Thrilled to announce 🎉 that our research paper, "CSR Decoupling within Business Groups and the Risk of Perceived Greenwashing" has been accepted for publication in the prestigious Strategic Management Journal. Special thanks to my esteemed co-authors: Joel Bothello, Vlad Andrei Porumb, and Yasemin Zengin-Karaibrahimoglu. 🙏

Our research dives into the complex world of corporate sustainability 🌍, unearthing a phenomenon we've termed CSR decoupling across (rather than within) companies. This occurs when companies promise high-impact sustainability actions (symbolic gestures) but do not deliver on the ground (substantive actions). A company engaged in CSR decoupling may inadvertently risk accusations of greenwashing - an insincere display of (exaggerated) responsibility.

We have found that this phenomenon of decoupling often happens within business groups - conglomerates of companies under a shared (brand) umbrella. Interestingly, our study shows that apex firms - the leading entities within a business group - are more likely to engage in CSR decoupling. However, they are often shielded from the perception of greenwashing, primarily because of their positioning and perceived (coordination) role within the business group.🛡️

Our findings also reveal that within a business group, all affiliates benefit from intangible resources even though the investment and cost to enhance them aren't equally distributed. This has major implications for how we understand the role of apex firms, the distribution of sustainability practices within business groups, and how markets perceive and react to these dynamics.

So, if you're an executive, especially within a business group, you might want to consider the weight of your corporate sustainability promise and the actual, substantive actions that follow. Remember, a strong, shared identity across the group can reflect positively on the apex firm and contribute significantly to corporate sustainability.🌳🌏

Paper available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smj.3532