Barriers to organizational learning and sustainability: The case of a consumer cooperative

This explorative research deals with the relationship between barriers to organizational learning (OL) and the adoption of sustainability-related strategies, focusing on the cooperative business model. A single case study involving a large Italian food retailing cooperative was conducted. Interviews with 12 managers and ten external stakeholders were recorded and analyzed with NVivo software. The results were coded based on the taxonomy of barriers proposed by Shilling and Kluge (2009). A total of 153 pieces of evidence emerged, subtending OL-related barriers to the integration of sustainability at business level. Most of these barriers prevented the sustainability-related initiatives from being fully integrated and/or institutionalized, operating at the level of groups or of the entire organization. To stimulate the effective integration and institutionalization of sustainability in the cooperative’s business strategy, the implementation of adequate organizational and managerial instruments emerges as strategic. Effective communication, measurement tools of sustainability performance, and improvement of staff skills represent opportunities to overcome the identified barriers. As links with customers and communities, cooperative members also play a key role in this perspective.