Analysing organisations' engagement with and impacts to sustainability

Abstract

There has been increasing interest on how organisations address the four dimensions of sustainability. Despite calls for a holistic perspective, empirical research on sustainable organisations has been carried out on (1) engagement efforts, focussing inside the organisation, i.e., the system elements engage with sustainability, or (2) efforts to contribute to sustainability, focussing outside the organisation, i.e., how the organisation as a whole impacts sustainability. A survey was developed to investigate engagement of the system elements and their contribution to sustainability, from which 210 full responses were obtained. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis, Friedman test to rank the engagement of the organisation system elements with sustainability, ratio analyses (positive to negative) and ANOVAs regarding organisation type and size. The results show that the organisation system elements most engaged with sustainability are research and management, and strategy, and the least are operations and production, products, procurement, and supply chain. The impact ratios are highest from research, services, and management and strategy. The ANOVA test results demonstrate that the type of organisation does not affect how the system elements engage with and impact sustainability, with some exceptions. The paper proves that the inside and outside sustainability efforts of an organisation are not separated but intertwined through a series of connections. The results are integrated into for the “organisation system elements engagement and impact to sustainability” model. Organisations must take a holistic a systems perspective that considers the system elements engagement and how each of these contribute to sustainability and its dimensions.

Sustainable development practices in public higher education: A new conceptual framework for nurturing student satisfaction and reinforcing attractiveness to international students

“…Therefore, HEIs must be strongly committed to their mission, having a legitimate commitment to addressing, engaging in, and responding to current and emerging matters related to SD, through their policies, procedures, curricula, research and/or extension activities, including all their stakeholders in their actions (Leal Filho, 2019). When talking about organizations' engagement with and impacts to sustainability, Lozano (2023) states that institutions must adopt a holistic systemic perspective that considers the involvement of all elements of the system and how each of them contributes to sustainability and its dimensions. Nonetheless, Leal Filho et al (2024) state that further study is needed to determine how SD is being positioned at HEIs while producing positive externalities for the academy, society, and the environment.…”