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Leaders and Laggards: The Influence of Competing Logics on Corporate Environmental Action
Abstract
We study the sources of resistance to change among firms in the Canadian petroleum industry in response to a shift in societal
level logics related to corporate environmental performance. Despite challenges to its legitimacy as a result of poor environmental
performance, the Canadian petroleum industry was divided as to how to respond, with some members ignoring the concerns and
resisting change (i.e., laggards) while others took action to ensure continued legitimacy (i.e., leaders). We examine why
organizations within the same institutional field responded differently, delaying the industry response. We found that one
population of firms was aligned with increasing pressures from its stakeholders for improved environmental performance, and
the other was influenced by local cultural, political, and economic ideals less demanding of environmental actions. Our results
reveal that several factors both at the institutional field level and the organizational level affected how these two populations
reacted to a changing societal logic. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.
... Danisman (2010) RC sources in organizations Demski (1993) Making decisions regarding initiating/maintaining collaborative organizational relationships Disogra et al (1990) Change management in translational informatics Edgerton et al. (2010) Micro-model of change and resistance to change in organizations George and Jones (2001) RC in industry and firms considering forces at both the organization and field level Herremans et al. (2009) RC generated by the language use among participants in change programs Homan et al. (2012) How the Estonian government meets international standards in the evidence-based policy-making process Kiilo and Kutsar (2015) Sources of RC in managers of a gas-transportation company Kot and Sidorenko (2013) Sources of RC in healthcare Landaeta et al. (2008) Barriers and sources of RC in hotel organizations Okumus and Hemmington (1998) Change procedures to facing early intervention programs Olson (1989) Errors in the formulation/implementation of strategic concepts Pechlaner and Sauerwein (2002) Values/perceptions about the use of ICT applications in elder care Savenstedt et al. (2006) Table 3 shows that most of the works (66.7%) were qualitative studies. Among them is the study by Homan et al. (2012), who discovered that RC can be the consequence of differences in the professional discourse of work teams. ...
... Among its manifestations is the lack of individual desire to improve the working or social conditions in the company. (v) Negative attitudes toward change: self-negating attitudes (toward the need for change), emerging, for example, due to the fear of what the change represents (e.g., Herremans et al., 2009;Nakhoda & Tajik, 2017). Within this group, immediate stress can be cited, given the uncertainty generated by a change. ...
... Considering the proposed taxonomy for RC sources, Figure 2 summarizes the presence of studies that make up the RLS in each typology already described. Mahdavian, et al. 2012;Herremans et al., 2009;Disogra et al., 1990); G (Pechlaner & Sauerwein, 2002); H (Pardo del Val & Martinez, 2003;Zulu et al., 2004;Kot & Sidorenko, 2013;Landaeta et al., 2008); I (Demski, 1993). Figure 2 shows, at a horizontal level, the RLS study groups according to the types of RC sources these comprised (letters A -I) under the lens of the proposed taxonomy. ...
Purpose: This article addresses the main concerns of existing literature about resistance to change (RC) in organizations, namely the limited interpretative position regarding RC focusing mainly on negative aspects and excluding potential benefits, and the poor consensus or even understanding of RC sources in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach: To approach our goal, a systematic literature review will be carried out. The initial sample, obtained using reproducible search algorithms on Scopus and Web of Science, comprises 65 papers. After applying five inclusion/exclusion criteria supported by previous systematic reviews, the final sample consists of 30 papers.
Findings: This article demonstrates the prevalence of a negative position toward RC and reveals efforts to harness the potential benefits of RC. In addition, from 126 specific RC sources extracted from the analyzed papers, it discovers and discusses 22 sub-typologies of RC sources, which are grouped into five typologies.
Practical implications: The paper enables the future identification of, evaluation of, and intervention in 22 potential RC sources in organizations distinguished into five typologies. The taxonomy also enables researchers to organize and summarize study topics/subtopics regarding RC in the organizational arena.
Social implications: This paper draws attention to the need to recognize the meaning and implications of three alternative positions relating to RC in organizations (positive, negative, and neutral).
Originality/value: The paper provides a comprehensive taxonomy of RC sources beyond the traditional classification of individual/organizational factors.
