The Chihuahua sustainability practice: lots of shivering but no real action. Practical sustainability acceptance is low in German and New Zealand firms

Corporate Governance (Bingley) - Tập 7 Số 3 - Trang 227-237 - 2007
JensMueller1, HeinzKlandt2, GaelMcDonald3, TanjaFinke‐Schuermann4
1Associate Professor for Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand.
2Foundation Professor for Entrepreneurship at the European Business School, International University, Oestrich‐Winkel, Germany.
3Professor of Business Ethics at Unitec New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.
4Based at the Institute for Empirical Research into Business Establishment and Organization (bifego), European Business School, Oestrich‐Winkel, Germany.

Tóm tắt

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the extent to which corporate organizations in Germany and in New Zealand have included sustainability practices as part of their strategic planning process.Design/methodology/approachCurrent literature is reviewed to make a case for sustainability to be a driver behind corporate decision making and long‐term performance. The results of surveys of several hundred firms in both Germany and New Zealand, countries with a publicly stated commitment to sustainability, are reviewed to compare the adoption rates of sustainability practices.FindingsThere is a significant difference between what firms do and what their managers think is important. Managers largely consider sustainability practices an important factor for their future careers, while firms to a large extent do not include sustainability as part of their strategic or operational planning process.Research limitations/implicationsThe International Sustainability Acceptance Measurement (ISAM) collects data in several countries through local‐language versions of the same online survey tool (www.worldreply.com). The findings in this report are specific only to New Zealand and Germany.Practical implicationsThe paper points academics, corporate executives and sustainability fanatics to an alarming inconsistency between what is publicly reported as commitment to sustainability and what is practically achieved.Originality/valueThis paper adds value to the discussion of how sustainability practices have migrated into the operation of firms.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (2004), Forschung für die Nachhaltigkeit, Rahmenprogramm des BMBF für eine zukunftsfähige innovative Gesellschaft, Juni, S.4, BMBF, Berlin.

Clikeman, P.M. (2004), “Return of the socially conscious corporation”, Strategic Finance, Vol. 85 No. 10, p. 22.

Demirdjian, Z.S. (2005), “Industrial ecology: toward an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability”, Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 6 No. 2, Cambridge, MA.

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (2005), “Wal‐Mart's CEO Lee Scott discusses Wal‐Mart's requirements of suppliers documenting sustainability practices”, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, New York, NY, available at: www.iccr.org/news/press_releases/2005/pr_walmart021105.htm (accessed February 11, 2005).

Klandt, H., Mueller, J. and Finke‐Schuermann, T. (2005), “Entrepreneurship perspectives in German firms. National effort of the global international sustainability acceptance measurement (ISAM)”, paper presented at “Creating an entrepreneurial nation”, Enterprise and Research Conference, Waikato Management School, Hamilton, July 7‐8.

Korten, D. (1999), The Post‐Corporate World: Life after Capitalism, Berrett‐Koehler, San Francisco, CA.

Lawrence, S. and Collins, E. (2004), Sustainability Practices of New Zealand Business, Sustainable Business Network, available at: www.sustainable.org.nz/resource.asp?id=18 (accessed February 5, 2005).

Magretta, J. (2000), Managing in the New Economy, Business Review Books, New York, NY.

Meadows, D.H., Meadows, D.L., Randers, J. and Behrens, W.W. (1972), Limits to Growth, Potomac Associates, New York, NY.

Milne, M., Owen, D. and Tilt, C. (2001), “Corporate environmental reporting: are New Zealand companies being left behind?”, University of Auckland Business Review, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 24‐6.

Mueller, J. (2005a), unpublished research in progress, Waikato University Management School, Hamilton.

Mueller, J. (2005b), “Sustainability is an eye‐opener: businesses need to get beyond paying lip service to their triple bottom line”, New Zealand Herald, April 5.

Mueller, J., McDonald, G. and Klandt, H. (2005), “Will sustainability considerations change the future employee/employer relationship? A comparative evaluation of data from Germany and New Zealand”, paper presented at “Managing future workplace issues & challenges in the borderless world”“, Selangor, July 12‐13.

New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (2005), “Learn how your business can establish a sustainable supply chain”, New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, Auckland, available at: http://nzbcsd.org.nz/supplychain/ (accessed February, 2005).

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (2004), Creating our Future: Sustainable Development for New Zealand, Wellington.

Regierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (2002), Perspektiven für Deutschland. Unsere Strategie für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung, Regierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Berlin, available at: www.bundesregierung.de (accessed April, 2002).

Rigby, C. and Mueller, J. (2005), “Managing relational contracts as a complex issue in borderless workplaces”, paper presented at “Managing future workplace issues & challenges in the borderless World”, Selangor, July 12‐13.

Seuring, S., Kopli, J., Behrens, T. and Schneidewind, U. (2003), “Sustainability in the German detergent industry: from stakeholder involvement to sustainability indicators”, Sustainable Development, Vol. 11 No. 4, p. 199.

Springett, D. (2003), “Business conceptions of sustainable development: a perspective from critical theory”, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 12 No. 2, p. 71.

Stigson, B. (2000), “Sustainable development and business”, The OECD Observer, 221/222 (36), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Sustainability Council of New Zealand (2005), Council Publications, available at: www.sustainabilitynz.org/publications.asp (accessed February 5, 2005).

United Nations Environment Program (2004), United Nations Environment Program, Nairobi, available at: www.unep.org (accessed November, 2004).

van Marrewijk, M. (2003), “Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 44 Nos 2/3, p. 95.

World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (2004), Rahmenprogramm Forschung für die Nachhaltigkeit, BMBF, Berlin, available at: www.bmbf.de/press/1195.php (accessed November, 2004).

Lexicon der Nachhaltigkeit (2004), “Vgl. Aachener Stiftung Kathy Beys”, available at: www.nachhaltigkeit.aachener‐stiftung.de (accessed November, 2004).

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Corporate Governance (Bingley)

Tập 7 Số 3

227-237

Thông tin tác giả