Strategic Sustainability Management Through Dynamic Integration: A Systems Framework for Business Model Innovation and Competitive Advantage

ABSTRACT Strategic sustainability management (SSM) has become central to competitive strategy, yet the field remains fragmented across the Resource‐Based View, Stakeholder Theory, and Systems Theory, each illuminating different aspects while leaving integration mechanisms unspecified. This fragmentation creates strategic tensions: sustainability capabilities may fail to generate legitimacy, stakeholder engagement may lack operational substance, and systemic adaptation may proceed without supporting capabilities. This study develops a Dynamic Integration Framework positioning the three perspectives as interdependent dimensions connected through three reinforcing dynamics: adaptive integration strengthens legitimacy through credible commitment signaling; legitimacy facilitates capability development through resource access and protection from imitation; and capability development enables further adaptation through learning and resource generation. Business model innovation is identified as the activation mechanism enabling simultaneous progress across all three dimensions. The framework advances SSM theory by specifying the mechanisms linking the three perspectives and offers managers a roadmap for integrating business model innovation into competitive strategy.