Strategic change competencies for corporate sustainability
The City of Vienna Competence Team “Change for Corporate Sustainability” (TransformS) researched how Austrian companies can develop the necessary strategic change competencies for the transformation towards sustainability (Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability). Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability are strategic change competencies that enable a company to generate and implement economically, ecologically and socially sustainable product, process or business model innovations.
The research project was based at the Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainable Strategy (IBES) at FHWien der WKW from March 2021 to February 2024. The Competence Team was supported by the City of Vienna within the framework of the Vienna University of Applied Sciences funding program.
Project team:
- Lead: FH-Prof. Dr. Daniela Ortiz Avram, Head of the Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainable Strategy (IBES) at FHWien der WKW
- Katharina Salomon, MSc, Research Associate
- Dr. Martine Andraos, Bsc MA, Research Associate
Project period: 01.03.2021 to 29.02.2024
Project duration: 36 months
Research Priorities
In addition to their economic legitimacy, companies are increasingly required to contribute to greater social and ecological sustainability. This business necessity results, among other things, from the increased pressure from consumers, politics and NGOs. This requires companies to implement strategic change, for example in the form of product, process or business model innovations.
These demands are contributing to increasing pressure for change in small, medium-sized and large companies. The required strategic change is a challenge for companies that involves a high level of human and material resources. The potential for value creation or competitive advantages that can be realized through successful implementation are still relatively unknown.
Goals
The City of Vienna’s Competence Team TransformS aimed to promote the strategic orientation of Austrian companies regarding ecological and social sustainability by providing the latest scientific knowledge in the field of strategic change competencies (Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability) over the three-year project period.
TransformS into Practice
As part of the research project “Transformation for Sustainability” (TransformS), the City of Vienna Competence Team explored change competencies that help companies to promote the mentioned strategic orientation according to sustainability criteria and sustainability-oriented innovations.
The TransformS team supported companies in their transformation towards greater sustainability and in generating sustainability-oriented innovations at different levels.
Sustainability Innovation Check
The Sustainability Innovation Check analyzed the current status of a company’s transformation towards sustainability and shed light on the necessary change competencies.
Positive Impact Workshop
Based on the results of the Sustainability Innovation Check, a Positive Impact Workshop developed tailor-made measures for the company to promote change competence.
Transfer to Teaching
In the project, the “Certificate for Sustainability Change Agents” was developed to promote individual student skills that enable motivated specialists to help shape sustainable change in organizations on their own responsibility.
Based on the conceptual framework model developed by the Competence Team, instruments for diagnosing sustainability-oriented strategic change competencies (Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability) in Austrian companies were used in practice for the first time. In addition, measures for the development and promotion of Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability were derived in individual workshops and focus groups with companies.
The cooperation with the City of Vienna's ‘Change for Corporate Sustainability’ Competence Team was an absolutely valuable experience, as we came across aspects of sustainability that we would not have discovered in our day-to-day work or would have discovered too late. The approaches we gained at an operational level will also be very useful to our company in the future.
The collaboration with the TransformS competence team was a good opportunity to examine our transformation process at VERBUND from a scientific perspective and to compare it with the experiences made by other companies. The interviews and the concluding workshops resulted in very helpful recommendations that were immediately incorporated into our mission for greater sustainability.
Research Results
The TransformS competence team has developed a new typology for companies to categorize their sustainability strategy. This typology helps with optimization measures at company level as well as with the systemic transformation of entire value chains. According to project leader and Head of IBES Daniela Ortiz, managers can use the four types to “manage their company’s sustainability strategy in a more targeted manner, analyze the current situation and define goals”.
Step-by-step transformation with a new typology
The typology includes four stages that companies can use to develop a comprehensive sustainability strategy step by step. These begin with the company’s own “eco-efficiency” and a “transformation at company level”. This includes, for example, the use of alternative energy sources or new sustainable business models. Beyond the company itself, the third and fourth stages describe “eco-efficiency in supply chains and at network level” as well as a “systemic transformation” that considers the processes of all stakeholders, similar to the circular economy.
Sustainable transformation in dialogue with industry
In a further step, the researchers of the TransfomS competence team analyzed sustainability-oriented innovation projects in large and established companies (including VERBUND, Neuman Aluminium, Lenzing, Post AG). In order to successfully develop these projects, companies need so-called “dynamic capabilities for sustainability”.
Sustainable dialog on the supply chain
The analysis made it possible to develop a well-founded model for the emergence of “dynamic capabilities for sustainability”. Three productive dialogues between the companies involved in the supply chain were identified. While multi-stakeholder dialogues often trigger sustainability-oriented innovation projects, intra-company and supply chain dialogues lead to the pooling and coordination of resources to implement the initiated projects.
