Environmental soundness: a pragmatic alternative to expectations of sustainable development in business strategy

In recent years, many companies have responded publicly to pressure to improve their environmental performance. The paradigm within which these responses have been made, however, appears to be confused. This paper proposes the role that companies are best able to play in the societal progression towards sustainable development. We argue that the concept of sustainable development may only be properly applied at the global level; it follows that a ‘sustainably developed’ company or industry sector is not a practical objective. Nevertheless, the contribution which business can make within a sustainable development framework is recognized as being of the highest importance. We suggest that the nature of this contribution pivots around a distinction between environmental soundness (which concerns the interaction between the environment and economics) and sustainability (which adds a broad social element to the environmental and economic, and requires the consideration of time horizons). It is proposed that companies are well positioned to pursue effective environmentally sound corporate strategies. It is also argued that such strategies offer great potential to advance social justice, as environmental improvements are often disproportionately beneficial to poorer groups in society. In contrast, arguments are presented against companies attempting to move beyond environmental soundness to address those broad social elements demanded by sustainable development. A broad allocation of those responsibilities inherent in sustainable development to societal institutions is presented, placing the suggested role of business into context. In advocating the adoption of corporate strategies based on environmental soundness we do not seek to derogate the concept of sustainable development; we do aim to stem the apparent continuing erosion of its fundamental tenets and to identify responsibilities that are appropriate to business. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Reshoring: a strategic renewal of luxury clothing supply chains

This paper contributes to the emerging literature on reshoring by taking a value-driven enquiry into the renewal of supply chain strategy. It enhances the understanding of the use of reshoring in generating the value demanded by a changing business model. An iconic British high-end clothing brand, Burberry, is the chosen case study to explore the recent move towards reshoring because its changes of leadership, business model and evolving supply chain strategy from 1997 to early 2016 provide a timely and pertinent context. Burberry has continued to realign its business towards a brand-led and customer-centric model along with restoring its corporate heritage and core brand values. The changes in Burberry’s business model triggered the need to renew and realign its supply chain strategy through consolidating and rebuilding manufacturing activities back in the UK, in order to support its brand repositioning as quintessentially British and the company’s refocus on heritage products. The increased managerial control in the supply chain together with the close proximity of design and manufacture enables the promise of quality and brand provenance to be fulfilled. The renewal of Burberry’s supply chain strategy has contributed to an increase in revenues and brand values. These findings suggest that the renewal of supply chain strategy through reshoring and increasing control in supply chain operations can enhance value and firm competitiveness.     

Stakeholder management and sustainability strategies in the French nuclear industry

This paper describes how a nuclear power corporation integrates sustainability into corporate strategies and practices. The case study focuses on one of the world's largest nuclear power generators and describes the corporate capture of sustainable development in its strategic efforts to promote a growth strategy. The paper shows how corporate strategies to address sustainability concerns involve managing different stakeholders, enabling the corporation to sustain its economic growth strategy. Three types of stakeholder management strategy are identified: reinforcement strategies for supportive stakeholders, containment strategies for obstructive stakeholders and stabilization strategies for passive stakeholders. The paper argues that, despite claims of sustainable development in the nuclear industry, there is no significant shift in the ‘business as usual’ approach and that sustainable development is merely reframed as sustainable growth. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Tensions and variations in call centre management strategies

Management strategies in call centres face a series of tensions stemming from conflicts between achieving efficiency and providing a quality service to the customer. Recent research suggests high commitment management (HCM) techniques are being applied in call centres in a paradoxical strategy of ‘low discretion, high commitment’(LDHC). This article presents case findings on four British call centres that confirm the LDHC model but suggest that it operates in a variety of forms. By characterising the research sites according to the combined dimensions of HCM orientation and job design implementation, a typology of LDHC approaches is proposed. These are containment, alleviation, structured employee development and involvement. In essence, the LDHC model is an attempt to reconcile the costs of control with the levers of commitment. However, an examination of the realities of LDHC in action reveals a varied but persistent pull towards control. Fundamentally this exposes LDHC as a substitute for, rather than a reflection of, commitment.     

