This paper explores how organizational members implement sustainability directives and standards. Based on a nine-month, in-depth qualitative study of expert workshops in a large manufacturing company, the paper shows how actors deal with the abstract requirements of the ‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’ (CSRD). Using a sensemaking perspective, our analysis reveals how actors generate and connect cues to craft coherent narratives that align the standards with their corporate context. We identify three distinct trajectories that facilitate this process. The findings contribute to the literature on standards by, first, advancing our understanding of how the ambiguity of standards is transformed into clarity during standard adoption, and second, highlighting how this process unfolds in practice. Additionally, the study contributes to sustainability research by demonstrating how standards shape the construction of meaning around sustainability and thus facilitate the sustainable transformation of organizations.
