Modeling corporate sustainability strategy

This study uses empirical information to demonstrate the analysis of a corporate sustainability model and presents five leading Mexican companies as illustrative examples of sustainable, long-term firms whose strategic plans incorporate three views of sustainability: market-industry, resource-based, and institutional-based. By considering all three domains, companies better position themselves to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the economic, social, and environmental systems. Competitive success requires a constant awareness of the conditions under which the company may lose or generate value, and a company's competitiveness reflects its long-term performance and relationships within the industry and with competitors. Sustainable companies demonstrate successful long-term performance amid the restrictions imposed by economic, social, and environmental systems by developing a strategy that sustainably generates and captures value into the future. Sustainable practices are central to a company's business model and survival because a strategy of targeted, enduring actions affords competitive advantages. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.