Talent and leadership development practices as drivers of intention to stay in Lebanese organisations: the mediating role of affective commitment

This paper examines the relationships among investment in talent and leadership development practices in Lebanese organisations and two behavioural outcomes, affective commitment and intention to stay. Affective commitment is expected to mediate the relationship between talent and leadership development practices and intention to stay. We found that both talent and leadership development practices were positively related to intention to stay and affective commitment. We also found that affective commitment partially mediated the relationship between talent development and intention to stay and fully mediated the relationship between leadership development and intention to stay. The research and practice implications of the study findings are discussed.     

Cooperation or resistance? Representing workers' health and safety in a hazardous industry

This study considers the actions of worker health and safety representatives in coalmines in Queensland, where there is little evidence of the facilitating role of management previous studies have associated with the successful operation of worker representation in occupational health and safety. It examines how worker representatives deliver their pluralist representational role in a context characterised by essentially unitary thinking amongst their employers and the effectiveness of the strategies they use.     

The teacher as leader: The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness,commitment, and satisfaction

Emotional intelligence has emerged in the past decade as one of the crucial components of leadership effectiveness in many different contexts. The present study aimed at examining the relationships among emotional intelligence, leadership effectiveness, commitment, and satisfaction in education. Three hundred thirty‐two primary education teachers participated in the study conducted in Greece. Results, using structural equation modeling, showed that emotional intelligence, especially the intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions, has a positive effect on leadership roles, explaining 51% of variance. A strong positive effect was also apparent on teachers' commitment and effectiveness, as measured by teachers' perception. Leadership roles such as performance evaluation, motivation support, and development improvement had a strong influence on effectiveness. The findings could have implications for the selection and training of future educators.     

Reducing intentions to resist future change: Combined effects of commitment‐based HR practices and ethical leadership

Change management, and particularly the human side of change, is a central tenet of the strategy of contemporary organizations. However, there is little evidence concerning how strategic HR practices influence how individuals anticipate and react to the implementation of a major change and how direct supervisors influence that process. With a sample of 191 employees from multiple organizations, who completed two surveys with a four‐week lag, we examined the role of commitment‐based HR practices on employees’ intentions to resist future change. We found that commitment‐based HR practices contribute to a decrease in intentions to resist future change, measured four weeks later, via increased affective commitment to change. Moreover, we found that this relationship is conditional on ethical leadership, in that it is significant when ethical leadership is high but not when it is low. Building on social exchange and uncertainty reduction theories, our findings contribute to the literature by examining how and under what boundary conditions HR practices are an effective means for organizations to anticipate and manage change.     

Commitment in the workplace: toward a general model

It is now well recognized that employees can develop multiple work-relevant commitments, and that commitment itself is a multidimensional construct. Unfortunately, there remains considerable disagreement, both within and across work commitment literatures (e.g., organizational, occupational, union), about what commitment is, its dimensionality, how it develops, and how it affects behavior. We argue that commitment should have a “core essence” regardless of the context in which it is studied, and that it should therefore be possible to develop a general model of workplace commitment. We propose such a model based on the propositions that commitment (a) is a force that binds an individual to a course of action of relevance to a target and (b) can be accompanied by different mind-sets that play a role in shaping behavior. We demonstrate how this model helps to explain existing research findings and can serve as a guide for future research and for the management of workplace commitments.     

Hubristic Start-up Founders – The Neglected Bright and Inevitable Dark Manifestations of Hubristic Leadership in New Venture Creation Processes

The hubris tradition of research has been criticized for limiting its scope by associating hubris predominantly with detrimental leadership behaviours. To counteract this bias, we provide a more nuanced exploration of hubris and consider both beneficial and detrimental manifestations of hubris in start-up founders’ leadership behaviours. Our analysis, based on qualitative data from expert interviews and two case studies, indicates that, whilst hubristic start-up founders are likely to fail overall, they also excel in creating and communicating visionary scenarios, steering employees through critical situations, and extracting commitment from third parties. These under-researched ‘bright’ manifestations of hubris allow start-up founders to lead their venture towards a stage, in which their visionary power and resilience become crucial prerequisites for economic progress. Our findings extend knowledge on hubristic leadership, offer new directions for the hubris tradition of research, and open up avenues for future research with a more balanced view of hubris.     

