License to Critique: A Communication Perspective on Sustainability Standards

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Sustainability standards are important governance tools for addressing social and environmental challenges. Yet, such tools are often criticized for being either too open-ended or too restrictive, thereby failing to contribute significantly to the development of sustainable practices. Both dimensions of the critique, however, miss the point. While all standards in principle combine elements of openness and closure, both of which are necessary to keep the sustainability agenda relevant and adaptive, sustainability standards often operate in contexts that favor closure. In this article, we draw on a research tradition that views communication as constitutive of organization to emphasize the significance of communicative mechanisms that stimulate organizational openness in the application of standards. With the notion of “license to critique,” we present a managerial philosophy designed to involve managers and employees, mobilize and develop their knowledge about sustainability and bring it forward for the benefit of both the organization and the environment.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and small and medium sized enterprises: The governmentality dilemma of explicit and implicit CSR communication

“…First, our article contributes to CCO theorizing by showing how the performativity of explicit CSR communication may not always advance social action as suggested by prior research (e.g. Cabantous et al, 2016;Christensen et al, 2015Christensen et al, , 2017Schaefer and Wickert, 2016) but may also be counterproductive for the intended social change. We have shown how the demand for public CSR declarations by SME suppliers to large customer firms may lead to dilemmas for the SME leadership.…”

Dialogics of strategic communication

“…In spite of these opposing logics, however, the two perspectives have potential to invigorate each other in significant ways. Attention, creativity and awareness of alternatives are likely to thrive better in the context of a well-described strategy (Christensen et al, 2017). Empirically, this perspective has the potential to improve our understanding of strategizing among communication practitioners.…”

Effective Disclosure in the Fast-Fashion Industry: from Sustainability Reporting to Action

“…Sustainability disclosure is effective to the extent that it reveals new information, regardless of origin, that provides incentives for action to the focal firm, other SC actors, stakeholders outside the SC, or stakeseekers-i.e., those beyond established stakeholders claiming to have a stake in a corporation's decision making [45]. From this perspective, standards and frameworks are no longer considered just technical compliance tools; rather, they become agents of change, stimulating the questioning and constructive criticism of corporate practices [46].…”

“…The present scorecard addresses this call by aligning CMIs currently reported in fast-fashion with the 17 SDGs, and then examining sustainability-oriented business practices (i.e., real actions in cooperation with SC actors and stakeholders). As described before, our proposed 'Fast-Fashion Sustainability Scorecard' aims to transform compliance tools into agents of change [46]. This study's main limitations concern its reliance on the analysis of contents voluntarily disseminated by companies (i.e., the materiality matrices and corporate reports).…”