From trade-off to paradox: a configurational theorizing and “quantum” approach to the resilience–sustainability tension in global sourcing

Abstract Global sourcing is increasingly caught between two persistent pressures: to be sustainable and resilient. While this relationship is often framed as a trade-off, we draw on paradox theory to conceptualize it as a persistent paradox, especially for MNEs coordinating complex supplier networks. Most paradox research addresses either how tensions are embedded in organizational systems or how they are socially constructed by managers, but rarely both. Drawing on the "quantum" approach to paradox, we bridge these ontological and epistemological perspectives, arguing that the resilience–sustainability tension is rooted in the structure of global sourcing systems and made salient through how managers interpret and combine sourcing decisions. Following a configurational roadmap of three stages—scoping, linking, and naming—we theorize five systemic sourcing factors (location choice, supplier redundancy, inventory buffer, green certification, and the sustainability premium) and examine how they are evaluated by 72 Italian procurement managers through a factorial survey, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, and interviews. Managers favor coherent bundles over standalone levers, combining certification-based sustainability assurance alongside resilience-oriented levers such as proximity, redundancy, and buffers. We conceptualize three archetypal sourcing logics— integrator , resilience-first , and cost-only —offering managers a practical vocabulary for framing and legitimating sourcing choices when both pressures collide.