Beyond the Bounded Instrumentality in Current Corporate Sustainability Research: Toward an Inclusive Notion of Profitability [Book Review]
Journal of Business Ethics 104 (3):325-345 (2011)
Abstract
We argue that the majority of the current approaches in research on corporate sustainability are inconsistent with the notion of sustainable development. By defining the notion of instrumentality in the context of corporate sustainability through three conceptual principles we show that current approaches are rooted in a bounded notion of instrumentality which establishes a systematic a priori predominance of economic organizational outcomes over environmental and social aspects. We propose an inclusive notion of profitability that reflects the return on all forms of environmental, social, and economic capital used by a firm. This inclusive notion of corporate profitability helps to redefine corporate profitability as if sustainability matters in that it overcomes the bounded instrumentality that impairs current research on corporate sustainability. We apply this notion to different car manufacturers and develop conceptual implications for future research on corporate sustainability.DOI
10.1007/s10551-011-0911-0
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Citations of this work
A Paradox Perspective on Corporate Sustainability: Descriptive, Instrumental, and Normative Aspects.Tobias Hahn, Frank Figge, Jonatan Pinkse & Lutz Preuss - 2018 - Journal of Business Ethics 148 (2):235-248.
Tensions in Corporate Sustainability: Towards an Integrative Framework.Tobias Hahn, Jonatan Pinkse, Lutz Preuss & Frank Figge - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 127 (2):297-316.
GHG Reporting and Impression Management: An Assessment of Sustainability Reports from the Energy Sector.David Talbot & Olivier Boiral - 2018 - Journal of Business Ethics 147 (2):367-383.
Corporate Sustainability: A View From the Top.Arménio Rego, Miguel Pina E. Cunha & Daniel Polónia - 2017 - Journal of Business Ethics 143 (1):133-157.
Managing Corporate Sustainability with a Paradoxical Lens: Lessons from Strategic Agility.Sarah Birrell Ivory & Simon Bentley Brooks - 2018 - Journal of Business Ethics 148 (2):347-361.
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