Sustainability for competitiveness in firms – a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present a systematic review of the literature on sustainability for the competitiveness of firms to identify the state of the art, significant discussions and new research directions. Recently, due to the negative impacts that traditional and unsustainable practices of companies have caused the Planet (e.g. climate change, sanitary crisis), national and international research urgently calls for the assessment of sustainable practices in firms. However, progress seems slow due to a poor understanding of the necessary changes that companies must make in their specific reality. Competitiveness has remained as firms’ primary strategy to endure. Some have associated sustainability with an increment of costs, sometimes with a negative impact on its competitiveness. Sometimes generating oppositions from stakeholder and institutions regulations, it is important to explore how these behaviors and dynamics of this relationship between sustainability and competitiveness affect the pursued transition to sustainability. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the literature, which is a scientific tool, is used in this research. It allows reliably and accurately analyzing and constructing conclusions from a broad database. The search was leaked over the 10 years, from 2010 to 2019. As a basis, 182 scientific articles were identified and revised based on methodology selection criteria and 51 articles were revised in detail. Findings This paper identifies critical variables analyzed in the selected articles, sustainability strategies for competitiveness, strategies for sustainability, organizational aspects for sustainability and competitiveness, measurement of sustainability, models, moderating factors for sustainability and new future research directions. Originality/value This paper presents state of art about sustainability for competitiveness and identifying key themes and future research directions.

The SDGs: A change agenda shaping the future of business and humanity at large

“…Considering recent meta analyses pertaining to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability in general, and to the SDGs in particular, we note that only very few recently published meta‐analysis articles have tackled the SDGs substantively whether in the title, abstract or content. These include an article by Lopez‐Torres et al (2021) on “Stakeholder Engagement, CSR Development and SDGs Compliance: A Systematic Review from 2015 to 2021,” which synthesizes the main approaches, issues and methodologies that have dominated in this field for the past 5 years, identifying trends and promising lines of scholarship pertaining to the relationships of Stakeholders, CSR, and Human Resources Management. Another relevant meta‐analysis review is presented by Park et al (2022), entitled “The Grand Challenge of Human Health: A Review and an Urgent Call for Business‐Health Research.” Here, the authors analyze the business‐health literature in the context of the ascendancy of SDG 3 on Good Health and Well‐Being.…”

“…More broadly, there is a large set of review articles addressing different aspects of Sustainability but not touching on the SDGs specifically (e.g. Rathner, 2013, on Socially Responsible versus Conventional Investment Funds; Khizar et al, 2022, on the Conceptualization and Measurement Challenges of Sustainability Orientation; Lopez‐Torres et al, 2021, on Sustainability for Competitiveness for Firms; Carter & Easton, 2011, on Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Evolution and Future Directions; Khizar et al, 2021, on Business Orientation and Sustainable Development; Katz et al, 2022, on Employee Green Behavior: A Meta Analysis; Vysochan et al, 2021, on Sustainability Accounting; and Adhikariparajuli et al, 2021, on CSR Implications and Disclosure in Higher Education). These are just examples of relevant meta‐analysis reviews pertaining to Sustainability in general, highlighting some important angles being tackled in recent scholarship.…”

Supplier performance and selection from sustainable supply chain performance perspective

“…Many firms have started putting more emphasis on greening their businesses and implementing sustainable operations in recent years (Katiyar et al, 2018;Lopez-Torres et al, 2021;Sahu et al, 2018a, b, c). The reason behind this emanates from external and internal forces that companies regularly face (Liu et al, 2021).…”

The impact of SMEs’ sustainability on competitiveness

“…In this sense, Gonzalez and Sanchez (2017) state that the capacity of companies to be competitive in the face of changing scenarios requires being part of the necessary responses to structure a sustainable company. enterprises (SMEs) (Bentivoglio et al, 2020;De Menezes et al, 2011;Lopez-Torres et al, 2021;Rajnoha et al, 2019). Furthermore, the research focused on a quantitative approach that measures the relationship between sustainability and competitiveness in SMEs.…”

“…Previous research has reported organizational factors influencing sustainability at the firm level, such as organizational readiness and innovation, sustainability-oriented technology, the view and commitment to sustainability, more in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (Bentivoglio et al , 2020; De Menezes et al , 2011; Lopez-Torres et al , 2021; Rajnoha et al , 2019). Furthermore, the research focused on a quantitative approach that measures the relationship between sustainability and competitiveness in SMEs.…”