useful for anyone seeking to understand how businesses can realize opportunities for differentiation, renewal, and enhanced value creation through sustainability.' 'Professors Markovic, Sancha, and Lindgreen have compiled in a single handbook a great set of actionable ideas on how to design and deploy sustainability strategies across a variety of organizations, industries, and countries. What is most appealing is that the Handbook moves beyond corporate strategy and takes the reader to how corporate strategies get applied across each of the key functional areas such as marketing, finance, and HR, with a closing section discussing specific cases to further illustrate sustainability-driven business strategies in action.' 'Sustainability is today's leading business imperative. For the sake of our planet and humanity, businesses must find effective, profitable ways to assure a future for our natural environment, while providing safe, meaningful work that allows employees to live and prosper. Sustainability efforts cannot simply address pieces of business--they must permeate all operations. This book offers a comprehensive approach to sustainability, addressing all functional areas, including marketing, human resources, operations, accounting, finance, and more. It also covers all facets of sustainability, including people, planet, and profit. This thorough coverage is followed by several practical case studies to demonstrate sustainability efforts in action. This book offers business practitioners and academics a comprehensive approach to meaningful, viable sustainability efforts.' 'This well-structured Handbook edited by Stefan Markovic, Cristina Sancha, and Adam Lindgreen is an important step forward in our understanding of sustainability-driven business strategies. Sustainability is one of the most critical issues of the 21st century for businesses and societies. The Handbook begins with definitional materials and ends with selected case studies. The sections in between address sustainability in various functions of business: marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship, operations and information systems, finance and accounting, human resources, and also cross-functional integration. Both researchers and practitioners will find lots of new insights and recommendations concerning sustainability-driven business strategies.' 'Addressing sustainability issues is one of the key mission of enterprises in the coming decades. This book provides insights and tools to assist managers to develop and execute business strategies in key functions of organizations, including marketing, innovation, operations, finance, and human resources management. The Handbook of Sustainability-Driven Business Strategies in Practice offers not only information, but also inspiration for everyone who wants to gain insights into sustainability practices.' 'Sustainability has become a strategic imperative of today's businesses. Accompanied by a cast of international academics, Professors Markovic, Sancha and Lindgreen lead you on a comprehensive journey through the essential areas of management, brilliantly addressing the strategic role of sustainability. This content oriented to practice together with the case studies that illustrate previous concepts, make the Handbook of Sustainability-Driven Business Strategies in Practice a reference and inspiration resource for all those who want to understand the strategic role of sustainability.'