With your actions I discover who you are: Profiles of Sustainable Organizations

The motivators for corporate sustainability have been well studied and research has sought to identify, mainly, its origin, whether internal or external. A limited number of researches have considered a broader approach, accepting that such motivators interact with one another, not occurring in isolation. Considering such interdependencies, this article sought to identify the corporate sustainability profiles in relation to the motivators directed to the sustainability strategies. For this, we used the Q methodology, a mixed approach used to study social phenomena in which there is much debate. Five large organizations that developed sustainability initiatives participated in the research. In the first phase, qualitative, there were seven interviewees. Twenty-four respondents participated in the quantitative phase, but we validated thirteen. The results point to four profiles among organizations: (1) I am responsible and I want them to know, (2) I care about my image, (3) I am looking for competitive advantage and (4) I simply believe, each composed of different motivators. In addition to considering the interdependence between them, the results can contribute to the performance of organizations that seek partnerships to develop activities of social responsibility, aligning the projects according to the profiles of each organization.