Sustainability transition strategies in a business context: A co‐creation process in the Portuguese hospitality sector

Abstract

The role and impact of businesses in transition processes depend on the strategic positioning of firms regarding long‐term sustainability goals. Even though businesses are key actors for transition processes, the literature still lacks an extensive exploration of operational guidelines to support organisations in navigating the complexities of wider sustainability transitions. In this study, contributions from sustainability transitions research to the study of strategic planning processes in a business context were explored to address this gap. A procedure was developed to guide organisations towards development of sustainability transition strategies, which was further tested in a case study from the Portuguese tourism sector. The proposed approach builds on the transition management framework and a set of transversal sustainability elements: a holistic view of sustainability, long‐term thinking, stakeholder involvement and innovation. The testing of the proposed procedure resulted on the co‐creation of a sustainability transition strategy in a hotel which highlighted the need for participatory and long‐term oriented approaches to support businesses in their transformation processes. Improvement opportunities were identified regarding external stakeholder involvement and the integration of innovation elements while co‐creating organisational sustainability transition strategies.