Adaptation Through Sustainability in Crisis : The Role of Competitiveness and Stakeholder Orientation

International audienceHow does a macro-economic crisis affect firms’ capacity to adapt through investments in sustainability? To tackle this question, we propose a model where firms’ responses to such a crisis depend, ceteris paribus, on two main factors: the quality of their pre-crisis economic performance vis-à-vis that of their competitors (i.e. their competitiveness) and the managerial orientation towards stakeholders. We test our theory using a sample of 1,211 North American public companies in the period from 2007 to 2011. We find evidence that (a) economic competitiveness actually reduces the likelihood of firms to invest in sustainability, and (b) this direct effect becomes even stronger, the higher the level of managerial orientation towards stakeholders. This implies that sustainability-related adaptations during macro-economic crises periods are to be viewed as strategic levers primarily used by laggards in an attempt to leapfrog more competitive rivals, especially if laggards are pre-adapted with managerial commitment to serve the interests of a plurality of stakeholders.