Contributions published at Foundations of Business Administration and Theories of the Firm (Andreas Scherer)

null

Previous organizational research on decoupling has suggested a trade-off between compliance and goal achievement. In this debate, compliance refers to remedying decoupling of policies and practices, while goal achievement is about remedying decoupling of means and ends. A deeper analysis of different types of decoupling is particularly relevant in the context of globalization: multinational companies (MNCs) operate in complex institutional environments and balance different expectations with regard to socio-environmental governance. Extant research on the trade-off between compliance and goal achievement has neglected the spatiotemporal process of sensemaking by which the meaning of compliance and achievement is negotiated in the heterogeneous settings of global business. Taking a qualitative analytical approach we examine the evolution of anti-corruption policies at Siemens and theorize on how different anti-corruption narratives develop over time at different locations and how they are linked to each other. We explore the co-existence of alternative narratives—‘compliance despite non-achievement’ vs. ‘noncompliance as means for achievement’—and their relationship that is moderated by a ‘collective action’ narrative. Actors perceive this coexistence as not static but instead make sense of the future through a ‘progress as achievement’ narrative. Our interview data shows that through narration, actors develop a shared understanding of what it means to be compliant and through narration, means and ends are reciprocally typified. Our study contributes to decoupling research by examining the ideational underpinnings of the compliance-achievement gap.

null

Previous organizational research on decoupling in the context of socio-environmental govern-ance has suggested a trade-off between compliance and goal achievement, meaning that remedying the decoupling of policies and practices tends to jeopardize efforts to remedy the decoupling of means and ends. We expand on previous research on the trade-off between compliance and goal achievement by examining the spatiotemporal processes of sensemaking by which the meaning of compliance and achievement is negotiated among multiple actors. Taking a qualitative analytical approach we examine the evolution of anti-corruption policies at Siemens and affiliated actors, and describe how different anti-corruption narratives have developed over time at different locations and how they have been linked to each other. We explain that through narration actors develop a shared understanding of what it means to be compliant and successful and elaborate how the apparent tension between compliance and goal achievement is dissolved through story-telling. Our study contributes to decoupling re-search by examining the ideational-communicative dynamics underlying the social de-construction of the compliance-achievement gap.

null

Previous organizational research on decoupling in the context of socio-environmental governance has suggested a trade-off between compliance and goal achievement, meaning that remedying the decoupling of policies and practices tends to jeopardize efforts to remedy the decoupling of means and ends. We expand on previous research on the trade-off between compliance and goal achievement by examining the spatiotemporal processes of sensemaking by which the meaning of compliance and achievement is negotiated among multiple actors. Taking a qualitative analytical approach we examine the evolution of anti-corruption policies at Siemens and affiliated actors, and describe how different anti-corruption narratives have developed over time at different locations and how they have been linked to each other. We explain that through narration actors develop a shared understanding of what it means to be compliant and successful and elaborate how the apparent tension between compliance and goal achievement is dissolved through story-telling. Our study contributes to decoupling re-search by examining the ideational-communicative dynamics underlying the social deconstruction of the compliance-achievement gap.

null

null

null

null

null

null

null

I explore the role of hypernorms in the Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) of Thomas Donaldson and Thomas W. Dunfee, who suggested that hypernorms are a necessary condition for the rejection of cultural relativism and justification of moral norms within and across social communities. Hypernorms are, thus, a significant part of a conception of international business ethics. I highlight philosophical problems that emerge in attempts to identify and justify hypernorms. These problems have not been sufficiently addressed in the ISCT; therefore, I will discuss the discourse–ethical contributions of contemporary German philosophers toward resolving the justification problem with regards to universal norms. Discourse ethics builds on the linguistic and the pragmatic turns in philosophy and develops procedural rules for the assessment of norms. I explore variants of discourse ethics with regards to their concept of justification and discuss the implications of discourse ethical procedures for the justification of norms and actions.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine, theoretically and empirically, whether an employee training program can enhance the collective perception of empowerment of work units within an organization. The authors hypothesized that training participation relates to empowerment by enhancing the potency, meaningfulness, impact, and autonomy of the employees. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected data at two time points, before and after the training intervention. Over the two periods, the sample consisted of an average of 2,383 employees nested in 36 work units of a large multinational company. Findings – The results indicated a positive relationship between training participation and increased levels of collective psychological empowerment, with differential effects on the dimensions of empowerment. Practical implications – This study provides evidence of the positive relationship between training and empowerment, suggesting training effects across levels of analysis. The results indicated dimensions of empowerment that are more and such that are less prone to training. Such knowledge may help to inform organizations in developing training strategies. The authors provide recommendations for a respective training program. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to investigate the relationship between training participation of individual employees and shared empowerment perceptions within their work units, adding an important antecedent to the research on empowerment. In addition, the authors propose ways of how individual employees can affect shared perceptions among work-unit members. The study offers insights into the development of empowered work units, the vertical transfer of training across levels of analysis and implications for training programs.

