Managerial sensemaking of tensions in sustainability: Empirical evidence from Chinese and New Zealand business partnerships

Abstract

In this paper we examine sustainability tensions among firms in business partnerships, and how managers make sense of them. To achieve this, 33 in-depth individual interviews alongside one informal group discussion were carried out at 16 relatively large, Chinese and New Zealand firms in business partnerships. We found that the New Zealand-based firms face complex and multiple sustainability tensions. We show that managers at Chinese and New Zealand firms tended to apply three kinds of logics: paradoxical, dichotomous, and business. Paradoxical logic is the type most commonly adopted. We also argue that how managers make sense of tensions in sustainability may not be influenced by their cultural values and norms. We offer scholarly and practical implications in identifying tensions in sustainability. Looking beyond traditional cultural roots helps practitioners recognise that tensions do exist when addressing divergent sustainability issues, creating more difficulty and challenges for these companies to manage them simultaneously.