Cognitive Frames of Corporate Sustainability as Indicators of Sustainable Entrepreneurship

We develop a comprehensive theoretical framework connecting three constructs: corporate sustainability (CS), corporate entrepreneurship (CE), and sustainable entrepreneurship (SE). By drawing on the cognitive frames of ‘business case’ and ‘paradox’ for corporate sustainability and linking them to CE activity system interdependency patterns (i.e. Modularity, Concentration, Openness), we explain an organization’s likelihood of engagement in sustainable entrepreneurship. We derive our prepositions through integrating the CS, CE, and SE literature to offer a cognitive explanation of when organizational CE activities could be conducive to SE.