Unleashing Strategy for Sustainability

Gallagher, Deborah Rigling

Hodges, Joseph

2020-04-22T16:33:51Z

2020-04-22T16:33:51Z

2020-04-22

Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences

The disciplines of corporate strategy and corporate sustainability share many similarities, and the tools of each can be used to enhance the objectives of the other. Both involve aligning multiple stakeholders, making difficult trade-offs, analyzing metrics, and generating long-term value creation. However, traditional corporate strategy emphasizes competitive differentiation, while sustainability calls for collaboration and coordination. This project explored ways for strategy methodologies to better incorporate sustainability principles to achieve better outcomes for a firm and the natural environment. The first phase of the project narrowed down a wide range of possible tools to three frameworks that work best for generating long-term and sustainable value creation. The second phase then looked at applications of these three methodologies within “stronger” definitions of sustainability, i.e. more focused on ecological measures and outcomes. Ultimately, strategists and sustainability practitioners have similar goals, and this project shows how both can integrate the other field into their work to generate long-term value for society and the planet.

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20467

en_US

Corporate strategy

Corporate sustainability

CSR

Unleashing Strategy for Sustainability

Integration of Corporate Strategy and Sustainability Methodologies to Enable Companies to Generate Financial, Environmental, and Social Value

Master's project

0