Similar but Different: An Analysis of the Tensions of Corporate Sustainability Managers from Implementing Global Standards in Japanese and Korean Multi-National Corporations

Despite the importance of the conflicting dimensions of corporate sustainability for business strategy, little is known about the tensions from adopting global environmental and social standards in East Asia. Through sixty-five and in-depth interviews conducted in Tokyo and Seoul, this article examines and explains the tensions—and reactions to these tensions—of corporate sustainability managers tasked with the implementation of such standards in Japanese and South Korean multi-national corporations. These represent key contexts of inquiry because of their normative tradition of corporate sustainability and geographical closeness. While revealing that corporate sustainability managers in both countries encounter similar societal-commercial, traditional-new and individual-collective tensions, the article describes the ways they differently react to these tensions. This article contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability and tensions and the contextual literature on corporate sustainability in Japan and South Korea, ultimately offering practical takeaways for the business strategy of multi-national corporations in East Asia.