 Mental Models of Sustainability: Unearthing and Analyzing the Mental Images of Corporate Sustainability with Qualitative Empirical ResearchStefan Hielscher and Matthias Georg Will Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2014, vol. 31, issue 6, 708-719 Abstract: This paper demonstrates the potential of a qualitative empirical research method [Ganzheitliche Bewältigung von Komplexität (GABEK®)] for systemic sustainability research. We interpret systemic corporate sustainability as a research programme that views the company and its environment as an ongoing process of social construction. Furthermore, we argue that the mental models of relevant actors are crucial within the process of social construction. We then present GABEK® as a unique method for qualitative empirical content analysis and highlight that GABEK® can contribute substantially to systemic sustainability research because it holds the potential to unearth and analyze the mental models of diverse actors with the scrutiny of empirical research. We illustrate this potential with a case study of a major German company's sustainability management (BASF AG), and we outline avenues for future research for an empirically oriented approach to systemic sustainability research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Date: 2014 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:31:y:2014:i:6:p:708-719 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in Systems Research and Behavioral Science from Wiley Blackwell |
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