Annotated Bibliography: Sustainability Impact on Business Performance

This annotated bibliography addresses the research question: "How sustainability contributes to brand image and profitability of business?" It comprises summaries and analyses of six academic journal articles published between 2016 and 2020. The articles explore various facets of sustainability, including its impact on business models, financial performance, and brand reputation. Breuer et al. (2018) discuss sustainability-oriented business model development. Schaltegger & Wagner (2017) examine the relationship between sustainability performance and business competitiveness. Bellucci et al. (2020) explore the implementation of environmental sustainability. Roxas et al. (2017) analyze the effects of sustainability orientations on small business performance. Pedersen et al. (2018) investigate the relationship between business model innovation and corporate sustainability. Finally, Svensson et al. (2016) elaborate on business sustainability beyond zero emissions. The bibliography synthesizes these diverse perspectives, highlighting the significance of sustainability for long-term business success and providing insights into how companies can integrate sustainable practices to enhance their brand image and profitability.

SUSTIANABLE MANAGEMENT

Contents
Research Question.................................................................................................................................2
Article-1................................................................................................................................................2
Article-2................................................................................................................................................3
Article-3................................................................................................................................................4
Article-4................................................................................................................................................5
Article-5................................................................................................................................................6
Article-6................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................8

Research Question
The research question is “How sustainability contributes to brand image and profitability of
business?”
Article-1
Breuer, H., Fichter, K., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Tiemann, I., 2018. Sustainability-oriented
business model development: Principles, criteria, and tools. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Venturing, 10(2), pp.256-286.
This article states that increasing environmental concerns and cutthroat competition enforce
the organisation to make every possible action to achieve high level of profitability.
Companies operate with highest potential; achieve the organisational goals through which it
becomes competitively blind. According to Breuer, Fichter, Freund, and Tiemann, 2018, it is
often seen that companies divert their operations and ignore the importance of quality offered
to customers and stakeholders. With an aim to rectify the issues, concept of sustainability has
emerged as an important concept to focus on long term goals. Companies have started
adopting the importance of financial and environmental benefits. Aiming to achieve
manufacturing sustainability, current generation started valuing environmental protection
priority and CSR. These days, customers have started focusing on environmental issues, and
sentiment, which they have even incorporated in buying habits. Ten out of nine organisation
focuses on paying more attention to brands, who are specific towards meeting positive social
and environmental concerns.
The author focuses on corporate commitments, which brings out a range of theories based on
sustainability such as stakeholder theory, signalling theory, legitimacy theory, and
institutional theory, which offer environmental and social sustainability as their priority for
several companies. Companies allow implementing business models so that they can

maintain environmental sustainability, which indicates innovation creates framework and
other sustainability framework while conducting daily operations.
Article-2
Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2017). Managing and measuring the business case for
sustainability: Capturing the relationship between sustainability performance, business
competitiveness and economic performance. In Managing the business case for
sustainability (pp. 1-27). Routledge.
The author come up with discussion and integration on social, environmental, and economic
performance. There is a difficulty in moving to corporate sustainability raising the question of
environmental and social management, which can be integrated with business goals. The
interaction between business competitiveness and sustainability performance, which have
considered attention in practise and theory. According to Schaltegger, & Wagner, 2017, this
article brings out a discussion on theoretical explanation that are developed, which includes
impact of different corporate strategies. Small influence of sustainability and environmental
issues is one of the factor amongst on financial and economic success of organisations. This
concept and tool is used to improve business value with active operational strategies and then
comparing the interaction between firm competitiveness and sustainability performance.
It follows a procedure through which main orientation of sustainability management practises
can be analysed which will signify the integration of sustainability in the company. At first,
the organisation uses different key measures through which it can integrate sustainability in
company that demonstrate legitimacy oriented key measures such as employee motivation
and reputation. It refers to legitimacy orientation view of sustainable management through
which importance of public relations can raise the communication of whether the company
indulge in green washing or not. Here is this article; the author says that legitimacy has no

result for external communication of the sustainability to build external reputation, which is
equally important for employee motivation. Green house is a publically oriented activity
where it is improbable which organisations can indulge in green housing on company`s
internal measures as employee motivation.
Article-3
Bellucci, M., Bini, L., & Giunta, F. (2020). Implementing environmental sustainability
engagement into business: sustainability management, innovation, and sustainable business
models. In Innovation Strategies in Environmental Science (pp. 107-143). Elsevier.
From the article shown in innovation and corporations, it is seen that companies can make
significant progress while talking of sustainability. According to Bellucci, Bini, & Giunta,
2020, many greater organisations have the social purpose of UN global compact, which can
support progress in against to tackle environmental and social issues. Further, it adds to
disclosure of stakeholder capitalism, disclosure of progress on social, governance, and
environmental (EESG) metrics with response to climate. Company can argue that there is a
need to optimise business and social value by using the core value in delivering financial
returns as being expected by owners. According to Bellucci, Bini, & Giunta, 2020, it will
help the society to meet in most significant way. It suggests that leader imagine corporate
strategies in creating new modes of differentiation, imaging business model for sustainability,
performance, managing the team, and while supporting initiatives.
The analyst of article states that few organisation tried understand sustainability
vulnerabilities with the potential of current business model and ecosystem. They can diminish
future competitiveness, which understand sustainability, vulnerabilities, and their current
business model. Shareholders return can relax to understand sustainability limits, potential of