The performance effects of human resource managers' and other middle managers' involvement in strategy making under different business-level strategies: the case in Hong Kong

We first developed theory arguing that HR managers' and other middle managers' involvement during strategy making would have different effects on performance for firms pursuing different business-level strategies. Then, our empirical study tested the hypotheses in the context of HR managers and middle managers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China. We found that HR manager involvement during strategy making was positively related to perceptions of future business performance. The use of a differentiation strategy was also positively associated with future performance. Neither the use of a cost leadership strategy, however, nor involvement by other middle-level managers, was directly related to perceived future performance. Interestingly, pursuit of a cost leadership strategy, combined with either high HR manager involvement or high middle manager involvement, produced high business performance. Thus, we found a positive and significant interaction such that increasing levels of manager involvement in strategy and a cost leadership strategy was associated with much higher levels of performance. Lower levels of manager involvement combined with the cost leadership strategy, however, were related to much lower performance. No such interaction effect was apparent for differentiation strategies.     

The fundraiser's journey: A developmentally informed,grounded theory analysis

Fundraisers play a vital role in the success of nonprofit organizations, yet relatively little is known about the experiences, motivations, and thought processes that inform their career choice and development. This exploratory, cross-comparative case study of 3 fundraisers addresses this gap in the literature by examining some formative influences on fundraisers' careers, their professional growth aspirations and opportunities, and how, if at all, they engage in personal philanthropy. Results suggest that fundraisers' aptitudes, skills, and abilities may influence their career choice more than a sense of connection to the nonprofit sector or organizational mission. Further, fundraisers seek opportunities to exercise leadership at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Additionally, their personal philanthropy and social embeddedness play integral roles in their professional development. Although not large enough for generalization, these results suggest the need to study fundraisers holistically, including their psychological development and social embeddedness over time. We argue for the need to move beyond traditional marketing and public relations perspectives to explain fundraising. Instead, future studies should adopt a service-dominant logic framing that considers fundraisers as part of a larger philanthropic ecosystem. We conclude with several questions to guide future studies toward this line of inquiry.     

企业社会责任战略模式演进的案例研究——以中远集团为例

本研究构建了企业社会责任战略模式的演进模型,将演进过程划分为起步、参与、整合和可持续发展四个阶段,并从战略意图、目标承诺、责任主题确认、利益相关者关系、管理措施、透明度和绩效评价七个维度对企业社会责任战略模式的演进阶段进行界定。以中远集团为例,对其2006—2011年度企业社会责任战略模式的演进过程进行了分析和判定。研究认为,企业社会责任战略规划的制定要在企业社会责任工作推进之初提上日程,并配以相应的资源,推动企业社会责任工作系统、规范、持续地前进。本研究所探讨的企业社会责任战略模式演进问题,对促进企业社会责任与战略管理领域的融合具有重要意义。     

Causes and consequences of psychological contracts among knowledge workers in the high technology and financial services industries

As organizations shift the central focus of their competitive strategy away from value appropriation towards value creation it is to knowledge workers that they will look to provide the innovation to fuel their continued development. The state of the relationship between the knowledge worker and the employer - the psychological contract - will determine whether this source of innovation and creativity is released. In this study, we developed and tested a causal model of the causes and consequences of psychological contract. Over four hundred participants who were knowledge employees drawn from eleven leading edge companies in the high-technology software, manufacturing and financial services sector participated in the study. We found support for the hypothesis that the psychological contract and those organizational processes relating to procedural justice would have a direct effect on two critical organizational outcomes, namely, employee commitment and intention to remain with the organization. We also found support for the hypothesis that psychological contract variables mediated the relationship between organizational processes and employee commitment and intention to stay with the organization.     

The role of HRM in developing sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions

Debates surrounding the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggest organizations need to pursue the objectives of a variety of stakeholders and human resource management (HRM), with its pluralist ideological underpinnings, is well-positioned to help in this endeavour. The dilemma for human resource (HR) practitioners is how best can engagement with the CSR agenda be achieved? This study addresses this question by drawing on data obtained through a systematic review of the literature (SRL). In doing so key roles undertaken by the HRM function as it works towards developing sustainable organizations are identified and the challenges that arise from the pursuit of divergent organizational goals are highlighted. This review concludes by first providing some sage advice to practitioners about how to navigate these contradictory objectives so that they can meaningfully impact on CSR efforts and second, by suggesting some directions for future research.     

