Barriers and bridges to the adoption of environmentally-sustainable offerings

•Twenty managers were interviewed to see how their firms overcame adoption barriers.•Supplier barriers cost, ease of use, credibility, and offering creativity/execution.•Intraorganizational barriers organizational structure and culture.•Alignment of suppliers' actions, communications, and offerings bridge barriers.

This research identifies the factors that inhibit the incorporation of environmentally-sustainable offerings into firms' operations, while outlining strategies that environmentally-sustainable suppliers can use to overcome such adoption barriers. A discovery-oriented approach analyzes twenty in-depth interviews with mid- and senior-level managers whose firms were faced with, and yet overcame, adoption barriers. Results indicate that supplier related barriers, such as associated costs, ease of use, suppliers' credibility, and their offerings' creativity and execution, and intraorganizational barriers, such as organizational structure and culture, inhibit adoption. The refinement and alignment of suppliers' actions, communications, and offerings were suggested to aid in overcoming the barriers. This research yields insights for both research and practice, as it provides a series of testable research propositions, supports several theories, and furnishes supplier firms with strategies to better position their firms and offerings.