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)

The three roles of business models in societal transitions: New linkages between business model and transition research

textCurrently, companies spend a great deal of effort on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosures. CSR disclosure relates to the provision of information on companies' environmental and social performance. From an economic perspective, companies might disclose this information to avoid or decrease potential political costs. We construct a CSR disclosure index based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. Using content analysis, we analyze 130 listed German companies' CSR disclosures (470 firm-year observations) to investigate the determinants of these voluntary disclosure activities. Our results show that, consistent with the political cost theory, German companies' disclosures of all CSR issues are affected by their visibility, shareholder structure, and relationship with their US stakeholders. In addition, higher profitability is associated with more environmental disclosures. Finally, size and industry membership affect the amount of CSR disclosure.

Determinants of voluntary CSR disclosure: Empirical evidence from Germany

Linking sustainability-oriented innovation to supply chain relationship integration

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to examine how social sustainability is considered in the study of supply chain management, thereby identifying key areas for future researchers to develop.




Design/methodology/approach




A systematic literature review of 109 studies is conducted. The papers have been analysed with a particular focus on their definition of social sustainability, research methods used, the central themes covered and the evolution of the debate including theories and the main findings.




Findings




Findings show that, first, researchers have thus far focused on principles for managing social change, developing measures for performance, identifying drivers and barriers, with few studies considering the social practices, particularly at the micro level and in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. Second, findings also reveal that there is less consideration of the suppliers’, as opposed to the buyers’, perspective.




Research limitations/implications




This review focuses only on social sustainability within supply chain management, without considering the economic and environmental dimensions.




Practical implications




This review provides the key themes and areas for managers/practitioners to consider when implementing social sustainability in supply chains. It also provides insights into under-researched areas together with the need for future researchers to move beyond frameworks and develop more tools and instruments for measuring social performance in practice.




Originality/value




This paper is one of the few studies that consider the social dimension of sustainability exclusively within the context of supply chains, providing insights and implications for further research.

How does social sustainability feature in studies of supply chain management? A review and research agenda

A configuration of sustainable sourcing and supply management strategies

An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria

Today humankind faces persistent ecological and social challenges that no single organization or individual can solve. Social entrepreneurship provides an innovative management perspective for addressing these problems by seeing them as an entrepreneurial opportunity. In order to emphasize the underlying mechanisms of how social entrepreneurs „do business“ we use the concept of business models as a generic framework. This concept helps to explain how social entrepreneurs creatively combine preexistent resources (e.g. financial, physical, human) in innovative ways and how value —financial and social —is created. We identify three social entrepreneurship business models - the „freemium“, the „catalyst“, and the „expertise broker“ model. We use three real-life examples to illustrate how social entrepreneurs have a distinct access to resources and integrate them innovatively in the configuration of their value proposition, value architecture, and revenue model.

Social Entrepreneurship Business Models: Managing Innovation for Social and Economic Value Creation

Gaining a better understanding of various actors’ information demands and developing suitable approaches to fulfilling them is key in managing sustainability performance in supply chains. Sustainability thereby creates different levels of uncertainty and equivocality. This paper investigates the challenges in managing sustainability information flows along several nodes in the supply chain.,A multiple case study approach explores the various sustainability information needs along different nodes of supply chains. For this, three automotive triads are investigated, each comprising an original equipment manufacturer, a first-tier supplier and a second-tier supplier.,The results reveal that fulfilling information demands presents a substantial challenge to each of the three actors, albeit a different one in each case: whereas focal companies seek to figure out what information may be relevant to sustainability performance, their direct suppliers struggle to develop suitable approaches for enabling second-tier suppliers to generate and provide such information.,Depending on the level of uncertainty and equivocality, companies are supported in approaching sustainability information needs by applying individual or collective processing mechanisms. Decisions on such mechanisms and organisational structure can help to allocate resources according to the degree of challenges to achieve a fit between information needs and mechanisms.,Reducing uncertainty and equivocality related to sustainability information provides a powerful approach to improving the sustainability performance along supply chains.,Having identified sustainability information challenges, the paper analyses and develops a typology of potentially useful approaches.

Addressing sustainability information needs along supply chains

Today’s dynamic business environments require that company expand their focus beyond the gates of their premises. The growing number and relevance of social and environmental issues, in particular, attracts companies’ efforts along the entire supply chain. Yet, doing so requires capabilities companies need to develop in order to cope with a dynamic set of challenges with various business effects. Using a key constituent in supply chains – interactions – as a starting point, this conceptual contribution conducts an initial investigation of how interactions can help develop dynamic capabilities for an effective sustainable supply chain management.

Roya Manuela Akhavan

Papers

A configuration of sustainable sourcing and supply management strategies

An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria

Social Entrepreneurship Business Models: Managing Innovation for Social and Economic Value Creation

Addressing sustainability information needs along supply chains

Interactions Along the Supply Chain for Building Dynamic Capabilities for Sustainable Supply Chain Management