Robert Strand | Copenhagen Business School, CBS (original) (raw)
Papers by Robert Strand
Scandinavia is routinely cited as a global leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and su... more Scandinavia is routinely cited as a global leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. In this article, we explore the foundation for this claim while also exploring potential contributing factors. We consider the deep-seated traditions of stakeholder engagement across Scandinavia including the claim that the recent concept of “creating shared value” has Scandinavian origins, institutional and cultural factors that encourage strong CSR and sustainability performances, and the recent phenomenon of movement from implicit to explicit CSR in a Scandinavian context and what this may entail. In sum, we depict the state of the art in CSR and sustainability in Scandinavia. We intend for this to serve as a basis to help establish a globally recognized research paradigm dedicated to considering CSR and sustainability in a Scandinavian context.
Copenhagen Business School Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility Working Paper Series, Feb 2014
The metaphors of strategic management are predominantly rooted in competition in support of the o... more The metaphors of strategic management are predominantly rooted in competition in support of the objective to achieve a “competitive advantage.” Drawn from military, sport, and (oftentimes incomplete) interpretations of evolutionary biology, these metaphors imply that business is a zero-sum competitive game. Metaphors are not “just” words but, rather, they impact thoughts and actions. Hence the use of competitive metaphors encourages competitive behavior in business. We argue that this misdirects the purpose of business from being about value creation and, moreover, that value creation is more effectively achieved by approaching business as a fundamentally cooperative endeavor. Furthermore, these “survival of the fittest” sorts of metaphors inhibit considerations toward ethics, humanism, and sustainability. We call for a shift toward metaphors rooted in cooperation and as a means to do so we also call for a shift in focus from achieving “competitive advantage” toward achieving “cooperative advantage” as the objective of strategic management. We conclude by laying out some promising research avenues for further considerations.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2014
Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously ex... more Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously explicit fashion through the emergence of top management team (TMT) positions with dedicated corporate sustainability responsibilities. These TMT positions, commonly referred to as “Chief Sustainability Officers,” have found their way into the upper echelons of many of the world’s largest corporations alongside more traditional TMT positions including the CEO and CFO. We explore this phenomenon and consider the following two questions: Why are corporate sustainability positions being installed to the TMT? What effects do corporate sustainability TMT positions have at their organizations? We consider these questions through strategic leadership and neoinstitutional theoretical frameworks. Through the latter, we also engage with Weberian considerations of bureaucracy. We find that the reasons why corporate sustainability TMT positions are installed can be in response to a crisis at the corporation for which its legitimacy is challenged. We also find the corporate sustainability TMT position can be installed proactively in an effort to realize external opportunities that may have otherwise gone unrealized without concerted attention and coordination afforded by a strategic level position. Regarding effects, we determine the position can relate to the establishment of bureaucratic structures dedicated to corporate sustainability within the corporation through which formalized processes and key performance indicators to drive corporate sustainability performances are established. In the face of our finding that many corporate sustainability TMT positions are being removed despite having only relatively recently been introduced to their respective TMTs, we find that the successful implementation of bureaucratic machinery can help considerations to sustainability extend beyond the tenure of a corporate sustainability position within the TMT.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2013
In this article, we first provide evidence that Scandinavian contributions to stakeholder theory ... more In this article, we first provide evidence that Scandinavian contributions to stakeholder theory over the past 50 years play a much larger role in its development than is presently acknowledged. These contributions include the first publication and description of the term “stakeholder”, the first stakeholder map, and the development of three fundamental tenets of stakeholder theory: jointness of interests, cooperative strategic posture, and rejection of a narrowly economic view of the firm. We then explore the current practices of Scandinavian companies through which we identify the evidence of relationships to these historical contributions. Thus, we propose that Scandinavia offers a particularly promising context from which to draw inspiration regarding effective company-stakeholder cooperation and where ample of examples of what is more recently referred to as “creating shared value” can be found. We conclude by endorsing the expression “Scandinavian cooperative advantage” in an effort to draw attention to the Scandinavian context and encourage the field of strategic management to shift its focus from achieving a competitive advantage toward achieving a cooperative advantage.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2013
I present a review of the top management teams (TMTs) of the largest public corporations in the U... more I present a review of the top management teams (TMTs) of the largest public corporations in the U.S. and Scandinavia (one thousand in total) to identify corporations that have a TMT position with “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) or a “CSR synonym” like sustainability or citizenship explicitly included in the position title. Through this I present three key findings. First, I establish that a number of CSR TMT positions exist and I list all identified corporations and associated position titles. Second, I show that Scandinavian corporations are significantly more likely than U.S. corporations to have such CSR TMT positions. This finding serves as evidence that the U.S. may have been surpassed by a subset of Europe, i.e., Scandinavia, in at least one relevant measure of explicit CSR, whereby this study may serve witness to a noteworthy juncture post Matten and Moon’s (Academy of Management Review, 33(2):404–424, 2008) “Implicit & Explicit CSR” article. And third, I show that corporations with a CSR TMT position are three times more likely to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) than corporations with none. A range of further research opportunities stemming from these findings include exploring whether explicit attention to CSR by the corporation is indicative of a longer term trend that has to do with attention to responsible business and whether a move away from the expression ‘CSR’ toward the expression ‘sustainability’ is underway and what this may entail.
Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 2011
Leadership as demonstrated by today’s corporate leaders has been called into question. In the aft... more Leadership as demonstrated by today’s corporate leaders has been called into question. In the aftermath of corporate scandals and global financial crisis, many people today desire leadership that promotes the ideals of corporate social responsibility (CSR). At the present time there exists strikingly little research that explicitly explores the intersection between leadership and CSR. Therefore the primary goal of this article is to collect the existing research relating leadership with CSR in an effort to better understand the intersection of these fields, and to explore promising future areas research at this intersection. Having surveyed the literature, beginning with studies that explicitly explored “leadership and CSR” and broadening to include related relevant studies, I have discovered a number of interesting studies that can serve as a foundation for those who are interested in more deeply exploring the intersection of leadership and CSR.
Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 2011
The debate about how to “fix” business schools is intensifying which has coincided with a call fo... more The debate about how to “fix” business schools is intensifying which has coincided with a call for a greater attention to sustainability in business and business education. Teaching sustainability in MBA programs, however, raises a number of questions and challenges. This article presents a few straightforward ideas to address these challenges and offers findings from MBA level sustainability courses I have taught at a major U.S. business school- including a study abroad course to Scandinavia- in which these ideas have demonstrated their effectiveness.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2009
This article examines corporate responsibility in the supply chains of four of the largest Scandi... more This article examines corporate responsibility in the supply chains of four of the largest Scandinavian multinational corporations – IKEA, Nokia, Novo Nordisk, and StatoilHydro – and offers two key findings. First, these Scandinavian companies have all implemented responsible supply chain practices where suppliers in developing nations, and the communities of these suppliers, are engaged as key stakeholders and treated as partners. Second, these supply chain practices all share the common bond of having honesty and the establishment of trust-based relationships at their foundation. As a result, these Scandinavian companies have developed a “cooperative advantage” in their ability to form successful, long-term partnerships in their respective supply chains.
Sustainability and stakeholder engagement are closely interrelated; the former is virtually unach... more Sustainability and stakeholder engagement are closely interrelated; the former is virtually unachievable without the latter. While the corporation is increasingly paying lip service to stakeholder engagement, in practice there is much room for improvement. This lack of stakeholder engagement increases risks to the corporation and minimises its business opportunities. This article introduces a management tool, the stakeholder dashboard, which sustainability consultants can implement to help their clients improve stakeholder engagement by offering management vital stakeholder information at a glance. Its primary goal is to raise awareness and facilitate discussion among the corporation's management about the corporation's stakeholders. Through the systematised, periodic generation of the stakeholder dashboard, a reactionary environment can be combated by highlighting key stakeholders impressions toward the corporation in near real time and can help the corporation identify gaps where it is flying blind. Measuring stakeholder perceptions is nothing new, but these perceptions are seldom (if ever) pulled together in a single dashboard and charted over time to give management a holistic view of the corporation's stakeholders.
Books by Robert Strand
In this dissertation I examine the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) bureauc... more In this dissertation I examine the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) bureaucracies at corporations and I come to consider the CSR bureaucracy as a space for reflection within the corporation. In the face of charges that bureaucracies are inherently unethical and devoid of consideration for humanistic concerns, I argue that within the large bureaucracy that is the corporation, the CSR bureaucracy can create a space in which tensions that arise from conflicting values and purposes can be identified, negotiated, and actions coordinated. I position this dissertation within the field of CSR, to which I introduce the Weberian distinction between formal and substantive rationality as means through which to identify and describe tensions that become apparent with the CSR agenda. This dissertation contains four articles, two of which draw from the engaged scholarship approach. One includes findings from a study I conducted as an action/intervention researcher with a U.S. corporation during the period in which a CSR bureaucracy was established. The other includes findings from a study of CSR focused MBA courses I instruct in which reflection is a primary learning objective. The other two articles include findings from studies I conducted to explore the establishment of a CSR position to the top management teams of U.S. and Scandinavian corporations.