... By showing that field settlements are constituted by the progressive accumulation of micro-settlements, our study unpacks the nature of the shared understandings that constitute field settlements, and helps explain how and why fields guarded by powerful incumbents change in some circumstances (Greenwood et al., 2002;Zietsma et al., 2017) but not in others (Feront & Bertels, 2021;Grodal & O'Mahony, 2017). Specifically, it helps explain the gradual ratcheting up and/or watering down of voluntary regulations and standards (Buchanan & Barnett, 2021;Haack & Rasche, 2021;Moog, Spicer, & Böhm, 2015;Overdevest, 2010;Sethi & Schepers, 2014) which can be viewed as forms of field settlement, and highlights the precise ways that industry laggards prevent substantive field-level practice change (Herremans, Herschovis, & Bertels, 2009). Revealing the composition and structure of field settlements is useful, as it helps explain why field debates stall, or why protracted negotiations do not always lead to practice change, as achieving micro-settlements on certain aspects of an issue (whether it poses a risk to the industry, for example) is less challenging (as these are far less committing and binding) than achieving settlements on concrete, substantive and widespread practice change, including the measures used to evaluate them. ...
... Within industry-led FCOs, these struggles often take the form of conflict between industry leaders-namely, field incumbents who are more progressive, who view change as necessary and who want the collective to undertake work that helpss to close legitimacy gaps-and industry laggards, who are more conservative, who view signals of changing expectations as erroneous or exaggerated, and who want the collective to undertake work that helps defend and maintain the status quo (Herremans et al., 2009). Our study shows how field incumbents' calibrating practices in response to pressures arising from societal grand challenges enable or impede their openness to making substantive changes to current "ways of doing" and underscores the importance of these practices for understanding the dynamics of field settlement (re)formation at a micro-level. ...
... Enterprise environmental management practice can promote green innovation (Chen et al. 2015;Nath & Ramanathan 2016;Thoumy & Vachon 2012). When enterprises face regulations and policies, in order to offset regulatory costs and compliance costs (Sarkis et al. 2011), enterprises will take proactive measures and become more actively involved in environmental management practice to improve environmental conditions (Herremans et al. 2009;Jones 2010). Besides, for the purpose of greatly reducing the cost of this part and meeting the increasing market demand for environmental protection products, environmental management practice would stimulate enterprises to take the initiative to improve their internal innovation ability, and then achieve the "win-win" of environmental performance and innovation performance (Herremans et al. 2009;Jones 2010). ...
... When enterprises face regulations and policies, in order to offset regulatory costs and compliance costs (Sarkis et al. 2011), enterprises will take proactive measures and become more actively involved in environmental management practice to improve environmental conditions (Herremans et al. 2009;Jones 2010). Besides, for the purpose of greatly reducing the cost of this part and meeting the increasing market demand for environmental protection products, environmental management practice would stimulate enterprises to take the initiative to improve their internal innovation ability, and then achieve the "win-win" of environmental performance and innovation performance (Herremans et al. 2009;Jones 2010). However, some studies opposed this, arguing that environmental management practices hinder innovation efforts (Hsu et al. 2021). ...
Under the pressure of environmental crisis caused by production and economic development, a policy for Leading Officials’ Accountability Audit of Natural Resources (LOAANR) was issued in 2014 to reduce the environmental risks and gain high-quality economy. Taking LOAANR policy as the research object, and based on 2011 to 2018 panel data from Chinese heavy-polluting enterprises, this paper employed a two-way fixed difference-in-differences (DID) model to explore the relationship between the LOAANR, environmental costs (ECs) and green innovation (GI). It was found that the implementation of the LOAANR significantly promoted enterprise GI, with the regulating impact mechanism, EC. GI efficiency was measured by continuous DID method. A heterogeneity analysis revealed that non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs) were more eager to environmentally innovate. A corporate life cycle heterogeneity analysis of the GI policy effect found that the policy effect was negative in the decline stages. Compared with the eastern Chinese enterprises, enterprises in other regions were found to be more prone to positively adopting GI to maximize benefits in the face of the LOAANR. The policy was observed to have inhibited GI in central Chinese enterprises. It was also demonstrated that the policy effect has time and regional dynamic effect. Common trend, placebo, PSM-DID tests, and another robustness regressions were applied to support the conclusions. All the findings are expected to provide basic theoretical guidance for more environmental policies and high-quality production.
