Encouraging corporate sustainability through effective strategic partnerships

Abstract

There is a substantial body of theoretical evidence and a wide variety of recommendations from multilateral agencies on the importance of develop partnerships to achieve sustainability but not all partnerships could be equally effective. The purpose of this study is to establish which characteristics of partnerships could be related to greater improvements in firms' sustainability. To achieve this goal, we based on the resource-based view, to emphasize the importance of expanding firm resources and capabilities through strategic partnerships. The longitudinal panel data used includes information from sustainability reports published by Spanish listed firms between 2016 and 2019. We find evidence that greater diversity referring to social sectors involved and longer duration partnerships improve sustainability measures, but only in responsive firms (environmentally pollutants). By contrast, in nonresponsive firms, diversity and longer-tenure partnerships implied less improvement. Finally, we analyze the implications of these results to build effective partnerships and encourage sustainability.