IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p12330-d674645.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutional Pressures, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19: How Are Organisations Engaging?

Author

Listed:
  • Bárbara Galleli

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

  • Elder Semprebon

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

  • Joyce Aparecida Ramos dos Santos

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

  • Noah Emanuel Brito Teles

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

  • Mateus Santos de Freitas-Martins

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

  • Raquel Teodoro da Silva Onevetch

    (Business Department, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba 80210-170, Brazil)

Abstract

This article aimed at answering the following research question: How do institutional pressures influence the engagement of organisations with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic? To address it, we applied a survey with Brazilian organisations in late 2020. From group analysis and the comparison of means (test-t), we conclude that, in the pandemic scenario, organisations from various sectors and industries are affected mainly by coercive pressures but also by normative and, to a lesser extent, mimetic pressures. Furthermore, this study has shown that while opportunities are arising from normative and mimetic institutional pressures, it is in the coercive pressures that the guidance lies for the re-establishment of economic, social, and environmental development and prosperity in a post-pandemic scenario. Thus, despite some optimistic results, achieving the purpose outlined by the 2030 Agenda seems to be distant or at least needs an even more substantial effort if its responsibility rests solely with legislative and governmental forces.

Suggested Citation

  • Bárbara Galleli & Elder Semprebon & Joyce Aparecida Ramos dos Santos & Noah Emanuel Brito Teles & Mateus Santos de Freitas-Martins & Raquel Teodoro da Silva Onevetch, 2021. "Institutional Pressures, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19: How Are Organisations Engaging?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12330-:d:674645
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12330/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12330/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stuart Cooper & Carole Parkes & John Blewitt, 2014. "Can accreditation help a leopard change its spots?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(2), pages 234-258, February.
    2. Yizhong Huan & Haitao Li & Tao Liang, 2019. "A New Method for the Quantitative Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a Case Study on Central Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-27, June.
    3. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    4. Walter Leal Filho & Luciana Londero Brandli & Amanda Lange Salvia & Lez Rayman-Bacchus & Johannes Platje, 2020. "COVID-19 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Threat to Solidarity or an Opportunity?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Luis Escobar & Harrie Vredenburg, 2011. "Multinational Oil Companies and the Adoption of Sustainable Development: A Resource-Based and Institutional Theory Interpretation of Adoption Heterogeneity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 39-65, January.
    6. Casey Stevens & Norichika Kanie, 2016. "The transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 393-396, June.
    7. Chaminda Wijethilake & Rahat Munir & Ranjith Appuhami, 2017. "Strategic responses to institutional pressures for sustainability," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(8), pages 1677-1710, October.
    8. Lloret, Antonio, 2016. "Modeling corporate sustainability strategy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 418-425.
    9. Pratima Bansal, 2005. "Evolving sustainably: a longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 197-218, March.
    10. Wang, Fangjun & Sun, Junqin & Liu, Yang Stephanie, 2019. "Institutional pressure, ultimate ownership, and corporate carbon reduction engagement: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 14-26.
    11. Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen & Peter Neergaard & Janni Thusgaard Pedersen & Wencke Gwozdz, 2013. "Conformance and Deviance: Company Responses to Institutional Pressures for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 357-373, September.
    12. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    13. Glover, J.L. & Champion, D. & Daniels, K.J. & Dainty, A.J.D., 2014. "An Institutional Theory perspective on sustainable practices across the dairy supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 102-111.
    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. Hebah Shalhoob & Khaled Hussainey, 2022. "Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosure and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Sustainability Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Giovanni Zampone & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez & Giuseppe Sannino, 2023. "Imitation is the sincerest form of institutionalization: Understanding the effects of imitation and competitive pressures on the reporting of sustainable development goals in an international context," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4119-4142, November.
    3. María Garrido-Ruso & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán & Albertina Paula Monteiro, 2022. "Businesses’ Role in the Fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-35, July.

