Lutz Preuss

Addressing sustainable development through public procurement: the case of local government

Purpose: While the contribution of supply chain management to sustainability is receiving increasing attention in the private sector, there is still a scarcity of parallel studies of public procurement. Hence the purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which local government authorities in England use their procurement function to foster sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses an exploratory approach. Based on a review of the existing literature, qualitative research into leading local government authorities is undertaken to draw out the multiple ways in which public procurement can support sustainable development. Findings: At an aggregate level, local government procurers have adopted a wide range of initiatives to address all three aspects of sustainability. These are condensed into a typology of sustainable supply chain management for the public sector. Research limitations/implications: The study highlights the importance of supporting factors, like transparency, organisational culture and strategy as well as leeway in public policy, for sustainable supply chain management in the public sector. Practical implications: The experience of the best practice local authorities deserves wider recognition among practitioners, policy makers and academic researchers, not least given the objective of the UK government to be among the leaders in the European Union on sustainable procurement by 2009. Originality/value: The proposed typology of sustainable supply chain management for the public sector can serve as a basis for future research in this area.

The rise of CSR: implications for HRM and employee representation

Against the backdrop of the neo-institutionalist and national business systems approaches to the global–local question in international management, this paper discusses the implications of the rise of CSR in continental Europe for HRM and employee representation. Europe is undoubtedly subject to convergence processes, not least through the emergence of global CSR tools, yet the influence of national business systems remains visible too, as European companies tend to foreground different aspects of CSR to Anglo-American ones. Both HR managers and employee representatives are jostling for positions to shape the resulting adaptation processes. This situation highlights not only the importance of first-mover advantages in such a contested terrain but also the need for both HRM and employee representatives to gain internal legitimacy before being able to play an active role in CSR.

Green light for greener supply

The supply chain management function is currently undergoing a dramatic change: it is adopting an increasingly strategic role. However, this growing financial importance is matched in only a handful of exemplary companies by a greater contribution to environmental protection initiatives in the supply chain. This paper explores some of the obstacles to greater supply chain management involvement in environmental protection and offers suggestions for greener supply. At a personal level, the gap between public opinion on the environment and managerial values needs to be closed, and the support offered by management education and by professional bodies needs to be improved. Within the organisation, the reward structure for supply chain managers needs to move away from narrow economic criteria. Greener supply would also benefit from a larger supply chain management role in corporate strategy making; the function could even be offered a seat on the Board of Management. Changes to the mode of supply chain management, including improvements to the information flow on environmental issues, the decision–making tools used in the face of complex environmental challenges and novel approaches to supply chain management need to receive urgent attention.

On the contribution of public procurement to entrepreneurship and small business policy

Public procurement in industrialized nations accounts for a significant share of gross domestic product; hence it is imperative for local, regional and national economic development to utilize this potential. However, previous discussions of entrepreneurship and small business policy have by and large marginalized public sector procurement. As a contribution to giving greater salience to the linkages between regional development, entrepreneurship and public procurement, this paper presents empirical results of a qualitative study into local government authorities in the United Kingdom. In particular, it draws out a range of enablers and barriers for sourcing from small- and medium-sized enterprises that were perceived by procurement managers. The focus on public sector procurement furthermore leads to a more systematic theoretical elaboration of entrepreneurship policy as being based on legal authority or the market or network effects from geographic proximity.

Tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility: you can't do both, or can you?

– The payment of taxes is both a crucial corporate contribution to society and essential to good governance; but it is an under‐researched aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Hence this paper first seeks to examine whether companies that engage in tax avoidance through locating their headquarters in tax havens – or Offshore Finance Centres (OFCs) – make any claims to act socially responsibly. If so, the paper, second, aims to investigate how being based in an OFC impacts on the firms commitment to key organisational stakeholders., – In the light of the sensitivity of the issue, the research questions are studied through an analysis of the content of codes of conduct that have been adopted by a sample of firms based in OFCs. The results are compared with a sample of US firms., – OFC‐based firms do indeed make claims that they engage in responsible business practices. However, the commitments by OFC‐based companies vis‐a‐vis key stakeholders fall in almost all cases short of those made by the sample of US firms., – With regard to CSR theory, the paper shows how organisational legitimacy is the result of a complex interaction between strategic legitimacy efforts by OFC‐based companies and isomorphic processes in the wider social system. In terms of CSR practice, the paper argues that claims to acting socially responsibly by firms that do not even fully meet their economic responsibilities to society may, in the longer term, undermine the very idea of CSR.

