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Sustainability remains a divisive issue for the business community. According to figures from the 82% of CEOs believe it can drive growth and opportunities.

Meanwhile, huge companies like Unilever have begun to wholeheartedly and embrace the agenda, even in the face of heavy scepticism from traditionalists.

So you’d be forgiven for asking why a significant proportion of organisations are still sceptical whether addressing global sustainability challenges will ever become critical to their organisations.

The truth is, for too many leaders corporate sustainability is still shrouded in mystique.

Here are five things it is definitely not:

1. Going the extra mile

Every business generates positive and negative outcomes throughout its operations.

A real commitment to corporate sustainability means making efforts to reduce the undesirable influence of business (carbon emissions, labour exploitation etc) and increase those which add value to society (employment, wealth creation and personal development).

So it’s just not good enough to send the workforce out to repaint a community centre once a year, to ‘give something back’ without addressing the negative footprint generated by the organisation.

It only works if it’s the norm, not the exception.

2. A strategy

Corporate sustainability as a strategy has gained a lot of traction in recent decades, because it can be valuable in managing risks, exploring opportunities and adapting to change.

Adding the word strategy also moves it into the consciousness of the c-suite, and distances it from Corporate Social Responsibly (CSR) – which is all too often taken to mean philanthropy.

But it’s much more than a strategy. To be effective, it has to be a mind-set which recognises the organisation’s role in society, and its relationship with it.

More than anything, corporate sustainability is a form of self-regulation which not only helps the wider world, but also creates continuous opportunities for companies to challenge their purpose and adjust their values, aspirations and missions.

3. Profitable

Our tendency to think of corporate sustainability (and our obsession with numbers) often gives us the false assumption it has to be profitable to be successful.

However if we shift to the belief that it’s a mind-set with a goal of reducing an organisation’s net negative impact on society, then we can accept it’s not meant to turn a profit on the balance sheet.

If anything, a commitment to sustainability requires some serious imagination to make money. But that needn’t discourage our efforts – if anything, we can use it as a driver for innovation and creativity, which has the benefit of added social value, reputation and good will.

4. Context or country dependent

Any company’s efforts to follow best employment practice and reduce its carbon footprint on home soil will count for nothing, if the coffee cups it uses are made in sweatshops at the end of a polluting supply chain.

Sure, every country has different minimum standards and regulations, but if an organisation exploits these for profit or cost reduction while claiming to be sustainable, it’s not only lying to itself but risking its reputation in the process.

Sustainability is not context or country dependent. Reduce the negatives and accentuate the positives, wherever location you do business.

5. A destination

The truth is, this can be said of any business mission. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking corporate sustainability is a fixed objective to be reached at a defined point in time.

In reality, a commitment to sustainability should be a way of life. It’s a dynamic journey which can be changed, adapted and influenced by internal and external factors.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Positive choices can have unintended consequences.

It’s a delicate balance that must be constantly scrutinised if organisations are to have any hope of offering positive value to society now, and in the future.

Dr Kenneth Amaeshi is associate professor (Reader) in strategy and international business at University of Edinburgh Business School, and Director of the Sustainable Business Initiative.