Tensions in sustainable business: burdens or enablers?

Many large companies are expanding their traditional focus on financial responsibility to the view that they are contributors to environmental and social impacts on both the local and global levels. As concepts, corporate sustainability and sustainable business are constantly evolving, and companies need to be awake and innovative. The operational environment is interconnected, dynamic and complex, and the contradictory demands – called tensions or paradoxes – also belong to sustainable business. These tensions are often treated as threats, but they can also reinforce innovativeness. The aim of this study is to understand how different tensions are involved in incorporating sustainability and why it is crucial for companies to consider these tensions. Based on interviews with sustainability managers and directors from 14 large Finnish corporations, we parse the tensions related to corporate sustainability. Understanding tensions provides a more diverse and pluralistic perspective on sustainability leadership, which in turn allows for new innovations.