IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v110y2012i1p85-95.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Dayna Simpson
  • Damien Power
  • Robert Klassen

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. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Dayna Simpson & Damien Power & Robert Klassen, 2012. "When One Size Does Not Fit All: A Problem of Fit Rather than Failure for Voluntary Management Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 85-95, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:110:y:2012:i:1:p:85-95
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1149-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-011-1149-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-011-1149-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Magali Delmas & Arturo Keller, 2005. "Free riding in voluntary environmental programs: The case of the U.S. EPA WasteWise program," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 38(2), pages 91-106, September.
    2. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    3. Ivan Montiel & Bryan Husted, 2009. "The Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Management Programs in Mexico: First Movers as Institutional Entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 349-363, September.
    4. Michael J. Lenox, 2006. "The Role of Private Decentralized Institutions in Sustaining Industry Self-Regulation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(6), pages 677-690, December.
    5. Raynolds, Laura T., 2004. "The Globalization of Organic Agro-Food Networks," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 725-743, May.
    6. Aseem Prakash & Matthew Potoski, 2012. "Voluntary environmental programs: A comparative perspective," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 123-138, December.
    7. Lisette Ibanez & Gilles Grolleau, 2008. "Can Ecolabeling Schemes Preserve the Environment?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 40(2), pages 233-249, June.
    8. Dima Jamali, 2010. "MNCs and International Accountability Standards Through an Institutional Lens: Evidence of Symbolic Conformity or Decoupling," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(4), pages 617-640, September.
    9. Stephen Brammer & Andrew Millington, 2008. "Does it pay to be different? An analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(12), pages 1325-1343, December.
    10. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    11. Giovannucci, Daniele & Ponte, Stefano, 2005. "Standards as a new form of social contract? Sustainability initiatives in the coffee industry," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 284-301, June.
    12. Ziegler, Andreas & Seijas Nogareda, Jazmin, 2009. "Environmental management systems and technological environmental innovations: Exploring the causal relationship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 885-893, June.
    13. Elinor Ostrom, 2000. "Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 137-158, Summer.
    14. Abagail McWilliams & Donald Siegel, 2000. "Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 603-609, May.
    15. Magali Delmas & Ivan Montiel, 2009. "Greening the Supply Chain: When Is Customer Pressure Effective?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 171-201, March.
    16. Nicole Darnall & Irene Henriques & Perry Sadorsky, 2010. "Adopting Proactive Environmental Strategy: The Influence of Stakeholders and Firm Size," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1072-1094, September.
    17. Michael Lenox & Andrew King, 2004. "Prospects for developing absorptive capacity through internal information provision," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 331-345, April.
    18. Dima Jamali & Ben Neville, 2011. "Convergence Versus Divergence of CSR in Developing Countries: An Embedded Multi-Layered Institutional Lens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 599-621, September.
    19. Anja Schaefer, 2007. "Contrasting Institutional and Performance Accounts of Environmental Management Systems: Three Case Studies in the UK Water & Sewerage Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 506-535, June.
    20. Martin Mueller & Virginia dos Santos & Stefan Seuring, 2009. "The Contribution of Environmental and Social Standards Towards Ensuring Legitimacy in Supply Chain Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 509-523, November.
    21. Hicks, Robert L. & Schnier, Kurt E., 2008. "Eco-labeling and dolphin avoidance: A dynamic model of tuna fishing in the Eastern Tropical Pacific," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 103-116, September.
    22. Robert J. David & Shin‐Kap Han, 2004. "A systematic assessment of the empirical support for transaction cost economics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 39-58, January.
    23. Nishitani, Kimitaka, 2009. "An empirical study of the initial adoption of ISO 14001 in Japanese manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 669-679, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nikolas K. Kelling & Philipp C. Sauer & Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring, 2021. "The Role of Institutional Uncertainty for Social Sustainability of Companies and Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 813-833, November.
    2. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    3. Ying Zhang & Hongfei Ruan & Guiyao Tang & Li Tong, 2021. "Power of sustainable development: Does environmental management system certification affect a firm's access to finance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3772-3788, December.
    4. Diego Pérez‐López & Ana Moreno‐Romero & Ralf Barkemeyer, 2015. "Exploring the Relationship between Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Management Practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 720-734, December.
    5. Philipp Sauer & Stefan Seuring, 2018. "A three-dimensional framework for multi-tier sustainable supply chain management," Post-Print hal-03926114, HAL.
    6. Marianne Jahre & Nathalie Fabbe-Costes, 2015. "How standards and modularity can improve humanitarian supply chain responsiveness. The case of emergency response units," Post-Print hal-01419104, HAL.
    7. Fabien Martinez, 2015. "A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Framework of Corporate Water Responsibility," Post-Print hal-02887624, HAL.
    8. Jamalnia, Aboozar & Gong, Yu & Govindan, Kannan, 2023. "Sub-supplier's sustainability management in multi-tier supply chains: A systematic literature review on the contingency variables, and a conceptual framework," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    9. Pavel Castka & Charles J. Corbett, 2016. "Governance of Eco-Labels: Expert Opinion and Media Coverage," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 309-326, May.
