Competencies for sustainability: A proposed method for the analysis of their interrelationships

Abstract This article proposed a method of analysis of the interrelationships between sustainable development and organizational competencies, identifying methodologies and assessing parameters of such interrelationship. To that end, a literature research was done through a document analysis, assessing the content of sustainability reports and questionnaires of the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) of the Brazilian company Natura. By applying the method developed in this work, the core competencies were identified, also listing the sustainable strategic resources. As a result, the Natura has as core competencies: unique relationship network, products, concepts and especially the management based on the Triple Bottom Line principles. These competencies allow Natura to reposition their products when improving indicators such as poverty and inequality (i.e. with the aim of improving the company’s reputation and increasing the brand’s legitimacy to consumers) and, thus, to produce more value for its shareholders, becoming a classic example of a company that knew how to implement the Sustainable Value model. The main contribution of this work is to structure an analysis method based on the literature that interrelates organizational competencies to the sustainable development in companies.