About the Event
Join Katrin Heucher, Assistant Professor of Change Management and Sustainability at the University of Groningen, to learn how multinational enterprises (MNEs) navigate the complex tensions between global sustainability strategies and local challenges in interorganizational systems. Discover how a paradox lens can reveal new approaches to managing sustainability in global networks.
Lunch Provided. Registration required.
This event is part of the Nardone Family Seminar Series at the Center for Emerging Markets.
Abstract
Societal challenges have become a strategic priority for many organizations. Research on insider social change agents has highlighted the role of individuals in driving positive social change from the inside. At the same time, management literature on global corporate sustainability has emphasized how competing goals complicate organizational efforts to address societal challenges. We advance this literature by integrating paradox theory and the attention-based view to examine the unfolding of competing, yet interrelated goals within the attentional structures of a modern-day organization. We draw on an 18-month qualitative study at ‘ChemCo' during the implementation phase of its sustainability strategy. To uncover how emergent sustainability issues at ChemCo evolved as insider social change agents within ChemCo worked to advance its organizational sustainability agenda, we focused on the development of six issues over time: social issues, human rights, plastics in the environment, bio-based materials, the circular economy, and an internal innovation competition. We developed a process model showing how integrating the poles of a paradox influences insider social change agents' efforts in shaping attention toward sustainability goals.
About Katrin Heucher
Katrin Heucher is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Change Management and Sustainability at the Department of Innovation Management and Strategy, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen. Katrin 's research lies at the intersection of sustainability management and organization studies. In particular, she studies practices and processes related to paradoxical tensions that occur in organizations when implementing a sustainability strategy. To this end, Katrin conducted extended fieldwork during her Doctoral Studies at Loughborough University, UK, to observe behavior and changes over time. Her research uses qualitative methods such as organizational ethnography to study corporate sustainability and paradox. During her postdoctoral fellowship at the Erb Institute, University of Michigan, USA, Katrin built on and complemented her research from her doctoral degree by expanding her work on organizational sustainability and the individual change agents that advocate for internal change.
Previously, Katrin worked in the chemical industry in the areas of international marketing and business strategy. Throughout her studies (BA in Regional studies China and Business Administration at the University of Cologne, Germany; and MSc in International Management (for China) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK), Katrin has also gained significant insight into the FMCG and chemical industry and has shown a passion for experiencing different cultures (working and studying in Germany, China, UK, and USA).
About the Nardone Family Seminar Series
Made possible by a gift from David R. Nardone, this seminar series brings scholars and practitioners to Northeastern University to share insights on emerging markets.