Navigating the multiplicity of sustainability policies in agribusiness supply networks: The role of policy brokers and advocates

Abstract

As pressure for sustainability performance increases from corporate, state, and non-state stakeholders, so does the complexity of the regulatory environment and associated policy regimes. This complexity is well characterized by the multiplicity of sustainability policies, which poses significant challenges—including policy tensions—for firms and their supply network partners to navigate. Despite its importance, this phenomenon has received limited scholarly attention. Using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), we investigate how policy brokers and advocates influence firm and supply network responses to sustainability policy tensions. Drawing on rich qualitative data from the palm oil sector, our findings identify two categories of policy tensions—exclusionary dynamics and framing/narrative struggles—which emerge from sociopolitical contestations pertaining to multiple sustainability policies. We identify six influence mechanisms (standard-setting, assurance systems, mediation; campaigning, legitimacy, collaboration) used by policy brokers and advocates to support firms in navigating policy tensions. Our study advances the ACF by extending the concept of policy subsystems to transnational supply networks and by unpacking how intermediary actors mobilize belief-driven coalitions to navigate contested policy environments. For practitioners, the study provides guidance on developing supply network governance and adaptation strategies to navigate complex and contested sustainability regulatory environments and foster sustainable supply networks. For policymakers, the study underscores the importance of inclusive, coordinated governance—emphasizing the need for co-regulatory models, communication equity, and managed multiplicity over one-size-fits-all harmonization. These insights provide a diagnostic framework and actionable strategies for navigating sustainability policy multiplicity in agribusiness commodity sectors.