Scandinavia is routinely cited as a global leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and su... more Scandinavia is routinely cited as a global leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. In this article, we explore the foundation for this claim while also exploring potential contributing factors. We consider the deep-seated traditions of stakeholder engagement across Scandinavia including the claim that the recent concept of “creating shared value” has Scandinavian origins, institutional and cultural factors that encourage strong CSR and sustainability performances, and the recent phenomenon of movement from implicit to explicit CSR in a Scandinavian context and what this may entail. In sum, we depict the state of the art in CSR and sustainability in Scandinavia. We intend for this to serve as a basis to help establish a globally recognized research paradigm dedicated to considering CSR and sustainability in a Scandinavian context.
Copenhagen Business School Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility Working Paper Series, Feb 2014
The metaphors of strategic management are predominantly rooted in competition in support of the o... more The metaphors of strategic management are predominantly rooted in competition in support of the objective to achieve a “competitive advantage.” Drawn from military, sport, and (oftentimes incomplete) interpretations of evolutionary biology, these metaphors imply that business is a zero-sum competitive game. Metaphors are not “just” words but, rather, they impact thoughts and actions. Hence the use of competitive metaphors encourages competitive behavior in business. We argue that this misdirects the purpose of business from being about value creation and, moreover, that value creation is more effectively achieved by approaching business as a fundamentally cooperative endeavor. Furthermore, these “survival of the fittest” sorts of metaphors inhibit considerations toward ethics, humanism, and sustainability. We call for a shift toward metaphors rooted in cooperation and as a means to do so we also call for a shift in focus from achieving “competitive advantage” toward achieving “cooperative advantage” as the objective of strategic management. We conclude by laying out some promising research avenues for further considerations.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2014
Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously ex... more Strategic leadership and corporate sustainability have recently come together in conspicuously explicit fashion through the emergence of top management team (TMT) positions with dedicated corporate sustainability responsibilities. These TMT positions, commonly referred to as “Chief Sustainability Officers,” have found their way into the upper echelons of many of the world’s largest corporations alongside more traditional TMT positions including the CEO and CFO. We explore this phenomenon and consider the following two questions: Why are corporate sustainability positions being installed to the TMT? What effects do corporate sustainability TMT positions have at their organizations? We consider these questions through strategic leadership and neoinstitutional theoretical frameworks. Through the latter, we also engage with Weberian considerations of bureaucracy. We find that the reasons why corporate sustainability TMT positions are installed can be in response to a crisis at the corporation for which its legitimacy is challenged. We also find the corporate sustainability TMT position can be installed proactively in an effort to realize external opportunities that may have otherwise gone unrealized without concerted attention and coordination afforded by a strategic level position. Regarding effects, we determine the position can relate to the establishment of bureaucratic structures dedicated to corporate sustainability within the corporation through which formalized processes and key performance indicators to drive corporate sustainability performances are established. In the face of our finding that many corporate sustainability TMT positions are being removed despite having only relatively recently been introduced to their respective TMTs, we find that the successful implementation of bureaucratic machinery can help considerations to sustainability extend beyond the tenure of a corporate sustainability position within the TMT.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2013
In this article, we first provide evidence that Scandinavian contributions to stakeholder theory ... more In this article, we first provide evidence that Scandinavian contributions to stakeholder theory over the past 50 years play a much larger role in its development than is presently acknowledged. These contributions include the first publication and description of the term “stakeholder”, the first stakeholder map, and the development of three fundamental tenets of stakeholder theory: jointness of interests, cooperative strategic posture, and rejection of a narrowly economic view of the firm. We then explore the current practices of Scandinavian companies through which we identify the evidence of relationships to these historical contributions. Thus, we propose that Scandinavia offers a particularly promising context from which to draw inspiration regarding effective company-stakeholder cooperation and where ample of examples of what is more recently referred to as “creating shared value” can be found. We conclude by endorsing the expression “Scandinavian cooperative advantage” in an effort to draw attention to the Scandinavian context and encourage the field of strategic management to shift its focus from achieving a competitive advantage toward achieving a cooperative advantage.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2013
I present a review of the top management teams (TMTs) of the largest public corporations in the U... more I present a review of the top management teams (TMTs) of the largest public corporations in the U.S. and Scandinavia (one thousand in total) to identify corporations that have a TMT position with “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) or a “CSR synonym” like sustainability or citizenship explicitly included in the position title. Through this I present three key findings. First, I establish that a number of CSR TMT positions exist and I list all identified corporations and associated position titles. Second, I show that Scandinavian corporations are significantly more likely than U.S. corporations to have such CSR TMT positions. This finding serves as evidence that the U.S. may have been surpassed by a subset of Europe, i.e., Scandinavia, in at least one relevant measure of explicit CSR, whereby this study may serve witness to a noteworthy juncture post Matten and Moon’s (Academy of Management Review, 33(2):404–424, 2008) “Implicit & Explicit CSR” article. And third, I show that corporations with a CSR TMT position are three times more likely to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) than corporations with none. A range of further research opportunities stemming from these findings include exploring whether explicit attention to CSR by the corporation is indicative of a longer term trend that has to do with attention to responsible business and whether a move away from the expression ‘CSR’ toward the expression ‘sustainability’ is underway and what this may entail.
Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 2011
Leadership as demonstrated by today’s corporate leaders has been called into question. In the aft... more Leadership as demonstrated by today’s corporate leaders has been called into question. In the aftermath of corporate scandals and global financial crisis, many people today desire leadership that promotes the ideals of corporate social responsibility (CSR). At the present time there exists strikingly little research that explicitly explores the intersection between leadership and CSR. Therefore the primary goal of this article is to collect the existing research relating leadership with CSR in an effort to better understand the intersection of these fields, and to explore promising future areas research at this intersection. Having surveyed the literature, beginning with studies that explicitly explored “leadership and CSR” and broadening to include related relevant studies, I have discovered a number of interesting studies that can serve as a foundation for those who are interested in more deeply exploring the intersection of leadership and CSR.
Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 2011
The debate about how to “fix” business schools is intensifying which has coincided with a call fo... more The debate about how to “fix” business schools is intensifying which has coincided with a call for a greater attention to sustainability in business and business education. Teaching sustainability in MBA programs, however, raises a number of questions and challenges. This article presents a few straightforward ideas to address these challenges and offers findings from MBA level sustainability courses I have taught at a major U.S. business school- including a study abroad course to Scandinavia- in which these ideas have demonstrated their effectiveness.
Journal of Business Ethics, 2009
This article examines corporate responsibility in the supply chains of four of the largest Scandi... more This article examines corporate responsibility in the supply chains of four of the largest Scandinavian multinational corporations – IKEA, Nokia, Novo Nordisk, and StatoilHydro – and offers two key findings. First, these Scandinavian companies have all implemented responsible supply chain practices where suppliers in developing nations, and the communities of these suppliers, are engaged as key stakeholders and treated as partners. Second, these supply chain practices all share the common bond of having honesty and the establishment of trust-based relationships at their foundation. As a result, these Scandinavian companies have developed a “cooperative advantage” in their ability to form successful, long-term partnerships in their respective supply chains.
Sustainability and stakeholder engagement are closely interrelated; the former is virtually unach... more Sustainability and stakeholder engagement are closely interrelated; the former is virtually unachievable without the latter. While the corporation is increasingly paying lip service to stakeholder engagement, in practice there is much room for improvement. This lack of stakeholder engagement increases risks to the corporation and minimises its business opportunities. This article introduces a management tool, the stakeholder dashboard, which sustainability consultants can implement to help their clients improve stakeholder engagement by offering management vital stakeholder information at a glance. Its primary goal is to raise awareness and facilitate discussion among the corporation's management about the corporation's stakeholders. Through the systematised, periodic generation of the stakeholder dashboard, a reactionary environment can be combated by highlighting key stakeholders impressions toward the corporation in near real time and can help the corporation identify gaps where it is flying blind. Measuring stakeholder perceptions is nothing new, but these perceptions are seldom (if ever) pulled together in a single dashboard and charted over time to give management a holistic view of the corporation's stakeholders.
In this dissertation I examine the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) bureauc... more In this dissertation I examine the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) bureaucracies at corporations and I come to consider the CSR bureaucracy as a space for reflection within the corporation. In the face of charges that bureaucracies are inherently unethical and devoid of consideration for humanistic concerns, I argue that within the large bureaucracy that is the corporation, the CSR bureaucracy can create a space in which tensions that arise from conflicting values and purposes can be identified, negotiated, and actions coordinated. I position this dissertation within the field of CSR, to which I introduce the Weberian distinction between formal and substantive rationality as means through which to identify and describe tensions that become apparent with the CSR agenda. This dissertation contains four articles, two of which draw from the engaged scholarship approach. One includes findings from a study I conducted as an action/intervention researcher with a U.S. corporation during the period in which a CSR bureaucracy was established. The other includes findings from a study of CSR focused MBA courses I instruct in which reflection is a primary learning objective. The other two articles include findings from studies I conducted to explore the establishment of a CSR position to the top management teams of U.S. and Scandinavian corporations.