Impression management tactics in sustainability reporting

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sandberg ◽  
Maria Holmlund

Purpose – The study aims to analyzes how companies present their actions to give the impression that they are sustainable actors. It identifies the organizational impression management tactics that companies use in sustainability reporting. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative template analysis of two sustainability reports was conducted to inductively identify the organizational impression management tactics that companies use in sustainability reporting. Findings – The study identified eight organizational impression management tactics used in sustainability reporting, four of which relate to how companies present their actions while the remaining four are characteristic of the writing styles that companies use. Research limitations/implications – The study is exploratory in nature and does not claim to identify all existing impression management tactics. Therefore, future research is needed to confirm the results and identify possible additional tactics. Practical implications – Companies can use impression management tactics that more strongly aim to shape the impressions that stakeholders hold or tactics that more neutrally inform stakeholders of their actions. Companies need to make a choice between the two, considering that stakeholders’ expectations of sustainability reporting would be useful. Originality/value – The study shows the different ways that companies use impression management in sustainability reporting, thus lending insight into a perspective on sustainability reporting that has rarely been explored in previous research.

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26
Author(s):  
Stephanie Hunter ◽  
Eleanor Craig ◽  
Jake Shaw

Purpose Within the current offender personality disorder (OPD) pathway in the UK, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) populations are underrepresented. Fewer BAME offenders are engaging with services despite being proportionately identified for inclusion and referred on to the pathway. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study explored the experiences of 11 BAME men engaged in a prison-based OPD service for young offenders to identify the highlights and challenges of engagement within the service and to what extent they experienced a sense of inclusion/belonging. Findings Thematic analysis was used to identify three overarching themes and sub-themes. Why am I going to be an Outcast? describes the barriers to engagement encountered by the participants; and Give it a Try and Nothing but Respect describe the process of overcoming these barriers. Barriers revolved around the experiences of judgement, alienation and hopelessness. These were overcome through peer encouragement, developing relationships with staff and freedom to regulate levels of engagement. Practical implications Practice and policy implications are considered to support similar services in addressing the barriers to engagement faced by BAME individuals. Areas for future research are also recommended. Originality/value Currently, no research has directly explored the under-representation of young BAME offenders with emerging personality disorder in the OPD pathway. The findings provided an insight into some of the difficulties these young BAME offenders faced when accessing this service, alongside aspects which maintained their engagement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fieseler ◽  
Giulia Ranzini

Purpose – The rise of social media has caused a shift in organizational practices, giving rise, in some cases, to genuinely “mediatized” organizations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how communications managers employ social media to influence their professional impressions. Design/methodology/approach – Analyzing a sample of 679 European communications professionals, the authors explore with factor and cluster analysis these emerging impression management tactics as well as how managers promote, involve, assist and reproach using social media. Findings – The authors distinguish four patterns of online impression management: self-promotion, assistance seeking, peer support and authority. Because different professional duties may require different approaches to impression management, the authors furthermore cluster for managerial roles, showing that in the shaping of formal or informal online roles, communication professionals convey different impressions depending on their degree of online confidence and strategic purpose for using social media. Originality/value – This contribution enriches the existing literature first by shedding light on impression management tactics used for social media within a professional context, concurrently exploring the effect of variables such as the extent and purpose of social media activity, the privacy concerns of managers and their roles within the organization. Second, it proposes a typology of social media impression management tailored to the reality of managers, with the aim of presenting a specific tool for understanding managerial self-communication through social media, classifying and predicting professional behaviors.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ane Bast ◽  
Maria Taivalsaari Røhnebæk ◽  
Marit Engen

