Research
My research expertise is in global sustainability strategy, stimulated by an interest in how firm strategies address intractable grand challenges. Extant focus in this area has largely revolved around the conditions under which it pays for firms to do good—i.e., how addressing sustainability challenges might offer financial, relational, and reputational benefits to firms. Yet there remains a great need for research to shed light on how firms embed sustainability into their ordinary strategies.
With my research, I aim to build a framework that helps businesses identify and adopt strategies that meet their needs while mitigating negative externalities and stimulating positive ones to sustain the planet on which all people depend. Specifically, I study the reciprocal relationship between strategy and sustainability in two main areas: (i) how firms design strategies to advance sustainability and (ii) how sustainability grand challenges affect firm strategies. Additionally, I examine the ways in which firms help tackle a public health crisis to catalyze scholarly interest in such an urgent sustainability grand challenge.
1. Firm strategy to advance sustainability
Montiel, I., Cuervo-Cazurra, A., Park, J., Antolín-López, R., & Husted, B. W. (2021). Implementing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 52(5), 999–1030.
Cuervo-Cazurra, A., Doh, J. P., Giuliani, E., Montiel, I., & Park, J. (2022). The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: Pros and cons for managers of multinationals. AIB Insights, 22(1), 32530.
2. Impact of sustainability grand challenges on firm strategy
Park, J., Cuervo-Cazurra, A., & Montiel, I. The evolution of sustainability concerns over business activities: From local to cross-national to global. In Goerzen, A. (Ed.), The research handbook on international corporate social responsibility. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK, (forthcoming).
Park, J. Spring cleaning? The relationship between environmental performance and divestitures, target: Strategic Management Journal.
3. Business and public health
Park, J., Montiel, I., Husted, B. W., & Balarezo, R. (2022). The grand challenge of human health: A review and an urgent call for business-health research. Business & Society, 61(5), 1353–1415.
Montiel, I., Park, J., Husted, B. W., & Velez‐Calle, A. (2022). Tracing the connections between international business and communicable diseases, Journal of International Business Studies, 53(8), 1785–1804.
Montiel, I., Park, J., Husted, B. W., & Velez‐Calle, A. (2022). A primer for preventing pandemics: Insights for business. Rutgers Business Review, 7(3), 267–273.
