In the midst of a fundamental gap between theoretical assertions of a sustaincentric business paradigm and any rigorous empirical examination of its adoption at the firm level, I set out to answer the following two interrelated research questions: (1) How can we identify firms that adopt a sustaincentric paradigm and (2) What explains firm adoption of this paradigm? Based on cross-case comparisons of 12 African firms adopting a reactive, proactive, or sustaincentric orientation to sustainability, I develop a conceptual framework comprised of three interrelated constructs informed by descriptive observations across individual, organizational and interorganizational levels of analysis. Unlike their reactive and proactive counterparts, sustaincentric firms exhibited critical multilevel characteristics that demonstrated capacity for cognitive complexity and linked them closely to a highly interconnected network of external actors, the combination of which enabled the achievement of competitive advantage based on sustaincentrism.
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