PurposeThis study aims to theorise and empirically investigate how vulnerable users suffering from cognitive impairments can be involved in service design.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through an ongoing field study following the processes of designing new forms of dementia care. The data consist of document studies, observations and interviews with actors involved in the service design process.FindingsThe findings demonstrate how the involvement of vulnerable users with cognitive impairment in service design requires the ability to manoeuvre users' “fractured reflexivity”. The design process was found to be constrained and enabled by three interrelated features: cognitive aspects, social aspects and representativeness.Practical implicationsThis paper provides insight into concrete ways of involving vulnerable user groups in service design. The introduced concept – fractured reflexivity – may create awareness of how the involvement of users with cognitive impairment can be difficult but is also valuable, providing a means to rethink what may enable involvement and how to manage the constraints.Originality/valueAlthough design processes rely on reflexivity, there is limited research addressing how reflexivity capacity differs among actors. The authors contribute by exploring how fractured reflexivity may aid the analysis and understandings of intertwined issues related to the involvement of users with cognitive impairment. Therefore, this study initiates research on how service design entails enactments of different modes of reflexivity. The paper concludes with directions for future research avenues on service design and reflexivity modes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1346-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petchprakai Sirilertsuwan ◽  
Daniel Ekwall ◽  
Daniel Hjelmgren

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal benefits and factors (elements) of proximity manufacturing that enhance triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability in the clothing industry and discusses previous proximity manufacturing studies. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review is used in searching and extracting data (primary studies artifacts and proximity manufacturing elements) from peer-reviewed articles. Extracted elements are gathered and analyzed in constructed tables under TBL. Four subgroups are inducted under the business bottom line. Findings This paper shows the potential of proximity manufacturing to enhance TBL sustainability, the scope of proximity manufacturing, and the trend and absence of existing studies. The most frequently mentioned elements are time-to-market, job creation, product quality, quick response, and trade policies. Governments and clusters are also important players. Research limitations/implications Future research can further explore elements potentially improving TBL sustainability to fill gaps in existing studies, including how proximity manufacturing can drive environmental and social practices, and how governments can encourage proximity manufacturing in various markets. Practical implications Besides perceiving the benefits of proximity manufacturing, businesses may use the derived elements to make manufacturing decisions. Social implications Public policies giving privileges to the locally produced garment industry have great potential to drive the economy and employment as well as sustain local clothing knowledge and the environment. Originality/value Proximity manufacturing strategies toward sustainability are under-researched academically and under-practiced industrially; this paper provides insight into sustainability benefits of proximity manufacturing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Kristian Gregersen ◽  
Trine Susanne Johansen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptually and empirically explore and challenge the dogma of Corporate visual identity (CVI) consistency. The goal is to nuance the current polarized debate of consistency or no consistency. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research strategy is employed in this paper. Specifically, the empirical work rests on an interview study with strategists from ten different CVI agencies. The interview transcripts are analyzed using template analysis. Findings In terms of findings, both empirical and conceptual arguments for and against CVI consistency are presented. Many of these arguments rest on conflicting assumptions of CVI communication, CVI authenticity and CVI management, which all influence the debate of CVI consistency. Practical implications CVI practitioners are presented with a more reflective approach to dealing with consistency and hands on examples for inspiration. Originality/value This paper offers alternative and more nuanced conceptualizations of CVI consistency. This includes seeing consistency and inconsistency as ends of a spectrum to be balanced rather than mutually exclusive and by differentiating between consistency across platforms and consistency over time – coined CVI continuity. Furthermore, several future research areas that can help to further develop the field of CVI are suggested.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1879-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrynn Pounders ◽  
Christine M. Kowalczyk ◽  
Kirsten Stowers

Purpose Social media enables consumers to regularly express themselves in a variety of ways. Selfie-postings are the new tool for self-presentation, particularly among millennials. The purpose of this paper is to identify the motivations associated with selfie-postings among female millennials. Design/methodology/approach The exploratory study consisted of 15 in-depth interviews with women who were 19-30 years of age. The analysis of data was facilitated by an iterative constant comparison method between data, emerging concepts and extant literature. Findings Textual analysis reveals impression management to be pivotal in understanding the consumer selfie-posting process. Other sub-themes include happiness and physical appearance. In addition, self-esteem was revealed as a motivator and an outcome. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to females who were 19-30 years of age. Future research should include males and a wider age group and focus on empirical testing of the identified themes. Practical implications This research sheds light on the motivation and outcomes associated with selfie-postings. Implications for marketers and advertisers include a better understanding of how to engage consumers to post content in the form of selfies with brands and products. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to explore the growing trend of selfie-postings and contributes to academic literature in consumer behavior by identifying the motivations of selfie-postings.


