{"title":"From Values to Value: The Commensuration of Sustainability Reporting and the Crowding Out of Morality","authors":"Koen van Bommel, A. Rasche, A. Spicer","doi":"10.1177/10860266221086617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221086617","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on extensive case study evidence, this study unpacks sustainability reporting’s evolution from a moral values–based practice toward a financialized value–based one. We argue that this transition can be seen as a commensuration project. We examine the dynamics of this process and its implications for sustainability-related outcomes. We find that increased levels of commensuration have moved sustainability reporting away from an original emphasis on morality and values to a focus on strategic value creation for the firm. We theorize this process as a “crowding out of morality” that is enabled by a rigid cognitive framing of social and environmental issues (objectification) and the monetized coordination of relevant social interactions (marketization). We outline implications of our analysis for the scholarly debates on the institutionalization of sustainability reporting and commensuration.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"36 1","pages":"179 - 206"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48654391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicolas Garcia-Torea, Carlos Larrinaga, Mercedes Luque-Vílchez
{"title":"Bridging the Understanding of Sustainability Accounting and Organizational Change","authors":"Nicolas Garcia-Torea, Carlos Larrinaga, Mercedes Luque-Vílchez","doi":"10.1177/10860266221083339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221083339","url":null,"abstract":"The role of sustainability accounting in promoting organizational change toward more sustainable practices is a relevant area of research for both accounting and organization studies. Despite the interdisciplinary nature of this topic, while accounting research was imagining and exploring the transformative potential of social and environmental accounting practices since the inception of this activity, scholars in organization studies have recently developed a more general interest in this matter. This article aims to review how the association between sustainability accounting and reporting and sustainable organizational change has been examined in both disciplines to elaborate on some potential bridges to foster the creation of an interdisciplinary research field around this association, where a fertile conversation could develop. The mapping of this literature prompts us to propose five bridges around: how accounting and reporting are conceived; the direction of causality between sustainability accounting and organizational change; the assemblage of explanatory factors; theoretical foundations; and research methods.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"36 1","pages":"17 - 38"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48088088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What Really Explains ESG Performance? Disentangling the Asymmetrical Drivers of the Triple Bottom Line","authors":"Logan Crace, Joel Gehman","doi":"10.1177/10860266221079408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221079408","url":null,"abstract":"Why is there such great heterogeneity in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance between firms? Drawing inspiration from the locus of performance literature, we use variance partitioning methods to analyze the extent to which CEO, firm, industry, year, and state effects explain variation in ESG performance over recent decades. Our findings show that internal effects (i.e., CEO and firm) are the strongest determinants. Yet, disaggregation of the multidimensional ESG construct shifts the salience of the factors significantly, revealing the importance of the external environment (i.e., industry and year) in explaining ESG concerns. Our research extends the locus of performance literature to our understanding of the triple bottom line and contributes to understanding the complex determinants of firm-level ESG performance across an array of positive and negative ESG indicators.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"36 1","pages":"150 - 178"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2022-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44065442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
O. Boiral, Marie‐Christine Brotherton, A. Yuriev, David Talbot
{"title":"Through the Smokescreen of the Dieselgate Disclosure: Neutralizing the Impacts of a Major Sustainability Scandal","authors":"O. Boiral, Marie‐Christine Brotherton, A. Yuriev, David Talbot","doi":"10.1177/10860266211043561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266211043561","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyzes the main neutralization techniques used in car manufacturers’ sustainability reports to disclose on the Dieselgate scandal. We conduct a conventional qualitative content analysis of 72 sustainability reports, covering the period 2013-2017, from 15 car manufacturers that were accused of unethical behaviors related to the measurement of diesel vehicle pollutant emissions. We then present a framework based on four configurations of neutralization techniques, namely, “head in the sand,” “self-proclaimed green leadership,” “wait and see,” and “start of a new era.” We describe that the manufacturers used heterogeneous neutralization techniques. Furthermore, the sustainability reports analyzed are relatively opaque and disconnected from the accusations made against the companies, which are widely reported by external sources. This article contributes to the emerging literature on the defensive impression management practices used to rationalize corporate misconduct in this area.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"175 - 201"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46113518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anthony W. Persaud, Harry W. Nelson, Terre Satterfield
{"title":"Reconciling Institutional Logics Within First Nations Forestry-Based Social Enterprises","authors":"Anthony W. Persaud, Harry W. Nelson, Terre Satterfield","doi":"10.1177/10860266211042659","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266211042659","url":null,"abstract":"The institutional frameworks that Indigenous groups put in place to govern economic processes within their communities are critical to the advancement of their diverse cultural-ecological, social, and economic development goals. Through the lens of institutional logics, this article examines the ways in which First Nations community sawmill enterprises in British Columbia, Canada, navigate the sectoral demands brought by a productivist paradigm of forestry. We find that First Nations community sawmill enterprises represent spaces of both logical tension and innovation where conflicts that arise between dominant “commercial” logics and culturally legitimate “Indigenous” logics can be reconciled. Through this analysis, this article offers an empirical example of the emergence of Indigenous institutional frameworks, as well as a contribution to the growing body of literature that addresses the ways in which hybrid organizations can and do navigate and overcome conflicting institutional logics.