... Second, the empirical analysis enriches our understanding of the relevant role played by settled institutional logic and organizational embeddedness of sustainability-related demands and associated practices in a specific organization (Lepori and Montauti, 2020; Pache and Santos, 2013;Herremans et al., 2009). In the Chinese institutional setting, whilst the adoption of SRA practices is recognized as substantiating the sustainability reporting process; nevertheless, it is envisaged as a redundant, unrealistic change to the self-serving (and self-disciplinary) accountability mechanism established in a CSOE. ...
Purpose – This case study presents a critical analysis of why and how corporate managers in China are reluctant to adopt sustainability reporting assurance (SRA) provided by externally independent third-party assurers, despite the fact that it is acknowledged as a value-adding activity globally.
Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal fieldwork case study was conducted from 2014 to 2019 in a Chinese central state-owned enterprise (CSOE), a pioneer in sustainability reporting practice since the mid- 2000s, to collect first-hand empirical data on managerial perceptions of the adoption of external SRA. Semi- structured interviews with 25 managers involved in sustainability (reporting) practice were conducted. The interview data were triangulated with an analysis of archival documents and board meeting minutes pertaining to the undertakings of sustainability practices in the case study organization.
Findings – Our empirical analysis suggests that while managers recognize the benefits of adopting external SRA in enhancing the legitimacy of sustainability accountability, they oppose SRA because of their deep- rooted allegiance to the dominant logic of sociopolitical stability in China. SRA is envisaged to risk the stability of the socialist ideology with which CSOEs are imbued. Therefore, any transformational approach to accepting a novel (foreign) practice must be molded to gain control and autonomy, thereby maintain the hegemony of stability logic. Instead of disregarding external verification, managers of our case SOE appear to harness sustainability reporting as a navigational space to engage in internally crafted alternative manners in order to resist the rationality of SRA.
Originality/value – The empirical analysis presents a nuanced explanation as to why internal managers have hitherto been reluctant to embrace the embedding of independent assurance into the sustainability reporting process. Our prolonged fieldwork provides ample context-specific, intra-organizational evidence regarding the absence of SRA in Chinese CSOEs, which warrants more attention given their considerable presence in the global economy. In addition, the empirical analysis contributes to our understanding of the managerial capture of sustainability issues in a specific context of state capitalism and how organizations and individuals in an authoritarian regime interpret and respond to novel discourses derived from distinct institutional settings.
... Within this study, primary conflict is the divide between academic foundations of college athlete support service professionals. Considering the role of educational training as the guiding principle within respective fields, further investigation can provide deeper insights the presence of conflicting educational foundations within fields (20,40,59,60). ...
This study investigates the presence of competing educational foundations within college athlete support service units across the 65 'Power Five' conferences to call for more human development elements within sport management education and training. To determine the orientation of professionals within these units, educational foundation is used as the measure given the role education holds in establishing and communicating norms, values, and rules of practice for professionals within the discipline. Information was gathered through staff biographies and triangulated through secondary sources (university archives and social media accounts - LinkedIn and Twitter). Of the total population of professionals (n = 1095), 910 professionals were verified through the data search. The distribution of educational foundations shows an approximate distribution of 51%, 41%, and 8% distribution of human development, commercially-centric, and specialized educational foundations - respectively. Discussion and implications highlight the growing presence of (non-sport management) human development professionals within college athlete support services and calls for more human development orientation within the field of sport management.
... In the growing research on organizational sustainability frames, scholars have already discussed how frames impact sensemaking and decision-making on sustainability issues (Eberhardt-Toth & Wasieleski, 2013;Fassin et al., 2015;, while others have discussed the impact of organizational sustainability frames on business models (Laasch, 2018;Laasch & Pinkse, 2020); development of sustainability-oriented capabilities (Grewatsch & Kleindienst, 2018;Watson et al., 2018b); responsiveness to stakeholders (Bundy et al., 2012); and sustainability strategies (Branzei et al., 2000;Herremans et al., 2009;Joseph et al., 2019). Frames are also discussed outside the scope of corporate sustainability. ...
