Co-track chairs

Sjors Witjes, Radboud University, The Netherlands
sjors.witjes@ru.nl

Arun Sahay, FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India
arun.sahay@fsm.ac.in

Gabor Harangozo, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
gabor.harangozo@uni-corvinus.hu

Nelson Lozada, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
nelson.lozada@udea.edu.co

Goals/objectives and areas of the track

Companies are important actors in any kind of (un-)sustainable development. Given this central role, scholars have developed different concepts and frameworks to support companies to integrate sustainability issues into their business activities. A central objective of this track is to discuss business sustainability management in relation to its effects on sustainable development.

This track offers a forum to reflect on recent developments in practice, results from science as well as ongoing transdisciplinary research activities in the fields of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility. This relates for example to strategic management, sustainable business models and sustainable entrepreneurship.

Following main questions, amongst others, are of interest:

• What is the contribution of sustainability strategies, business models and sustainable entrepreneurship to sustainable development?
• How can strategies and business models be implemented, both in companies and in a network of companies?
• Are current sustainability management approaches and strategies a sufficient contribution to sustainable development or are there limitations (for instance relative vs. absolute sustainability performance) which should be taken into account?
• Which factors support or hinder the implementation of sustainability management approaches, strategies and business models in business practice?
• How can managers deal with trade-offs between economic goals and environmental/social goals?
• What is the role of leadership and organizational culture for sustainability management?
• Which frameworks and tools support sustainable entrepreneurship?
• How can corporates themselves become sustainable in the wider context of people, planet and profit?

Themes and topics

We encourage conceptual as well as empirical contributions specifically, but not exclusively, dealing with the following topics:

• Sustainability management and leadership for sustainability management
• Sustainability management and organizational culture
• Business sustainability and CSR sustainability management/CSR and resilience
• Sustainability Management/CSR and sustainability strategies: experiences, developments, barriers and actors
• Strategic sustainability management and sustainable innovations
• Sustainable business models
• Sustainable entrepreneurship

Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track

Each proposed abstract (in connection to one of the areas pointed out above) within 300 and 500 words (including everything)

1. shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g. intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
2. does not need to, but can include references
3. shall provide in a final section
   1. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”.
   2. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference

Abstracts which do not outline points 3.1.) AND 3.2.) might be considered less relevant in the review.

Potential publication channels

Based on valuable contributions to Track 5a, we plan to publish a book with Routledge:

Responsible organizations to promote sustainability: A call for contributions

The concept of responsible organizations emphasizes businesses and institutions to act in an ethical as well as socially and environmentally accountable way. Such organizations promote responsibility to satisfy the needs of both their shareholders as well as local communities and the broader society.

Responsible organizations also play a substantial role on the way to UN SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) an area where even developed countries seem to suffer to perform well.

To deepen our understanding and create actionable solutions, Track 5a seeks for contributions to the field, with a special focus on case studies and other empirical research. These insights are crucial for advancing responsible practices across different sectors.

Related to Track 5a, a Routledge case study volume call is also under way. This book will collect real-world examples and best practices. We encourage researchers, practitioners, and academics to contribute and share their findings to help shape the future of responsible organizational behavior.