CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

Who needs memory? The case for the Markovian organisation

This paper examines the contradiction of organisational memory: that an organisation requires a memory to operate effectively, but that that same memory inhibits and constrains its ability to operate effectively. We briefly review the field of organisational memory and note its close connection with organisational learning.We introduce a conceptual framework pioneered by Schultze and Stabell for examining contradictions in the area of knowledge management. We use this framework to distinguish between the conventional view of organisational memory, which implicitly or explicitly regards knowledge as a commodity, and a constructivist view, from which emerges a picture of the Markovian organisation: an organisation the future behaviour of which is determined not by memories of the past but by its current state, characterised by an organisational consciousness informed by the activities in which it is engaged. While the emphasis of this paper is theoretical, we suggest that adopting this Markovian view of the organisation might be particularly appropriate to practitioners in organisations that are immersed in turbulent environments.<br/