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This paper aims to explore a set of institutional, organizational, and individual drivers of and barriers to the integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy of a European textile and clothing (T&C) company. The methodology is based on a case study of the exemplar VAUDE, a family-owned sustainable outdoor outfitter company. The results are in accordance with institutional theory and stakeholder theory as a theoretical framework explaining why companies deal with sustainability. The determined drivers depend on coherence at all levels of analysis, i.e., institutional, organizational, and individual. The barriers found are of an institutional and organizational nature only. The findings present significant practical implications for other T&C companies that seek to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy and for the T&C industry to create a sustainability-friendly environment to drive more companies to become sustainable. It further supports T&C companies in identifying potential barriers, determining how to overcome them, and successfully integrating sustainability into their corporate strategy. To conclude, the results suggest that it only works if sustainability is strongly integrated into the corporate strategy and deeply anchored in all departments and daily tasks of a T&C company.
Juliane Peters; Ana Simaens. Integrating Sustainability into Corporate Strategy: A Case Study of the Textile and Clothing Industry. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6125 .
AMA StyleJuliane Peters, Ana Simaens. Integrating Sustainability into Corporate Strategy: A Case Study of the Textile and Clothing Industry. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (15):6125.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJuliane Peters; Ana Simaens. 2020. "Integrating Sustainability into Corporate Strategy: A Case Study of the Textile and Clothing Industry." Sustainability 12, no. 15: 6125.
Elise Auke; Ana Simaens. Corporate responsibility in the fast fashion industry: how media pressure affected corporate disclosure following the collapse of Rana Plaza. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 2019, 23, 356 .
AMA StyleElise Auke, Ana Simaens. Corporate responsibility in the fast fashion industry: how media pressure affected corporate disclosure following the collapse of Rana Plaza. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. 2019; 23 (4):356.
Chicago/Turabian StyleElise Auke; Ana Simaens. 2019. "Corporate responsibility in the fast fashion industry: how media pressure affected corporate disclosure following the collapse of Rana Plaza." International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 23, no. 4: 356.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly important drivers for businesses’ self-regulation to operate in a sustainable way. We shift the perspective on NGOs from focusing on their advocacy role to focusing on their accountability for having sustainable internal operations. In a multiple case analysis, we explore the question ‘What are the drivers and barriers to sustainable conduct of NGOs that are sustainability advocates?’ Drawing on institutional theory, we obtain novel insights into the legitimacy-seeking motivations for sustainable conduct in the specific context of advocacy NGOs. We found that, affected by its mission, (1) the cultural-cognitive drive is particularly high, with sustainable conduct as an internally ‘taken-for-granted’ behavior, followed by (2) the normative drivers, with the balance between perceived vulnerability of needing to ‘walk the talk’ and the sense of immunity due to lack of external scrutiny, and (3) there are hardly any regulative drivers. Furthermore, these organizations face idiosyncratic trade-offs when balancing investments in their advocacy missions with investments in sustainable operations, reflecting ethical dilemmas. In a broader sense, this research elucidates the way advocates cope in situations of institutional complexity, with conflicting institutional demands between their mission and role-model function.
Mieneke Koster; Ana Simaens; Bart Vos. The Advocate’s Own Challenges to Behave in a Sustainable Way: An Institutional Analysis of Advocacy NGOs. Journal of Business Ethics 2017, 157, 483 -501.
AMA StyleMieneke Koster, Ana Simaens, Bart Vos. The Advocate’s Own Challenges to Behave in a Sustainable Way: An Institutional Analysis of Advocacy NGOs. Journal of Business Ethics. 2017; 157 (2):483-501.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMieneke Koster; Ana Simaens; Bart Vos. 2017. "The Advocate’s Own Challenges to Behave in a Sustainable Way: An Institutional Analysis of Advocacy NGOs." Journal of Business Ethics 157, no. 2: 483-501.
