Pratima Bansal

Why Companies Go Green: A Model of Ecological Responsiveness

The authors conducted a qualitative study of the motivations and contextual factors that induce corporate ecological responsiveness. Analytic induction applied to data collected from 53 firms in the United Kingdom and Japan revealed three motivations: competitiveness, legitimation, and ecological responsibility. These motivations were influenced by three contextual conditions: field cohesion, issue salience, and individual concern. In this article, the authors also identify the conditions that likely lead to high corporate ecological responsiveness.

Strategic Explanations for the Early Adoption of ISO 14001

There are two different, and somewhat competing, strategic explanations for why firms certify for ISO 14001. On the one hand, firms may seek to reinforce their present strategies thereby further enhancing their competitive advantage. On the other hand, firms may use ISO 14001 as a mechanism to reorient their strategies, so that a clear signal is sent about the firms change in strategic positioning. This paper aims to identify the most likely explanation for early adopters of ISO 14001.Using a matched pair design, we test these alternative explanations on a sample of US firms that certified for ISO 14001 in the first two years after its introduction. In particular, we tested whether ISO 14001 was used to reinforce or reorient firm strategies in respect to the natural environment, corporate social responsibility, quality, and internationalization.We found that firms that certified early for ISO 14001 had considerable environmental legitimacy and a strong international presence. We also found that the firms commitment to corporate social responsibility and quality were not significantly different between certified and non-certified firms. These findings suggest that early adopters of ISO 14001 leaned towards reinforcing rather than reorienting their firm strategy, which calls into question the ultimate reach of ISO 14001.

Seeing the Need for ISO 14001

A new composition of matter, a method for the preparation of a copper-exchanged Type Y structured zeolite and a separation process employing the same. The zeolite adsorbent is prepared by a procedure employing an aqueous ion-exchange step and a final step including contacting the copper-exchanged zeolite with a mixture containing a cuprous salt and a hydrocarbon. The process involves the selective separation of olefinic hydrocarbons from saturated hydrocarbons employing a Type Y structured zeolite containing copper cations at the cationic exchange sites within the zeolite. The olefins are selectively retained by an adsorbent and are removed in a concentrated form by a desorption step.

Deciding on ISO 14001: Economics, Institutions, and Context

Abstract ISO 14001 is an international standard for environmental management systems that was introduced in September 1996. It has gained wide recognition among businesses, much like its sister standard on quality management systems, ISO 9000. As a result, managers in almost every organization will evaluate whether the organization should become ISO 14001 certified. However, most analyses of ISO 14001 that are intended to guide managers in their evaluation have focused on the merits of ISO 14001, such as improved competitiveness, management control, and regulatory compliance. Very few articles provide a balanced picture of the costs and benefits of ISO 14001—including the conditions under which adoption will be most effective. This article redresses this gap by providing an analysis of not only why firms may choose to certify based on economic and institutional considerations, but also, when certification might be appropriate based on the firm’s context. In 1998, the Jutras division of Meridian Magnesium Inc., which manufactures magnesium automotive parts, reported that it saved almost

From the editors the coming of age for qualitative research: Embracing the diversity of qualitative methods

2 million soon after its

The Conventions of Management Research and their Relevance to Management Practice

45,000 investment on an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system (EMS). 1 The company reduced its use of electricity, natural gas, and lubricants, while producing less solid waste and contaminated water. These were not just one-time savings; they were expected to continue into perpetuity. Not all their ISO 14001 projects were winners, however. Jutras implemented ten projects for their EMS in the first year with an initial goal of saving over

Building the Future by Looking to the Past Examining Research Published on Organizations and Environment

