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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to unpack tensions faced by procurement professionals as part of their triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability activities. The authors take an integrative perspective based on the procurement sustainability and organizational tensions literature, as well as stakeholder and institutional theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a multiple case study approach. Data are collected through multiple interviews and archival data from eight case companies in Australia.FindingsThe authors identify supply chain and company procurement sustainability tensions (PSTs) and explain their multi-level nature. The analysis also dissects the multi-stakeholder and multi-institutional environments where PSTs operate. The authors discuss such environments in terms of various temporal and spatial legitimacy contexts (LCs) that, through their assessment of institutional distance, can characterize the manifestation of PSTs.Practical implicationsThe findings are instrumental for managers to make informed decisions when dealing with PSTs, and they pave the way for paradoxical leadership given the increasing importance of simultaneous development and balancing of TBL dimensions, as evidenced in this study.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to empirically investigate PSTs by drawing on an integrative approach to identify PSTs, and to discern various LCs that underpin stakeholder judgments of procurement's TBL sustainability activities.

PurposeResearch has not yet captured nor synthesized the supply chain (SC) adaptations exercised by various base of the pyramid (BoP) initiators for successful BoP business. This is a crucial shortcoming that the study has taken a step to address, with the aim of advancing theory in BoP supply chain management (SCM). The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on Carteret al.'s (2015) theory of the SC and use a multi-method approach combining systematic literature review and embedded case studies based on the secondary data.FindingsThe authors compare BoP SC adaptations of MNCs, local companies, NGOs, social enterprises and governments and develop propositions. The authors find that SC adaptations exercised by BoP initiators are influenced by their sense making of institutional and agency drivers at the BoP, and contingent on whether the poor are engaged as recipients or value co-creators.Practical implicationsThe authors develop a multi-initiator understanding of SC adaptations for BoP business. This is useful for BoP initiators who struggle to leverage their BoP business as well as for those who are considering entering the BoP. The authors offer these entities insights for aligning strategy and developing capabilities for BoP markets.Originality/valueThe authors develop an original model of BoP initiator-based configurations of SC adaptations for BoP business. As such, the authors contribute toward advancing BoP SCM theory and practice by mapping substantive concepts and their relationships associated with BoP SC adaptations.

Research has not yet captured nor synthesized the supply chain (SC) adaptations (as well as their contextual drivers and contingency factors) exercised by various external stakeholders for successful Base of the Pyramid (BoP) business. This is a crucial shortcoming that our study has taken a major step to address, with the aim of advancing theory in BoP supply chain management (SCM). We draw on Carter et al.'s (2015) theory of the SC and use a multi-method approach combining systematic literature review (SLR) and embedded case studies based on secondary data. We compare SC adaptations of MNCs, local companies (LCs), NGOs, Social enterprises (SEs) and governments for BoP business across the following categories: network and partnership, products and services, operations and processes, transaction and contract, and development and support. We find that SC adaptations exercised by BoP initiators are influenced by their sense-making of institutional and agency drivers at the BoP, and contingent on whether the poor are engaged as recipients or value co-creators. We offer an original model of BoP initiator-based configurations of SC adaptations for BoP business. As such, we make a strong contribution towards advancing BoP SCM theory and practice by mapping substantive concepts and their relationships associated with BoP SC adaptations.