The institutional logic of the sustainable organisation: the case of a chocolate supply network

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how, and by whom, institutional logics are determined in the action of sustainable organisation. The authors analyse a supply chain network structure to understand how multiple stakeholders' perceptions of sustainability emerge into a dominant logic and diffuse across an organisational field.Design/methodology/approachStakeholder network theory provides novel insights into emerging logics within a chocolate supply chain network. Semi-structured interviews with 35 decision-makers were analysed alongside 269 company documents to capture variations in emergent logics. The network was mapped to include 63 nodes and 366 edges to analyse power structure and mechanisms.FindingsThe socio-economic organising principles of sustainable organisation, their sources of power and their logics are identified. Economic and social logics are revealed, yet the dominance of economic logics creates risks to their coexistence. Logics are largely shaped in pre-competitive activities, and resource fitness to collaborative clusters limits access for non-commercial actors.Research limitations/implicationsPowerful firms use network structures and collaborative and concurrent inter-organisational relationships to define and diffuse their conceptualisation of sustainability and restrict competing logics.Originality/valueThis novel study contributes to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) through presenting the socio-economic logic as a new conceptual framework to understand the action of sustainable organisation. The identification of sophisticated mechanisms of power and hegemonic control in the network opens new research agendas.

Institutional logic for sustainable purchasing and supply management: Concepts, illustrations, and implications for business strategy

“…The previous section shows that a new ILS needs to emerge to enhance sustainable PSM. Current studies assume different perspectives towards supply chain sustainability focusing on logics, namely, implementing sustainable supply chain actions (Glover et al, 2014;McLoughlin & Meehan, 2021;Pullman et al, 2018;Sayed et al, 2017), understanding sustainable supplier management (Léon-F I G U R E 1 Changing towards an institutional logic of sustainability Bravo et al, 2021), analysing the social network (Lu et al, 2018), and shifting logics for supply chain design (Annala et al, 2019). Most papers assume IL as taken-for-granted.…”

“…IL is related to a set of practices and behaviours that several actors share in an organisational field (Thornton et al, 2012; Thornton & Ocasio, 2008); thus, the purchasing department has a crucial role in supporting a shift for a sustainability logic. Despite the recent progress of the IL literature in the supply chain studies (e.g., Léon‐Bravo et al, 2021; McLoughlin & Meehan, 2021; Pullman et al, 2018), it still in its early stages. Indeed, more research and theory are necessary to help in understanding the sustainability logic.…”

Legitimizing unsustainable practices: The institutional logics of pro‐pesticide organizations

“…This article contributes to the emerging literature on institutional logics and corporate sustainability (Bothello & Salles-Djelic, 2018;Corbett et al, 2018;McLoughlin & Meehan, 2021;Silva & Figueiredo, 2017;Testa et al, 2018) by showing in particular how certain logics linked to the use of pesticides can become predominant and contribute to the implementation of practices that some members of civil society consider unsustainable and not legitimate. Lounsbury et al (2021, p. 270) stress the importance of conducting studies to better understand how actors attempt to maintain the coherence and durability of a plurality of logics associated with an institutional order.…”

A framework of firms' business sustainability endeavours with internal and external stakeholders through time across oriental and occidental business contexts

“…Hence, for those companies trying to implement sustainable goals and strategies (Khan et al , 2018b; Scarpato et al , 2020), this engagement between an organization and its stakeholders shows the need to identify the stakeholders who is relevant on the supply chain (Greenwood and Freeman, 2011; Gupta et al , 2019; McLoughlin and Meehan, 2021). In fact, identifying and categorizing business stakeholders is a key corporate task according to this stakeholder theory (Karlsson et al , 2018) as it will permit firms to better understand their influence on the focal firm.…”

“…Certainly, creating value for all stakeholders through sustainability is an “ extremely relevant target ” for successful firms in rapidly changing environments (Spohrer et al , 2007, p. 75). Therefore, both identifying business' stakeholders (McLoughlin and Meehan, 2021) as well as understanding the degree by which firms take into account this full spectrum of stakeholders when considering their sustainability endeavours and practices seem relevant in order to contribute to the understanding of sustainable development literature and research (Ferro et al , 2017; Karlsson et al , 2018; Svensson et al , 2016).…”