IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v31y2022i4p1789-1813.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pursuing sustainability advantage: The dynamic capabilities of born sustainable firms

Author

Listed:
  • Desirée Knoppen
  • Louise Knight

Abstract

‘Born sustainable firms’ (BSFs) — firms founded with an explicit strategic intent to operate in a sustainable manner play an important role in the sustainability transition and represent a significant but underutilized research site. Adopting the dynamic capabilities (DC) perspective, this paper explores BSFs' pursuit of their environmental and social goals. Having first assessed and confirmed its relevance to the BSF context, a high level framework of DC processes is operationalized. Through a dialogic approach, comparing the literature and empirical material from 12 BSFs from a wide range of sectors and locations, an in‐depth picture of 28 processes underlying sensing, seizing and transforming meta‐capabilities emerges. All but one of the detailed processes can be linked to prior research and are specific, though not unique, to BSF. Whilst the operationalized framework of DC processes in the BSF context extends prior research, the established notion of competitive advantage — framing organizational goals and impact in terms of financial outcomes and strategic performance relative to rivals — is problematic in this context. We therefore reconceptualize BSF's organizational goals and impact in terms of ‘sustainability advantage’, that is, maximization of environmental and social performance within the constraint of economic viability. In addition, we identify two key dimensions of advantage: time horizon, which ranges from immediate to longer term impact, and scope, which ranges from organization‐centred to system‐wide impact. The findings have clear implications not only for sustainable entrepreneurship but also for incumbent firms moving towards genuine sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Desirée Knoppen & Louise Knight, 2022. "Pursuing sustainability advantage: The dynamic capabilities of born sustainable firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1789-1813, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:4:p:1789-1813
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2984
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2984?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hockerts, Kai & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2010. "Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids -- Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 481-492, September.
    2. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    3. Teppo Felin & Nicolai J. Foss & Koen H. Heimeriks & Tammy L. Madsen, 2012. "Microfoundations of Routines and Capabilities: Individuals, Processes, and Structure," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(8), pages 1351-1374, December.
    4. Beske, Philip & Land, Anna & Seuring, Stefan, 2014. "Sustainable supply chain management practices and dynamic capabilities in the food industry: A critical analysis of the literature," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 131-143.
    5. Carlo Salvato & Roberto Vassolo, 2018. "The sources of dynamism in dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1728-1752, June.
    6. Arend, Richard J. & Wisner, Joel D., 2005. "Small business and supply chain management: is there a fit?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 403-436, May.
    7. Cohen, Boyd & Winn, Monika I., 2007. "Market imperfections, opportunity and sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 29-49, January.
    8. Gideon D. Markman & Michael Russo & G. T. Lumpkin & P. Devereaux (Dev) Jennings & Johanna Mair, 2016. "Entrepreneurship as a Platform for Pursuing Multiple Goals: A Special Issue on Sustainability, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 673-694, July.
    9. Parrish, Bradley D., 2010. "Sustainability-driven entrepreneurship: Principles of organization design," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 510-523, September.
    10. Thomas J. Kull & Josip Kotlar & Martin Spring, 2018. "Small and Medium Enterprise Research in Supply Chain Management: The Case for Single†Respondent Research Designs," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 54(1), pages 23-34, January.
    11. York, Jeffrey G. & Venkataraman, S., 2010. "The entrepreneur-environment nexus: Uncertainty, innovation, and allocation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 449-463, September.
    12. Margaret Peteraf & Giada Di Stefano & Gianmario Verona, 2013. "The elephant in the room of dynamic capabilities: Bringing two diverging conversations together," Post-Print hal-00982438, HAL.
    13. Verena Hermelingmeier & Timo von Wirth, 2021. "The nexus of business sustainability and organizational learning: A systematic literature review to identify key learning principles for business transformation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1839-1851, May.
    14. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    15. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    16. Sonali K. Shah & Kevin G. Corley, 2006. "Building Better Theory by Bridging the Quantitative–Qualitative Divide," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1821-1835, December.
