Sustainable Business Practices Influences on Organizational Commitment: A Qualitative Research Study

Sammanfattning

Sustainability has become a strategic priority for organizations, as stakeholders face growing environmental, social, and governance expectations. On the other hand, organizational commitment remains a crucial determinant of employee retention, motivation, and organizational performance. Although sustainability and commitment have both been studied extensively, limited research explores the relationship that exists between these two more specifically in the context of higher education institutions like universities. Our study investigates the relationship between sustainable business practices and organizational commitment in higher education institutions, with our focus placed on Umeå University. As an institution that caters to a wide range of stakeholders for various purposes, we found it to be an appropriate case to conduct our study. This research is primarily interpretivist in view and utilizes the qualitative research approach, allowing our findings to build towards the general knowledge surrounding our topic and research areas. The data collection was done through a qualitative open-ended survey which was administered to the staff of the university for which we received 16 responses. The data was later analyzed through thematic analysis and the Gioia methodology to produce our comprehensive grounded model. The findings suggest that sustainable business practices alone do not influence organizational commitment but rather the influence of these practices emerges when they are integrated into employees’ everyday organizational practices aligning with their personal values. Lastly, our study contributes to existing literature on sustainability and organizational commitment, by reframing the link as conditional introducing the notion of hidden cost, offering practical guidance for higher education institutions.