Making sense of sustainability : a study on how sustainability ambitions affect sustainability performance in a retail company

Abstract: This thesis investigates the relationship between the perception of sustainability and sustainability performance within an organization. To understand how to fully integrate sustainability in an organization, I have in this study found that knowing what is needed to link words to practice is key. Even when sustainability values are incorporated in an organization, there can still be a dissonance between what the values state and what the performance shows. With the aid of Practice theory I was able to deepen the understanding of where this dissonance occurs. By rejecting the dualism of perception and performance, I was able to investigate how perception and performance mutually affect sense-making within an organization. I also found that the indefinability of sustainability need not be a hinder, it need not mean the same for all. Instead, for full integration of sustainability, what is important is that sustainability directives are translated into doable actions that are relevant for each practice.