It was not until the late 1990s that the company leadership became aware of sustainability. According to Stoughton (2011) Burke and Litwin (Burke, 2008) suggest that leadership, a mission or a strategy, organizational culture, policies and procedures, and motivating factors are needed for all types of organizational change to implement sustainability. Research suggested that leaders who understood business models had a competitive advantage and the knowledge necessary to improve their position in their industry (Voelpel et al., 2004). Leadership analysis provides a framework for researching, developing and refining knowledge on communicative planning. When applied to sustainability, this knowledge guides to sustainability planning practice and communicative planning theory which includes both theory and practice (Senbel, 2005).
Sustainable Leadership Pyramid proposes three key performance drivers for honeybee organizations: innovation, staff engagement and quality (Gayle and Harald, 2011). In relation to innovation being one company’s competitive advantage, innovative ideas in sustainable leadership should be
Jorge et al. (2011) stated in the Marks & Spencer case, Grayson examines the strategy and business practice identified by the company to achieve its goal. He found the role of knowledge management and effectively driven by the top management team during the implementation phase in top-down approach contribute to the company sustainability. In case of Acciona, it is one of the major global infrastructure and energy groups in the Spanish and Latin American markets. Acciona’s new CEO not only faced external lack of credibility but also internal scepticism towards the proposed new market positioning for the transition towards a strategy based on sustainability goal in post-2008 crisis. His leadership style and knowledge managed to strategize the company (Daniel et al.,