Ethics disclosure as strategy: a longitudinal case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sriyalatha Kumarasinghe ◽  
Indujeeva Keerthilal Peiris ◽  
André M. Everett
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Ethical Business ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This study investigates how a globally-oriented, developing country enterprise formulates and implements ethics strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its stakeholders, and how the case company discloses and utilises its ethics strategies, policies and behaviours to gain competitive advantage and create stakeholder value. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal single case study is presented featuring a tea producer and marketer in Sri Lanka, one of the country’s largest exporters, that is targeting a global consumer market. Applying Spiller’s (2000) framework for ethical business practices, this research analyses data collected in a series of interviews in combination with content analysis of company annual reports and sustainability reports covering 2010 to 2019 supplemented by on-site observation. Findings Analysis reveals that the company maintains ethical strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its prominent stakeholders, and strategically discloses those practices. The firm’s proactive disclosures of its business and sustainability ethics practices enabled it to establish and sustain competitive advantage over its competitors. The findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications, identifying areas for future studies. Originality/value This is the first ethics study to include both longitudinal documentary analysis and personal interviews in a single case study based in Sri Lanka. It contributes to discussion regarding balancing ethics and sustainability as parts of business strategies for reputation building and value creation through identifying salient stakeholders and ethics-based non-financial disclosures by contemporary business organisations.

Investigating the link between intellectual capital and open innovation processes: a longitudinal case study

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Matricano ◽  
Elena Candelo ◽  
Mario Sorrentino ◽  
Giuseppe Cappiello
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
Global Company

PurposeThis paper investigates the link between Intellectual Capital (IC) and Open Innovation (OI). Scholars worldwide consider the topics as standing alone and so they give scarce attention to the possible link between them. Managerial experiences (and few theoretical contributions), instead, hypothesize a significant role that IC can play over OI processes in order make them successful.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of a single case study is used to investigate the link between IC and OI. In particular, an OI process managed by a global company, LEGO, and named Mindstorms is rebuilt and analysed herein.FindingsIntermediate results achieved by LEGO through its OI process were unsuccessful since the company had not developed its own IC (made up of relational, human and structural capital). The subsequent development of IC, instead, has driven to successful results. This suggests that if companies do not develop their IC before launching OI processes, then these processes might be not successful.Research limitations/implicationsOne limitation is the use of a single case study. Despite this, the present article is a warning for all the companies: before launching OI processes they need to develop their IC.Originality/valueTo the best knowledge of the authors, this is one of the first works that deepens the investigation of the link between IC and OI. Very often, scholars investigating IC shyly refer to OI, without mentioning it, while the scholars investigating OI allude to IC, without citing it. In this study, IC and OI are investigated together.

Absorbing in-bound knowledge within open innovation processes. The case of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 786-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Matricano ◽  
Elena Candelo ◽  
Mario Sorrentino ◽  
Aurora Martínez-Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Innovation Processes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way companies involved in Open Innovation Processes (OIPs) routinize the procedure through which they can absorb in-bound knowledge, i.e. knowledge that comes from the outside and, in particular, from the crowd. In-bound knowledge passes through the phases of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. Thus, companies need to define mechanisms and paths – related to their potential and realized absorptive capacity –to manage and exploit it. Design/methodology/approach The present paper is based on a longitudinal case study, an OIP launched by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) that has already been implemented for three times. Multiple direct interviews with FCA top managers have allowed rebuilding the routinized procedure through which the company absorbs in-bound knowledge. Findings To routinize the procedure of absorbing in-bound knowledge, the company has settled specific mechanisms and paths and has established some bottlenecks over the process of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation of in-bound knowledge. These mechanisms and path, as well as these bottlenecks, are identified and descripted in the paper. Research limitations/implications Beyond the limitations linked to the use of a single case study, another limitation might be the reference to a big company in a specific industry. Anyway, with due caution, achieved findings can be referred to other industries as well. Originality/value This paper contributes to exploring if and how companies managing OIPs routinize the procedure through which they can absorb in-bound knowledge.

The business model of a Benedictine abbey, 1945-1979

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-59
Author(s):  
Tonia Ruppenthal
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Management literature often neglects the business model developed by a monastic institution, as it does not fit the usual categorizations of an enterprise. Nevertheless, monastic institutions founded on Benedictine principles have proven to be economically viable and sustainable over centuries. This paper aims to examine, with the adoption of a single case study, the components of a Benedictine business model, their interrelationship and the role of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach This case study combines in-depth data collection from multiple sources such as field research, archival documents and publicly available information to examine the dynamic business operations of a Benedictine abbey. Findings The analysis suggests that the Rule of St Benedict and the Benedictine values, and a commitment to them, are important for the success of the Benedictine abbey concept and that the business model is both place-based and sustainable. Research limitations/implications A single case study has its limitations compared to the use of multiple examples. Business model concepts are not simply applicable to a monastic institution and vice versa; the Benedictine model is not easily transferable to conventional enterprises. Practical implications Generalizations from a single case study are limited; nevertheless this paper offers practical implications through the study of a monastic institution, showing place-based and sustainable business practices from which management scholars can make assumptions. Originality/value This paper describes and analyses the inception, development and stabilization of a sustainable place-based business model of a Benedictine abbey according to three stages over a period of 35 years while evaluating the sustainable business model from its inception.