The distinction of macro- and microfoundations of institutions implies a multilevel conceptualization of institutional processes. We adopt the evaluators' perspective on legitimacy to develop a multilevel theory of the legitimacy process under ideal-type conditions of institutional stability and institutional change, and we explore the dynamics of institutional change-from destabilization of the institutional order to return to stability in legitimacy judgments expressed by evaluators. We argue that through the process of institutionalization, legitimacy judgments of evaluators are subjected to social control and describe an institutional stability loop--a cross-level positive-feedback process that ensures persistence of legitimacy judgments and stability of the institutional order. Viewing institutional stability as a state of suppressed microlevel diversity, we draw researchers' attention to "silenced" legitimacy judgments and to judgment suppressor factors that induce evaluators to abstain from making their deviant judgments public. The removal of such factors leads to the (re)emergence of competing judgments in public communications and creates an opportunity for institutional change. We explore competitive strategies that address propriety or validity components of legitimacy and describe the process through which organizational fields return to a state of institutional stability.

Die ansteigende Globalisierung zwingt multinationale Unternehmen ihre Geschäftspraktiken den unterschiedlichen Erwartungshaltungen aus ihrem institutionellen Umfeld anzupassen. Eine mögliche Umgangsform beschreibt die Entkopplungstheorie (auf Englisch: ‚Decoupling’). In der Literatur wird zwischen zwei Ausprägungsformen der Entkopplungstheorie unterschieden: dem ‚Policy-Practice Decoupling’ und dem ‚Means-Ends Decoupling’. Bei ersteren werden Regeln und Richtlinien von den tatsächlichen Geschäftsaktivitäten einer Organisation getrennt. Diese Scheinadaption von Regeln und Richtlinien ermöglicht die simultane Angleichung an heterogene Ansprüche. ‚Means-Ends Decoupling’ beinhaltet zwar die Adaption von Regeln und Richtlinien, diese führen jedoch nicht zur Erreichung des angestrebten Zieles. Diese Masterarbeit wendet die Gedanken der Entkopplungstheorie auf den Umgang und die Wirkungsweise von globalen Korruptionsbekämpfungsmassnahmen an. Im Rahmen einer qualitativen Untersuchung werden Interviewdaten kodiert und ausgewertet. Als weitere Informationsquellen dienen Geschäftsberichte, Medienmitteilungen und Korruptionsindices. Durch die Untersuchung sollen Erkenntnisse gewonnen werden, welche über eine theoretische Analyse der Entkopplungstheorie hinausgehen. Dabei soll die praktische Relevanz der Unterscheidung verschiedener Ausprägungsformen von Entkopplung ermittelt werden. Weiter werden Faktoren ermittelt und identifiziert, welche in der Praxis auf die Wirkungsweise von globalen Anti-Korruptionsmassnahmen Einfluss nehmen. Die globale Bekämpfung von Korruption fordert Massnahmen, die eine Organisation alleine nicht zu erfüllen mag. Eine Organisation ist dabei auf die Unterstützung ihrer institutionellen Umwelt angewiesen. Staat, Unternehmensvertreter und Nichtregierungsorganisationen agieren in einem Zusammenspiel, wobei alle Akteure ihren Beitrag beizutragen haben.