Sustainable business growth: exploring operations decision-making

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-8-2017

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how operations decision-making may keep the growing firms within the boundaries of corporate and societal sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The authors classify operations decisions during growth periods according to the three dimensions of the triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental). By means of a longitudinal case study of a family-owned wood construction firm that is in a process of intense growth, the authors identify, visually represent and analyse the complex sequences of selected managerial operations decisions. Findings: The empirical data suggest that operations decisions made by managers during growth periods follow specific patterns. From the analysis, the authors derive various research propositions that investigate how a well-understood and therefore efficient and effective decision-making process can facilitate sustainable business growth. Research limitations/implications: The findings offer opportunities for future studies to zoom in on specific parts of the decision-making process during growth periods. Moreover, given the exploratory nature of this study, future research should test hypotheses derived from the research propositions. Practical implications: This study investigates operations decision-making during growth, which is crucial for guiding companies through this complex transition phase. Originality/value: This conceptual and empirical analysis explores new theory and contributes to the vastly under-researched subject of sustainable business growth.

Publication Title

Journal of Global Responsibility

Volume

8

Issue

1

First Page

83

Last Page

95

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1108/JGR-11-2016-0031

ISSN

20412568

E-ISSN

20412576

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