Abstract

In an era marked by multifaceted global affairs, sustainability has emerged as a central theme assuming a central role of paramount significance in addressing these issues. RFG Food Group, being one of the largest canned foods suppliers has been advocating for sustainability in response to imposed government regulations. Understanding the underlying drivers for sustainability is instrumental to developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy. The current sustainability theory lacks completeness prompting the development of a solid theoretical framework guided by grounded theory. This paper adopted a mixed-method approach with a qualitative approach used in conjunction with grounded theory to delve into literature (secondary data) regarding sustainability drivers to develop a solid theoretical framework, a quantitative approach to test the formulated theoretical framework through statistical analysis, and scenario planning to leverage the theoretical framework to develop future sustainability landscapes. Through theoretical sampling, Memo writing, and qualitative coding techniques, emergent themes were derived from data to develop a complete theoretical framework. The process of qualitative coding is iterative and occurs until saturation is achieved resulting in seven themes which are mainly; Collaboration and Alliances; Consumer; Preferences and Awareness; Economic factors; Government Regulations; Environmental drivers; Social responsibility and Ethics; and Employee and Organizational factors. Primary quantitative data was collected by surveying ten procurement managers at RFG Food Group to test the formulated theoretical framework which was leveraged through Dematel methodology to determine future sustainability landscapes.