The blind spots of interdisciplinarity in addressing grand challenges

When implemented effectively, interdisciplinary research can produce practical impact towards addressing societal “grand challenges” while also generating novel conceptual insights that advance theory. However, despite decades of calls for interdisciplinarity, research communities continue to become more siloed and less impactful. This paper aims to highlight the obstacles to interdisciplinary work contained within the accounting community, specifically those associated with Interdisciplinary Accounting Research (IAR). We argue that, in order to overcome these obstacles and produce more effective and impactful interdisciplinary work, we require four IAR practices: Problem-solving, Public engagement, Professionalism and Performance Revision. Our purpose is to identify challenges as well as solutions that reduce the friction that accounting academics experience when collaborating with scholars outside their research discipline, especially when it concerns addressing grand challenges

Institutional voids and organization studies: Towards an epistemological rupture

In this essay, we critique the usage of the term ‘institutional void’ to characterize nonWestern contexts in organizational studies. We explore how ‘conceptual stretching’ of institutional voids – specifically, the theoretical and geographic expansion of the concept – has led not only to poor construct clarity, but also pejorative labeling of non-Western countries. We argue that research using this term perpetuates an ethnocentric bias by deifying market development and overlooking the richness and power of informal and non-market institutions in shaping local economic activity. We call for an ‘epistemological rupture’ to decolonize organizational scholarship in non-Western settings and facilitate contextually grounded research approaches that allow for more indigenous theorization

The morality of informality: exploring binary oppositions in counterfeit markets

In seeking to explain the persistence of the informal economy – defined as the set of economic activities that are illegal yet legitimate to some large groups – scholars often focus on instrumental economic factors; in doing so, the role of morality is often overlooked. In response, we conduct a qualitative study of Pakistani counterfeit bazaars, to understand how market participants construct moral legitimacy in a way that justifies participation in, and thus contributes to sustaining, the informal economy. We reveal how the terms “counterfeit” (representing the informal economy) and “authentic” (representing the formal economy) function as an oppositional pair, both within the emic perspective of market participants but also within a baseline etic perspective of Western Intellectual Property regimes. Compared with this baseline, we find that market participants engage in three types of semantic transformation (invalidation, reframing and inversion) that shape moral assessments of authentic and counterfeit consumption. Through our study, we first contribute to a better understanding of how legitimacy in the informal economy is constructed. We also contribute to theory on “legitimacy as perception”, indicating how moral legitimization can occur through a dynamic of binary opposition between what is deemed to be “moral” and “immoral”. Our final contribution is towards understanding how morality around counterfeit consumption is constructed

CSR decoupling within business groups and the risk of perceived greenwashing

Research Summary: Given the growing legitimacy of corporate social responsibility (CSR), many firms engage in symbolic communication to showcase CSR without undertaking commensurate substantive actions. This “CSR decoupling” can create a risk of perceived greenwashing, which, in turn, may negatively affect a firm's performance. In this study, we explore an unexamined antecedent of decoupling: interfirm affiliation. Specifically, we use the structure of Business Groups (BGs) to investigate CSR decoupling across rather than within firms. We find that apex firms within a group are more likely to engage in CSR decoupling compared with non‐apex firms and, importantly, are partially shielded from greenwashing perceptions by the market. Our research contributes to the literatures on decoupling, perceived greenwashing, and the role of BGs and their CSR practices. Managerial Summary: Companies that engage in symbolic communication about corporate social responsibility (CSR) without substantive actions risk being perceived as “greenwashers,” a perception that harms firm performance. Our study demonstrates how, in certain contexts where firms are affiliated with others, this may not occur. For instance, apex firms within Business Groups (BGs)—where firms are interconnected through equity and social relationships—can report on the CSR actions of non‐apex affiliates without providing commensurate substantive actions of their own. Importantly, the control and coordination abilities of these apex firms protect them from greenwashing perceptions. This study, therefore, demonstrates the role of BGs in shaping CSR practices and provides insights for managers to understand the potential risks and benefits of affiliations within BGs

From global formulation to local legitimation : the trajectory of urban sustainability

