Identifying change agent types and its implications for corporate sustainability integration based on worldviews and contextual factors

Abstract

Change agents for Corporate Sustainability (CS) play an important role for companies when integrating CS into their business activities. While change agents can be differentiated by their worldviews, little is known about the contextual factors influencing their success in supporting CS integration. By proposing and illustrating an analytical model based on contextual factors of CS integration and change agents' worldviews, this paper contributes to the understanding of their influence on CS integration. Through a case study we find that change agents show a worldview profile rather than a specific worldview and that whether a worldview is supportive for CS integration depends on the specific context. We conclude that the analytical model contributes to the understanding of the individual and group level of CS integration. When discussed with company representatives, the outcomes of the application of the model could contribute to improve the identification of key individuals to support CS integration activities.