Managing integration between business strategy and sustainability

The concept of strategy originated in the late 1950s at the Harvard Business School and has evolved into strategic planning and management. Influential pioneers in Eng-lish-speaking countries have laid the basics for strategic thinking. In the recent 50 years, the concept of strategy has emphasized considering the actions of other actors, proactive decision-making, and long-term orientation. The primary strategy goal is to ensure long-term economic success and company continuity by gaining competitive advantages over the rivals (Engert, Rauter, & Baumgartner, 2016). Throughout the 1990s, environmental and sustainability strategies importance has been increased. It attracted the focus of numerous academic and practitioner publica-tions (Laruccia, 2012). In the recent decade, a considerable need for increasing the sus-tainability has been created. While notable enhancements in businesses sustainability approach on a global level has been made, more measures and approaches are felt to have sustainability (Cavaleri, & Shabana, 2018). The combination of demand increas-ing from limited natural resources, exponential population growth, and improving living standards in developing countries is putting an unprecedented pressure on human civili-zation. According to Sterman (2015), our civilization is not perfectly sustainable in the current situation, with the human ecological footprint exceeding the Earth's sustainable capacity, and both population and economic growth rapidly exacerbating our impact (p. 51). Despite this, the existing sustainability approaches are failing to sufficiently im-prove the well-being of human society (Sterman, 2012). Organizations will always find opportunities to enhance resource productivity, there-by reducing their overall environmental footprint. To accomplish this purpose, compa-nies have progressively integrated a broad range of social and environmental considera-tions into their strategies and operations. While most businesses are expected to become more responsible corporate citizens, only a few in each industry are able to convert en-vironmental investments into competitive advantages successfully (Laruccia, 2012). In order to successful sustainability implementation, sustainability initiatives must be aligned with an organization's core competencies, values, or market position to be effec-tive in achieving the organization's business goals and may positively impact their com-petitive advantage (Cavaleri, & Shabana, 2018). Most companies primarily concentrated on non-market and political strategies to-wards climate change and environmental issues, often to resist impending regulatory frameworks related to climate change and environmental consequences like carbon di-oxide emission. There is a notable emergence of market-based responses addressing global warming and reducing emissions. These responses encompass various strategies such as implementing product and process improvements as well as engaging in emis-sions trading (Kolk, and Pinkse, 2005). Currently, these market-driven components are attracting considerable attention in the context of environment, but political activities still play a role in shaping companies' overall strategic situation. The formulation of an integrated strategy varies from one company to another and depends on factors such as the perceived risks and opportunities associated with climate change. Additionally, the type of regulations related to the industry and the location where companies operate significantly influence the strategic decisions made regarding climate change (Fawzy, Osman, Doran, & Rooney, 2020).