Sustainability Tensions : How they are Viewed in Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Their Management Strategies

This thesis explores how supply chain managers acknowledge and manage sustainability tensions, particularly focusing on the paradoxical view compared to the business view. Through qualitative interviews with six supply chain managers, the study reveals a predominant use of the paradoxical view, which balances economic, environmental, and social dimensions simultaneously. Managers using the paradoxical view demonstrate a willingness to compromise economic benefits for broader sustainability goals. The research identifies three main strategies within the paradoxical sensemaking approach: acceptance, separation, and synthesis, with synthesis being the most favored due to its emphasis on information sharing and interdepartmental communication. The findings suggest certain strategies are more prevalent than others in addressing sustainability tensions in supply chain management and that both interdepartmental communication and multi-strategy use are important when implementing strategy.