Managing Sustainability: New Roles, Practices, and Protagonists

Authors

Kira HaenselFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Business Administration

First Advisor's Name

Arun Kumaraswamy

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Stav Fainshmidt

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Ruth V. Aguilera

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

William Newburry

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Nathan Hiller

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Sixth Advisor's Name

Orhun Guldiken

Sixth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Corporate Sustainability, Chief Sustainability Officer, Corporate Social Performance, Corporate Environmental Performance, Women Board Directors, Board Gender Composition

Date of Defense

5-15-2023

Abstract

Amid increasing expectations that firms meet the interests of all their stakeholders and engage in responsible business practices, sustainability management has moved into the focus of academics and practitioners. Along with the debate on what firms can do, goes the question of who will plan and perform this endeavor. The confrontation with this new task has given momentum to the development of new formal roles, new practices, and a historically underrepresented group of actors: female leaders.

Arguably making sustainability a strategic function within firms, many firms have appointed the formal role of a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) to their top management team (TMT). Despite evident progress during almost two decades since the first CSO was appointed in 2004, only about a third of S&P 500 firms currently operate with a CSO or a closely related TMT position. Why do some firms appoint a CSO while others do not? Existing literature is nascent and provides little theoretical guidance. Accordingly, in the first essay of my dissertation, I advance theory of why firms add the new role of a CSO to their TMTs.

The lack of clarity regarding the appointment of CSOs is perhaps not surprising, given the mixed outcomes associated with CSO appointments, indicating that the organizational implications of CSO appointments are not straightforward. To advance theory on how corporate practices for sustainability combine in their effect on superior sustainability performance, in the second essay, I evaluate how the CSO, next to three other prevalent sustainability practices: a board sustainability committee, a sustainability-linked executive compensation program, and an employee-driven team, impacts corporate social and corporate environmental performance.

Next to new roles and new practices, the rise of sustainability as a strategic priority has also created a breakthrough moment for women's leadership. Indeed, the percentage of women board directors at the apex of the organizational hierarchy is at a record high. While progress is evident, there remains remarkable variance across countries and firms. In the third essay of this dissertation, I evaluate what explains differences in board gender composition by assessing the relative importance of institutional pressures at the field- and firm levels.

Identifier

FIDC011181

ORCID

0000-0001-7823-7938

Recommended Citation

Haensel, Kira, "Managing Sustainability: New Roles, Practices, and Protagonists" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5383.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5383