Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global initiative established by the United Nations to address the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world by expressing the need to rationalize the consumptions of resources, especially natural resources, in order to reduce the impact on the planet. Businesses play a crucial role in achieving of the SDGs, as their economic activity can have direct and indirect impacts on the achievement. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between commitment to sustainability and competence in a sample of students doing their business internship in Colombian industries in the Aburrá Valley, using the statistical technique “Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling” (PLS-SEM) with the statistical software Smart PLS 4. The results indicate that business commitment to sustainability has a positive and significant impact on the competitiveness of companies; with respect to brand value, corporate differentiation and competitive profit margin. The findings revealed that the most significant benefit is towards the brand's environmental reputation; by being perceived as companies related to sustainable consumption and living; In addition, they are companies with the ability to differentiate themselves from the competition. It is also observed that the organizational factors that most influence business commitment to sustainability are the values that guide actions and encourage appropriate ways of relating to the environment; reflected with the implementation of sustainability strategies.

Keywords:
sustainable development; sustainability; competitiveness