1.
To pack green or
not to pack
green?
Sustainability decisions:
“Meeting the needs of the present
generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their needs" (Brundtland, 1987)
Pack to the Future,
PackageHeroes Stakeholder
seminar, 15.2.2022
Henri Hakala
Professor (Entrepreneurship)
LUT School of Business & Management
henri.hakala@lut.fi

2.
If not for the moral responsibility and ethical
motivation.. How about?
Competitiveness:
• Efficiency and waste
reduction
• Green marketing and
reputation building
• Improved access to
specific
clients/customers
Legitimacy & Pressure
• Anticipate future regulation
• Early adopters can co-write
regulation
• Avoid penalties
• Institutional investors
• Employee attraction &
retention

3.
Does doing good - also mean doing well?
Unfortunately, it is not so simple.
In our longitudinal study of 267
manufacturing firms, firm performance
was measured 2 years after ‘sustainability
orientation’.
If trade-offs required are too large - >
Mission drift or revenue drift
But generally - Sustainability indeed
“sells” and is becoming a ‘hygiene’ factor
for everything.
Kautonen, T., Schillebeeckx, S. J., Gartner, J., Hakala, H., Salmela-Aro, K., &
Snellman, K. (2020). The dark side of sustainability orientation for SME
performance. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 14,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00198

4.
Money is not the
only form of
“profit”
• Profit can be thought also as:
• value for society, value for environment..

5.
As previously said, it is not easy –
Yet Companies are willing to switch..
Functional parity - Apples and Pears
But how new (materials) resources are selected
and how they are matched
with the existing resources in place in the organization?
+ Environmental friendliness is highly significant predictor of change!
Asset base reflects the history of the firm – and constrains the managers
ability to change the organization
Product’s dependency on the material -
‘Production’ process dependency on the material -
Firm’s dependence on the intangible assets +
The study was about most important materials - Switching less central
materials/resources should be easier. Compare: meat vs. packaging for a
meat manufacturer.
Controlled: costs, risk of supply, stakeholder/competitive pressure
Robustness: Willingness to pay -> results are similar. Supply risk? – change
less likely.
Schillebeeckx, Simon JD, Teemu Kautonen, and Henri Hakala. "To
Buy Green or Not to Buy Green: Do Structural Dependencies Block
Ecological Responsiveness?." Journal of Management (2020):
https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320977896
In this study, we looked at 1602
decisions by 267 manufacturing
business leaders, and their decisions to
switch to more sustainable materials.

6.
How are ‘right’
sustainability decisions made?
• Respond & Anticipate
• Include & Reflect
• What things you are ‘responsible’ for
and to whom?
• Feelings are ‘way of knowing’
affected by your cognitive knowledge
(and vice versa)
• Objectively - this can be right or
wrong.
Commitment to Responsible Product Innovation Framework
An individual-level cognitive-emotional process model
Research papers in progress, in peer-review.
Feeling of
making the
right
choice
Respond: How
do I feel and
what I know
Anticipate:
How will I feel
if I act / do
this?
Reflexivity:
How might the
stakeholders
react to this
decision?
Include others:
What does this
mean to the
important
stakeholders
In another study we looked at 26 ‘Trailblazing’ entrepreneurs who are very
committed for responsible business (core of their business idea)

7.
Bankrupt
companies do
not make any
sustainability
improvements

8.
No time, not sure, unclear..
but you just must make the decision:
Meme: Can market need payback love ?
• Can you do it?
– Do what YOU can and can afford now - learn
more – become better at things..
• Need?
– Does the market ‘need’ it, benefit from it, value
it…?
• Payback?
– Is it worth it? Does this lead to good things?
Avoid harm? “Profit” you, environment or
society?
• Love?
– Do my customers, investors, stakeholders,
society, environment love this?
Want to learn more about strategy making tools?
Check out our book:
Hakala, H., & Vuorinen, T. (2020). Tools for Strategy: A Starter Kit
for Academics and Practitioners. Cambridge University Press.
Available pdf/printed at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/tools-for-
strategy/C843B370B13875EC6E18684BDF6749CF
Teko
Tarve
Takaisi
nmaks
u
Tunne

9.
Thank you for
your attention.
Questions?
More info? Contact:
henri.hakala@lut.fi