Integrating sustainability into all degree programs
To initiate and support transformation processes towards sustainability in companies, motivated specialists with sustainability knowledge and the corresponding skills are needed. FHWien der WKW has therefore integrated sustainability as an interdisciplinary subject into all its study programs. In addition, the project developed a voluntary qualification program to promote sustainability skills, which will be offered for the third time at FHWien der WKW in the winter semester 2024/25. This course promotes the individual skills of students that enable them to take responsibility for shaping sustainable change in organizations.
Publications
Subsequently, the project results were passed on to companies in a target group-oriented manner, presented at lectures and workshops for practitioners and published in scientific and practice-oriented publications.
- Ortiz‐Avram, D.,Salomon, K. (2024). Designing a Course for Developing Sustainability Competencies. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Social Sustainability in Business Education. Learn more: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-50168-5_9
- Ortiz‐Avram, D., Ovcharova, N., & Engelmann, A. (2023). Dynamic capabilities for sustainability: Toward a typology based on dimensions of sustainability‐oriented innovation and stakeholder integration. In: Business Strategy and the Environment. Learn more: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/bse.3630
- Ortiz-Avram, D., Andraos, M., Salomon, K. (2023). Micro-foundations of a Collaborative Sustainability-oriented Innovation Capability. In: Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2023, No. 1). Learn more: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMPROC.2023.17006abstract
- Ortiz, D., Ovcharova, N. (2022). Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability: Developing an Integrative Typology. In: Academy of Management Proceedings. Learn more: https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/AMBPP.2022.16210abstract
- „Ausbildung von „Sustainability Change Agents“ an einer Wirtschafts(fach)hochschule“. Tag der Lehre (FH St.Pölten), with Katharina Salomon (2023)
- “Competencies for Sustainability Change Agents”. International Management & Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (MOBTS) Conference, with Katharina Salomon (2023)
- “Developing and assessing systems thinking for sustainability in a competence-based extra-curricular course at a business school”. Forschungsforum der österreichischen Fachhochschulen (FH St. Pölten), with Daniela Ortiz and Katharina Salomon (2023)
- “Emotional Intelligence for Sustainable Development in Management Education”. Track Chairs at the 10th Responsible Management Education Research Conference: Sustainable and Responsible Management: A decade of Integrating Knowledge and Creating Societal Impact through Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Daniela Ortiz and Katharina Salomon (2023)
- “Micro-foundations of a Collaborative Sustainability-oriented Innovation Capability”. EURAM 2023: Transforming Business for Good, with Daniela Ortiz, Katharina Salomon and Martine Andraos (2023)
- “Dynamic capabilities for sustainability: Developing an integrative typology“. European Academy of Management (EURAM) Annual Conference: Leading Digital Transformation, with Daniela Ortiz (2023)
- „Educating Future Sustainability Change Agents in Business Schools“. Track Chairs at the 9th Responsible Management Education Research Conference: Societal Impact through Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Daniela Ortiz and Katharina Salomon (2022)
- „Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainability – A Review and Research Agenda“. Corporate Responsibility Research Conference 2021, Raanana (ISR), with Daniela Ortiz and Nelly Ovcharova, N. (2021)
- “Competencies for Sustainability in Teaching, Research and Practice”. IPADE Business School: Faculty Development Workshop, Speaker: Daniela Ortiz (2023)
- Panel Discussion: “How to innovate responsibly? The role of sustainability regulations and collaborative work”. Responsible Management Lectures: Summer 2023, Speaker: Daniela Ortiz (2023)
- Studienpräsentation „Transformation for Sustainability“. Präsentation bei der Innox-Netzwerk Veranstaltung, with Daniela Ortiz and Katharina Salomon on 22.11.23
- „Sustainability Issue Selling“. CSR-Tag 2023, with Daniela Ortiz and Katharina Salomon on 19.10.2023. To the events website: https://www.csrtag.at/rueckblick2023
- Workshop: “Competencies for Sustainability Innovation”. IPADE Business School: Sustainability Practitioners’ Breakfast (Mexico City), Speaker: Daniela Ortiz (2023)
- Reisinger, R., Ortiz, D., Ovcharova, N., Engelmann, A. (2023) Dynamische Fähigkeiten: Wie sich Nachhaltigkeit systematisch managen lässt. In: Business Art Magazin, Ausgabe 04/2023
- Andraos, M., Salomon, K. (2023) Zusammenarbeit am Bau. In: Business Art Magazin, Ausgabe 02/2023
Learn more: https://www.businessart.at/zusammenarbeit-am-bau - Ortiz, D. (2022) Nachhaltigkeit braucht Kompetenz/en. In: COPA-DATA Magazin Information Unlimited
- Prattinger, J., Salomon, K. (2022) The Future is Circular – Unternehmerische Kompetenzen für eine kreislauffähige Zukunft. In: respact.at