Organisational fitness searches in the Anthropocene : integrating paradox and corporate sustainability

In this paper I explore the notion that ‘organisational fitness’ as conceptualised in complexity theories represents an inherent and enduring paradox in corporate evolution. More specifically, in a changing world – increasingly characterised as the Anthropocene – firms’ fitness is significantly determined by the ability to manage the persistent trade-offs between maximising profit and survival. I develop proposals to suggest that firms with stronger corporate sustainability efforts are institutionalising organisational search and change processes, and therefore that those that internalise the resulting paradoxes as part of their identity are likely to be better adapted and more resilient. In doing so I attempt to explain why corporate sustainability efforts represent an extension of other paradoxes in general organisational evolution and thus contribute to the complementarity of a systems view on sustainability research and paradox theory

Sustainable supply chain management and partner engagement to manage climate change information

Climate change poses significant new risks and challenges for businesses and their supply chains. Additionally, in many sectors scope 3 indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from the sourcing and distribution of goods and services are larger than firms’ own carbon footprints. Here we study how firms engage their key stakeholders in their supply chains in obtaining, processing and transferring relevant climate change related information designed to overcome information asymmetry and drive sustainable development. Grounded in organisational information processing theory (OIPT), we draw on data from the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Climate Change Supply Chain initiative for a qualitative content analysis of a large sample of global firms. Consistent with OIPT, we find that while firms primarily engage their supply chain partners in a variety of ways to reduce information uncertainty around indirect emissions data, effectively interpreting and managing broader sustainability information equivocality becomes a growing priority. Our findings further suggest that firms engage suppliers, customers and other supply chain partners through basic, transactional and collaborative types of engagement. We contribute to literatures on inter-organisational information processing and sustainable supply chain management by providing a more detailed understanding of how firms engage supply chain partners in the context of climate change

The role of umbrella agreements in achieving sustainability goals : energy efficiency at the Empire State building

In this paper we investigate whether innovative and flexible contractual arrangements can support the process of achieving ambitious sustainability goals. We explore this question through an analysis of the role of umbrella agreements in driving energy savings in the building sector. Drawing on a case study of the iconic Empire State building, we examine the typical challenges faced by clients and contractors in devising suitable agreements that facilitate managing contractual and performance risks, as well as the sharing of responsibilities and cooperation between multiple project stakeholders. We find that the project arrangements appear to exhibit the adoption of the key characteristics commonly found in umbrella agreements which incorporate sustainability measures that maximize income through efficient delivery of outcomes. Specifically, this means that they need to enable stakeholders to manage repeated review cycles, complex perceptions and expectations, and different tacit assumptions and codes of behaviour, as well as managing and communicating in networks and obtaining agreement also from non-contractual parties. Moreover, we demonstrate that umbrella agreements can facilitate a network perspective of business relationships by emphasizing value co-creation and the embeddedness of firms within a network of interactions

Between inertia and adaptation: state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy

Companies in the 21st century are exposed to a variety of pressures to respond to a plethora of environmental issues. Understanding how these issues impact companies over time is, therefore, important for corporate practitioners and policy makers alike. This thesis investigates the state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy with the help of a multi-study, longitudinal research design. Theoretically grounded in complexity theory, a conceptual framework is developed that portrays organisations as open systems within which agents interact and attempt to improve organisational fitness. By conceptualising the organisational metaphor of ‘rugged fitness landscapes’, firms are depicted as complex adaptive systems searching for peaks on a constantly changing fitness landscape in order to guarantee economic long-term profit and survival. While study one examines environmental responses among a stratified sample of UK companies through repeated interviews both in 2006 and 2008, the second study draws on KLD data from S&P500 corporations for the period 1991 to 2006 by distinguishing between changes at firm and at population level. The findings suggest that the state and evolution of corporate environmental strategy are effectively subordinated to contributing towards firms’ fitness, whereby firms mostly attempt to remain profitable and obtain social legitimacy. Even over longer periods of time this behaviour has not changed markedly, except that starting from around 2004 higher levels of oil prices and lower interest rates have spurred more proactive environmental changes among a number of firms. Equally, different motivations, individuals and contextual factors appear to influence the varying patterns of evolution. The thesis fills a gap in the existing literature with respect to the lack of conceptual and empirical contributions about the evolution of corporate environmental strategy by providing new insights into how firms are responding to environmental issues over time and by extending various strands of theory.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Emerging energy geographies : scaling and spatial divergence in European electricity generation capacity

This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of the related EU internal energy market and renewable energy policies by exploring the (sustainable) energy transition in the EUropean electricity sector and drawing on the emerging literatures on energy geographies. We use evidence aggregated from plant-level data on installed electricity generation capacity in the EUropean electric utilities sector over the period 1990–2013 to demonstrate how the unintended interaction between EU policies on energy market liberalization and climate change have led to new renewable energy entrants and more widely dispersed ownership of total generation capacity. Our empirical results suggest that six energy geography concepts enable deeper insights into the spatiality of the EUropean energy transition. Specifically, we find that territoriality and scaling are key lenses for interpreting the differentiated change processes occurring at EUropean, subregional and national levels. The EUropean energy transition is unlikely to converge onto a single trajectory any time soon, but particularly subregional approaches are argued to offer policy-makers with more spatially cognizant and effective levers

Conceptualising sustainability as the pursuit of life

Complex and urgent challenges including climate change and the significant decline in biodiversity provide a broad agenda for interdisciplinary scholars interested in the implications facing businesses, humanity, and other species. Within this context of sustainability, persistent conflicts between key paradigms create substantial barriers against—but also opportunities for—developing new conceptual approaches and theoretical models to understand and respond to these critical issues. Here, I revisit paradigmatic tensions to assess their impact on research and debate on sustainability, ethics, and business. Drawing on relational ontology and values of nature that recognise humanity’s tight embeddedness within the planetary ecosystem, I examine how conceptualising sustainability as the pursuit of life might generate new insights for research and practice into the wider transformation needed to sustain and restore socioecological systems. The aim here, however, is not to reconcile these paradigmatic tensions but instead use them as a fruitful lens for examining the implications for sustainability, while acknowledging the inherent ethical dilemmas for individuals, organisations, and society

Integrating impact investment and Nexus thinking – opportunities and challenges

The world is facing enormous challenges in achieving sustainable development. Predictions of significant population and economic growth as well as increasing rates of globalisation, urbanisation and climate change raise questions about humanity’s ability to continue with existing economic growth patterns. Despite progress in many areas, there are widespread concerns about providing water, energy and food security, particularly for many of the world’s poorest citizens