460,000 in costs. Four of the projects did not result in any savings and one had disappointing but positive results. The remaining projects, however, provided larger than expected returns. The cost savings increased the competitiveness of a firm that prides itself on being the low cost leader in an increasingly competitive automotive parts industry. The benefits to the environment were a bonus. And there was yet another bonus from ISO 14001 that had not been anticipated: the preference for ISO certified suppliers by its key customers, Ford and General Motors, and the social legitimacy earned from stakeholders pressuring for greener business practices. The company now posts its ISO 14001 certification on its web site as one of its main achievements. Although this type of vignette presents ISO 14001 in a positive light, not all firms have embraced the standard with enthusiasm. While over 22,000 facilities in 98 countries were ISO 14001 certified by December 31, 2000, many firms had decided to delay certification or reject it altogether. 2 The significant financial rewards realized by the Jutras Division of Meridian Magnesium have not been perceived by many of its peers, even though most analyses of ISO 14001 attempt to convince the reader that such a system is of significant strategic importance and a panacea of opportunity. Writers typically tout the potential for lower costs, increased competitiveness, market share growth, higher profits, and regulatory compliance, such as those experienced by Meridian Magnesium. 3 The costs of ISO 14001, however, are not trivial. Managers need to undertake a careful analysis of the relevance of ISO 14001 to their firm before they decide to jump on the ISO 14001 bandwagon. While managers can estimate the direct costs of certification with the help of good internal cost accounting, evaluating the intangible costs and benefits and the indirect impacts on the firm’s performance is more difficult. In this article, we provide background perspectives and evaluation criteria for those aspects of ISO 14001 certification, looking specifically at the marginal benefit of ISO 14001 certification over an in-house EMS. This article, then, identifies why firms may certify and in which contexts, based on economic and institutional considerations. Armed with relevant decision-making criteria, we present managers with an analytical tool to assist them in determining if ISO 14001 is appropriate for their firm. The insights provided here build on three studies: 1. an investigation of the motivations of environmental responsiveness by interviewing members of 53 firms in the UK and Japan; 4 2. an investigation of the factors that influence the adoption of ISO 14001 based on a statistical analysis of 46 matched pairs of certified and non-certified firms and interviews with members of six firms in the US; 5 and 3. an investigation of the contexts that explain adoption based on interviews with 16 pulp and paper companies in Canada. 6 Details of these studies are provided in text boxes later in this paper. While these studies form the foundation of this paper, many of the anecdotes provided here are based on published sources because the interviewees were promised complete confidentiality.

Business sustainability: : It is about time

We would like to add our editorial voices to those who have previously advocated for qualitative research in AMJ. From the editors who have supported such work to the editorials they endorsed, a strong vision and commitment to qualitative work is evident. Our new editorial team remains equally committed (see the February 2011 From the Editors [vol. 54: 9–14]). The fact that two associate editors are now dedicated exclusively to managing qualitative papers through the review process—one for micro submissions (Kevin) and the other for macro submissions (Tima)—is strong evidence of that commitment. That this, our team’s second editorial, is by the two of us, Kevin and Tima, and focuses on qualitative research, is further evidence. After years of sustained commitment to the qualitative research agenda, we now have the opportunity to ask: What has AMJ done particularly well so far, and where do we see potential for continued improvement in publishing high-quality qualitative research? To address these questions, we reviewed the qualitative articles that have been published in AMJ the past ten years. From this review, we identified some gaps and pondered opportunities for further development. In this editorial, we applaud the important strides made on the qualitative frontier, recognize that some strong norms are emerging in the research that is published, and encourage more diversity in the qualitative research appearing in AMJ. We convey these thoughts through a first-person dialogue between us. We have chosen this style for several reasons. First, we want to signal that we are open to novelty by writing an editorial that departs from the traditional form. Second, dialogue embodies some of the character of qualitative research itself—exhibiting the authors’ voice, illustrating context, and demonstrating transparency. This dialogue also reinforces efforts made in previous editorials that show AMJ as a community of scholars collectively interested in advancing management research. Finally, this format allows us to share with you some of our conversation and experience as new associate editors making sense of and creating an identity for ourselves as visible advocates of qualitative research in the Academy of Management.

A Matter of Time: The Temporal Perspectives of Organizational Responses to Climate Change

This paper recognizes the failure of management research to communicate with practitioners, and speculates over the reasons why this may be the case. It is possible that the researchers’ interests may not always coincide with management practitioners’; however, even when such interests are congruent, it seems that relatively little management research is published in practitioner journals. We suggest that this is because academic research is written in a style that tends to alienate most practitioners. This paper isolates the stylistic conventions associated with research targeted to academics (typically published in academic journals) and research targeted to practitioners (typically published in practitioner-oriented journals). Such stylistic differences are illustrated through a study of organizational change whose findings have been published in both academic and practitioner format, namely in the Administrative Science Quarterly and the Harvard Business Review. We suggest that the gap between these two types of research could be narrowed through processes of translation (i.e. academic jargon could be translated in practitioner language). In addition we might consider greater use of Mode 2 research over Mode 1 research (academic). Mode 2 research presupposes that teams of academics and practitioners assemble to define the research problem and methodology in terms appropriate to a particular context and in a way that accounts for all existing interests so that translation processes are seamless. However, Mode 2 creates its own gap in that the knowledge is more contextual and may not reach a wide audience.

Short on Time: Intertemporal Tensions in Business Sustainability

Organizations and environment (O&E) researchers focus on either organizational outcomes or environmental outcomes. In this article, the authors argue that these are significantly different approaches to O&E research. The first aims to contribute to organization theory and performance; the latter aims to improve environmental performance. With a starting position that most research published in influential general management journals is of the organizational outcomes variety, the authors reviewed O&E research published from 1995 to 2005 to test this theory. The authors found, in fact, that most research is directed at environmental outcomes. This finding suggests that the most influential general management journals are receptive to environmental research that does not fit neatly into the organizational boxes. Yet, the authors also find that there is room for O&E research to have considerably more impact than there has been so far. This is a call for more high-quality O&E research in general management journals.