Why the future of supply chains may depend on abandoning endless growth

For businesses, growth is the celebrated metric. Every quarter, investors check if profits are increasing. Each year, governments celebrate GDP rises. It’s a never-ending pursuit of more customers, new products, and greater consumption. All of this equates to what businesses define as ‘success’. But what if exponential growth is unsustainable? Businesses may need to redefine how they measure their achievements.

A study co-authored by Annachiara Longoni (Esade Business School), Davide Luzzini (EADA Business School), Mark Pagell (University College Dublin), Veronica Devenin (University College Dublin), Joe Miemczyk (ESCP Business School), and Bobby Banerjee (Bayes Business School), published in the Journal of Supply Chain Management, explores a thought-provoking question: if endless growth is pushing environmental and social systems beyond their limits, how should businesses—and particularly supply chains—change? 

Excessive consumption and the need to generate endless profits are contributing to climate change, resource scarcity, and deepening social inequality. The researchers argue that businesses do not need to abandon growth altogether. Instead, they advocate strategies that support more sustainable and equitable forms of growth.

The concept of ‘post-growth’

‘Post-growth’ is an emerging economic approach that questions whether endless economic growth is compatible with a healthy planet and society. The study argues that supply chain management has yet to fully engage with post-growth thinking. According to the authors, post-growth is not anti-innovation, nor is it about recession or declining living standards. Instead, it challenges the assumption that perpetual economic growth should always be the primary objective.

Post-growth thinking encourages businesses to ask where growth creates genuine value and where it comes at too great a cost. The researchers suggest that continued expansion for industries that improve people's wellbeing or help tackle environmental challenges is beneficial. Meanwhile, those that consume excessive resources or create significant social or environmental harm should shrink.

This concept, known as ‘selective downscaling,’ is already happening. For example, many countries are phasing out coal-fired power generation, while investment in renewable energy continues to grow. We’re also seeing an increase in businesses built around repair, reuse, and circular production models, thanks to governments and consumers looking for ways to reduce consumption and waste.

These examples demonstrate how post-growth is not about shrinking economies, but more about boosting the growth of the most sustainable sectors. Increasingly, businesses are showing that reducing environmental impact and maintaining commercial success do not have to be mutually exclusive.

What would this mean for companies?

In an ideal world, businesses would evaluate success through a broader lens that includes environmental quality, worker wellbeing, social equity, and long-term resilience. This means a rethink of everything from sourcing decisions and manufacturing processes to product design and customer relationships may be needed.

One idea put forward in the post-growth literature initially appears counterintuitive: companies should work with their customers to reduce demand and production volumes. From a business growth perspective, this sounds unfeasible, but it’s already underway.

Instead of relying on frequent replacement cycles, some companies are investing in products designed to last longer, be repaired more easily, or remain in use through resale and refurbishment. Success for them is less about maximizing sales volume and more about creating lasting value.

Post-growth in practice

Notable mentions include outdoor clothing company Patagonia. The company encourages customers to repair garments rather than replace them through its "Worn Wear" program. Previously, it ran a "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign, which challenged consumers to think carefully before making unnecessary purchases.

Dutch fashion company Mud Jeans allows customers to rent a pair of jeans for several weeks, with the option to then keep them or hand them back to be reused.

Smartphone manufacturer Fairphone designs devices so they can be easily repaired and upgraded instead of discarded.

Different business models, but one objective: reducing resource consumption while creating value for customers. This is commercial success without dependence on producing and selling ever-increasing quantities of new products.

Post-growth isn't a blueprint for every company, according to the authors of the study. It's a way of rethinking how businesses create value and what success should look like in a world facing environmental and social limits.

Why supply chains are crucial

So what role do supply chains play? The supply chain helps companies deliver products faster, cheaper, and more efficiently. Typically, management of supply chains is focused on meeting customer demand while maximizing value and minimizing cost. But in a post-growth era, the question that should be asked is whether this priority is still appropriate when the result is environmental degradation and poor working conditions.

Supply chains are relevant at almost every stage of a product's life, from sourcing raw materials and selecting suppliers to transportation, manufacturing, product lifespan, and eventual recycling or disposal. The challenge here is that the supply chain becomes less visible to companies the further upstream they extend.

To move forward with a sustainable mindset, businesses should cease to view supply chains simply as systems for moving products efficiently. The study’s authors note that supply chains are deeply connected to wider social and ecological systems. Decisions made in one part of the chain can affect workers, communities, biodiversity, resource availability, and climate outcomes far beyond a company's immediate operations.

As Longoni and her co-authors explain, continuing to pursue growth while disregarding the wider social and environmental consequences is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. Ignoring these possibilities to continue with the traditional pursuit of growth would be irresponsible.

Changing priorities

While it may be unrealistic to expect all businesses to place less emphasis on profit, the research does serve to provoke a mindset shift in how success is measured. The art of successful business in the future could be more about balancing financial performance with social and environmental outcomes.