“Speaking truth to power”: analysing shadow reporting as a form of shadow accounting

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 510-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Tregidga
Keyword(s):  
Power Relations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
Perceived Impacts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the act of shadow reporting by a social movement organisation as a form of shadow accounting within a sustained campaign against a target corporation. Situated within a consideration of power relations, the rationales underlying the production of the shadow report, and the shadow reports perceived value and limits as a shadow accounting mechanism, are investigated. Design/methodology/approach A Foucauldian approach to power/knowledge and truth is drawn upon in the analysis of a single case study. Alongside a consideration of the shadow report itself, interviews with both the preparers of the report and senior management of the corporation targeted comprise the main data. Findings The paper provides an empirical investigation into shadow reporting as a form of shadow accounting. While a range of insights are garnered into the preparation, dissemination and impact of the shadow report, key findings relate to a consideration of power relations. The perceived “truth” status of corporate accounts compared to accounts prepared by shadow accountants is problematised through a consideration of technologies of power and power/knowledge formations. Power relations are subsequently recognised as fundamental to the emancipatory potential of shadow reporting. Research limitations/implications Results from a single case study are presented. Furthermore, given the production of the shadow report occurred several years prior to the collection of data, participants were asked to reflect on past events. Findings are therefore based on those reflections. Originality/value While previous studies have considered the preparation of shadow reports and their transformative potential, this study is, the author believes, the first to empirically analyse the preparation, dissemination and perceived impacts of shadow reporting from the perspectives of both the shadow report producers and the target corporation.

scholarly journals Exploring collaboration within social housing retrofit practice for an ageing population: a single case study in the West of Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayna Rodger ◽  
Nicola Callaghan ◽  
Craig Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Social Housing ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
The Social

Purpose Sustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis. Findings There is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes. Originality/value This research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.

Street-level collaboration: perception, power, and politics on the frontlines of collaboration

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-476
Author(s):  
Harish P. Jagannath
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Bureaucratic Politics ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Collaborative Initiative

PurposeTo examine the implementation processes and outcomes of collaborative governance initiatives through the lens of bureaucratic politics.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth single case study research design with 28 embedded cases to study the implementation of a collaborative governance initiative. This paper uses the analytical technique of process tracing to explicate necessary and sufficient conditions to uncover causal mechanisms and confirm descriptive and causal inferences.FindingsThis study finds that when street-level bureaucrats perceived the collaborative initiative as a health intervention (and not as a collaborative initiative), it resulted in low levels of stakeholder participation and made the collaborative initiative unsuccessful. This paper finds that bureaucratic politics is the causal mechanism that further legitimized this perception resulting in each stakeholder group avoiding participation and sticking to their departmental siloes.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a single case study about a revelatory case of collaborative governance implementation in India, and findings are analytically generalizable to similar administrative contexts. Further research is needed through a multiple case study design in a comparative context to examine bureaucratic politics in implementing collaborative initiatives.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and managers need to carefully consider the implications of engaging organizations with competing institutional histories when formulating and implementing collaborative governance initiatives.Originality/valueThis study's uniqueness is that it examines implementation of collaborative governance through a bureaucratic politics lens. Specifically, the study applies Western-centric scholarship on collaborative governance and street-level bureaucracy to a non-Western developing country context to push the theoretical and empirical boundaries of key concepts in public administration.

scholarly journals Purchasing’s tasks at the interface between internal and external networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
Steffen Muxoll Bastholm ◽  
Kristin B. Munksgaard
Keyword(s):  
User Interface ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The strategic importance of the purchasing function increases, as its task become more dynamic in various interfaces with different suppliers. Changes in these customer–supplier interfaces pose specific challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the purchasing function handles the interplay of interface changes. Design/methodology/approach This study applies a qualitative single case study design. Data are collected through observations and interviews conducted before, during and after a concrete change of interface taking place between a buying firm and its suppliers and customers. Findings Three main findings are identified to redefine the tasks of the purchasing function. The first concerns the new ways of defining the purchasing tasks. The main issue is to balance tasks with the simultaneous changes influencing other interfaces and relationships. The second is the division and alignment of tasks in intra- and inter-organizational networks with regards to who decides and coordinates what. Third, the inter-connected performance relates to how other actors perform their tasks. For the purchasing function, managing supplier interfaces influences and is influenced by how the firm simultaneously manages its user interface. Practical implications For management, a new way to evaluate the performance of the purchasing function is needed by including relationship management and interactive capabilities. Originality/value This study contributes with new insights into how managing the dynamics of changing interfaces requires interactively defined purchasing tasks, division and alignment of tasks and inter-connected performance vis-à-vis others in the wider network setting.

