Strategizing sustainability in the firm: conceptual and empirical approaches

Research on sustainability strategies in organizations has evolved substantially. While motivations for companies to engage in sustainability are well-documented, ranging from profit-seeking to legitimacy-seeking arguments, it is not sufficently researched how companies can make their sustainability strategies most effective. Over the past five years, sustainability-related regulations have increasingly pressured companies to approach sustainability more strategically. However, many companies actually struggle to effectively integrate sustainability into corporate strategies. Therefore, this dissertation adopts the strategy-as-practice perspective to enhance the understanding of how companies strategize sustainability in practice. Each of the four papers in this dissertation delves into specific aspects of strategizing sustainability in firms, the different actors involved in strategizing, and the practices performed by those actors. Thereby, this dissertation provides distinct contributions for academia, corporate practice, and policy makers.