Enabling environmentally sustainable practices in Vietnam through knowledge management: the case of TONTOTON

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study incorporates the Knowledge-Based View (KBV) of the firm to examine knowledge management in the context of sustainable practices based on the case of a firm undertaking plastic waste neutralisation in Vietnam, one of the leading nations in plastic waste. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted with all current members of the firm TONTOTON, and with a representative from its main business partner. The analysis underlined several key findings illustrated through 10 conceptual dimensions, with crucial relationships to the KBV. For instance, the “sustainability consciousness” dimension, depicted by participants’ attitude towards sustainability-based principles, aligns with “the knowledge requirements of production” and underscores the importance of previous knowledge. Furthermore, the “excelling” dimension, which emphasises the intention to achieve constant knowledge management-related growth, relates to both “capacity for aggregation”, and “specialisation in knowledge acquisition”. Extending from the adopted inductive analysis, the study proposes a theoretical model.