Ambidexterity for Corporate Social Performance

The literature on corporate social performance advocates that firms address social issues based on instrumental as well as moral rationales. While both rationales trigger initiatives to increase corporate social performance, these rest on fundamentally different and contradicting foundations. Building on the literature on organizational ambidexterity and paradox in management, we propose in this conceptual article that ambidexterity represents an important determinant of corporate social performance. We explain how firms achieve higher levels of corporate social performance through the ambidextrous ability to simultaneously pursue instrumentally and morally driven social initiatives. We distinguish between a balance dimension and a combined dimension of ambidexterity, which both enhance corporate social performance through distinct mechanisms. With the balance dimension, instrumental and moral initiatives compensate for each other – which increases the scope of corporate social performance. With the combined dimension, instrumental and moral initiatives supplement each other – which increases the scale of corporate social performance. The article identifies the most important determinants and moderators of the balance and the combined dimension to explain the conditions under which we expect firms to increase corporate social performance through ambidexterity. By focusing on the interplay and tensions between different types of social initiatives, an ambidextrous perspective contributes to a better understanding of corporate social performance. Regarding managerial practice, we highlight the role of structural and behavioral factors for achieving higher corporate social performance through the simultaneous pursuit of instrumental and moral initiatives.

CONTRIBUTION OF PURCHASING AND SUPPLY MANAGEMENT TO ECOLOGICAL INNOVATION

This paper explores the contribution of the purchasing function to ecological innovation in the upstream supply chains of manufacturing companies. In terms of innovation type, purchasing managers reported much more activity on ecological process innovation than on product or organisational innovation. Few purchasing managers initiate ecological innovation in supply themselves, although they can play a range of supporting roles, not least lobbying for internal acceptance of supplier innovations. Among the motives for undertaking such initiatives, cost advantages, corporate reputation, supply chain pressure and legal requirements dominate. While making a significant contribution, the role of purchasing managers in ecological innovation is thus, at the same time, somewhat limited. To an extent, these limitations can be explained by a lag between the technological innovations purchasing managers can induce in their supply chains and a lack in organisational innovation in the rules and practices that govern their own work.

CSR priorities of emerging economy firms: is Russia a different shape of BRIC?

Purpose: Against the backcloth of a growing geopolitical and economic importance of emerging economies, this paper seeks to ask whether emerging economy firms are willing to match their increased economic weight with greater social responsibility. Given a relative scarcity of research into CSR in Russia, particular attention is to be given to firms from that country. Design/methodology/approach: The research question is examined through an analysis of differences between firms from industrialized nations, transition economies, and newly industrialized countries in terms of the breadth and depth of their sustainability reporting. This three-way comparison analyses corporate sustainability reporting according to the GRI G3 framework developed by the Global Reporting Initiative. Findings: The firms in the sample display clear evidence of a divide between industrialized and emerging economies, with Russia occupying a middle position. Contrary to expectations, however, emerging economy firms outperform those from industrialized nations in their coverage of GRI indicators. Research limitations/implications: These findings leave open two possible conclusions: either emerging economy MNEs have leaped to the front in terms of addressing sustainability or they have been able to use GRI reporting as window-dressing to hide a dirtier reality. From a different angle, the strong evidence of a North-South divide in the sample also lends support to the national business systems approach to CSR. Originality/value: The paper adds to a small but growing body of cross-national studies into CSR that go beyond OECD member countries. In particular, it constitutes one of the first studies not only to tease out CSR priorities of large Russian firms but also to elucidate differences in terms of CSR priorities between newly industrialized countries and transition economies.

A reluctant stakeholder? On the perception of corporate social responsibility among European trade unions.

Seen from a national business system perspective, the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerges as a specifically US-American response to challenges regarding the corporate place in society. With the spread of American capitalism, however, CSR is bound to come into contact and conflict with other approaches to the role of business in society that have been shaped by different national cultures. Within Europe, one such area of potential conflict concerns the role of organised labour in representing employee interests. Studying the perceptions held by European trade unions on stakeholding, as one of the important concepts in the CSR discourse, does indeed reveal a considerable degree of union scepticism of CSR and its terminology. There is, however, also embryonic evidence of at least some unions attempting to link the CSR discourse to traditional union goals. Furthermore, national differences in union responses to CSR are beginning to emerge, which may, in turn, further shape the evolution of national business systems in Europe.

Ethical theory in German business ethics research

This article offers an overview over the wide scope business ethics has reached in German speaking countries; works which in their majority are not yet available in English translation. The proposed concepts range from a focus on the individual manager and a focus on moral education of managers, via the procedural model of discourse ethics to pressure group ethics and business ethics from a Christian point of view. Other authors suggest an economic theory of moral behaviour, or see ethics as an assurance for decisions under uncertainty or argue for a more enlightened concept of economic rationality.