Cross-functional Team Coopetition to Improve SDG 8.4

To ensure global sustainability, the UN has set 17 sustainable development goals (SDG). With the 8th goal, which is described as decent work and economic growth, the UN pursues economic growth with economically more efficient production and consumption. Many critics see these aspects as conflicting, so that meeting one goal in certain cases does not lead to reach the other goal. This paper examines the influence of employees' personalities on their preferences for economic efficiency and environmental friendliness in economically strong countries. This study provides a survey of 117 participants using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results show that individuals can be categorized into the following personality profiles based on their preferences: Open minded and neurotic employee classified to environmental friendly thinking, and extravert employee classified to economic efficient thinking. In the theory of coopetition cross-functional and -thinking teams, it could be potentially assumed individuals can be brought together to improve reaching both aspects of SDG 8.4. The major contribution of this study is to provide a conceptual foundation and identify a possible way to improve team coopetition on the SDG 8.4 that shows promise for future research.