How Can We Create the Right Organizational Context to Sell Environmental Sustainability as a Strategic Issue to Top Management?

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I: A View of the Literature
• Chapter 1: Selling Issues to Top Management: A Review of the Literature
• Theoretical Background of Dutton & Ashford (1993)'s framework
• Dutton & Ashford (1993)'s framework
• Conclusion Chapter 1
• Chapter 2: Categorizing Strategic Environmental Issues
• Review of the Literature on Cognitive Categorization Theory
• Categorizing Environmental Issues: From Labeling to Organizational Actions
• Conclusion Chapter 2
• Chapter 3: Top management's Interpretation and Response to Environmental Sustainability Issues: Creation of a General Model
• The Model - Explanation & Justification
• Implications of the Model for Issue-Selling
• Conclusion
• Part II: Empirical Research
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Study 1
• Goal of Study 1
• Method
• Discussion
• Chapter 2: Study 2
• Goal of Study 2
• Method
• Discussion

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This master thesis aims to identify the key factors from the organizational context that influence top management's perception of environmental sustainability issues as opportunities rather than threats. The research focuses on how to effectively "sell" environmental issues to top management, encouraging them to adopt a proactive and voluntary environmental strategy.

• Understanding the cognitive processes involved in selling environmental issues to top management.
• Analyzing the role of organizational context in shaping top management's interpretation of environmental sustainability issues.
• Developing a framework for predicting top management's categorization of environmental issues as opportunities or threats.
• Examining the relationship between organizational context and top management's emotional response to environmental issues.
• Exploring the potential for organizational benefits stemming from a proactive approach to environmental sustainability.

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical foundation for the empirical research. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on selling issues to top management, focusing on the framework proposed by Dutton and Ashford (1993). This framework highlights the importance of framing issues in a way that resonates with top management's values and goals. Chapter 2 examines cognitive categorization theory and its application to environmental issues. It explores how managers categorize environmental issues as opportunities or threats and the implications for organizational action. Chapter 3 proposes a general model linking organizational context, top management's interpretation and emotional response to environmental sustainability issues, and subsequent organizational responses.

The second part of the thesis focuses on empirical research, using Dutton and her colleagues' framework to investigate the specific issue of environmental sustainability. Study 1 utilizes semi-structured interviews and repertory grids to identify potential contextual elements influencing top management's interpretation of environmental sustainability issues. Based on these findings, Study 2 employs an online questionnaire to test hypotheses about how specific contextual elements predict top management's categorization of green issues.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This thesis centers on the themes of environmental sustainability, issue-selling, top management, cognitive categorization, organizational context, and emotional response. The research explores the relationship between managerial perception, organizational strategy, and environmental performance, drawing upon key concepts like Dutton and Ashford's framework and the importance of proactive environmental strategies.