When Good Intentions Aren’t Good Enough

Even the best intentions can go horribly wrong. As organizations around the world step up their corporate sustainability efforts to tackle climate change, social justice, and other urgent challenges, some efforts don’t go as planned. In fact, they can backfire. 

Chelsea Willness, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, and her colleagues are asking a critical question: Why do some “good” sustainability practices go wrong—and what can companies do to avoid unintended consequences? 

The research team recently secured an Insight grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to uncover answers to that question. The project looks at the human side of sustainability. It explores how people respond to corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, and what helps or hinders their success. We reached out to Dr. Willness with questions of our own about the project.  

Haskayne: Congratulations on your successful grant application. Can you tell us more about the important question(s) you’ll be tackling? 

Willness: We’re trying to understand why some well-meaning corporate sustainability efforts—like initiatives to reduce carbon emissions or supporting social causes— don’t always go as planned. It’s not that the goals are misguided, but that the way these efforts are structured or communicated can lead to unintended consequences.  

We’re looking closely at what helps or hinders organizations when they try to implement sustainability practices, how people inside and outside the organization react, and what can be done to build trust and avoid backlash.  

By examining the behavioural and structural factors behind sustainability-related decisions, under real-world constraints like incentive systems, norms, and uncertainty, we aim to uncover practical ways to help organizations make a positive impact while reducing the risk of unanticipated outcomes. 

Haskayne: What got you interested in this topic?  

Willness: I’ve been studying CSR and sustainability for my entire career as a researcher, and I’m passionate about finding win-win solutions—approaches that support better decisions by people and organizations, and that help both society and the environment. 

Recently, I've been very interested in how well-intended efforts can sometimes go wrong, and how we can better understand the human decisions that shape sustainability.  

Organizations are ultimately made up of individuals making choices, often under pressure or with limited information. What excites me is uncovering the dynamics behind those choices so that leaders, employees, and communities can act with greater confidence and impact. 

I also care deeply about including community perspectives. Often, the voices of those most affected by sustainability decisions are overlooked. That’s something I want to change.

Haskayne: Why is this research so important right now?  

Willness: This research matters now more than ever. Sustainability is no longer optional—climate change, social justice, and biodiversity loss are urgent global challenges.  

Organizations have enormous potential to help, but they face real obstacles: outdated systems, mixed incentives, and public skepticism. Sometimes, even when organizations are trying to do good, their efforts are met with doubt, suspicion, or unexpected backlash.  

Our research helps uncover why this happens, and what can be done to prevent it. Business leaders, sustainability professionals, community organizations, and policymakers can all benefit from better guidance on how to design, communicate, and evaluate social and environmental initiatives.  

By helping these efforts succeed, this research ultimately supports communities, employees, future generations, and the long-term health of both human and natural systems. Ultimately, the goal is to help organizations make a positive impact while reducing the risk of backlash or failure. 

Haskayne: We understand this is a team effort. Can you tell us more about the other researchers involved in the project?  

Willness: This project is a true interdisciplinary collaboration. I’m fortunate to collaborate with two brilliant colleagues.  

Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon (UCalgary) has a background in physics, energy systems, and climate policy that brings a science-based, systems-level lens to the work. She grounds our research in the technical realities of low-carbon transitions and the policy challenges that come with them.   

Dr. David Jones (University of Vermont) is a business professor and empiricist who also brings deep expertise in organizational behaviour and sustainable business strategy.  

Together, we’re combining insights from energy, climate policy, and human behaviour to address both the structural and behavioural sides of sustainability challenges. 

Haskayne: There has been a lot of attention on sustainability efforts in recent years. What is unique about your research? 

Willness: There are still many barriers impeding progress. Misaligned corporate cultures, inadequate resources, and resistance to change pose internal challenges. People's skepticism stemming from greenwashing is also a considerable external factor.   

We know these barriers exist, but there is a limited understanding why well-intentioned efforts don’t work as planned. There is a lack of research into the driving forces behind human responses to CSR.  

Our research addresses these critical gaps by pursuing three main objectives:  

1. Barriers and Enablers in CSR Implementation 
   Through interviews with sustainability leaders and analysis of corporate documents, the team is identifying what helps or hinders CSR efforts—like incentive structures, internal culture, and stakeholder engagement.
2. Reactions to CSR 
   Using field experiments and behavioural science theories, we are studying how people respond to CSR and sustainability initiatives more broadly. We’re especially interested in how perceived motives, credibility, and skepticism influence reactions.
3. Mitigating Backfire Effects 
   Our work is also focusing on solutions—strategies to reduce negative reactions and build trust. This includes highlighting the voices of community leaders and others who benefit from CSR programs, a perspective often overlooked in research. 

Dr. Willness is a professor at the Haskayne School of Business in Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources [OBHR], and a Future Fund Fellow in Behavioural Science for Sustainability. She is a passionate champion of community-engaged scholarship and teaching whose research applies behavioural science principles, theories, and methods to address challenges related to sustainability, such as planetary health and climate change, community and social sustainability, and responsible governance.