    17. Felix Arndt & Lamar Pierce, 2018. "The behavioral and evolutionary roots of dynamic capabilities," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(2), pages 413-424.
    18. Katharina Kaesehage & Michael Leyshon & George Ferns & Catherine Leyshon, 2019. "Seriously Personal: The Reasons that Motivate Entrepreneurs to Address Climate Change," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1091-1109, July.
    19. Arthurs, Jonathan D. & Busenitz, Lowell W., 2006. "Dynamic capabilities and venture performance: The effects of venture capitalists," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 195-215, March.
    20. Helen Borland & Véronique Ambrosini & Adam Lindgreen & Joëlle Vanhamme, 2016. "Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 293-307, May.
    21. Frank Montabon & Mark Pagell & Zhaohui Wu, 2016. "Making Sustainability Sustainable," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 11-27, April.
    22. Cepeda, Gabriel & Vera, Dusya, 2007. "Dynamic capabilities and operational capabilities: A knowledge management perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 426-437, May.
    23. Lanny Herron & Harry J. Sapienza, 1992. "The Entrepreneur and the Initiation of New Venture Launch Activities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(1), pages 49-55, October.
    24. Pablo Muñoz & Boyd Cohen, 2018. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research: Taking Stock and looking ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 300-322, March.
    25. Arinze Christian Nwoba & Nathaniel Boso & Matthew J. Robson, 2021. "Corporate sustainability strategies in institutional adversity: Antecedent, outcome, and contingency effects," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 787-807, February.
    26. Richard Arend, 2013. "Ethics-focused dynamic capabilities: a small business perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-24, June.
    27. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    28. Antony Paulraj & Injazz J. Chen & Constantin Blome, 2017. "Motives and Performance Outcomes of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices: A Multi-theoretical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 239-258, October.
    29. Welch, Catherine & Piekkari, Rebecca, 2017. "How should we (not) judge the ‘quality’ of qualitative research? A re-assessment of current evaluative criteria in International Business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 714-725.
    30. Rita G. Klapper & Paul Upham & Richard K. Blundel, 2021. "Insider perspectives on growth: Implications for a nondichotomous understanding of ‘sustainable’ and conventional entrepreneurship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 1481-1496, March.
    31. Kenneth M. Amaeshi & Onyeka K. Osuji & Paul Nnodim, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, Exceptions and Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 223-234, August.
    32. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    33. Ona Akemu & Gail Whiteman & Steve Kennedy, 2016. "Social Enterprise Emergence from Social Movement Activism: The Fairphone Case," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 846-877, July.
    34. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    35. Christian Busse, 2016. "Doing Well by Doing Good? The Self-interest of Buying Firms and Sustainable Supply Chain Management," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(2), pages 28-47, April.
    36. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    37. Constance E. Helfat & Margaret A. Peteraf, 2003. "The dynamic resource‐based view: capability lifecycles," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 997-1010, October.
    38. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    39. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicolas Chevrollier & Johannes W. F. C. van Lieshout & Aikaterini Argyrou & Johannes Amelink, 2024. "Carbon emission reduction: Understanding the micro‐foundations of dynamic capabilities in companies with a strategic orientation for sustainability performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 968-984, February.
    2. Francesco Martielli & Vittorio Laus & Antonio Salvi & Anna Kotaskova, 2025. "Unlocking funding success: intercultural entrepreneurship dynamics in European startups," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-31, December.
    3. Valery Chistov & Nekane Aramburu & María Eugenia Fabra Florit & Iñaki Peña‐Legazkue & Pauline Weritz, 2023. "Sustainability orientation and firm growth as ventures mature," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5314-5331, December.
    4. Iztok Palčič & Jasna Prester, 2024. "Effect of Usage of Industrial Robots on Quality, Labor Productivity, Exports and Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 0. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    2. Xiaoming He & Yaqun Yi & Zelong Wei, 2019. "New product development capabilities in China: the moderating role of TMT cooperative behavior," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(2), pages 73-97, April.