Paulo Bento; Ralitza Nikolaeva; Ana Simaens; Nathan Berg; Jorge Lengler. Time for a pause. Global Economics and Management Review 2016, 21, 1 .
AMA StylePaulo Bento, Ralitza Nikolaeva, Ana Simaens, Nathan Berg, Jorge Lengler. Time for a pause. Global Economics and Management Review. 2016; 21 (1):1.
Chicago/Turabian StylePaulo Bento; Ralitza Nikolaeva; Ana Simaens; Nathan Berg; Jorge Lengler. 2016. "Time for a pause." Global Economics and Management Review 21, no. 1: 1.
Paulo Bento; Ralitza Nikolaeva; Ana Simaens; Nathan Berg; Jorge Lengler. Why Global Economics and Management Review? Global Economics and Management Review 2014, 19, 1 -2.
AMA StylePaulo Bento, Ralitza Nikolaeva, Ana Simaens, Nathan Berg, Jorge Lengler. Why Global Economics and Management Review? Global Economics and Management Review. 2014; 19 (1-2):1-2.
Chicago/Turabian StylePaulo Bento; Ralitza Nikolaeva; Ana Simaens; Nathan Berg; Jorge Lengler. 2014. "Why Global Economics and Management Review?" Global Economics and Management Review 19, no. 1-2: 1-2.
The conceptual literature increasingly portrays corporate philanthropy (CP) as an old-fashioned and ineffective operationalization of a firm’s corporate social responsibility. In contrast, empirical research indicates that corporations of all sizes, and both in developed and emerging economies, actively practice CP. This disadvantaged status of the concept, and research, on CP, complicates the advancement of our knowledge about the topic. In a systematic review of the literature containing 122 journal articles on CP, we show that this business practice is loaded with unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses, and both conceptual and practical challenges that require renewed attention. We identify six interrelated but distinctive research themes in the literature: concept, motives, determinants, practices, business outcomes, and social outcomes. Dividing the literature on CP into six research themes creates an insightful comprehensive map of this intellectual terrain. Moreover, we distinguish among the level at which CP is analyzed: individual, organizational, institutional, or any combination of these levels. The review reveals significant gaps in the knowledge on CP. Most importantly we find that the conceptualization is limited, the research is mostly quantitative, the effects of CP on society are severely under-researched, and there is a lack of multilevel analyses. A detailed future research agenda is offered, including specific suggestions for research designs and measurements.
Kellie Liket; Ana Simaens. Battling the Devolution in the Research on Corporate Philanthropy. Journal of Business Ethics 2013, 126, 285 -308.
AMA StyleKellie Liket, Ana Simaens. Battling the Devolution in the Research on Corporate Philanthropy. Journal of Business Ethics. 2013; 126 (2):285-308.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKellie Liket; Ana Simaens. 2013. "Battling the Devolution in the Research on Corporate Philanthropy." Journal of Business Ethics 126, no. 2: 285-308.
Awareness of (un)sustainable operations is increasingly researched in the for-profit and government sectors, but little is known about the third sector. Still, these not-for-profit organizations are challenged by progressive accountability requirements and increasingly they seem to be responding to these demands through sustainability reporting. In this paper, we explore sustainability reporting by third sector organizations (TSOs) in the context of signalling theory; a useful theoretical lens to explore organizational reports as a signal to stakeholders. Using a document analysis, we explore twenty-three TSOs to discover what they are signalling, to whom, and whether different organizations send different messages.
Ana Simaens; Mieneke Koster. Reporting on sustainable operations by third sector organizations: A signalling approach. Public Management Review 2013, 15, 1040 -1062.
AMA StyleAna Simaens, Mieneke Koster. Reporting on sustainable operations by third sector organizations: A signalling approach. Public Management Review. 2013; 15 (7):1040-1062.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAna Simaens; Mieneke Koster. 2013. "Reporting on sustainable operations by third sector organizations: A signalling approach." Public Management Review 15, no. 7: 1040-1062.