Laufende Forschungsprojekte

The concept of corporate sustainability strategy (CSS) suffers from considerable definitional ambiguity. Rather than attempting to create a universally acceptable CSS definition, this study scrutinizes the various uses of different existing definitions. We identified and discussed eight topical perspectives and then compared and integrated into a shared conceptual CSS framework. We found the means-and-ends perspective to be most fundamental, as it frames how sustainability shapes the purpose and constraints of strategizing. We refine this perspective by distinguishing among indifferent, instrumental, intrinsic, and integrated CSSs. We conclude with discussions on limitations, suggestions for future research, and managerial implications.

Beteiligte Personen: Jennifer Adolph, Markus Beckmann
Ansprechpartnerin: Jennifer Adolph

Employees are one of the main stakeholder groups of each organization and are known to play an important role in corporate sustainability management (CSM). The employees’ engagement towards sustainability can go as far as they engage in employee initiatives, often termed green teams, communities of practice or more general, employee sustainability behavior. Some organizations have started to create space within the organizational structure for such teams to channel and foster their engagement for corporate sustainability. While there is some research on the intrinsic motivation and the organizational behavior of employees in those employee teams, the influence of the teams on the CSM beyond a psychological perspective remains ill-researched. Particularly empirical evidence building on organizational theories is lacking. We thus aim to contribute to a better understanding of the influence of such employee teams on CSM with a multi-case study in two ways. First, we take an inter-team perspective and analyze how the employee teams differ in their functions and responsibilities within the organizations. Second, we look at the employee teams as organizational actors and analyze how they contribute to CSM by taking an institutional work perspective. Our conceptual analysis indicates that employee teams can be categorized according to various characteristics.

Konferenzbeitrag: NAMA Conference 2022 – Sustainability at the intersection of business and human rights 

Beteiligte Personen: Jennifer Adolph, Lena Ries, Katrin Schwarzfischer
Ansprechpartnerin: Jennifer Adolph

With growing legal regulation on human rights obligations of multinational enterprises, the topic of human rights due diligence has gained more prominence. However, conflict-affected areas present complex institutional environments in which the implementation of measures to ensure the corporate respect for human rights is challenging. Especially, situations of military occupation or armed conflict in countries as Ukraine or the Democratic Republic of the Congo or non-conventional armed conflicts between organized groups such as in Mexico require an enhanced due diligence process as there is an increased risk for companies to be complicit in conflict-related human rights violations. This forces multinational enterprises to reconsider their business practices on how to ensure corporate respect for human rights in these institutional environments. Based on the Institutional Work perspective, we thus developed future scenarios on practices multinational enterprises may implement as part of their human rights strategy to address conflict-affected institutional environments. In a real-time Delphi study setting, 82 experts from business, civil society, and academia discussed which practices will be implemented by multinational enterprises until 2035 and whether they will have an impact on rightsholders.

Konferenzbeitrag: NAMA Conference 2023 – Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability

Beteiligte Personen: Jennifer Adolph, Matthias Fertig, Janine Allenbacher (Universität Hamburg)
Ansprechpartnerin: Jennifer Adolph

Nachhaltige Innovationen auf allen Ebenen der Supply Chain sind nötig, um Produkte und Industrie effizient und langfristig nachhaltiger zu gestalten. B2C-Unternehmen übernehmen zunehmend Verantwortung für ihre Lieferkette und sorgen für Innovationsdruck auf die Produzenten auf den Felder und Weiden. Wir untersuchen in einer qualitativen Studie wie NGO-Kooperationen hierbei eine wichitge Rolle spielen können, um den Anspruch des Unternehmens und die Innovationsfähigkeit der Produzenten für einen verbesserten ökologischen Fußabdruck in Einklang zu bringen.
Beteiligte Personen: Laura Therese Heinl, Peter Wehnert, Jennifer Adolph, Lena Ries, Markus Beckmann
Ansprechpartner:  Laura Therese Heinl

Mit der Kommunikation nachhaltiger Aktivitäten steht und fällt die Handlungs-Legitimation des Nachhaltigkeitsmanagements. Wenig ist bisher bekannt zum kommunizieren von nachhaltigen Aktivitäten innerhalb des Unternehmens. Wir nähern uns dem Themenbereich mit qualitativen Studien (Interviews, Fallstudien) und holistischen konzeptionell-literaturbasierten Projekten.
Beteiligte Personen: Mirjam Memmel (MA), Elisabeth Heinz (MA), Laura Therese Heinl
Ansprechpartner:  Laura Therese Heinl

Kooperationen zwischen Unternehmen und NGOs werden immer häufiger. Besonders im Bereich Lebensmittelwirtschaft unterstützen sich mehr und mehr NGOs und Unternehmen gegenseitig, um den immer neuen Nachhaltigkeitsherausforderungen kompetent zu begegnen. Viele dieser Kooperationen sind abhängig von der Wahrnehmung der entstehenden Produkte und Marken. Hier setzt unser Projekt an, in dessen Rahmen quantitative Studien und Abschlussarbeiten sich Fragen zu Marken, Co-Branding und Konsumentenwahrnehmung nachhaltiger Produkte aus NGO-Unternehmens-Kooperationen stellen.
Beteiligte Personen: Markus Beckmann, Peter Wehnert, Anna Baatz, Laura Therese Heinl
Ansprechpartner:  Laura Therese Heinl