Addressing the conceptualization and measurement challenges of sustainability orientation: A systematic review and research agenda

Sustainability orientation (SO) has emerged as a fundamental issue in scholarly studies during the last decade. Despite recent advances and the increasing number of research studies on SO, there exists a lack of scholarly agreement on its conceptualization and measurement. A systematic analysis of 53 journal articles published over the two decades shows that SO studies are vibrant and rapidly growing in various disciplines. The findings of this review provide a deeper understanding of the scope, conceptualization, and measurements of the SO construct. A key contribution of this review is the development of a comprehensive framework of SO to provide a succinct and informed summary of its conceptual domain, dimensionality, antecedents, outcomes, and contextualizations. Our review also offers a research agenda that articulates a number of emergent sustainability phenomena and provides exciting new research questions for scholars in strategy and sustainability research. In addition, our review may serve as a guide for various stakeholders; particularly, practitioners and policymakers can effectively develop their strategies and policies to promote the sustainable development agenda.