Leveraging resource ecologies for sustainability transitions – a waste management case

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumy Narayan ◽  
Annika Tidström
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Addressing fundamental sustainability challenges has now become strategic for multi-national corporations. However, such challenges by their very nature are complex and require resources that are frequently beyond those that are traditionally accepted as relevant and crucial to a firm’s core business operations. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how firms identify and integrate diverse groups of actors using social intelligence to build an ecology of resources to tackle these complex challenges. Design/methodology/approach The empirical part is based on qualitative single case study research of a packaging company and its waste management program. Findings Organizing for sustainability requires business activities to be conceptualized as a continuous process of project building, involving actors in diverse settings and responsibilities divided thematically and spatially forming nets within a network to solve problems, collectively. There is a fundamental analytical problem of integrating a diversity of value spheres, and society has a set of rational methods for planning and action where decisions are made to privilege one aspect to the exclusion of others. Artificial separation of activities that are interdependent and failure to allow these activities to evolve through interactions in time and space could threaten sustainability. Research limitations/implications This is a single case study within a certain context, therefore ways for orchestrating resource ecologies need further investigation. Practical implications For managers, it is very important to recognize and appreciate the interconnectedness of resource ecologies but also that interactions resulting in joint actions can often have different rewards and benefits for the diverse range of actors implicated in such networks. This kind of social intelligence offers managers options to experiment with transitional pathways that match the objectives of diverse network actors and provide unique resource combinations for building competitive advantage. There is only so much that is under the control of managers or even firms, which means both must embrace uncertainty and the phenomenon of emergence. Social implications From a societal perspective, the findings of the study show how the open and transparent activities for the sustainability of one firm spread through different layers of the society through connecting, sharing and developing resources. Therefore, it is important for societies to enable and support the open sharing of resources for sustainability. Investments in large programs for transitions to sustainability tend to spread from a focal company into various projects for sustainability involving several layers of actors within society. This ensures that awareness, behaviors and attitudes related with sustainability become rooted in society and give rise to valuable innovations. Originality/value This study illustrates how resources are created and shaped through nets during transitions toward sustainability using social intelligence.

Lean Six Sigma in policing services

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 935-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Bryan Rodgers ◽  
Inness Coull ◽  
Vijaya Sunder M.
Keyword(s):  
Six Sigma ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Learning Points

Purpose This paper is based on a single case study carried out as part of a change programme but is used as a reflective tool to draw on some of the wider organisational learning which can be considered when implementing, reviewing or re-energise a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Programme. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach has been used and referenced throughout the paper with references to literature to support the wider learning points drawn which are then applied to any continuous improvement (CI) programmes. Findings The paper presents a range of learning points which are drawn from a successful deployment of LSS within a change project carried out as part of an overall programme in Scottish policing services. Research limitations/implications The points are drawn from a single case study which was deployed within a wider change programme and is supported by wider literature but is used as a vehicle for informing strategic considerations within an organisation. Originality/value This case study is drawn from policing services in the public sector which alone is an area that has not been significantly studied. It is used to explore wider implications in terms of strategic alignment, organisational performance and project management and presents the argument that the design of a CI programme is much wider than the implementation of LSS itself.

Analyzing the formation of a paradoxical organizational identity

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1227-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Felix
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Core ◽  
Optimal Distinctiveness ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose This study aims to understand the construction process of an organizational identity in a hybrid organization. Design/methodology/approach The author developed a single case study based on in-depth interviews, non-participant observations and document analysis in a credit cooperative. Findings After periods of changes in organizational identity (from idealism to pragmatism), the formation of a paradoxical organizational identity was observed in which the core value became a central polarity between idealism and pragmatism; after periods when members engaged in actions that promoted resistance or change, they framed past events in a story of stable dynamics between idealism and pragmatism; and pro-distinctiveness and -similarity forces in relation to other organizations were reconciled in a quest for optimal distinctiveness that simultaneously enabled the development of uniqueness and adequacy. Originality/value This is the first study to adopt a paradox perspective to analyze the identity of a cooperative.

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