Institutionalizing Sustainability Mindset amongst Stakeholders: Case of Interface Carpet

Reframing has been widely seen as a communication, negotiation and decision making tool for leaders and managers but it is seldom seen as a tool for instilling sustainability mindset. By using grounded theory approach, we explored the use of reframing, by its founder, Ray Anderson, in institutionalizing a sustainability mindset among the various stakeholders of the biggest carpet tiles manufacturer in the world, Interface Inc. This case was chosen because Interface is one of the very few successful examples of a traditional energy intensive manufacturing company moving to one with a focus on sustainability. Back in 1994, very few businesses understood the importance of adopting sustainable business practices. Our study discovered that the leader effectively used stakeholder specific reframing based on the role expected from the various stakeholders of his firm to develop a sustainability mindset across the value chain while surpassing all economic downturns and maintaining the position of Interface as a market leader in the carpet tile industry.