    3. Quan Anh Nguyen & Gillian Sullivan Mort, 2021. "Conceptualising organisational-level and microfoundational capabilities: an integrated view of born-globals’ internationalisation," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1781-1803, December.
    4. Nicolas Chevrollier & Johannes W. F. C. van Lieshout & Aikaterini Argyrou & Johannes Amelink, 2024. "Carbon emission reduction: Understanding the micro‐foundations of dynamic capabilities in companies with a strategic orientation for sustainability performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 968-984, February.
    5. Stav Fainshmidt & Amir Pezeshkan & M. Lance Frazier & Anil Nair & Edward Markowski, 2016. "Dynamic Capabilities and Organizational Performance: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation and Extension," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(8), pages 1348-1380, December.
    6. Ana Criado-Gomis & Amparo Cervera-Taulet & Maria-Angeles Iniesta-Bonillo, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Business Strategic Approach for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Alessio Cozzolino & Gianmario Verona, 2024. "Decision tree for adaptation after radical changes: linking dynamic capabilities, ambidexterity, and strategic alliances," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(3), pages 745-769, September.
    8. Vera Ndrecaj & Mohamed Ashmel Mohamed Hashim & Rachel Mason-Jones & Valentina Ndou & Issam Tlemsani, 2023. "Exploring Lean Six Sigma as Dynamic Capability to Enable Sustainable Performance Optimisation in Times of Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-23, December.
    9. Bitencourt, Claudia Cristina & de Oliveira Santini, Fernando & Ladeira, Wagner Junior & Santos, Ana Clarissa & Teixeira, Eduardo Kunzel, 2020. "The extended dynamic capabilities model: A meta-analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 108-120.
    10. Jelle Schepers & Pieter Vandekerkhof & Yannick Dillen, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Growth-Oriented SMEs: Building Entrepreneurial Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    11. Jorge Ferreira & Sofia Cardim & Arnaldo Coelho, 2021. "Dynamic Capabilities and Mediating Effects of Innovation on the Competitive Advantage and Firm’s Performance: the Moderating Role of Organizational Learning Capability," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 620-644, June.
    12. Eriksson, Taina, 2014. "Processes, antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 65-82.
    13. Wohlgemuth, Veit & Wenzel, Matthias & Berger, Elisabeth S.C. & Eisend, Martin, 2019. "Dynamic capabilities and employee participation: The role of trust and informal control," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 760-771.
    14. Daniela Ortiz‐Avram & Nelly Ovcharova & Alexander Engelmann, 2024. "Dynamic capabilities for sustainability: Toward a typology based on dimensions of sustainability‐oriented innovation and stakeholder integration," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2969-3004, May.
    15. Waleczek, Peter & von den Driesch, Till & Flatten, Tessa C. & Brettel, Malte, 2019. "On the dynamic bundles behind operations management and research and development," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 175-187.
    16. Wójcik, Piotr & Obłój, Krzysztof & Buono, Anthony F., 2022. "Addressing social concern through business-nonprofit collaboration: Microfoundations of a firm’s dynamic capability for social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 119-139.
    17. Vaneet Kaur & Versha Mehta, 2017. "Dynamic Capabilities for Competitive Advantage," Paradigm, , vol. 21(1), pages 31-51, June.
    18. Ferreira, Jorge & Coelho, Arnaldo & Moutinho, Luiz, 2020. "Dynamic capabilities, creativity and innovation capability and their impact on competitive advantage and firm performance: The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 92.
    19. Maren Schlömer & Hendrik Wilhelm & Indre Maurer & Frank Wallau, 2013. "Die Wirkung dynamischer Fähigkeiten auf die Effektivität und Effizienz operativer Prozesse," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 214-243, May.
    20. Hendrik Wilhelm & Indre Maurer & Mark Ebers, 2022. "(When) Are Dynamic Capabilities Routine? A Mixed‐Methods Configurational Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(6), pages 1531-1562, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:31:y:2022:i:4:p:1789-1813. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.