The notion of sustainability, or “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” suggests inherent tensions and tradeoffs. Corporate sustainability initiatives require a delicate balance which make them quite susceptible to exogenous shocks. This paper examines the resiliency of firms' sustainability commitments in the face the Covid-19 pandemic. We contend that firms that exhibit more of a paradox approach to sustainability-related tensions are better equipped to handle competing demands and stark choices during such a crisis. This variance-based study examines interviews, internal company data, and external communications from 2018 to 2021, finding not only that firms with such a paradox approach were more resilient than peers but that some were able to use the crisis as a springboard for a deeper commitment (what we call transformational resilience). Furthermore, we trace the decision-making process through which firms with a paradox approach interlace absorptive and adaptive capabilities. The research contributes to the theory on resilience during a crisis by linking a paradox approach to strategy change and by challenging the notion that linear and deliberative decision making is always the best path to reconcile competing demands and tradeoffs.
