Sustainability Integration and Strengthening in Organisations - Exploring and Proposing Change Drivers Using Examples from Food-Producing Companies

Abstract: The impact of the current food system on the climate crisis challenges its actors to takeactions towards sustainability. The increasing pressure in transforming the food system requires changes at the organisational level, which sparks research interest in understanding what factors influence the integration and strengthening of sustainability in food-producing companies. This study aims to explore the organisational change process of sustainability implementation and the influence of organisational and external factors. This thesis should contribute to the field of research by analysing food-producing companies on their sustainability transition to conclude what factors drive the sustainability integration and strengthening in their organisations. Reflections on organisational change management and corporate sustainability lay the theoretical foundation for this thesis. The research follows a qualitative methodology that explores change drivers for sustainability change by conducting semi-structured interviews with six sustainability professionals. A thematic analysis of the data highlights the different approaches to sustainability of the organisations. The findings are summarised in a sustainability change framework presenting influencing factors on organisations’ sustainability transition and key drivers for sustainability change. The key findings indicate that a sustainability-oriented culture, passionate leadership, long-term commitment to sustainability, sustainability training and education, collaborative communication, sustainability measurements, the inclusion of sustainability in daily work, and a sustainable and professional brand are the key drivers to sustainability integration and strengthening.