The Way to Sustainable Development: Dynamic Capabilities for Corporate Sustainability and Change Management: Case study: The L’Oréal Sustainability Commitment “Sharing Beauty With All”

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate the way by which companies can successfully initiate, manage and implement strategic change programs toward sustainability, without eroding their economic performances. In particular, the research has been conducted with reference to the practical case of the L’Oréal Group, with detailed attention to their sustainability program “Sharing Beauty With All”, launched in 2013. The study aims at clarifying how companies can simultaneously improve their environmental, social and economic performances through an effective strategic change management needed to shift toward strategies of sustainable development. The research has been conducted with an inductive approach, establishing the formation of new theories on the review of the existing literature on sustainability and change management, as well as on empirical data. Moreover, concerning such empirical data, the authors made use of both primary data and secondary data. With regards to primary data, they have been collected through unstructured in depth interviews conducted with the Communication Director and the Nordic Service Quality Manager of L’Oréal Denmark A/S. The secondary data have been collected from official public documents of the L’Oréal Group (Annual Progress Report 2014 and 2015), and from interviews with top managers found on the web. The findings show that it is actually possible to solve the paradox between profitability and responsibility, and that in the case of the L’Oréal group, it has been possible thanks to a successful management of the strategic change process. Finally, the authors acknowledge that the scope of the research is limited to the case study considered; nonetheless they develop and propose a theoretical framework that can be used by managers when approaching strategic change toward sustainability. Lastly, the research suggests further investigation in other academic and professional fields, which could be complementary to the findings of this study.