Sarah Dixon

Ecopreneurship – a new approach to managing the triple bottom line

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend research into social and ecological entrepreneurship. It aims to examine how ecopreneurs can create an economically viable business whilst retaining their core environmental and social values.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach within the phenomenological research paradigm. Single case study of Green‐Works triangulating data collection – semi structured interviews, micro‐ethnography and document analysis. Inductive approach.Findings – A strong link is identified between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO enables the pursuit of environmental, social and economic goals. The success of the Green‐Works business model stems from the businesss symbiotic relationships: firstly with large corporate bodies, which are keen to quantify their CSR efforts; secondly, with the community and social partners, who provide employment and training for disadvantaged people and a route to relatively risk free growth; ...

Stages of Organizational Transformation in Transition Economies: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

How do organizations previously dominated by the state develop dynamic capabilities that would support their growth in a competitive market economy? We develop a theoretical framework of organizational transformation that explains the processes by which organizations learn and develop dynamic capabilities in transition economies. Specifically, the framework theorizes about the importance of, and inter-relationships between, leadership, organizational learning, dynamic capabilities, and performance over three stages of transformation. Propositions derived from this framework explain the pre-conditions enabling organizational learning, the linkages between types of learning and functions of dynamic capabilities, and the feedback from dynamic capabilities to organizational learning that allows firms in transition economies to regain their footing and build long-term competitive advantage. We focus on transition contexts, where these processes have been magnified and thus offer new insights into strategizing in radically altered environments.

Exploitation and exploration learning and the development of organizational capabilities: A cross-case analysis of the Russian oil industry

We use a cross-case analysis of four Russian oil majors to develop a framework explaining the relationship between exploitation and exploration learning, and the development of organizational capabilities in transition economies. Our research explains how the changing top management style influences organizational learning over time. In the first stage of organizational transformation an authoritarian management style initiates a break with the administrative heritage of the organization to facilitate exploitation learning and the development of operational capabilities. These are required for survival in the new conditions of a market economy. In the second stage a more participatory management style fosters exploration learning and the development of strategic flexibility, required for sustainable competitive advantage. We demonstrate that exploitation and exploration learning do not coexist in the initial stages of transformation but are sequential. We found that the western-derived constructs of organizational learning add to our understanding of the process of organizational transformation in a transition context. Our study of the Russian oil industry also provides new ways to think about the processes of organizational learning in western companies, particularly large bureaucratic ones, anchored in their administrative heritage and needing to undergo organizational transformation.

Leadership, administrative heritage and absorptive capacity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors for the management of change in transition economies.Design/methodology/approach – Four longitudinal case studies of Russian oil companies covering a ten‐year period from 1995, based on 71 in‐depth interviews. Examines organisational change from a resource‐based and organisational learning perspective.Findings – Explains how top managers firstly, break with administrative heritage to increase absorptive capacity and secondly, leverage administrative heritage for rapid implementation of change. Intra‐ and cross‐case analyses demonstrate that absorptive capacity increases and organisational change occurs where the top management team has radically different skills and mindsets from the dominant logic of the post‐Soviet organisation, an entrepreneurial orientation and the capability to drive through change due to a top‐down management style.Research limitations/implications – The research is restricted to four case studies. However, ...

Green-Works: a model for combining social and ecological entrepreneurship

How can social and ecological entrepreneurs create and develop an economically viable business whilst retaining the core environmental and social values that motivated them in the first place? Can sound business practice be genuinely consistent with idealism and environmental best practice? This research into the strategies adopted and the challenges faced by Green-Works, a UK nonprofit company, makes three contributions to the research in social and ecological entrepreneurship. Firstly it demonstrates a strong link between entrepreneurialism and environmentalism. The entrepreneurial flair of the CEO, who sees waste as an opportunity rather than a problem, enables his successful pursuit of a triptych of environmental, social and economic goals. Secondly, Green-Works’ business model demonstrates that economic sustainability is possible for social and ecological enterprises. Thirdly, the research reveals the value of network level strategy for enabling a variety of organizations to achieve their objectives in terms of the triple bottom line.

Changing HRM systems in two Russian oil companies: Western hegemony or Russian spetsifika?

We contrast attempts to introduce what were seen as sophisticated Western-style human resource management (HRM) systems into two Russian oil companies – a joint venture with a Western multinational corporation (TNK-BP) and a wholly Russian-owned company (Yukos). The drivers for Western hegemony within the joint venture, heavily influenced by expatriates and the established HRM processes introduced by the Western parent, were counteracted to a significant degree by the Russian spetsifika – the peculiarly Russian way of thinking and doing things. In contrast, developments were absorbed faster in the more authoritarian Russian-owned company. The research adds to the theoretical debate about international knowledge transfer and provides detailed empirical data to support our understanding of the effect of both organizational and cultural context on the knowledge-transfer mechanisms of local and multinational companies. As the analysis is based on the perspective of senior local nationals, we also address a relatively under-researched area in the international HRM literature which mostly relies on empirical data collected from expatriates and those based solely in multinational headquarters.

Quasi‐privatisation and corporate governance: a process perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness and relevance of a four stage model of privatisation, based in institutional theory, to quasi-privatised organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper studies a UK organisation with changing ownership, governance, and boundaries. Historic Royal Palaces is intrinsically interesting, and resembles many quasi-privatised organisations placed within charitable frameworks. Application of the process model reveals the governance challenges HRP faces. Findings – The study suggests that the model is holistic and dynamic, and useful as an analytic template. It is inclusive of competitor, behavioural, and resource-based views of the firm, and recognises that firms and their governance change over time. Research limitations/implications – The report adds validity to the model developed by case studies from a different national context. The small number of cases is a limitation. Future research could include other types of quasi-privatised organisation, and organisations in different national settings. Practical implications – The model provides a helpful template for interpreting and explaining the changes enacted by organisations and their members through privatisation. Further, although largely descriptive, the model also has some predictive power. It can help policy makers and managers predict some of the key limitations of the privatisation process of a particular organisation based on the specific nature of its context and settings. Originality/value – The detailed discussion of a quasi-privatised organisation – an increasingly common, but little researched organisational type is significant. The development of a holistic approach for understanding organisational changes is also significant.