Cette thèse considère le développement d'une idée puissante dans l'espace transnational – celle de "mythe du monde " - et analyse l'effet de ce mythe sur les structures et discours organisationnels contemporains. Ma recherche porte sur les transformations du développement durable au XXe siècle et examine les effets de ce mouvement dans le contexte de la gouvernance urbaine. Trois articles composent cette thèse, reposant chacun sur un pilier théorique distinct. La premier est la littérature relative aux « dépendances de sentier », qui encadre l'émergence transnationale du développement durable comme un processus de négociation du sens. Le concept de régime d’intermédiation constitue le deuxième pilier théorique de cet ouvrage et permet d’éclairer les mécanismes et acteurs responsables de la diffusion du mythe aux acteurs locaux. Le dernier chapitre repose sur une théorie des récits institutionnels et souligne comment les nouvelles organisations légitiment leurs principes fondateurs - et leur existence même - grâce à une combinaison stratégique de discours locaux et transnationaux. Chacun de ces articles emploie une méthode qualitative d'étude de cas, proposant une approche chronologique des processus en jeu. Le premier chapitre utilise une méthode de généalogie conceptuelle portant sur l’identification de glissements de sens au sein de textes clés marquant des moments historiques. Le deuxième chapitre emploie une analyse historiographique d’archives institutionnelles visant à définir les stratégies d'un intermédiaire central dans la diffusion de l’idée de développement durable auprès de partenaires locaux. Le troisième chapitre utilise une mise en contraste de contextes institutionnels afin de souligner les similitudes et différences entre les récits de deux des plus grands projets de développement urbain durable au monde. L'objectif de cette thèse est triple. Je démontre, d’abord, comment une dimension apparemment évidente de la gouvernance organisationnelle n'est pas le résultat statique d'un processus d'institutionnalisation rationnel mais plutôt un produit malléable, objet de négociations discursives permanentes. Deuxièmement, je souligne l'impact d'un mythe transnational sur le discours d’organisations locales, éclairant par la même comment un mythe peut être utilisé comme ressource stratégique dans la construction une légitimité. J'illustre, enfin, l’effet retour que peuvent avoir les applications locales du mythe sur les discours transnationaux, participant à la redéfinition du mythe à l’échelle mondiale au fil du temps.This dissertation focuses on the development of a powerful idea in transnational space – referred to here as a “world myth” – and demonstrates the effect of this myth on contemporary organizational structures and discourses. My research takes the environmental movement in the twentieth century as an object of study, examining the effects of this movement within the context of urban governance. There are three theoretical pillars which comprise the dissertation: The first is the literature on path generation, which frames the transnational emergence of environmentalism as a process of negotiation around meaning. The second pillar is based on the concept of regime intermediation, illuminating the mechanisms and actors behind myth diffusion to local actors. The final chapter is founded upon a theory of organizational narratives, highlighting how new organizations legitimate their founding principles – and indeed their very existence – through a strategic combination of local and transnational discourse. These three papers all employ qualitative case study methods, oriented around a process thinking approach. The first chapter is based upon a conceptual genealogy method, identifying changes in meaning contained within key texts at specific junctures in time. The second chapter employs a historiographic archive analysis of organizational reports, to trace the strategies of one influential intermediary charged with diffusing environmentalism to local recipients. The third chapter uses a contrast of contexts approach to highlight the similarities and differences between narratives in two of the largest urban sustainability projects in the world. The objective of this dissertation is threefold: First, I demonstrate how a taken-for-granted aspect of organizational governance is not a static outcome of a rational institutionalization process, but rather a malleable product subject to ongoing discursive negotiations. Secondly, I highlight the impact of a transnational myth upon local organizational discourse and narratives, and identify how a myth can be used as a strategic resource to build legitimacy. Finally, I illustrate the feedback that local adaptation provides for transnational level discourse, defining the transnational conceptualization of the myth over time

