Strategic Planning for Organizational Sustainability: A Stakeholder-Based Governance Model

Abstract

Organizations increasingly face the challenge of integrating sustainability into strategic planning and governance systems while ensuring stakeholder participation, accountability, and long-term value creation. This study develops a stakeholder-based governance model by examining how strategic planning processes contribute to the integration of sustainability within organizational management. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining documentary analysis of institutional planning instruments, surveys administered to students, professors, and administrative staff, and semi-structured interviews with seven senior institutional leaders responsible for strategic decision-making. The empirical evidence was obtained from an Ecuadorian higher education institution operating in the context of an emerging economy. The results revealed high levels of stakeholder support for sustainability integration, with positive perceptions reported by professors (89.8%), students (83.6%), and administrative staff (74.0%). The findings also highlighted the importance of leadership commitment, stakeholder engagement, governance mechanisms, performance indicators, monitoring, and continuous improvement in supporting long-term institutional sustainability. Based on these results, a stakeholder-based governance model is proposed that integrates Strategic Planning, Stakeholder Theory, Sustainable Governance, and Organizational Sustainability into a unified management framework. The study concludes that sustainability can be strengthened when governance structures and strategic planning processes operate as interconnected mechanisms that guide organizational decision-making, performance evaluation, and long-term institutional development. This study proposes an evidence-informed governance model derived from a mixed-methods case study conducted at a private technological university in Ecuador.