Our purpose is to develop a comprehensive categorization of organizational sustainability frames. This is necessary because a unified approach that considers the organizational sustainability frames of different organizations (FPOs, NPOs and hybrids) is absent in the extant research. Towards this end, we undertake an integrative review of 158 articles and identify seven frames based on three objective functions: maximization of economic capital, maintaining natural capital and creating social impact. Of the seven, three are dogmatic, each accepting only one objective function as legitimate: economic, natural and social capital; three are instrumental, with one objective function as the ultimate goal and the others as necessary means; and the last one is paradoxical, where tensions between objective functions are accommodated simultaneously rather than eliminated. We contribute to the literature by introducing the 'dogmatic frame' category to the ongoing conversation on organizational sustainability frames. We also contribute by demonstrating that instrumental frames exist not only at for-profit organizations but also at non-profits and hybrid organizations. Consequently, we link the conversation in these areas with that of organizational sustainability frames. Finally, we problematize the growing attention on the paradoxical frame by discussing its suitability in different contexts and situations.
Sustainability reporting is the new language of business communication with its stakeholders under the frameworks like GRI, TCFD, and CDP. Non-financial performances of the firms are increasingly becoming the critical assessment criteria of overall corporate performance. The present bibliometric study explores the dynamics of the scientific contribution in the area of corporate reporting using the PRISMA method. Nine hundred thirty-one documents were extracted from Scopus database for the bibliometric study after carefully choosing the most relevant documents following different levels of filtering in the broad PRISMA format. An analysis of publication patterns, temporal trends, geographical spread, research focus, authorship trends was conducted. Disclosures considering institutional theory, stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory further linking to financial and non-financial performance have been attempted. The study highlighted the trending areas of research as corporate governance, ESG reporting, role of stakeholders, etc. The study brings out the need for framework-centric research on CDP, GRI, TCFD, and more empirical studies on ESG parameters relating to operational performance. Lastly the dominance of sustainability is emerging as a key differentiator and disruption tool in the business world.
Purpose
This study examines how carbon tools, including carbon accounting and management tools, can be created, used, modified and linked with other traditional management controls to materialise and effectuate organisations’ response strategies to multiple interacting logics in carbon management and the role of sustainability managers in these processes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilises the construct of accounting toolmaking, which refers to practices of adopting, adjusting and reconfiguring accounting tools to unfold how carbon tools are used as means to materialise responses to multiple interacting carbon management logics. It embraces a field study approach, whereby 38 sustainability managers and staff from 30 organisations in New Zealand were interviewed.
Findings
This study finds that carbon toolmaking is an important means to materialise and effectuate organisations’ response strategies to multiple interacting carbon management logics. Four response strategies are identified: separation, selective coupling, combination and hybridisation. Adopting activity involves considering the additionality, detailing, localising and cascading of carbon measures and targets and their linkage to the broader carbon management programme. In adjusting carbon tools, organisations adapt the frequency and orientation of carbon reporting, intensity of carbon monitoring and breadth of carbon information sharing. Through focusing on either procedural sequencing, assimilating, equating or integrating, toolmaking reconfigures the relationship between carbon tools and traditional management control systems. Together, these three toolmaking activities can be configured differently to construct carbon tools that are fit for purpose for each response strategy. These activities also enact certain roles on sustainability managers in the process of representing, communicating and/or transferring carbon information knowledge, which also facilitate different response strategies.
Practical implications
The study demonstrates the various carbon toolmaking practices that allow organisations to handle the multiple interacting logics in carbon management. The findings provide suggestions for organisations on how to adopt, adjust and reconfigure carbon tools to better embed the ecological logic in organisations’ strategies and operations.
Originality/value
The authors identify how carbon toolmaking materialises and effectuates organisations’ responses to multiple interacting logics in carbon management.
