Making Sense of Adding Environmental Sustainability as a Core Value by a Company with a High Carbon Footprint: A Single Case Study
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Authors
Lufrano-Jardine, Stallar
Issue Date
2020
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
environmental leadership , supply chain , sustainability , transportation , triple bottom line , trucking
Alternative Title
Abstract
A qualitative single case study was conducted to explore how a single company with a high fossil fuel use, ITS Logistics, has adapted to the triple bottom line components of social, environmental, and economic sustainability. The research question for the study was: How and why did ITS Logistics, a company with a high fossil fuel use, adopt sustainability as a core value? Data collection was comprised of document reviews, three site observations, and 14 semi-structured interviews with three executives, three directors, four managers, three hourly employees, and one truck driver. Two prominent findings were found. First, the (Hi)story of ITS Logistics was paramount to the efforts that ITS Logistics had undertaken; company employees shared stories related to historical aspects of the company’s founding and how current practices related to the long-established organizational culture. Within this theme of the company’s history, the first subtheme was a focus on economic sustainability and growth. Additionally, to reach company economic sustainability goals, social sustainability, the second subtheme, was found to be in practice at ITS Logistics. The second prominent finding was centered on the company’s organizational culture, along with a subtheme focused on the core values at ITS Logistics. As the organization appeared to have a family-oriented culture, company members frequently remarked related core values at ITS Logistics, such Teamwork, Having Fun, and Integrity. Altogether, it appeared that the company’s history and focus economic and social sustainability were essential to establishing opportunities for changes toward adopting environmental sustainability. Based on these findings, the company appeared to be positioned to integrate efforts in support of environmental sustainability, with aspirational goals to have sustainability prevail as a shared core value among organizational members at ITS Logistics.
Description
Citation
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License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 United States