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Exploring Operational Managers’ logic around trade-offs related to sustainability

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Dissertation(1.73 MB)

Date

2010

Authors

Supervisor

Kearins, Kate

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Business

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how managers perceive trade-offs in relation to sustainability. The dissertation results from a research project with both a theoretical and applied orientation, following the argument that both in business and in theory, a “win-win paradigm” of sustainability prevails. According to the win-win paradigm, the extent of a company’s environmental and social commitment is principally restricted by its positive economic value. Drawing on a practical case, this dissertation contributes to this new and underexplored field of research around the win-win paradigm of sustainability. The dissertation 1) investigates the win-win paradigm with regard to the business case to be made for adoption of a particular initiative; and 2) explores operational managers’ logic around trade-offs related to sustainability. Academic and practitioner literature regarding sustainability, the win-win paradigm and sustainability-related trade-offs was reviewed, as was the context for business decisions. Data collection was based on in-depth interviews with operational managers from four different companies with an interest in a particular sustainability initiative. The data were analysed thematically and integrated with the afore-mentioned literature to inductively develop a series of hypotheses. The dissertation confirms that companies are trapped within the limits of the win-win paradigm of sustainability. Externally-oriented initiatives are regarded as more likely to overcome financial boundaries than are internally-oriented initiatives. It is found that the specifics of an industry determine the scope of the win-win zone for companies. The dissertation moreover argues that competitive forces reinforce the boundaries of the win-win paradigm and that the win-win zone is likely to expand in future in the particular initiative at the centre of this dissertation. Visible problems, which affect companies in exploiting their environmental and economic (win-win) opportunities, can be grounded in the hidden context of stakeholder-related trade-offs. These trade-offs stem from a lack of incentives for involved stakeholders. The recognition of these trade-offs is impeded by a lack of communication.

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Keywords

Sustainability, Trade-offs

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DOI

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Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/1326

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Masters Dissertations