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dc.contributor.advisorBebbington, Kathryn J
dc.contributor.authorBarter, Nicholas J.
dc.coverage.spatial388en_US
dc.date.accessioned2011-03-22T10:07:11Z
dc.date.available2011-03-22T10:07:11Z
dc.date.issued2011-06-22
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/1707
dc.description.abstractNumerous management scholars argue that management theory is anthropocentric and considers humans as being separate from the environment. Further anthropocentrism does not enable theory and organisations to contribute to sustainable development. To counter this it is argued theory and organisations should embrace an environmental paradigm that does not separate humans and the environment. This exploratory research attempts to identify whether any organisations operate with an environmental paradigm. The research questions focus on paradigms and some of the tensions surrounding the human-environment debate, such as; sufficiency versus profit maximisation and quoted status, money as a means or an end and notions of boundaries between the organisation and the environment. The questions are explored with individuals from 23 environmentally focused, primarily for profit, organisations. The results indicate that the organisations operate with an environmental paradigm, do not perceive of boundaries between the organisation and the environment, do not pursue profit maximisation, can demonstrate sufficiency, view money as a means rather than an end and do not have a favourable view of quoted status. Furthermore, the interviewees do not separate their world into two realms, one social and one natural. Narratives that arise include the organisations operating to a mode of mission and money and that an aphorism of “altruistically selfish and selfishly altruistic” (Maturana & Varela, 1998:197) can be applied. In short, the results indicate some challenges to conventional management theory, in particular strategy and competitive advantage, and that the organisations interviewed could help to, some extent, enable sustainable development. To close, the hope of this study it that its narratives and the conceptual tool it has prompted, provide succour to students and managers who want to develop a ‘future normal’ of theories and organisations that better enable sustainability.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of St Andrews
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
dc.subjectParadigmsen_US
dc.subjectSustaincentrismen_US
dc.subjectActor-network theoryen_US
dc.subjectEnvironmental missionsen_US
dc.subject.lccHD30.255B2
dc.subject.lcshBusiness enterprises--Environmental aspectsen_US
dc.subject.lcshBusiness enterprises--Environmental aspects--Case studiesen_US
dc.subject.lcshSocial responsibility of businessen_US
dc.subject.lcshSocial responsibility of business--Case studiesen_US
dc.subject.lcshEnvironmental responsibilityen_US
dc.subject.lcshEnvironmental responsibility--Case studiesen_US
dc.subject.lcshParadigms (Social sciences)en_US
dc.titlePursuing sustainability : an exploratory study of organisations that have environmental missionsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen_US
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD Doctor of Philosophyen_US
dc.publisher.institutionThe University of St Andrewsen_US


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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Except where otherwise noted within the work, this item's licence for re-use is described as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported