Sustainability and Scope: A Comparative Study of Discretion Making for Sustainability

Abstract

The measurability of sustainability is a subject of ongoing debate. Discretion is an important antecedent to such valuation yet remains largely unaddressed. Thus, we conduct a cross‐case study of four organizations, finding differences between product and service firms in how they define their sustainability discretion, which is shaped by and, in turn, shapes different opportunity narratives. We furthermore find differences in how firms in strongly versus weakly regulated contexts exercise discretion for sustainability, which is shaped by and, in turn, shapes different consequentiality narratives. This paper advances prior research by conceptualizing discretion making as an antecedent to the valuation of sustainability. Furthermore, we show that the (de)legitimation of sustainability strategies occurs not only during implementation but also during the phase of discretion making. Third, we offer a more nuanced perspective on business‐as‐usual versus disruptive approaches to sustainability, highlighting the crucial role of how firms “make” their discretion scope in different regulatory contexts.