Sustainability-oriented strategy and Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

PurposeSustainability-oriented strategies involve considering all possible environmental, social and economic factors that impact stakeholders and sustainable development. They could be a crucial contribution of the private sector to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study’s objective is twofolded. First, the authors want to discover if enterprises doing business in Brazil are contemplating the SDGs in their strategies. Second, the authors want to identify the external and internal factors that motivate them.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data through an online survey with employees from Global Compact signatories in Brazil. From a list of 335 for-profit enterprises, the authors got back 132 answers. The sample comprises Brazilian enterprises that only operate in the Brazilian market, Brazilian multinational enterprises (MNEs) and foreign multinationals operating in Brazilian and international markets. For this study, the MNEs’ group comprises Brazilian multinationals and foreign multinationals (MNEs). To characterize the sample and identify the motivating factors, the authors conducted a descriptive analysis. To compare the domestic and MNEs’ mean differences regarding the factors that influenced their strategies and the SDGs, the authors performed Mann–Whitney's U-test.FindingsThe results of the study show that enterprises are addressing the SDGs in their strategies. All internal and external driving factors are similar for domestic and MNEs, except for the value chain's negative externalities. MNEs are more prone to consider their negative externalities, which is a positive trend. Finally, results suggest that both groups of enterprises consider the 17 goals in their strategies, contrary to the theoretical argument that multinationals suffer more pressure because of their broad geographic scope.Research limitations/implicationsThe database of the study involves data collected through a self-response survey. Thus, the authors cannot discuss the effectiveness of real SDGs' strategies once enterprises' discourse on sustainability does not always correspond with practices. Therefore, the authors suggest that researchers address the results of implemented strategies on the SDGs over time to check for improvements and new developments.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest frequent materiality assessment of domestic enterprises' supply chain and articulation of explicit purposes around the selected SDGs, including setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitoring progress.Social implicationsThe authors believe that enterprises and decision makers should recognize their essential role to bend the curve on SDGs and shift their behavior toward strategic choices that could contribute to their positive performance over time, without contributing to environmental degradation and socioeconomic chaos.Originality/valuePublication on how enterprises address the SDGs in Brazil is relatively scarce. This study provides some answers to that by focusing on the factors influencing sustainability-oriented strategies on the SDGs. Besides, most previous studies consider a small sample of enterprises and are industry specific or focus on the effects of the SDGs in public policy. The sample of this study is diverse and represents 42% of the for-profit signatories of the Global Compact in Brazil.

Entrepreneurship, innovation, digitization and digital transformation toward a sustainable growth within the pandemic environment

“…Finding a common sustainable growth definition has always been complex as traditionally it has always been associated with a pure economic theory approach of increasing business income over the lifetime of the company (Forbes, 2018). However, in recent years multiple authors and experts have initiated a new definition where corporate social responsibility and environmental responsibility has been adopted as the foundation of the new generation of sustainable growth business models (de Claro and Esteves, 2021; Filimonova et al , 2020; Mattera et al , 2021; Noda and Kano, 2021). Thus companies focus on their business activity from a holistic perspective: customers, employees, society, environment and fair trade economy (MBN, 2016).…”

How are consumer behavior and marketing strategy researchers incorporating the SDGs? A review and opportunities for future research

“…However, studies that employed mixed approaches (e.g. Bell et al, 2021;Claro & Esteves, 2021) represent emerging efforts to build more robust theories specific to this emerging domain.…”

“…Artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, and machine learning were found to be critical for SDG achievement. Other articles covered topics such as CSR (Cervelló-Royo et al, 2020;Mogaji et al, 2021); supply chain architecture (Karki et al, 2021); strategic frameworks and partnerships (Claro & Esteves, 2021;Eweje et al, 2020;Mattera & Alba Ruiz-Morales, 2020;Svensson & Padin, 2021). The firmlevel connections span across 15 of the 17 SDGs, though many of the connections are weak.…”

Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as Cost Accounting Instrument for Small and Medium Sized Companies

“…-Review and assurance of supply chain materiality through the SBSC. Explicit targets are to be formulated around the selected SDGs, including setting performance indicators and monitoring progress [25].…”