A sensemaking approach to trade‐offs and synergies between human and ecological elements of corporate sustainability

Angus-Leppan, Tamsin; Benn, Suzanne; Young, Louise

doi:10.1002/bse.675

Cited by 108 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…First, echoing findings of studies in other sectors concerning sensemaking around sustainability (Angus-Leppan et al, 2010, Fitzgerald, 2012, our sustainability leaders interpret sustainability in very different ways, recontextualizing the concept so as to allow for action that is meaningful to them in their particular work roles. Although such findings are not new in relation to sustainability (e.g., Angus-Leppan, Metcalf, & Benn, 2009;Angus-Leppan et al, 2010), the extent of the disparity between the stakeholder groups in terms of their sensemaking around the concept of sustainability and its integration into the curriculum is surprising. This confirms to us the importance of exploring the roles that boundary objects might play in enabling shared sensemaking.…”

Section: Distributed Sensemaking In the 4i Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 86%

Organizational Learning and the Sustainability Community of Practice

Benn¹,

Edwards²,

Angus-Leppan³

2013

Organization & Environment

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This article aims to explore factors that influence organizational learning around sustainability. For our theoretical framework, we take a sensemaking approach to the multilevel 4I model of organizational learning. Through our pilot study of the case of the higher education sector in Australia, we explore the particular challenges that sustainability poses in terms of integrating new ideas at the group and organizational levels. Our findings suggest that the use of knowledge sharing and generation tools in the form of selected boundary objects can promote the development of communities of practice and hence those integration and institutionalization processes described by the 4I framework when it is applied to sustainability. In specifically allowing for knowledge development and transfer across knowledge and disciplinary boundaries, our revised version of the 4I model has wide relevance to learning around sustainability in any organizational context.

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Section: Distributed Sensemaking In the 4i Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 86%

Organizational Learning and the Sustainability Community of Practice

Benn¹,

Edwards²,

Angus-Leppan³

2013

Organization & Environment

Self Cite

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“…One approach is to see sustainability as the outcome of everyday pragmatic problem solving, or "actual existing sustainabilities" [68]. This idea undermines the dominance of one-size-fits-all perspectives in sustainability pursuits and highlights the need to recognize diverse visions for and perspectives about local environments [69][70][71][72][73][74][75]. Rice and colleagues [76] echo the conclusions of many of these authors when they remind academics that their failure to fully incorporate non-academic perspectives in their research perpetuates the dominant technocratic discourse of sustainability, and limits our willingness to experiment with new ideas or possibilities.…”

Section: Social Sustainability As Place-centered Process-oriented Sumentioning

confidence: 99%

Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward

et al. 2016

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Abstract:Sustainability is often conceived of as an attempt to balance competing economic, environmental and social priorities. Over the course of three decades of scholarship, however, the meaning and appropriate application of the 'social pillar' continues to inspire confusion. In this paper, we posit that the inherent challenge of understanding social sustainability is its many legitimate meanings plus a lack of interdisciplinary scholarship. We draw from literature in multiple disciplines to illustrate five different ways that the concept of social sustainability has been applied in scholarship and professional practice, and highlighting the importance of applications that acknowledge placed-based, process-oriented perspectives that understand social, economic, and environmental imperatives as integrated concepts. Ironically, this framing forecloses on social sustainability as an entity distinct from environmental and economic sustainability. We believe that organizing the conversation around these five applications can help advocates of sustainability use the concept of social sustainability in clear and powerful ways while avoiding applications that relegate the social dimensions of sustainability to an afterthought.

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“…These lenses imply a narrow understanding of sustainability as they favour a focus at the strategic and organisational macro level and on concepts such as competition, performance and resources, which are rooted in the neo-classical tradition and economistic view of the firm (Angus- Leppan, Benn, & Young, 2010) and technocentric paradigm (Gladwin, Kennelly, & Krause, 1995). The emphasis on performance seems correlated to the prevalence of environmental and economic approaches to SSCM, which present more quantifiable characteristics.…”

Section: The Predominance Of An Operational Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

A relational, transformative and engaged approach to sustainable supply chain management: The potential of action research

Touboulic

Walker

2015

Human Relations

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Please note: Changes made as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing, formatting and page numbers may not be reflected in this version. For the definitive version of this publication, please refer to the published source. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite this paper.This version is being made available in accordance with publisher policies. See http://orca.cf.ac.uk/policies.html for usage policies. Copyright and moral rights for publications made available in ORCA are retained by the copyright holders.A relational, transformative and engaged approach to sustainable supply chain management:The potential of action research Anne Touboulic and Helen Walker AbstractThis paper describes how action research (AR) can advance sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) research. Most SSCM research is empirical and little attention has been paid to reflecting upon how research is conducted in the field. Current research fails to make links with ideas of relationality, change and engagement proposed in broader sustainability research. We propose to address this gap by discussing how AR could help address current challenges in SSCM. The paper explores the proponents and application of AR as a relevant methodology for knowledge development in the field, based upon a critical analysis of SSCM and AR, including a review of previous AR studies and insights from a research project in which AR was applied. Particular emphasis is put on exploring the links between the sustainability dimension of SSCM and the foundations and practice of AR. The paper does not reject other methodological approaches, but it shows that the pragmatic orientation of AR is particularly suitable for an applied field such as SSCM where problems are often messy, cross-disciplinary and essentially concerned with the flourishing of individuals and organisations. Our paper has broader implications for interorganisational research.

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A sensemaking approach to trade‐offs and synergies between human and ecological elements of corporate sustainability

Cited by 108 publications

References 25 publications

Organizational Learning and the Sustainability Community of Practice

Organizational Learning and the Sustainability Community of Practice

Five Approaches to Social Sustainability and an Integrated Way Forward

A relational, transformative and engaged approach to sustainable supply chain management: The potential of action research

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