Bitter Sweet Symphony? Insights into the discrepancy between managers and organizations towards ESG.

The aim of this paper is to explore whether any discrepancy between individuals’ cultural understanding and perceptions concerning ESG and the organizational cul-tural posture towards ESG is likely to arise, and what individual’s characteristics may influence it. The study relies on Habermas’ theory of Communicative Action, mobilizing the conceptualizations of anomie, to analyze data gathered through a survey answered by 136 Italian managers acting in highly ESG-exposed industries. Our results give evidence of the existence of ESG orientation discrepancy and sug-gest that certain individuals’ characteristics such as age, job grade, and tenure influ-ence its magnitude. The study contributes to ESG literature offering empirical ground for crucial yet overlooked issues relating to the role of individuals in ESG organizational processes change. Also, it has relevant implications for both compa-nies and policymakers, pushing reflections on the need to avoid discrepancies to-ward more effective ESG practices.