Prosumer's commitment model: The case of a biodiesel cooperative

Consumers are becoming more aware of their role in the propagation of environmental issues, the transition from passive consumer to prosumer is emerging, and it is of interest to know the commitment factors that leads the biodiesel prosumer to act in favor of an organization which they belong in order to achieve one goal in common and contribute to local sustainable development. In this research, the prosumer is the one who participates as a member and consumer of a biodiesel cooperative. The prosumer's commitment is made up of two components: (i) nonactive or affective, identification with the organization, and (ii) active or participatory, action towards certain goals. The objectives of the investigation are to evaluate the biodiesel prosumer's commitment and know its causes and effects. The hypotheses on the causes and results of the prosumer's commitment are postulated in a structural equation model (SEM), whose theoretical basis corresponds to the double role of the prosumer: member and client of the cooperative. The SEM is evaluated from the perspective of the prosumer based on mixed methodology and partial least square (PLS). The proposed SEM explains 78% (R² = 0.78) of the variability of the contribution of the biodiesel cooperative to local sustainable development, where this contribution is directly and significantly impacted by the two components of the commitment. This case study identifies dimensions that lead the biodiesel prosumer to commit in the cocreation and consumption of renewable fuel, which gives more opportunities for long-term survival of this initiative in a competitive market.     

Leadership styles, need satisfaction and the organizational commitment of Greek managers

This article presents the results of an empirical study of the relation between the leadership styles, need satisfaction and the organizational commitment of Greek managers. The findings show that there is a negative relationship between need satisfaction and organizational commitment. This relationship is stronger for the higher-order than for the lower-order needs. Furthermore, the results provide some empirical evidence regarding the relationship between the superior's leadership style and the subordinate's organizational commitment. The findings show that in most cases studied, the commitment of the Greek managers was higher when the superior adopted a consultative leadership style. This style was also the one preferred by the majority of our respondents.     

Developing a sustainability ethic in leaders

The triple bottom line of fiscal, social, and environmental success considerably alters how organizations (and stakeholders) measure sustainable success. More important, however, is the conceptual shift required to understand and successfully lead organizations within this increasingly accepted paradigm. This article uses a mixed‐methods approach to explore the conceptual development of a sustainability ethic in aspiring leaders. More specifically, the authors report research examining the curriculum and pedagogy of a leadership education effort, in this case a college‐level course, aimed at effecting change in both individual aspiring leaders and their immediate community. The article describes the philosophical and research base for the curriculum and specific activities with their pedagogical approach. Results show evidence of increased awareness, importance, and commitment to sustainability as well as changes in how students conceptualize sustainability leadership. Findings offer insights for further developing leadership education for sustainability.     

Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy

Despite the growing awareness of complexity in sustainable development, the practical implementation of sustainability assessment through the use of sustainability indicators requires prioritizing the myriad indicators available. This study identifies the highest priority sustainability indicators for the New Zealand wine industry using materiality analysis. Thirteen information sources representative of different stakeholder perspectives considered to drive the need for sustainability assessment are analysed to provide a measure of sustainability issue salience and risk. Based on a meta‐analysis of relevant information, it is found that environmental issues make up the highest priority issues, followed by social issues relating primarily to worker wellbeing. Significantly, economic and governance issues were not found to be high priorities. These findings are discussed in the context of the common bias in agricultural sustainability assessment towards environmental issues, and the broader business implications for sustainability assessment, strategy and policy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Temporary Liaisons: The Commitment of ‘Temps’ Towards Their Agencies*

abstract The majority of research on organizational commitment has focused on commitment in traditional, ongoing and open‐ended relationships. The commitment of employees in non‐standard work arrangements such as temporary employment has been subject to much less theoretical and empirical investigation. In this study, we examine the affective and continuance commitment of temporary workers towards their agency and its determinants. We distinguish two groups of determinants: the process by which the temporary worker chose a particular agency and the support provided by the agency. The findings can be summarized as follows: (1) affective commitment among temps is generally higher than their continuance commitment; (2) having more alternative agencies to choose from (i.e., volition) does not enhance the commitment of temporary workers; (3) a public choice for a particular agency raises both types of commitment, whereas the perceived agency dependence created by the choice increases continuance, but not affective commitment; and (4) both types of commitment are positively influenced by agency supportiveness, reflected in the way the agency deals with problems, the career support it provides, and the way it keeps in close contact with its temporary workers. Finally, the results suggest that factors raising affective commitment may ‘spill over’ to increase continuance commitment.