Abstract:

Sustainable development forces enterprises to face specific competence, technological, but primarily organizational, social and environmental challenges. The application of assumptions underlying sustainable development yields opportunities to build new competitive advantages, new business areas, and new types of business benefits but at the same time it raises doubts and questions. Frequently, entities which do not fully understand the essence of the concept use it inappropriately, thus exposing themselves to criticism. These are examples of failing to take sustainable development into consideration in the operation of these organizations. This paper is based on the assumption that errors during the implementation of the concept of sustainable development result in an ill-fitted organizational culture of enterprises, which may be regarded as the main driving force of the socio-economic development. Purpose: The chief purpose hereof is to determine the relationship between sustainable development and the organizational culture of enterprises. Originality/value of the paper: A theoretical and empirical study based on a review of the literature and combining the topic of sustainable development with the organizational culture of enterprises and original research. The paper presents an attempt to define organizational culture that supports the implementation of sustainable development in enterprises. Empirical research was conducted in the SME sector. Implications: Signalling the role of open culture in the processes of valuable use and implementation of sustainable development. Based on the conclusions drawn, it may be recommended that, in order to carry out the assumptions of sustainable development, organizational culture should be adjusted in terms of qualities/values referring to environmental protection, and that understanding this culture should be expected from employees and stakeholders. Otherwise, there is the risk that, instead of sustainable development, the result achieved will be precisely the opposite of the one intended.