Environmental paradigms and organisations with an environmental mission

Abstract

Over the past twenty years scholars have argued that key to achieving sustainability are the paradigms held by organisational leaders who make strategic and operational decisions. Further leaders’ paradigms need to move towards more sustaincentric and or ecocentric perspectives. This paper reports on an empirical study that explored the views of leaders of a series of environmentally focused organisations, linking their views to the paradigm scheme of Gladwin et al., (1995) in an attempt to understand how their rhetoric is aligned to different paradigms. Findings suggest that interviewees lean towards sustaincentrism and or ecocentrism in their rhetoric but that they also support some anthropocentric assumptions. In support some simple practices brought forward by the sample as helpful in embedding sustainability awareness within their organisations are also highlighted. The paper concludes that the organisations suffer with fiscal drag but also demonstrate a new ‘future normal.’