    10. Serdal Ozusaglam & Stéphane Robin & Chee Yew Wong, 2018. "Early and late adopters of ISO 14001-type standards: revisiting the role of firm characteristics and capabilities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1318-1345, October.
    11. Ozusaglam, Serdal & Kesidou, Effie & Wong, Chee Yew, 2018. "Performance effects of complementarity between environmental management systems and environmental technologies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 112-122.
    12. Smits, Armand & Drabe, Viktoria & Herstatt, Cornelius, 2016. "Standard implementation trajectories for sustainable product design: A configurational approach," Working Papers 95, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management.
    13. Laurence Vigneau & Michael Humphreys & Jeremy Moon, 2015. "How Do Firms Comply with International Sustainability Standards? Processes and Consequences of Adopting the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 469-486, October.
    14. Jamalnia, Aboozar & Gong, Yu & Govindan, Kannan & Bourlakis, Michael & Mangla, Sachin Kumar, 2023. "A decision support system for selection and risk management of sustainability governance approaches in multi-tier supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    15. David G Hyatt & Nicholas Berente, 2017. "Substantive or Symbolic Environmental Strategies? Effects of External and Internal Normative Stakeholder Pressures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1212-1234, December.
    16. Priyabrata Chowdhury & Rezaul Shumon, 2020. "Minimizing the Gap between Expectation and Ability: Strategies for SMEs to Implement Social Sustainability Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Simone de Colle & Adrian Henriques & Saras Sarasvathy, 2014. "The Paradox of Corporate Social Responsibility Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 177-191, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serdal Ozusaglam & Stéphane Robin & Chee Yew Wong, 2018. "Early and late adopters of ISO 14001-type standards: revisiting the role of firm characteristics and capabilities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1318-1345, October.
    2. Quang Le Van & Thanh Viet Nguyen & Manh Hung Nguyen, 2019. "Sustainable development and environmental policy: The engagement of stakeholders in green products in Vietnam," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 675-687, July.
    3. Lin, Han & Chen, Lu & Yu, Mingchuan & Li, Chao & Lampel, Joseph & Jiang, Wan, 2021. "Too little or too much of good things? The horizontal S-curve hypothesis of green business strategy on firm performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    4. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.
    5. Falko Paetzold & Timo Busch & Sebastian Utz & Anne Kellers, 2022. "Between impact and returns: Private investors and the sustainable development goals," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3182-3197, November.
    6. Qi Guoyou & Zeng Saixing & Tam Chiming & Yin Haitao & Zou Hailiang, 2013. "Stakeholders' Influences on Corporate Green Innovation Strategy: A Case Study of Manufacturing Firms in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    8. Christin Seifert & Edeltraud Guenther, 2020. "Who cares?—Stakeholder relevance for voluntary environmental management in hospitals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1786-1799, July.
    9. Lee, Ki-Hoon & Min, Byung & Yook, Keun-Hyo, 2015. "The impacts of carbon (CO2) emissions and environmental research and development (R&D) investment on firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Yann Truong & Brian G. Nagy, 2021. "Nascent ventures’ green initiatives and angel investor judgments of legitimacy and funding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1801-1818, December.
    11. Martin Thomas Falk & Eva Hagsten, 2020. "Time for carbon neutrality and other emission reduction measures at European airports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1448-1464, March.
    12. Francesco Testa & Olivier Boiral & Fabio Iraldo, 2018. "Internalization of Environmental Practices and Institutional Complexity: Can Stakeholders Pressures Encourage Greenwashing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 287-307, January.
    13. Lannelongue, Gustavo & González-Benito, Javier, 2012. "Opportunism and environmental management systems: Certification as a smokescreen for stakeholders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 11-22.
    14. Tat Dat Bui & Mohd Helmi Ali & Feng Ming Tsai & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Ming-Lang Tseng & Ming K Lim, 2020. "Challenges and Trends in Sustainable Corporate Finance: A Bibliometric Systematic Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, October.
    15. Stefan Ambec & Paul Lanoie, 2009. "Performance environnementale et économique de l’entreprise," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 190(4), pages 71-94.
    16. Miriam Wilhelm & Veronica H. Villena, 2021. "Cascading Sustainability in Multi‐tier Supply Chains: When Do Chinese Suppliers Adopt Sustainable Procurement?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 4198-4218, November.
    17. Patricia Crifo & Marc-Arthur Diaye & Sanja Pekovic, 2016. "CSR related management practices and Firm Performance," Post-Print hal-01278585, HAL.
    18. Dan Caprar & Benjamin Neville, 2012. "“Norming” and “Conforming”: Integrating Cultural and Institutional Explanations for Sustainability Adoption in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 231-245, October.
    19. Linda Thorne & Lois S. Mahoney & Kristen Gregory & Susan Convery, 2017. "A Comparison of Canadian and U.S. CSR Strategic Alliances, CSR Reporting, and CSR Performance: Insights into Implicit–Explicit CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 85-98, June.
    20. Reif, Christiane & Rexhäuser, Sascha, 2015. "Good enough! Are socially responsible companies the more successful environmental innovators?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-018, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:110:y:2012:i:1:p:85-95. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.