|
Instructors: Prof. Dr. Achim Oberg
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
24-504.32
Hours per week:
2
Credits:
6,0
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
10 | 25
Comments/contents:
Organizations play a crucial role when it comes to climate change. Companies and their business models have an impact on emissions while their sales strategies have an influence on consumer behavior. Non-profit initiatives and social movements use various communication tools to raise the awareness for climate change. Industry associations and authorities try to react to climate change via different governance approaches. At the same time, these different organizations – businesses, initiatives, associations and authorities – interact with each other and this can either lead to an intensification of their course of action or to mutual blocking.
With the sociological institutionalism, a broad school of thought has developed, which helps to explore how organizations deal with climate change. The result isn’t a coherent approach, but a variety of institutional perspectives, which examine different aspects - like everyday knowledge, culture, logics and networks - with specific concepts and methods.
The aim of the seminar is to find out which institutional perspectives are helpful to get a better understanding of how organizations deal with climate change. We will start with classics of the sociological institutionalism and will then explore the differences between current approaches.
Learning objectives:
- Understanding how organizations deal with climate change
- Getting acquainted with the basics of sociological institutionalism
- Exploring the differences between various institutional perspectives
Didactic concept:
At weekly meetings we will discuss selected literature. In order to introduce the different subjects, keynote speeches of students and lecturers will alternate. At the last meetings, short proposals for the seminar papers will be prepared, presented and discussed.
Literature:
Excerpt of the bibliographical references:
- Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1967). The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledmann. Anchor Books.
- Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 946–967. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275684
- Greenwood, R., Oliver, C., Lawrence, T. B., & Meyer, R. E. (2017). The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. SAGE.
- Gümüsay, A. A., Claus, L., & Amis, J. (2020). Engaging with Grand Challenges: An Institutional Logics Perspective. Organization Theory, 1(3), 2631787720960487. https://doi.org/10.1177/2631787720960487
- Hoffman, A. J., & Jennings, P. D. (2015). Institutional Theory and the Natural Environment: Research in (and on) the Anthropocene. Organization & Environment, 28(1), 8–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026615575331
- Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363.
- Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing Legitimacy: Strategic and Institutional Approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1995.9508080331
Further references will be published at the beginning of the seminar.
Additional examination information:
Examination within the profile module and the elective area: seminar paper
Assessment scheme: grades
Scope: 15-20 pages
Deadline: 30.09.2023
Publication of the assessed examination: directly at the lecturer
Further academic achievements (ungraded) to be rendered within the profile module and the elective area:
active participation, keynote speeches, proposal for the seminar paper
|
