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To the letter vs the spirit: a case analysis of contrasting environmental management responses

journal contribution
posted on 2018-02-20, 00:00 authored by Campbell HeggenCampbell Heggen, V G Sridharan, N Subramaniam
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine why firms governed by the same environmental management standards within an industry exhibit contrasting responses, with some adhering to the letter and others achieving the spirit behind the standards.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Arena et al. (2010) as an analytical schema to examine the institutional dynamics behind such contrasting responses, the paper analyses archival and interview data relating to firm strategy, control technology and human expertise in two contrasting Australian forestry firms.
Findings
The embedding and decoupling of environmental standards with a firm’s environmental management practices is influenced, first, by the extent to which founder directors and senior management integrate environmental responsibility with the underlying business motives and, second, by the use of organisational beliefs and values systems to institutionalise the integrated strategic rationality throughout the firm. Finally, informed by the institutionalised strategic rationality, the participation and expertise of actors across the organisational hierarchy determine the level to which the design and execution of the eco-control technologies move beyond merely monitoring compliance, and act to facilitate continuous improvement, knowledge integration and organisational learning at the operational level.
Originality/value
This paper responds to institutional theorists’ call for a holistic explanation that considers the interactions among several intra-organisational factors to explain the dynamics behind why some firms decouple while others do not, even though the firms exist in the same social and regulatory context.

History

Journal

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

Volume

31

Issue

2

Pagination

478 - 502

Publisher

Emerald Publishing

Location

Bingley, Eng.

ISSN

0951-3574

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal; C Journal article

Copyright notice

2018, Emerald Publishing