Author(s):  
A. Johannes Bottema ◽  
Cody W. Telep

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which intelligence officers integrated at the patrol level contribute to successful case outcomes through information sharing.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes multinomial logistic regression to analyze the outcomes of three years of Intelligence Officer Reports (IORs) submitted by officers trained in the Phoenix Police Department’s Intelligence Officer Program.FindingsThe majority of IORs are either tangible case successes or intelligence successes that have the capacity to become these, as opposed to non-successes. The type of success is impacted by a number of predictors. These include case categorization, nature of crime, information-gathering methods and perceived validity of information. Perceived reliability of information was the only non-significant predictor.Research limitations/implicationsThe study suggests the benefits of looking at multiple predictors of success in understanding the value of information gathered by intelligence officers in the field. Limitations include a fair amount of missing data and potential lack of generalizability to other agencies. Future research will also consider alternative ways of measuring success and the nesting of reports within officers.Practical implicationsThe study provides insight into key factors for optimizing tangible case outcomes when institutionalizing intelligence-led policing at the patrol level.Originality/valueThis is the first study to consider how intelligence-led policing at the patrol level may influence case outcomes, and, in turn, what factors may contribute to this. Findings provide some initial considerations for optimizing desirable case outcomes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 395-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth K. Humberd ◽  
Judith A. Clair ◽  
Stephanie J. Creary

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build insight into how the local community impacts an organization’s ability to develop an inclusive culture. The paper introduces the concept of inclusion disconnects as incongruent experiences of inclusion between an organization and its community. Then, using the case of teaching hospitals, the paper empirically demonstrates how individuals and organizations experience and deal with inclusion disconnects across the boundaries of organization and community. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-method qualitative study was conducted in hospitals located in the same city. Focus groups were conducted with 11 medical trainees from underrepresented backgrounds and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten leaders involved with diversity efforts at two hospitals. Data analysis followed an iterative approach built from Miles and Huberman (1994). Findings – The findings demonstrate how boundary conflicts arise from disconnected experiences of organizational and community inclusiveness. Such disconnects create challenges for leaders in retaining and supporting minority individuals, and for trainees in feeling like they could build a life within, and outside of, their organizations. Based on findings from the data, the paper offers insights into how organizations can build their capacity to address these challenges by engaging in boundary work across organizational and community domains. Research limitations/implications – Future research should build upon this work by further examining how inclusion disconnects between communities and organizations impact individuals and organizations. Practical implications – The paper includes in-depth insight into how organizations can build their capacity to address such a deep-rooted challenge that comes from a less inclusive community. Originality/value – This paper contributes to an understanding of how forces from the community outside an organization can shape internal efforts toward fostering inclusion and individuals’ experiences of inclusion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.


Author(s):  
Catalin Ratiu ◽  
Beverlee B. Anderson

Purpose – There are many different conceptualizations to sustainable development and these different approaches may have led to confusion amongst the public. The purpose of this paper is to explore the identities of the term and how the confused identity may be leading to problems for sustainable development efforts. Design/methodology/approach – The design is exploratory, using both secondary and primary data to understand the different sustainable development concepts. Findings – There is no consistent understanding or use of the term “sustainable development” among various groups. Research limitations/implications – Future research should include a larger sample that is more representative of people from different backgrounds and geographical areas. Practical implications – The public is generally willing to support only projects that it understands. Without a clear understanding of sustainable development, the public will be less inclined to support these efforts. Originality/value – This study examines the perceptions and understandings of the term by the general public representing different generations.


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