current business models, and ecosystem in which they have the risk decreasing the future
competitiveness, shareholders returns, and license to operate.
Article-4
Roxas, B., Ashill, N., & Chadee, D. (2017). Effects of entrepreneurial and environmental
sustainability orientations on firm performance: A study of small businesses in the
Philippines. Journal of Small Business Management, 55(sup1), 163-178.
This author has analysed the impact on small business in the developing nations, which
confront different set of forces and constraints in relation to counterparts in developing
nations. In this article, it has been analysed that several developing nations suffer from high
economic growth but it has been done by lowering the lowering the environmental standards.
According to Roxas, Ashill, & Chadee, 2017, it is seen that small business in advance faces
issues for sustainability. The article states the importance of how small businesses can
certainly become sustainable regardless to their size and resources. In this case, the company
can apply several theories to resolve the issues health safety, fait treatment, performance
management, diversity, performance management, and rewarding society for its contribution
on successful of business. To maintain sustainability, the company has to undertake CSR
activities as it aims to sustain continuous development and growth so that it can add valuable
data to design environmentally sustainable practises and drive towards in producing actual
performance of the organisation. Some of important theories applied here covers topics such
as resources for business, human resources, and their impact on business.
According to Roxas, Ashill, & Chadee, 2017, companies who are under high pressure have
seen that it is important to disclose the sustainability report that has led to unplanned funding
to channelize and distribute, which was not previously executed. Sustainability is one of the
major at global level as many nations implemented needed regulations to govern business

environment. For example- environment has helped to extract from earth and then exceed the
environment capability to absorb and recycle it at its best.
Article-5
Pedersen, E.R.G., Gwozdz, W. and Hvass, K.K., (2018). Exploring the relationship between
business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and organisational values within the
fashion industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(2), pp.267-284.
This author aims is to examine the ability of managing the relationship between corporate
sustainability, innovation in business model, and manage the organisational values. It
discusses three dimensions, which is related to financial performance. Innovative business
models must be reformed to come up with corporate sustainability, and flexibility. According
to Pedersen, Gwozdz, and Hvass, 2018, there is a positive relationship between organisational
value and financial performance of the organisation. While creating the business and value
for organisation, profit, planet, and profit has been identified in triple bottom line. High level
of competition can enforce the organisation to earn maximum, which has intentionally or
unintentionally exploited planet and human resource. According to Pedersen, Gwozdz, and
Hvass, 2018, challenges in relation to operational hindrances to business are seen as peak oil,
overfishing, resource depletion, climate resources, climate resources, which have become
difficult. Literature on corporate sustainability can come up with number of external and
internal benefits to environmental and social initiates such as better customer relationship,
reduced risks, and decreased form of lawsuits and fines, which will definitely have positive
impact on bottom line. This research is based on mainstream of business model innovation
and corporate sustainability, which come up with challenges associated with retail fashion
industry. It indicates those short product life cycles, extensive course of resources, and over
consumption that have generated large number of negative social impact such as excessive
use of water, energy, pesticides, and chemicals during the different phases of fashion supply

chain. Furthermore, social issue can be associated with social issues such as low salaries,
health issues, health issues, price pressures and labour intensive production. The complex
supply chain can limit transparency and the visibility that can make difficult for stakeholders
where garments come from and what procedure is followed.
Article-6
Svensson, G., Padin, C., & Eriksson, D. (2016). Glocal business sustainability: Performance
beyond zero!. International Journal of procurement management, 9(1), 15-26.
This article elaborates that business sustainability has described zero emissions and neutral
effect with the help of compensatory performance. According to Svensson, Padin, &
Eriksson, 2016, vision of performance indicates zero is the relevance of interdependencies of
the global sustainability with broadening position in terms of future emissions and their
impact as being generated at national and local level. This article needs to move beyond zero
in order to heal and restore negative emissions and effect caused so far. For example-
negative, non-zero sum, and recycling of diminishing gap of negative zero sum performance.
This contributes to futuristic concerns in regards to mission and visions of organisation`s
sustainability. The goal is to debate over the business sustainability beyond zero emissions
and neutral impact with the help of compensatory performance. According to Svensson,
Padin, & Eriksson, 2016, it is reviewed that the sustainability is connecting to supply chain
management and other production issues, which can be spoiled. It is the outcome of
economic growth and liberalisation of industries. The focus is on logistics and other
transportation actions over the distances, where business operations at global marketplace
face several challenges of sustainability so that it can meet the consumer demand, need for
highest efficiency, and increased competition. Organisations can source low costing nation,
which cannot gain its economic benefit while exploiting the developing nations. This will

lead them to face exploitation in a better way, which are responsible for activities and supply
chain.
Bibliography
Bellucci, M., Bini, L., & Giunta, F. (2020). Implementing environmental sustainability
engagement into business: sustainability management, innovation, and sustainable
business models. In Innovation Strategies in Environmental Science (pp. 107-143).
Elsevier.
Breuer, H., Fichter, K., Lüdeke-Freund, F. and Tiemann, I., 2018. Sustainability-oriented
business model development: Principles, criteria, and tools. International Journal of
Entrepreneurial Venturing, 10(2), pp.256-286.
Pedersen, E.R.G., Gwozdz, W. and Hvass, K.K., (2018). Exploring the relationship between
business model innovation, corporate sustainability, and organisational values within
the fashion industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 149(2), pp.267-284.
Roxas, B., Ashill, N., & Chadee, D. (2017). Effects of entrepreneurial and environmental
sustainability orientations on firm performance: A study of small businesses in the
Philippines. Journal of Small Business Management, 55(sup1), 163-178.
Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2017). Managing and measuring the business case for
sustainability: Capturing the relationship between sustainability performance,
business competitiveness and economic performance. In Managing the business case
for sustainability (pp. 1-27). Routledge.