Abstract
Research on sustainability-oriented partnerships focused either on inter-firm or cross-sector partnerships separately and often took the partnership as a level of analysis. As opposed to the partnership level, the firm-level analysis that investigates portfolios of sustainability-oriented partnerships were brought forward by only a few studies. By drawing on the literature of alliance portfolios, this paper builds the notion of "sustainable alliance portfolio" further to move scholarly attention towards the bigger picture of firms' partnership efforts for sustainability. Taking stock on the research that introduced organisational cognition to corporate sustainability which showed how partners' value frames co-evolve, converge, diverge or fuse over time; this paper theorises how business case and paradoxical frames impact the configuration, management and development of sustainable alliance portfolios. Overall, this paper bridges the gap between two constructs-organisational value frames and sustainable alliance portfolios- and offers propositions for future research to draw attention to the under-theorised portfolios of sustainability-oriented partnerships.
Highlights
Society is facing sustainability challenges that require systemic changes in the economic, environmental and social systems
This paper bridges the gap between two constructs-organisational value frames and sustainable alliance portfolios- and offers propositions for future research to draw attention to the under-theorised portfolios of sustainability-oriented partnerships
Inter-firm alliances are formed with their suppliers, customers and other businesses including their competitors; while cross-sector partnerships are formed with organisations from other sectors including NGOs, governments, local authorities, inter-governmental organisations and research institutions (Kolk, 2014)
Summary
Society is facing sustainability challenges that require systemic changes in the economic, environmental and social systems. Overall, a focal firm develops and manages an extensive portfolio of various types of alliance and partnership to tackle different sustainability issues (Wassmer et al, 2012). Management and development of SAPs vary at firms with the business case and paradoxical frames Development of this theoretical link enables us to explain the origins and limits of cognitive diversity in SAPs. It allows us to explain how the management of SAPs is different from that of a single partnership. The theory section introduces three areas of literature: alliance portfolios (configuration, management and development), organisational cognition and OVFs in the corporate sustainability context, and the mechanism of cognitive homophily. The conclusion section summarises the contributions of this paper and offers insights for future research
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