Marginalized Communities and the Problem of Research Extraction

‘Wait – is that it? Are you coming back tomorrow?’-Interviewee in the township of Delft, South Africa These questions were raised at the end of an interview in 2019, when the first author was conducting research in South Africa on informal economy entrepreneurs. Here was an informant who had just finished recollecting some difficult moments in his life, revealing an implicit expectation that the interview would yield further interactions and reciprocity stemming from the exchange. Yet the naïve researcher struggled to explain to the interviewee that he was leaving South Africa the next day because he had concluded his data collection. We are both part of a growing number of management and organization researchers who are studying marginalized groups such as refugees, modern slaves, low-caste communities, indigenous peoples or necessity entrepreneurs. The aim of this work is to not only generate novel insights into the factors that drive, sustain and disrupt socio-economic inequalities and inequities, but also challenge the taken-for-granted epistemological and ontological assumptions in management and organization research. However, we observe that, more often than not, the financial, professional and reputational benefits of such work accrue to the researchers involved rather than the communities under study: this is, effectively, a phenomenon of extraction, where knowledge and insights from locals – who have lived experiences of marginalization, exclusion, precarity and deprived human rights – are mined and exported for consumption in places that are far removed, culturally, economically, and geographically from the source. It is as pernicious a practice as it is subtle: conventional resource extraction involves the visible removal of a tangible resource, while this form of ‘research extraction’ can be executed with participants having little say or control over their own narratives – or even knowing that their experiences are being shared. In this essay, we feel compelled to underscore how problematic research extraction is and identify ways that we, as management scholars, can (and must) mitigate it. These are issues that both of us have both been grappling with in our own work; one of us focuses on impoverished informal economy entrepreneurs in South Africa and the other examines smallholder farmers in Southern Brazil. We have been seeking to move away from a templated and taken-for-granted approach to research, where we collect data on marginalized populations in short, intensive bursts of fieldwork, followed by a return to the ivory tower to write papers, secure grants, present in climate-controlled conference centres and publish in pay-walled journals (perhaps claiming an award along the way for novel or relevant research). This research approach – based on principles of decontextualization, researcher objectivity and contributions to theory instead of practice (Gibbons et al., 2010) – is pervasive yet, we argue, immoral when it comes to studying people in precarious (and sometimes literally life and death) circumstances. Inspired by the approach of our Brazilian community partner organization that works with local yerba mate tea producers, we propose an alternative paradigm that we label as ‘research infusion’, where we seek to engage in reciprocal action: we seek to absorb (with consent) insights from those steeped in the context while also infusing the context with what we have to offer (knowledge, worldviews, resources, etc.). The emphasis is on research ‘with’ and ‘for’ rather than ‘in/on’ or ‘about’ marginalized communities (Fahlberg, 2023). By outlining what research infusion looks like, we seek to develop a call to action for management scholars who study marginalization, to reflect upon what they can (and must) do differently throughout the research process to avoid extractive practices. Beyond the individual-level call for management scholars to shift their mindsets and practices away from research extraction, we also underscore how research infusion necessitates system-level changes to our profession and to the institution of the business school. Our essay therefore also targets journal editors and deans, calling for changes on how we study marginalization

Evolving conceptualizations of organizational environmentalism

Over the past 30 years, organizations of many different kinds have introduced environmental preoccupations into decision-making, engaging with – and in many cases co-constructing – a striking array of rankings, best practices, standards and other governance tools. However, there has thus far been surprisingly little exploration of the evolving normative implications of environmentalism: existing organizational research treats environmentalism as a static, uniform and quasi-naturalistic phenomenon. In this article, we argue instead that environmentalism is fluid and multifaceted, evolving over time to produce differing conceptualizations that become affiliated with – and mobilized by – particular groups of actors. Using the theoretical framing of path generation, we identify how environmentalism follows a path characterized by episodes of re-conceptualization and re-labelling, a discursive evolution reflecting incremental yet consequential interactions with other institutional paths. We engage in a conceptual history to identify junctures where environmentalism meets with other institutional trajectories, facilitating shifts in meaning. We identify moments of crookedness in the transnational environmental path that are symbolically reflected in label changes – from the emergence of “sustainable development” in the 1980s, to “sustainability” in the 1990s, and more recently, an offshoot towards “resilience”. Those label changes are not only, we propose, symbolic markers but are also performative and entrench consequential regime transformations with regard to environmentalism. Through our exploration, we contribute to theory development while also generating empirical implications: theory-wise, we identify mechanisms of path generation that inform broader debates around path dependence. Empirically, we illustrate how different variants of environmentalism are connected to specific meaning systems, exhibiting affinity with different organizational fields

Inhabited Actors : Internalizing Institutions through Communication and Actorhood Models

We argue that accounts of relationships among actors, actorhood and institutions are predominantly based on a spatial metaphor of actors operating within institutions. We outline how an inversion of this metaphor – i.e., the perspective that institutions inhabit actors – may prove generative for theory, particularly with respect to recent discussions about the microfoundations of institutions. We outline how communication and actorhood models function as transmission mechanisms of institutions from one actor to another. We conclude with a discussion of how the inverted metaphor of institutions inhabiting actors can be useful for future theoretical developments