From a literature review to a conceptual framework for sustainable supply chain management

Social Psychology of Organizations

The Rise of the Creative Class

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

Anarchy, state, and utopia

This paper analyses the use of strategies and instruments for organising ethics by small and large business in the Netherlands We find that large firms mostly prefer an integrity strategy to foster ethical behaviour in the organisation, whereas small enterprises prefer a dialogue strategy Both large and small firms make least use of a compliance strategy that focuses on controlling and sanctioning the ethical behaviour of workers The size of the business is found to have a positive impact on the use of several instruments, like code of conduct, ISO certification, social reporting, social handbook and confidential person Also being a subsidiary of a larger firm has a significant positive influence on the use of instruments The most popular instrument used by small firms is to let one member of the board be answerable for ethical questions, which fits the informal culture of most small firms With respect to 2 sectorial differences, we find that firms in the metal manufacturing and construction sectors are more actively using formal instruments than firms in the financial service sector and retail sector The distinction between family and non-family firms hardly affects the use of instruments

Strategies and instruments for organising CSR by small and large businesses in the Netherlands

This article examines the relationship between management’s view on corporate
social responsibility (CSR) and firms’ actual CSR efforts. It focuses on the practices
of 111 Dutch firms with respect to five stakeholder groups—employees, supplies, customers,
competitors and society at large—and their use of organisational instruments.
We find that the moral (intrinsic) motive, which holds that CSR is a moral duty
of companies towards society, induces a stronger involvement in CSR than the strategic
(extrinsic) motive, which holds that CSR contributes to the financial success of
the company in the long run. This particularly applies to ethical aspects of employee
relations and the use of instruments to integrate CSR in the company’s organisation.
With respect to consumer relations, the strategic and moral motives are equally
important. As for relations with suppliers and competitors and society at large, we
do not find a significant relationship between management’s strategic and moral
view on CSR and actual CSR performance.

/pdf/strategic-and-moral-motivation-for-corporate-social-d9bjse0ubl.pdf

Strategic and Moral Motivation for Corporate Social Responsibility

This paper analyses the use of strategies and instruments for organising ethics by small and large business in the Netherlands. We find that large firms mostly prefer an integrity strategy to foster ethical behaviour in the organisation, whereas small enterprises prefer a dialogue strategy. Both large and small firms make least use of a compliance strategy that focuses on controlling and sanctioning the ethical behaviour of workers. The size of the business is found to have a positive impact on the use of several instruments, like code of conduct, ISO certification, social reporting, social handbook and confidential person. Also being a subsidiary of a larger firm has a significant positive influence on the use of instruments. The most popular instrument used by small firms is to let one member of the board be answerable for ethical questions, which fits the informal culture of most small firms. With respect to sectorial differences, we find that firms in the metal manufacturing and construction sectors are more actively using formal instruments than firms in the financial service sector and retail sector. The distinction between family and non-family firms hardly affects the use of instruments.

Strategies and Instruments for Organising CSR by Small and Large Businesses in the Netherlands

Transparency is a crucial condition to implement a CSR policy based on the reputation mechanism. The central question of this contribution is how a transparency policy ought to be organised in order to enhance the CSR behaviour of companies. Governments endorsing CSR as a new means of governance have different strategies to foster CSR transparency. In this paper we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two conventional policy strategies: the facilitation policy and the command and control strategy. Using three criteria (efficiency, freedom and virtue) we conclude that both strategies are defective. Most attention is paid to the facilitation strategy since governments nowadays mainly use this. In evaluating this strategy we analyse the Dutch case. As an alternative we introduce a third government policy: the development of a self-regulating sub-system. By construing an analogy with the historical development of corporate financial disclosure, we point out that the vital step in the creation of a self-regulating subsys- tem is the creation of strong informational intermediate organisations.

/pdf/csr-transparency-and-the-role-of-intermediate-organisations-35r9qdp186.pdf

CSR: Transparency and the role of intermediate organisations

This paper investigates the possibilities and problems of benchmarking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). After a methodological analysis of the advantages and problems of benchmarking, we develop a benchmark method that includes economic, social and environmental aspects as well as national and international aspects of CSR. The overall benchmark is based on a weighted average of these aspects. The weights are based on the opinions of companies and NGO’s. Using different methods of weighting, we find that the outcome of the benchmark is rather robust for a sample of more than 50 large Dutch companies.

Johan Graafland

Papers

Strategies and instruments for organising CSR by small and large businesses in the Netherlands

Strategic and Moral Motivation for Corporate Social Responsibility

Strategies and Instruments for Organising CSR by Small and Large Businesses in the Netherlands

CSR: Transparency and the role of intermediate organisations

Benchmarking of corporate social responsibility: Methodological problems and robustness