Marking Their Own Homework: The Pragmatic and Moral Legitimacy of Industry Self-Regulation

Abstract

When is industry self-regulation (ISR) a legitimate form of governance? In principle, ISR can serve the interests of participating companies, regulators and other stakeholders. However, in practice, empirical evidence shows that ISR schemes often under-perform, leading to criticism that such schemes are tantamount to firms marking their own homework. In response, this paper explains how current management theory on ISR has failed to separate the pragmatic legitimacy of ISR based on selfinterested calculations, from moral legitimacy based on normative approval. The paper traces three families of management theory on ISR and uses these to map the pragmatic and moral legitimacy of ISR schemes. It identifies tensions between the pragmatic and moral legitimacy of ISR schemes, which the current ISR literature does not address, and draws implications for the future theory and practice of ISR.

Managing Carbon Aspirations: The Influence of Corporate Climate Change Targets on Environmental Performance

“…Whatever the underlying processes and mechanisms, much research echoes a perception that some firms adopt a relatively symbolic, or decoupled, approach to managing their environmental impacts, while others are committed to more substantive implementation of their environmental commitments (Berrone et al 2017). Calls continue for a critical approach toward examining the outcomes of especially voluntary environmental practices (Bowen 2014(Bowen , 2017Delmas and Burbano 2011).…”

‘Chimneys don't belch out carnations!’ The (in)tolerance of corporate hypocrisy: A case study of trust and community engagement strategies

“…They let the firm police itself and did not necessarily demand safeguards or increased environmental directives from their Mayor or city-council. They let the firm essentially self-regulate (Bowen, 2019) in a reciprocal arrangement based on calculus-based trust. This however was prior to the decision to burn RDF.…”

“…For example, economic business performance often conflicts with environmental and social performance (Bowen, 2019). This is especially so for extractive industry firms because of their direct environmental impact on communities in close proximity (Banerjee, 2000;Gond, Barin Cruz, Raufflet, & Charron, 2016) and increasing concerns regarding communicative practices where there is a disconnect between a firm's environmental communication and performance (Bowen, 2014).…”

To Be or Not to Be Governed Like That? Harmful and/or Offensive Advertising Complaints in the United Kingdom’s (Self-) Regulatory Context

“…For Boddewyn (1992), analyses of advertising ethics should turn away from individualized illustrations of persons and their proportional influences, towards institutionalized illustrations of how principles and protocols are combined towards (self-) regulatory ends. While each regulatory system mediates long-established debates concerning the grounds upon which industrial self-regulation might or might not be justified within particular contexts and/or in itself (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006;Bowen 2019;Carter et al 2017;Dacko and Hart 2005;Hastings et al 2010;Locke 1994;Scott 2008;Suchman 1995), Boddewyn's signal achievement is to emphasize the norms and procedures through which advertising has been regulated (see also Boddewyn 1983;Dacko and Hart 2005). He identifies three recurring systems of governance:…”

“…Various deregulatory movements have given rise to selfregulation, a system adopted by many countries, including the UK (Boddewyn 1985). Despite criticisms about its marking of its own homework (Bowen 2019), lack of transparency and effective judicial tools, limited inclusion of consumers in the processes, and antitrust, self-regulation is perceived as more suitable for dealing with subjective issues of offence, taste, decency, or opinion, thus often reaching beyond minimal legal prescriptions (Boddewyn 1992). It also aims to work in both the industry's and public's interest in that it does not require a proof of injury (Boddewyn 1992).…”