This article explores how strategic tensions between sustainability and competitiveness affect the innovativeness of corporate innovation portfolios. The authors examine the organizational conditions under which these tensions lead to more—or less—innovative project selection.

The findings show that sustainability tensions enhance portfolio innovativeness only when firms exhibit a strong entrepreneurial orientation and a supportive innovation climate. Without these contextual factors, tensions can actually hinder innovation.

The study is based on a cross-industry survey of 106 innovation portfolios, involving over 500 participants. It provides the first quantitative evidence on how organizational context shapes the ability to manage sustainability tensions productively, thereby reinforcing the role of sustainability as a key strategic dimension in innovation management.

The full article is available open access: here.