Forward-Looking Sustainability Agency for Developing Future Cruise Ships
1
Finland Futures Research Centre, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
2
Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
3
School of Management, University of Vaasa, 65200 Vaasa, Finland
4
Faculty of Management and Business, University of Tampere, 33100 Tampere, Finland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9644; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229644
Received: 30 September 2020
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Revised: 29 October 2020
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Accepted: 16 November 2020
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Published: 19 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Change Agency in Sustainability Transitions)
The study addressed sharing of futures insights as a component of sustainability agency for long-term company enhancement in an interorganizational shipbuilders’ network. The purpose was to analyze social structures under “agency” terminology. This joint sustainability project involved a partnership of firms, academia, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) actors in collaborative cruise ship building. The study adapted a mixed method approach where social network analysis (SNA) was enriched with other contextual data to make network data more applicable and accessible. The results revealed a loose and thin network structure, with relatively high trust among network actors. The network’s social structure was found to facilitate insight sharing. Lead firm actors clearly played a central role in enhancing sustainability, and the researchers, as well as industrial association actors, made a significant contribution to insight sharing and transmission. The findings suggest that the case network would benefit from an open and balanced social structure that incorporates a number of insight brokers to enhance forward-looking sustainability agency (F-L SA). Futures insight sharing enhances agency in the context of joint sustainability actions and improves capacity to respond to systemic challenges. Understanding how proactive agency can be promoted in network settings strengthens strategic aspects of managerial practice and contributes to discourse around sustainability agency.
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Keywords:
sustainability agency; future; forward-looking; cruise ship building; social network analysis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jokinen, L.; Palonen, T.; Kalliomäki, H.; Apostol, O.; Heikkilä, K. Forward-Looking Sustainability Agency for Developing Future Cruise Ships. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229644
AMA Style
Jokinen L, Palonen T, Kalliomäki H, Apostol O, Heikkilä K. Forward-Looking Sustainability Agency for Developing Future Cruise Ships. Sustainability. 2020; 12(22):9644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229644
Chicago/Turabian StyleJokinen, Leena, Tuire Palonen, Helka Kalliomäki, Oana Apostol, and Katariina Heikkilä. 2020. "Forward-Looking Sustainability Agency for Developing Future Cruise Ships" Sustainability 12, no. 22: 9644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229644
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