Itziar Castello

From Risk Management to Citizenship Corporate Social Responsibility: Analysis of Strategic Drivers of Change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand whether firms evolve towards more comprehensive postures of CSR and what strategic factors drive the change. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is deductive-inductive research based on six critical case studies and supported by extensive review of related literature. The paper provides historical analysis of six firms leaders in their industry (Nike, Shell, General Electric, 3M, CEMEX and IBM) combining primary and secondary data. Findings – Firms evolve over time towards more complex CSR postures. This evolution is driven by some key strategic factors. The article sets out a three-stage framework connecting CSR evolution and the strategic change factors. Practical implications – The paper provides managers with a framework to promote strategic CSR change in their organizations. Originality/value – The paper is a joint research study on the evolution of CSR and strategic drivers of change.

Introduction to the special issue: integrating sustainability in business models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue, conceptualized and realized by a group of scholars engaged in the Global Organizational Learning and Development Network (GOLDEN) for Sustainability programme. It aims to adopt the overarching research question of the GOLDEN research programme “How do firms learn to integrate and manage sustainability in their business models, including their organizational purpose, strategy, processes, systems and culture?” as the guiding principle for case selection.Design/methodology/approach – The paper first presents the key ideas underpinning the previous research question and illustrates the research approach and agenda of GOLDEN for Sustainability. Second, it introduces the eight case studies presented in this special issue.Findings – The cases offer good illustrations of the ongoing transition by both medium‐sized and multinational corporations dealing with learning and change challenges posed by the identification and management of sustainab...

Looking for New Forms of Legitimacy in Asia

Through a rhetoric analysis of 776 projects from firms located in 22 Asian countries, the authors argue that companies are looking for new forms of legitimacy that cannot be completely explained using traditional management theories. The authors introduce political theory into the debate. First, this study proposes a three-approach model of legitimation: The first approach is based on the strategic rhetoric as a mechanism for achieving pragmatic legitimacy, the second one uses the institutional rhetoric for gaining cognitive legitimacy, and the third, the political approach, is one through which firms seek to obtain moral legitimacy. The political strategy is aimed at improving the discursive quality between corporations and their stakeholders. Second, since the motivation for differing legitimacy strategies should be understood within their institutional environment, the authors look for patterns within each strategy dependent on national, industry, and firm-specific characteristics.

Why Some Political Opportunities Succeed and Others Fail: Bridging Organizational Levels in the Case of Spanish Occupy

The ‘Occupy’ protests provide numerous examples of new social movement organizations based on a complex, multilayered ecosystem heavily supported by social media and its ability to connect heterogeneous social networks. Studies of these type of organizations have stressed not only the importance of new media tools as a mobilization channels but also the influence of the Free Culture Movement on the genealogy, in terms of its composition, agenda, framing, and organizational logic (Fuster-Morell, 2012). Studies of the Occupy movements’ activities have shown the importance of the online tools for new forms of mass mobilizations, for example (Borge-Holthoefer et al., 2011). Mobilizations become different in their nature: they are faster, can connect previously unlinked people, and are spontaneous (Bennett, 2003). However, few studies have looked into organizational characteristics beyond the online processes and their effect on mobilization. This article investigates how new forms of organizations characterized by being complex and multilayered networks select their organizational objectives and turn them into political matters. We ask how these organizational goals emerge, how they are selected, organized and ultimately impact the political arena.