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Title: Sustainability in a holistic business context: a debate on power and responsibility relations

Authors: Anna-Vanadis Faix

Addresses: School of International Business and Entrepreneurship (SIBE), Kalkofenstr. 53, 71083 Herrenberg, Germany

Abstract: More and more companies are taking up sustainability and are developing strategies to implement it. Often, however, there is so-called greenwashing behind it and large parts of the company remain with business as usual (intended or unintended). Greenwashing can be understood as an extended phenomenon in which companies improve their image in the direction of sustainability. Even if this is an actual corporate goal, however, there is often a lack of standards, comparative values and variability, as well as transparent communication. In this paper, I will try to argue that this often goes along with a limited understanding of corporate sustainability and this is related to misguided responsibility and power relations that arise towards consumers and society. The paper is an attempt to better understand and reveal this in its variability when looking at the different strategies for sustainability in business.

Keywords: holistic sustainability; greenwashing; corporate sustainability; circular economy; society goals; commitment; consensus.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2024.139273

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2024 Vol.23 No.3, pp.255 - 265

Received: 28 Aug 2023
Accepted: 08 Dec 2023

Published online: 28 Jun 2024 *

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