Organisational Silos and Decoupling in Sustainability

Abstract

The decoupling between policies, practices and outcomes have been extensively studied in sustainability. As our comprehension of the phenomenon expands, new explanations for such disconnections emerge. In this article, we introduce the relationship between decoupling and organisational silos, a situation when communication and alignment between parties is minimal. We draw on a qualitative case based on 480 hours of ethnography and 73 semi-structured interviews to understand the implementation of sustainability in a highly siloed organisation. Our findings reveal a vicious cycle between silos and decoupling that makes it very hard for sustainability to be implemented. The more the sustainability department is isolated in the company, the more disconnected their activities become from their intended outcomes. With widespread decoupling, the reinforcement of departmental walls to keep resources and projects is needed. Thus, even with the recognition of the problem, the organisation trapped in this cycle indefinitely. We contribute to sustainability implementation studies by moving away from instrumental approaches; we show complex reasons for failures that are beyond mere organisational design choices. We contribute to decoupling studies by unpacking the silo-decoupling relationship, proposing an explanation for its emergence and persistence.