Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
The growth paradox, sustainable development, and business strategy
Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, JIBS, Business Administration. Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, JIBS, Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO). Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School, JIBS, Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC).
2021 (English)In: Business Strategy and the Environment, ISSN 0964-4733, E-ISSN 1099-0836, Vol. 30, no 7, p. 3079-3094Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development
Abstract [en]

Economic growth is a two-edged sword. Expanding economies and industries create wealth and employment, but global economic expansion is having unprecedented deleterious impacts on vital planetary systems. Despite this, the core strategic goal of all economies and many businesses continues to be the pursuit of ongoing economic growth. To resolve this paradox, a reconceptualization of firm-level growth is presented. I describe and discuss the organizational characteristics of the growth paradox and follow this with a metatheoretical review of economic, organizational, and ecological perspectives on growth. From this review, a typology of firm-level strategy is developed that radically reconceptualizes business growth as developmental activity primarily concerned with social?ecological flourishing. The features of this typology and its implications for business strategy are discussed according to three principles that emerged from the analysis: multidexterity, resilience thinking for design, and inclusive balance (embeddedness). Together, these strategy principles form the prerequisite management competencies needed for the development, implementation, and evaluation of sustainable business strategies. Transformative firm-level responses to the growth paradox are needed if sustaining forms of organizational growth are to be achieved and this paper presents a novel integrative framework for informing those strategies.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2021. Vol. 30, no 7, p. 3079-3094
Keywords [en]
business strategy, degrowth, growth paradox, growth typology, metatheoretical research, social–ecological system, sustainability, transformation
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-52386DOI: 10.1002/bse.2790ISI: 000646549400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85104940493Local ID: HOA;;52386OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-52386DiVA, id: diva2:1549008
Available from: 2021-05-04 Created: 2021-05-04 Last updated: 2021-12-19Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Edwards, Mark G.

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Edwards, Mark G.
By organisation
JIBS, Business AdministrationJIBS, Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO)JIBS, Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC)
In the same journal
Business Strategy and the Environment
Business Administration

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 566 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf