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21 – 30 of over 36000This study aims to analyze how organization development (OD) practitioners develop corporate citizenship for the purpose of increasing their organization’s capacity to practice…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze how organization development (OD) practitioners develop corporate citizenship for the purpose of increasing their organization’s capacity to practice corporate citizenship. Research shows that very few corporations have the organizational capacity to practice corporate citizenship. Evidence exists that ever more corporations adopt programs of corporate citizenship development to increase this capacity. However, there still is a general lack of a strategic understanding of how corporate citizenship development occurs. The potential of OD frameworks and tools for developing corporate citizenship have been highlighted. Nevertheless, how OD practitioners develop corporate citizenship has not been studied empirically so far.
Design/methodology/approach
A sociomaterial case study design was used. The work of six OD practitioners when developing corporate citizenship in one of the largest pharmaceutical corporations was studied over several months, based on interviews, observations and document analyses.
Findings
The findings presented offer model practices of corporate citizenship development, in the form of five core strategies and five core behaviors that increase an organization’s capacity to practice corporate citizenship.
Research limitations/implications
With this study, the notion of corporate citizenship development has become established as a distinct research area. The study might encourage further research in this important niche area.
Practical implications
The findings have direct practical implications for at least seven different stakeholder groups.
Originality/value
The findings shed new light on both the epistemological and practical foundations of the concept of corporate citizenship, and hint to a new role of the fields of OD and human resource development in the twenty-first century.
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Rianne Appel‐Meulenbroek, Dave Havermans, Ingrid Janssen and Anneke van Kempen
The purpose of this paper is to understand how corporate real estate (CRE) can add value to corporate branding and how corporate branding strategies for CRE can be determined.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand how corporate real estate (CRE) can add value to corporate branding and how corporate branding strategies for CRE can be determined.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a theoretical background for corporate branding and real estate and links these two concepts through interviews with 19 CRE managers of service providers.
Findings
Analysis of the relationship between CRE and the corporate brand brings forward two links: CRE influences the perception of the corporate brand directly and indirectly (via employee behaviour). Corporate identity and its six characteristics (structure, strategy, culture, communication, behaviour and design) formed a useful tool to determine the proper branding strategy for an organization. Especially, “design” and “communication” define the way CRE should communicate the corporate brand. Two location issues are seen as the most important CRE aspects to support branding strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The field research is explorative, so it only studies a small sample of four types of service providers: real estate brokers, architects, lawyers and multinationals.
Practical implications
Understanding the key factors of CRE that orchestrate the direct and the indirect influence on the corporate brand provides guidelines for CREM for designing CRE that supports a successful corporate brand.
Originality/value
Research done so far on corporate branding highlights the importance of CRE for corporate branding, but does not explicitly discuss the importance of (all) different CRE aspects.
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The purpose of this paper is to introduce narrative construction, a method by which participants produce a narrative to make sense of their organizational context, as well as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce narrative construction, a method by which participants produce a narrative to make sense of their organizational context, as well as strategically guide action and decision making. While narrative theory has long‐held that people construct narratives to make sense of, and guide, their experience, narrative construction here entails a deliberate and strategic approach to narrative theory.
Design/methodology/approach
This is part of an ethnonarrative approach that includes both a constructionist and interpretive narrative and ethnographic methodology.
Findings
Narrative construction has research implications for an ethnomethodology of social construction and empirical observation of narrative enactment. There are practical implications for enabling change and building highly‐coordinated organizations.
Originality/value
Narrative construction offers a new qualitative methodology and extends ethnonarrative research. The research setting, a death penalty defense team, is also unique. It also moves narrative theory beyond an interpretive device to a constructionist strategy.
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The purpose of this paper is to share the key findings of a program of change at global metals/manufacturing group Luvata, and its impact on leadership, motivational and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to share the key findings of a program of change at global metals/manufacturing group Luvata, and its impact on leadership, motivational and communications strategy. Luvata's story involves the development of a new global brand based on the acquisition of 65 companies and the management of a mainly blue‐collar workforce in multiple locations around the world. Luvata's business strategy is summed up in the phrase “partnerships beyond metals” – moving towards providing higher value services to its customers instead of just products or materials. To achieve this strategy, it needed everyone in the company to adopt a problem‐solving culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is built around the findings of a third‐party external auditing group, which runs an annual internal survey to measure employees' attitudes on a range of measures, including internal communications, chain of leadership and how well connected they feel to Luvata's purpose.
Findings
The annual survey shows significant improvements over the past few years. Three years ago, 54 percent of Luvata people had no access to a PC and 18 percent of staff felt “alienated from the purpose of the group.” The 2008 survey found that 72 percent are familiar with Luvata's values, while 70 percent feel they have a “passion for results” and 68 percent say “we deliver on our promises.” A total of 72 percent of respondents believe they work towards clear quality objectives.
Originality/value
Until now, Luvata has kept its corporate story under the radar and has not communicated it externally. This is the first time that Luvata has published a case study about its journey so far, and believes that it raises some valuable points of interest for companies in a similar position.
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Considers the structure of grocery retailing in Australia and, in particular, presents and contrasts the development strategies being pursued by the three major retailers in this…
Abstract
Considers the structure of grocery retailing in Australia and, in particular, presents and contrasts the development strategies being pursued by the three major retailers in this highly concentrated market. Woolworth’s, the market leader, is a classic corporate recovery story and is emerging as one of the most impressive food retailers in the world. By contrast, the grocery businesses of Coles Myer, Australia’s leading retailer and one of the largest retailers in the world, are under intense pressure from both a rejuvenated Woolworth’s and the company’s own internal weaknesses, many of which are a legacy of a long period of unchallenged market dominance. Coles now faces the challenge of reinventing itself and is taking an approach quite different to that of Woolworth’s. Franklins is number three in Australian grocery retailing and its origins are as a price aggressive discounter. However, as Franklins’ own market position has come under pressure, the company is responding by moving towards more direct competition with Coles and Woolworth’s.
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The paper examines how corporate affairs departments can use content analysis techniques. It does so by showing how Precis, the system developed by the author's company, was used…
Abstract
The paper examines how corporate affairs departments can use content analysis techniques. It does so by showing how Precis, the system developed by the author's company, was used to monitor the impact of media coverage in three examples: the disposal of Brent Spar; the management of a corporate brand in an adverse regulatory environment; and a new car launch.
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Nicholas McGuigan and Alessandro Ghio
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reflection on how ongoing revolutionary technological changes can extend the possibilities of accounting into artistic spaces…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reflection on how ongoing revolutionary technological changes can extend the possibilities of accounting into artistic spaces. In addition, arts ability to protest, challenge, open and inspire may be instrumental to humanise technological advances transforming the accounting profession.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws upon the methodological, theoretical and empirical literature of accounting, technology and art and outlines a research and professional agenda for developing the role of art in the context of accounting and technology.
Findings
The authors unravel and navigate the paradoxical “in-between” of art, accounting and technology. It emerges that the transformative power of new technologies lies not only in the technologies themselves but also in their ability to extend the possibilities of accounting into the artistic spaces of visualisation, curation performance and disruption. New technologies, combined with artistic spaces, present a unique ability to open up the latent disruptive potential of accounting itself, pushing accounting in new directions towards more humanistic models of multiple narratives.
Originality/value
The insights of this paper are relevant to open professional and scholarly dialogue that relates accounting, art and technologies during a significant period of disruptive and transformative technological changes. This paper provides new understandings of how art through visualisation, curation, performance and disruption can force accounting researchers and practitioners to challenge the traditionally held views of accounting, opening us towards more futuristic models of accountability.
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Lana Sabelfeld, John Dumay and Barbara Czarniawska
This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese and Western corporate values in one story.
Design/methodology/approach
We use an analytical framework drawing on insights borrowed from narratology and the notion of wrapping – the traditional art of packaging as communication.
Findings
We find that Mitsubishi is a survivor company that uses different corporate reporting frameworks during its reporting journey to construct a bespoke narrative of its value creation and cultural values. It emplots narratives to convey a story presenting the impression that Mitsubishi is a Japanese corporation but is compatible with Western neo-liberal ideology, making bad news palatable to its stakeholders and instilling confidence in the future.
Research limitations/implications
Wrapping is a culturally sensitive form of impression management used in the integration of corporate reporting. Therefore, rather than assuming that companies blatantly manipulate their image in corporate reports, we suggest that future research should focus on how narratives are constructed and made sense of, situating them in the context of local culture and traditions.
Practical implications
The findings should interest scholars, report preparers, policymakers, and the IFRS, considering the recent release of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards designed to reduce the so-called alphabet soup of corporate reporting. By following Mitsubishi’s journey, we learn how and why the notion of integrated reporting was adopted and integrated with other reporting frameworks to create narratives that together convey a story of a global corporation compliant with Western neoliberal ideology. It highlights how Mitsubishi used integrated reporting to tell its story rather than as a rigid reporting framework, and the same fate may apply to the new IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards that now include integrated reporting.
Originality/value
The study offers a new perspective on corporate reporting, showing how the local societal discourses of cultural heritage and modernity can shape the journey of the integration of corporate reporting over time.
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Muhammad Ajmal, Azmat Islam and Zeenat Islam
This article aims to tackle the organization's problems with a new paradigm of organizational consciousness by developing a framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to tackle the organization's problems with a new paradigm of organizational consciousness by developing a framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The Phenomenological and Framework Synthesis approach is used to develop the conceptual framework for organizational consciousness.
Findings
The research article highlights organizational consciousness's implications for long-term sustainable success. It emphasizes the positive impact of conscious organizations on stakeholder well-being and the resolution of environmental and social problems.
Originality/value
The organizational consciousness framework encompasses the collective awareness, values, and purpose that guide an organization's actions and decisions. The framework emphasizes aligning organizational values, needs, and goals with all stakeholders' social, environmental, and well-being. It highlights the interconnectedness of stakeholders and encourages a system-thinking perspective. Furthermore, it acknowledges the role of individual and group consciousness in driving organizational transformation. It discusses the pathway to organizational success through conscious practices, emphasizing value creation beyond monetary gain. It explores the role of conscious leadership, innovative and continuous learning, and adaptation in fostering conscious organizations.
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Leanne J. Morrison and Alan Lowe
Using a dialogic approach to narrative analysis through the lens of fairytale, this paper explores the shared construction of corporate environmental stories. The analysis…
Abstract
Purpose
Using a dialogic approach to narrative analysis through the lens of fairytale, this paper explores the shared construction of corporate environmental stories. The analysis provided aims to reveal the narrative messaging which is implicit in corporate reporting, to contrast corporate and stakeholder narratives and to bring attention to the ubiquity of storytelling in corporate communications.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines a series of events in which a single case company plays the central role. The environmental section of the case company's sustainability report is examined through the lens of fairytale analysis. Next, two counter accounts are constructed which foreground multiple stakeholder accounts and retold as fairytales.
Findings
The dialogic nature of accounts plays a critical role in how stakeholders understand the environmental impacts of a company. Storytelling mechanisms have been used to shape the perspective and sympathies of the report reader in favour of the company. We use these same mechanisms to create two collective counter accounts which display different sympathies.
Research limitations/implications
This research reveals how the narrative nature of corporate reports may be used to fabricate a particular perspective through storytelling. By doing so, it challenges the authority of the version of events provided by the company and gives voice to collective counter accounts which are shared by and can be disseminated to other stakeholders.
Originality/value
This paper provides a unique perspective to understanding corporate environmental reporting and the stories shared by and with external stakeholders by drawing from a novel link between fairytale, storytelling and counter accounting.
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