Leading sustainability partnerships a case study about coty

Abstract

The responsibility to battle today’s environmental and social challenges is increasingly shifting from public institutions to the private sector. In order to assume this responsibility corporations are more and more collaborating with various institutions. However, the corporations’ lack of success to keep their sustainability targets and promises are indicating that top managers and leaders are overwhelmed when integrating a sustainability agenda and the established partnerships into their basic business. Thus, the present study examines why these partnerships demand a different leadership approach that breaks with traditional leadership theory. The study examines how collaborative leadership can make sustainability partnerships more successful. Conducting a case study about the global beauty company Coty, the study offers a framework that highlights important capabilities of collaborative leadership that helps to foster sustainability partnerships. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings conclude the paper.