Managing firm sustainability planning process: insights on strategic integration complexity

Purpose This study aims to investigate the process of integrating sustainability into strategic planning and analyse inherent complexities. Design/methodology/approach Through a qualitative approach, an in-depth case study is proposed, highlighting the development process of the sustainability plan and integration with the strategic plan through the triangulation of different sources (interviews, external and internal firm documents). Findings The results show how the first sustainability plan originated from extracting sustainability projects already in the strategic plan. The collection in a separate document created awareness, facilitating integration with the strategic plan. Furthermore, three main types of complexity in the integration process emerged from the interviews: the trade-off between business and sustainability, difficulties in monitoring sustainability KPIs and organisational and cultural complexity. Practical implications The analysis highlights the importance of introducing responsible figures who link the highest decision-making body with the rest of the organisation, thus favouring the integration of sustainability into strategies and operations. The introduction of adequate KPIs enables the monitoring of sustainability aims. Originality/value The study represents one of the first to describe the integration process between the strategic and sustainability plans, highlighting which types of complexity emerge.