Corporate sustainability is full of statements, terms, and concepts that are empty, unclarifiable and vague. Instead of rejecting such vagueness altogether, we should embrace it. Bullshit can be productive. Consider the following statement: “The concept of shared value can be defined as policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously […]
Insights
Corporate contributions to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
The days of corporate greening are over. Many companies kicked off their sustainability strategies decades ago by picking the low-hanging fruit. But there is nothing left within arm’s reach to pick. Now we expect companies big and small to demonstrate their contribution to broader societal and environmental sustainability challenges beyond firm boundaries. The United Nation’s […]
Fake news and what it means for discussions about CSR-related issues
There is a saying on online forums that “about 78% of all statistics shared online are made up to prove a point – including this one.” This has become particularly relevant lately, where we have seen many discussions about fake news. And while it is often discussed in relation to politics, in particular during political […]
The Government of Business Responsibility
Governments play an important role in shaping the roles and responsibilities of business in society. Promoting responsibility directly and indirectly Whilst I have previously blogged about how business sometimes leads government in helping promote the public good, this in no way means that governments are not actively seeking to shape and promote responsible business conduct. Governments do this in […]
Sustainability’s Infrastructure: Ethnographies of the global value chain of certified tea
Why SUSTEIN? Currently, the world’s tea industry is on a race with time to source tea sustainably before 2020. But what is “sustainable tea” and how do we know if tea is sustainable or not? This project entitled SUSTEIN (SUStainable TEa INfrastructure) will focus on this question by way of looking at localized translations of […]
The Business Model is Dead: Long Live the Organizational Value Model!
An ApPeaRange! Business models are logics of value proposition (Pr), creation (Cr), exchange (Ex) and capture (Ca). When closely looking at sustainability business models, it becomes clear that these ‘value functions’ are not only shaped by a commercial logic, but also by one of sustainability. Many of sustainability business models include further logics of social […]
“Publish or Perish”
In academia – especially for young researchers – there seems to be only one way to the top: publish frequently and in well-regarded journals. This pressure however may sometimes come at the expense of academic quality. As with other things, good research sometimes just needs time. Unfortunately, infrequent publishing might be followed by less recognition, […]
The not-so-sharing economy
With the rise of Airbnb and Uber into the elite club of Silicon Valley superstar firms, the sharing economy has become an accepted business concept and social practice. Apart from the fact that sharing economy platforms (SEPs), such as Airbnb and Uber, are very savvy in playing labelling games (most of them have little to […]
Hybrid Organizing in the Face of Grand Challenges
Sharing is not Always Caring In 2015, thousands of refugees arrived in Europe. A recent paper by Kornberger and colleagues (2017) zooms in on the “Train of Hope”, a civil society organization that organically gained exclusive operational command at Vienna’s main train station during this refugee crisis. The paper is a critical reflection on much of […]
Big fuss about a big policy plan – and why this matters for corporate social responsibility: the Chinese social credit system
Few statist policy blueprints on matters pretty technical have captured our collective imagination as has the Chinese Social Credit System (SCS). Announced by China’s State Council on June 14, 2014, and building on experimentation with related mechanisms since the early 2000s, it sets out a hugely ambitious effort, officially described to instil societal trust, integrity and cohesion in a highly complex society.