Assessing Corporate Sustainability with Repertory Grid Based Personal Construct Psychology

Abstract

Corporate sustainability (CS) is becoming a key feature for preparing an organization for the future challenges of its competitive environment. It has expanded from corporate social responsibility (CSR) by adding the dimensions of ethical, environmental, economic and cultural responsibility whilst asking for a long-term perspective of sustainability for the aforementioned subjects. This paper summarizes the concept of corporate sustainability focusing on the most relevant topics of recent scientific literature. The findings are compared to the results of 61 repertory grid interviews to evaluate how far corporate sustainability is already carried into practical notion. It is tested whether this type of interview technique and the underlying theory of personal constructs allow a visualization of the CS status of an organization. In addition, this article gives a brief outlook on the interconnection of leadership, corporate culture and corporate sustainability.