Challenges in Sustainability Vision Communication: Towards a framework for challenges in internal sustainability vision communication

Sammanfattning

Sustainability is increasingly a matter of key strategic importance for organisations across all sectors as stakeholders from all directions are demanding it as the "new normal". Consequently, organisations worldwide are incorporating sustainability into their business operations. A shared sustainability vision among internal stakeholders can provide the necessary guidance to develop viable strategies towards the sustainability transformation process. For the vision to be fully shared among internal stakeholders, it needs to be communicated effectively. However, sustainability is complex and multifaceted, and its vision communication process is faced with many challenges. Given this, there exists an incongruity between the critical importance of internal sustainability communication and how widely the field is studied. Previous studies have predominantly focused on external sustainability communication, while hardly any reported research has studied managerial challenges in communicating sustainability internally. This study aims to fill this gap by proposing a framework for managerial challenges in sustainability vision communication developed through synthesis of existing research and an empirical study. The findings presented indicate that, although it is universal to face challenges and that these are highly interconnected, there is no universal set of challenges that companies face. Challenges not extensively described in existing literature are also identified. Based on these findings, and by applying the proposed framework, critical aspects to consider in addressing the identified challenges are suggested.