Resolve the tensions of sustainability in small businesses: when the management of paradoxes becomes difficult to sustain

Resolver las tensiones de la sostenibilidad en las pequeñas empresas: cuando la gestión paradójica se vuelve difícil de mantener

Maël Sommer ()
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Maël Sommer: LGCO - Laboratoire Gouvernance et Contrôle Organisationnel - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - UT - Université de Toulouse, IUT Paul Sabatier - Institut Universitaire de Technologie - Paul Sabatier - UT3 - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier - UT - Université de Toulouse

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Abstract: This research uses the strategic literature on paradoxes to analyze the problems associated with the management of sustainability tensions in small business. For this purpose, a qualitative study is conducted with small businesses in a sector with strong societal responsibility (agriculture), voluntarily committed to a process of improving their sustainability (ISO 14001). Thus, three types of paradoxical tensions are identified and characterized, highlighting the persistent problems of responsible action. Then, the results show how a constructive and virtuous resolution of these tensions can be difficult to maintain in a small business.

Keywords: Corporate sustainability; Paradoxes; Tensions; Small businesses; Resolution; Durabilité des entreprises; Petites entreprises; Résolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03791138v1
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Published in Revue Internationale PME, 2022, 35 (1), pp.102-124. ⟨10.7202/1088331ar⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03791138

DOI: 10.7202/1088331ar

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