Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice: Making Change at a High-Technology Manufacturer - Softcover

Howard-Grenville, Jennifer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848445717 ISBN 13: 9781848445710

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

`This book breaks new ground in understanding the generally difficult process of selling peripheral, in this case, environmental or sustainability initiatives to the mainstream culture of a firm. To those who seek to be change agents, it offers powerful ideas toward success for such intentions. But this book is not only for those on the 'outside' of the mainstream; it offers lessons for anyone seeking change, even at the top.'
- John R. Ehrenfeld, former Director, MIT Technology, Business, and Environment Program, US

`Although much has been written about how corporations deal with environmental problems, few books delve into the inner-workings of a company seeking to deal with environmental demands as deeply as Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice. Through first-hand observation, Howard-Grenville provides unique insights into the cultural factors that shape environmental management decisions in a major semiconductor manufacturing firm. By analyzing those decisions through a framework that relates internal and external factors, she provides a new cultural perspective on corporate environmental practices that should be of strong interest to both business leaders and students of corporate environmental management.'
- Dennis A. Rondinelli, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University, US

`Culture - patterns of meaning and associated actions - speaks volumes about what matters and what doesn't. Jennifer Howard-Grenville's study describes how corporate culture enables organizational change in some instances, or blocks it in others. As the need for corporate response to increasingly vital environmental issues looms more important, we need change models to help companies adapt to new realities. This study is vital reading for scholars and practitioners who care about the future.'
- Jim Post, Boston University, US

`I found the writing style very engaging. The author writes clearly and with little jargon. She makes the technology come alive and gives a feel for elements that might be very complex in the hands of another writer.
Alfred Marcus, University of Minnesota, US

This innovative book explores from an insider's perspective a company's environmental decisions and actions. Based on close observation at a major semiconductor manufacturer, Jennifer Howard-Grenville details how the company s culture revealed through its internal practices, decisions, and norms guided action on environmental issues.

While demonstrating gaps between the mainstream work of the company and the demands placed by environmental considerations, the author s analysis demonstrates how differences were negotiated over time, offering important insights into the processes of change that can advance environmental issues within a company. Her unique viewpoint offers an important addition to current research, which often explains companies environmental actions solely as responses to external pressures.

Scholars of organizational culture and those at the intersection of business and environmental issues will find this study of great value. The challenges and opportunities surrounding the greening of corporations will also interest members of companies at all levels, as well as consultants and members of non-governmental organizations. The book is written to be accessible and engaging to managers interested in making changes around environmental issues and offers a realistic assessment of the challenges and prospects for such change.

About this title

About the Author

Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Oregon, US

Review

'Jennifer Howard-Grenville has put together a timely and sparkling narrative of environmental advocacy within a highly successful, well managed and technically sophisticated organization. Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice is rich in ethnographic detail and wonderfully telling of the struggles structurally marginalized environmental specialists take part in when trying to balance immediate cost, schedule and production targets with long-term social and environmental risks. A blend of Mary Douglas, Karl Weick and Charles Perrow, this is a must read for students of organizations as well as the rest of us who worry about the fate of the planet.' --- John Van Maanen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US

'Jennifer Howard-Grenville has hit the nail on the head - technology is not the cause of our environmental problems; culture is. In Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice, she deftly shows us that the norms and practices that guide the way we think about our relationship with the natural environment are the critical point at which to understand the development of the technologies that facilitate that interface. Written from first-hand experiences, this book is a thoughtful and revealing glimpse into the culture of a company that only an accomplished organizational scholar can provide.' --- Andrew J. Hoffman, University of Michigan, US

'Corporate Culture and Environmental Practice is an outstanding study that looks inside a firm to understand conditions under which it adopted superior environmental practices. It makes a persuasive case for not modeling firms as unitary actors. This careful and well-written study will be useful to both environmental policy scholars and practitioners.' --- Aseem Prakash, University of Washington, US

About this edition

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1848445717
• ISBN 13: 9781848445710
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176