The aim of this paper is to trace the development of the literature in an objective manner by applying the Systematic Literature Network Analysis (SLNA). It contributes to the literature by building a solid map for future research avenues in the stream of institutional logic and change. Our findings illustrate the time-based introduction in the literature of change mechanisms, such as theorization, rhetoric, representation, and a recent focus on professional role identity, especially in the healthcare context. Recent trends emerge: (i) contributions on emerging global trends, with the application of hybrid organization in sustainable transitions and social enterprises; (ii) increasing body of research applying Institutional Logics and Institutional work in the analysis of organizational change; (iii) increasing interest from scholars of different disciplines in applying the institutional logics perspective; and (iv) the need to further develop the underlying theoretical assumptions of Institutional Logics. Finally, some limitations: (i) selected time frame of analysis; (ii) only author keywords were considered; (iii) overlooking other valuable scientific contributions due to “Matthew effect”.KeywordsSystematic literature network analysisInstitutional logicsInstitutional change
Literature often shows that not all firms achieve similar outcomes in pursuing green marketing practices. Hence, what makes some firms more successful than others in formulating green marketing practices and achieving desired outcomes is of crucial importance. This study proposes that green marketing capability (GMC) is one of the factors that can explain this difference between firms. Based on resource-based view and dynamic capability theories, this research develops a theoretical framework to conceptualize and configure GMC. In doing so, this research specifically explores three research objectives: (1) what constitutes GMC, (2) how firms differ in their GMC configurations, (3) how such GMC configurations might lead to green marketing performance differentials. To answer these objectives, in a multi-industry setting, this study employs a multi-source data collection approach and uses managerial surveys (n = 158), objective financial information, and uses configuration (cluster) approach for data analysis. The findings show that firms can develop GMC in two ways: through green market sensing (comprising of learning and planning activities) and green market execution (encompassing marketing mix and cross-functional orientations). Based on GMC configurations, firms can be classified into three groups: opportunity seekers that excel in both sensing and execution capabilities and act as green market prospectors; conservative compliants that lag behind in both these aspects and act as green market defenders; and critical adopters that lay medium emphasis on green market sensing and execution activities and maintain a balanced “wait and see” approach. The results also show that firms can achieve the best possible green marketing performance by adopting an opportunity seeker's strategy. The study highlights several research and managerial implications for firms to adopt innovative GMC practices.
Offered here is a conceptual model that comprehensively describes essential aspects of corporate social performance (CSP). The three dimensional model address major questions of concern: (1) What is included in the definition of CSR? (2) What are the social/stakeholder issues the firm must address? and (3) What is the organization's strategy/mode/philosophy of social responsiveness.
The first dimension is the source of the original four-part definition of CSR originated: economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (later termed philanthropic). It was later presented at the CSR Pyramid (1991).
Existing theories of the nature of the state in Western capitalist democracies have been mostly propounded from one of three major theoretical perspectives, each emphasising a particular aspect of the state: the 'pluralist', which emphasises its democratic aspect: the 'managerial', which emphasises its bureaucratic elements: and the 'class', which focuses on its capitalistic aspect. Each of these theoretical perspectives has contributed something to our understanding of the state, but each also has its limitations. In this book, Alford and Friedland evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective and present a new, synthetic framework for a more comprehensive theory of the state. Impartially reviewing the major historical and empirical works within each theoretical tradition, they reveal how empirical study has been shaped by theoretical assumptions. They agree that each perspective has a distinctive 'power' to understand part of the reality of the modern state, although it is powerless to explain other parts. In each case, the part that can be explained is the perspective's 'home domain', or the aspect of the state that it emphasises, while other aspects are either rejected or reinterpreted. The authors argue that the state cannot be adequately understood unless full account is taken of each of these home domains, and they suggest how the contributions of each perspective to the explanation of its own domain can be integrated into a new, and more powerful, theory.
This study tests a central proposition of institutional theory, that organizational isomorphism increases organizational legitimacy. Results show that isomorphism in the strategies of commercial banks is related to legitimacy conferred by bank regulators and the media, even in the presence of organizational age, size, and performance.
- This paper describes the process of inducting theory using case studies from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Some features of the process, such as problem definition and construct validation, are similar to hypothesis-testing research. Others, such as within-case analysis and replication logic, are unique to the inductive, case-oriented process. Overall, the process described here is highly iterative and tightly linked to data. This research approach is especially appropriate in new topic areas. The resultant theory is often novel, testable, and empirically valid. Finally, framebreaking insights, the tests of good theory (e.g., parsimony, logical coherence), and convincing grounding in the evidence are the key criteria for evaluating this type of research.