    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. Fotios Misopoulos & Roula Michaelides & Mohammad Afiq Salehuddin & Vicky Manthou & Zenon Michaelides, 2018. "Addressing Organisational Pressures as Drivers towards Sustainability in Manufacturing Projects and Project Management Methodologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-28, June.
    2. Peter S. Hofman & Constantin Blome & Martin C. Schleper & Nachiappan Subramanian, 2020. "Supply chain collaboration and eco‐innovations: An institutional perspective from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2734-2754, September.
    3. Yu‐Xiang Yen, 2018. "Buyer–supplier collaboration in green practices: The driving effects from stakeholders," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1666-1678, December.
    4. Famiyeh, Samuel & Opoku, Robert.A. & Kwarteng, Amoako & Asante-Darko, Disraeli, 2021. "Driving forces of sustainability in the mining industry: Evidence from a developing country," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Jan Anton van Zanten & Rob van Tulder, 2018. "Multinational enterprises and the Sustainable Development Goals: An institutional approach to corporate engagement," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1(3), pages 208-233, December.
    6. Simona Fiandrino & Francesco Scarpa & Riccardo Torelli, 2022. "Fostering Social Impact Through Corporate Implementation of the SDGs: Transformative Mechanisms Towards Interconnectedness and Inclusiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(4), pages 959-973, November.
    7. Björn Mestdagh & Olivier Sempiga & Luc Van Liedekerke, 2023. "The Impact of External Shocks on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Linking the COVID-19 Pandemic to SDG Implementation at the Local Government Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Agnieszka Karman, 2022. "The Homogenization of Carbon Management Practices: How Organizations Response to Isomorphic Pressures to Reduce GHG Emissions," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 148-173.
    9. Jeremy Galbreath, 2018. "Do Boards of Directors Influence Corporate Sustainable Development? An Attention‐Based Analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 742-756, September.
    10. Luis Fonseca & Filipe Carvalho & Gilberto Santos, 2023. "Strategic CSR: Framework for Sustainability through Management Systems Standards—Implementing and Disclosing Sustainable Development Goals and Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, August.
    11. Kyoko Sasaki & Wendy Stubbs & Megan Farrelly, 2023. "The relationship between corporate purpose and the sustainable development goals in large Japanese companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2475-2489, September.
    12. Gregorio Martín‐de Castro & Javier Amores‐Salvadó & José E. Navas‐López, 2016. "Environmental Management Systems and Firm Performance: Improving Firm Environmental Policy through Stakeholder Engagement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 243-256, July.
    13. Yusheng Kong & Fahad Javed & Jahanzaib Sultan & Muhammad Shehzad Hanif & Noheed Khan, 2022. "EMA Implementation and Corporate Environmental Firm Performance: A Comparison of Institutional Pressures and Environmental Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-25, May.
    14. Manoj Thomas & Daniela Costa & Tiago Oliveira, 2016. "Assessing the role of IT-enabled process virtualization on green IT adoption," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 693-710, August.
    15. A.D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Ki‐Hoon Lee & Pubudu K. Hitigala Kaluarachchilage, 2021. "Institutional pressures, environmental management strategy, and organizational performance: The role of environmental management accounting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 825-839, February.
    16. Md. Rayhan Sarker & Md. Abdul Moktadir & Ernesto D. R. Santibanez-Gonzalez, 2021. "Social Sustainability Challenges Towards Flexible Supply Chain Management: Post-COVID-19 Perspective," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 22(2), pages 199-218, December.
    17. Simone Søgaard Jacobsen & Steffen Korsgaard & Franziska Günzel-Jensen, 2020. "Towards a Typology of Sustainability Practices: A Study of the Potentials and Challenges of Sustainable Practices at the Firm Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-22, June.
    18. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & David Talbot & Laurence Guillaumie, 2022. "Legitimizing unsustainable practices: The institutional logics of pro‐pesticide organizations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2284-2298, July.
    19. Marianela Carrillo, 2022. "Measuring Progress towards Sustainability in the European Union within the 2030 Agenda Framework," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, June.
    20. Yizhong Huan & Lingqing Wang & Mark Burgman & Haitao Li & Yurong Yu & Jianpeng Zhang & Tao Liang, 2022. "A multi‐perspective composite assessment framework for prioritizing targets of sustainable development goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 833-847, October.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12330-:d:674645. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.