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The nexus of business sustainability and organizational learning: A systematic literature review to identify key learning principles for business transformation
Author(s) -
Hermelingmeier Verena,
Wirth Timo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.2719
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , knowledge management , organizational learning , sustainability , clarity , typology , sustainable business , corporate sustainability , business , learning organization , sociology , process management , computer science , public relations , political science , corporate social responsibility , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , anthropology , biology , embedded system
Companies play a central role in the quest for sustainable development. Organizational learning theories have been utilized to explain sustainability‐related change processes in firms. However, implications from studies at the nexus of business sustainability and organizational learning are highly dependent on varying conceptualizations. The objective of this study is to provide clarity on the plurality of conceptual underpinnings in research and to uncover principles that are associated with deeper organizational change processes, that is, business transformation. Building on insights from a systematic literature review, we develop a sustainability learning typology, from which we distill three learning principles for business transformation: (1) the deutero learning mode, (2) the societal learning scope, and (3) the cooperative advantage objective. We formulate needs for future research to further elaborate on the learning principles associated with business transformation and suggest implications for practice.