When Should Sustainability Have A C‐Suite Seat? An Empirical Study on the Environmental and Organizational Correlates of Chief Sustainability Officer Positions

Abstract

This study follows a theory‐based approach to examine both environmental and organizational factors related to chief sustainability officer (CSO) positions. We argue that the creation of CSO positions is driven by a combination of external and internal factors, and yet to date there has been limited research that integrates both perspectives to examine the presence and authority of CSO roles. Using a sample of S&P 500 firms, we found that the presence of CSO positions was related both externally to environmental conditions such as regulatory pressures and industry dynamism, and internally to organizational choices such as board‐level sustainability committees and internationalization. We also found that CSO authority was positively related to the organizational factors but not the environmental variables. This study complements existing CSO research by examining the factors linked to CSO presence and authority. The findings may assist researchers and practitioners in better understanding the effectiveness of CSO roles.