From Sustainability Orientation to Practice in a Family Firm: A Case Study of Operational and Supply Chain Decision-Making

This thesis examines how sustainability-oriented values are translated into operational and supply chain practices within a family firm. The study aims to reconstruct how this process unfolds in practice, with particular attention to the decision-making mechanisms and organisational conditions that shape it. The research adopts a qualitative approach based on an in-depth case study of Caseificio Morandi, a small artisanal family business located in the province of Padua. The analysis draws on multiple sources of evidence, including an exploratory interview, a semi-structured in-depth interview and a corpus of documentary and audiovisual material. The empirical evidence was examined through thematic analysis following an abductive logic. The findings show that family orientations do not translate directly into specific sustainable practices. Instead, they influence the way business alternatives are evaluated. Sustainability considerations are combined with concerns related to quality, economic viability and relational continuity and these criteria do not always point towards the same solution. Their translation into practice depends on the resources and capabilities available within the firm, including the capacity to identify, assess and coordinate suitable alternatives before adoption. External relationships can also play an important role when specific knowledge or resources are lacking internally. Sustainability thus emerges as a gradual and selective process through which family values are translated into concrete choices within the opportunities, constraints and trade-offs faced by the firm. Overall, the case shows that sustainability can acquire concrete relevance even in a small family firm characterised by limited formalisation. The study contributes to understanding how value-based sustainability orientations become embedded in everyday business functioning, highlighting the role of decision-making criteria, organisational capacity and interorganisational relationships in shaping this process.