From Collective Dilemmas to Collective Solutions: An Integrative Framework and Research Agenda for Collective Action and Sustainability Research

Abstract

Sustainability challenges require collective action (CA) among diverse stakeholders, yet current management scholarship on CA remains theoretically fragmented. Through a comprehensive review and inductive analysis of 140 peer-reviewed management articles at the intersection of CA and sustainability, we highlight three complementary lenses that management scholars have historically used to study CA and sustainability: (1) root dilemmas (i.e., how sustainability challenges emerge from CA problems); (2) response implementation (i.e., how individuals, organizations, and multistakeholder coalitions implement different types of collective responses); and (3) response effectiveness (i.e., the conditions under which certain CA responses prove more or less effective in addressing sustainability challenges). We develop an integrative theoretical model that synthesizes these previously disparate perspectives to help align and move research forward. Overall, our work shows that CA for addressing sustainability challenges is less about working toward a shared goal and more about creating the conditions in which diverse types of actors have the incentive to “get things done together.”