Tensions in the strategic integration of corporate sustainability through global standards: Evidence from Japan and South Korea

Despite the importance of the conflicting dimensions of corporate sustainability for business strategy, little is known about the tensions that derive from adopting global environmental and social standards in East Asia. Through 65 in-depth interviews conducted in Tokyo and Seoul, this article examines the tensions—and reactions to these tensions—of corporate sustainability managers tasked with the implementation of such standards in Japanese and South Korean multinational corporations. These represent key contexts of inquiry because of their normative tradition of corporate sustainability and geographical closeness. While elucidating that corporate sustainability managers in both countries encounter societal-commercial, traditional-modern, and individual-collective tensions, the article describes the ways they react differently 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 takeaways for the strategic planning of multinational corporations.