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When One Size Does Not Fit All: A Problem of Fit Rather than Failure for Voluntary Management Standards

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Abstract

Voluntary management standards for social and environmental performance ideally help to define and improve firms’ related capabilities. These standards, however, have largely failed to improve such performance as intended. Over-emphasis on institutional factors leading to adoption of these standards has neglected the role of firms’ existing capabilities. External pressures can drive firms to adopt standards more than their technical capacity to employ them. This can lead to problems of “fit” between institutional requirements and a firm’s existing capabilities. We describe a conceptual model that considers the impact of an interaction between a firm’s institutional requirements and its existing capabilities on standards failure. We suggest solutions that align institutional requirements to appropriate governance forms as a means to improve standards success. We contribute to theory by describing the role of firms’ internal capabilities to the success of voluntary management standards and the reliability of self-regulation generally.

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  1. “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment” Directive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Monash University, Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield, VIC, Australia

    Dayna Simpson

  2. Department of Management, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Damien Power

  3. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Damien Power

  4. Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Robert Klassen

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  1. Dayna Simpson
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  2. Damien Power
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  3. Robert Klassen
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Correspondence to Dayna Simpson.

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Simpson, D., Power, D. & Klassen, R. When One Size Does Not Fit All: A Problem of Fit Rather than Failure for Voluntary Management Standards. J Bus Ethics 110, 85–95 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1149-6

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