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R. F. da Silva and E. R. Filho
agement, associating the ideals of corporate social responsibility and sustainability
(Maia and Pires 2011).
Thus, corporate sustainability emerges as a way of guiding the actions of entities,
in an environment that has required increasingly agile responses and decisions, in
order to reconcile concerns such as expansion of profit margin, competitiveness and
cost reduction, to values and ethical goals (Raynard and Forstarter 2002).
Business sustainability is intended to help companies act responsibly, balancing
the interests of a broad group of stakeholders, and strategically managing not only
the potential impacts occasioned by their activities, but also effectively collaborating
for social development and preservation of the Environment (Brazilian Institute of
Corporate Governance 2018).
However, it is noteworthy that organizational changes directed towards sustainability are still very difficult to achieve by companies (Passeti et al. 2014).
In this sense, Whiteman et al. (2013) argue that organizations must accept the
existence of a “safe operating space” for their actions, capable of improving living conditions on the planet, without prejudice to their activities or new business
opportunities.
Understanding that many socio-environmental problems are caused by business
decisions, taken in simple and fragmented processes, aiming only the attendance of
economic issues, makes urgent the debate regarding the improvement of a decisionmaking process that considers all the complexity related to the sustainable approach
(Schaltegger et al. 2013; Munda 2006).
Once the importance of sustainability for organizations is established, it is necessary to understand how decision-making processes occur in this context.
2.3 Sustainable Decision Making
In the organizational context, it is possible to conceptualize decisions as being the “result of choices”, solutions that minimize uncertainties or reduce ambiguities (Peterson and Blomberg 1999). Consequently, decision making would be the cognitive
process that results in the selection of an option or a course of action among several
possible alternatives (Schultz et al. 2015).
The decision-making process, theoretically, should be composed of a “rational
process” in which decisions would be based on well defined criteria and strategies
(Goldman et al. 2012). However, reality shows that decision-making, often, occurs
in “nebulous”, fragmented and subject to diverse interference (National Ecosystem
Assessment 2011).
It should be pointed out that an objective increasingly pursued by organizations
is “to make informed decisions on information and knowledge”. However, it can be
observed that more subjective factors such as ideologies, values, norms, interests,
power relations, institutional context, among others, have the potential to greatly
influence decision makers (Folke et al. 2002; Goldman 2012).
R. F. da Silva and E. R. Filho
agement, associating the ideals of corporate social responsibility and sustainability
(Maia and Pires 2011).
Thus, corporate sustainability emerges as a way of guiding the actions of entities,
in an environment that has required increasingly agile responses and decisions, in
order to reconcile concerns such as expansion of profit margin, competitiveness and
cost reduction, to values and ethical goals (Raynard and Forstarter 2002).
Business sustainability is intended to help companies act responsibly, balancing
the interests of a broad group of stakeholders, and strategically managing not only
the potential impacts occasioned by their activities, but also effectively collaborating
for social development and preservation of the Environment (Brazilian Institute of
Corporate Governance 2018).
However, it is noteworthy that organizational changes directed towards sustainability are still very difficult to achieve by companies (Passeti et al. 2014).
In this sense, Whiteman et al. (2013) argue that organizations must accept the
existence of a “safe operating space” for their actions, capable of improving living conditions on the planet, without prejudice to their activities or new business
opportunities.
Understanding that many socio-environmental problems are caused by business
decisions, taken in simple and fragmented processes, aiming only the attendance of
economic issues, makes urgent the debate regarding the improvement of a decisionmaking process that considers all the complexity related to the sustainable approach
(Schaltegger et al. 2013; Munda 2006).
Once the importance of sustainability for organizations is established, it is necessary to understand how decision-making processes occur in this context.
2.3 Sustainable Decision Making
In the organizational context, it is possible to conceptualize decisions as being the “result of choices”, solutions that minimize uncertainties or reduce ambiguities (Peterson and Blomberg 1999). Consequently, decision making would be the cognitive
process that results in the selection of an option or a course of action among several
possible alternatives (Schultz et al. 2015).
The decision-making process, theoretically, should be composed of a “rational
process” in which decisions would be based on well defined criteria and strategies
(Goldman et al. 2012). However, reality shows that decision-making, often, occurs
in “nebulous”, fragmented and subject to diverse interference (National Ecosystem
Assessment 2011).
It should be pointed out that an objective increasingly pursued by organizations
is “to make informed decisions on information and knowledge”. However, it can be
observed that more subjective factors such as ideologies, values, norms, interests,
power relations, institutional context, among others, have the potential to greatly
influence decision makers (Folke et al. 2002; Goldman 2012).