Positive Deviance for a Sustainable World: Linking Sustainability and Positive Organizational Scholarship

Abstract

This chapter examines the linkages between the positive organizational scholarship (POS) and the sustainability research domains, examining ways in which each domain can enrich the other, their mutual research agendas, and practical contributions. POS can help sustainability make a shift from addressing “deficit gaps” to instead addressing “abundance gaps.” Sustainability can help expand the scope of the POS research domain from explaining how people and organizations can flourish, to also consider ways in which human and organizational flourishing is embedded within the flourishing of the natural environment. To do this, the chapter first outlines the issues and the domain of sustainability scholarship; then discusses the linkages in more detail, exploring the scholarly implications for each domain; and then concludes by suggesting potentially fruitful research questions posed by these sustainability/POS linkages, and discussing the implications of the linkages for business education.