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"394 - 413"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42703800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human Hubris, Anthropogenic Climate Change, and an Environmental Ethic of Humility","authors":"E. Sadler‐Smith, Vita Akstinaite","doi":"10.1177/10860266211039000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266211039000","url":null,"abstract":"This article is about how hubris, individually and collectively, has contributed to the climate emergency and how an environmental ethic of humility could play an ameliorating role in the crisis. It focuses on the relationship between virtue ethics and the natural environment, and it argues that a collective “human hubris” (“The Problem”) has contributed significantly to anthropogenic climate change and that a “humility-based approach” toward the environment that entails an appreciation of humanity’s proper place in the natural order (“A Solution”). In it, we combine theories from the social and environmental sciences to propose an environmental ethic of humility as an “antidote” to human hubris by which leaders and other stakeholders could steer institutions, organisations, and behaviour towards environmental virtuousness. We also suggest the environmental ethic of humility as a benchmark against which stakeholders could be held to account for the environmental impacts of their actions. The article discusses the implications of hubris and humility in the areas governance, consumer behaviour, reputation, learning and education, accountability, and critical reflexivity.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"446 - 467"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45770338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Quest for Low-Carbon Mobility: Sustainability Tensions and Responses When Retail Translates a Manufacturer’s Decarbonization Strategy","authors":"L. Wannags, S. Gold","doi":"10.1177/10860266211028645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266211028645","url":null,"abstract":"Corporate action to tackle climate change is affected by multifaceted tensions, which are insufficiently investigated. It therefore remains unclear how tensions become salient and how they are responded to when a new strategy is introduced. We propose that translation theory can inform paradox theory and explore this conceptualization using a qualitative case-study research design. Specifically, we examine how retail translates the decarbonization strategy of a car manufacturer. We show how retail employees, in their role as translators, compare the manufacturer’s strategy against their context and thereby make tensions salient in a context-dependent manner. Additionally, we examine how translators respond to salient tensions by applying eight different contextualization mechanisms to resolve the tensions between the new strategy and contextual factors. In one subunit, the translation of the new strategy fails, and the tension persists. We derive two theoretical propositions from the studied patterns of the salience of and response to tensions.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"202 - 232"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/10860266211028645","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44520244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Erratum to Environmental Concern in a Capitalist Economy: Climate Change Perception Among U.S. Specialty-Crop Producers","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/1086026620922331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026620922331","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"34 1","pages":"171 - 171"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1086026620922331","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47136517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Managers and Network Interactions on the Integration of Circularity in Business Strategy","authors":"M. Eikelenboom, G. de Jong","doi":"10.1177/1086026621994635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026621994635","url":null,"abstract":"Integrating circularity in business strategy is difficult to achieve for companies as it requires impactful changes in core business processes. While research has focused on identifying key barriers, little is known about the organizational attributes that can assist businesses in integrating circularity in their strategies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the implications of organizational managers and network interactions for the integration of circularity in business strategy. Through using survey data from 627 SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) in the Netherlands, this study shows that managers who interpret circularity as an opportunity can have a positive direct and indirect effect on the integration of circularity in a company’s strategy. The results furthermore highlight the importance of circular network interactions for the integration of circularity in business strategy. This article contributes to recent calls for more empirical research into the integration of circularity and offers relevant insights for companies aiming to integrate circularity.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"365 - 393"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1086026621994635","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48547414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reformists, Decouplists, and Activists: A Typology of Ecocentric Management","authors":"M. Hernández, P. Muñoz","doi":"10.1177/1086026621993204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026621993204","url":null,"abstract":"Ecocentric management has grown in interest in business sustainability research, driven by recent debates on sustainability-as-flourishing and novel nature-based business approaches. While relevant and promising, examination and explanations remain anchored in conventional dualistic thinking and piecemeal logics. In this article, we seek to understand what conditions or combination of conditions enable the formation of ecocentrism in business management. Drawing on deep ecology and ecocentric philosophy, we develop a conceptual framework for ecocentric management, comprising ecological sensing, envisioning, and enacting. Leveraging this framework and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we map the responses of 160 small business owners and managers in Chile. Our analyses reveal three configurations of conditions, forming a typology of ecocentric management: Market Reformist, Legitimated Decouplist, and Self-Centered Activist. The article offers a new conceptual apparatus and systemic characterization of ecocentrism in business sustainability. It shows what matters and when for the formation of ecocentric thinking and decision-making in management.","PeriodicalId":47984,"journal":{"name":"Organization & Environment","volume":"35 1","pages":"282 - 306"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2021-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1086026621993204","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43896750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}