Sustainable business growth: exploring operations decision-making

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how operations decision-making may keep the growing firms within the boundaries of corporate and societal sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The authors classify operations decisions during growth periods according to the three dimensions of the triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental). By means of a longitudinal case study of a family-owned wood construction firm that is in a process of intense growth, the authors identify, visually represent and analyse the complex sequences of selected managerial operations decisions. Findings The empirical data suggest that operations decisions made by managers during growth periods follow specific patterns. From the analysis, the authors derive various research propositions that investigate how a well-understood and therefore efficient and effective decision-making process can facilitate sustainable business growth. Research limitations/implications The findings offer opportunities for future studies to zoom in on specific parts of the decision-making process during growth periods. Moreover, given the exploratory nature of this study, future research should test hypotheses derived from the research propositions. Practical implications This study investigates operations decision-making during growth, which is crucial for guiding companies through this complex transition phase. Originality/value This conceptual and empirical analysis explores new theory and contributes to the vastly under-researched subject of sustainable business growth.