Changes in business strategies are necessary to increase sustainability within business organisations, and change agents are key to bringing about and shaping change. Sustainability change agency involves constant reflection on change agents' roles in complex contexts, a process that arouses emotions for those agents. In this study, we assume a contextual view of change to understand how sustainability change agency develops during change processes and the role of emotions in agency behind strategic changes, such as the implementation of a circular economy. The study is based on interviews with 51 circular economy professionals in Finnish business organisations. By analysing key events and emotions in sustainability change agent (SCA) work, the study contributes to the existing research by showing that initiating and managing sustainability strategies consists of multiple unplanned and unexpected emotional events and experiences. These events and experiences shape SCA's ability and motivation to act for change, leading to continual individual‐level reflection by SCAs, manifesting as ideological, reassuring and fragmenting processes within the larger change process. Such reflection maintains, paralyses, enforces or reshapes their agency, depending on the context.

中文翻译：

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意义、满足感和挫败感：情绪对于可持续发展变革机构的重要性


商业战略的改变对于提高商业组织的可持续性是必要的，而变革推动者是带来和塑造变革的关键。可持续性变革机构需要不断反思变革机构在复杂环境中的角色，这个过程会激发这些机构的情绪。在本研究中，我们假设变革的背景视图，以了解可持续性变革机构在变革过程中如何发展，以及情绪在战略变革（例如循环经济的实施）背后的机构中的作用。该研究基于对芬兰商业组织 51 名循环经济专业人士的采访。通过分析可持续发展变革推动者（SCA）工作中的关键事件和情绪，该研究表明发起和管理可持续发展战略由多个计划外和意外的情绪事件和经历组成，从而为现有研究做出了贡献。这些事件和经历塑造了 SCA 采取行动进行变革的能力和动机，导致 SCA 持续进行个人层面的反思，在更大的变革过程中表现为意识形态、令人安心和碎片化的过程。这种反思可以根据具体情况维持、瘫痪、强化或重塑他们的机构。