Change contagion : exploring the role that social interactions play in increasing support for corporate sustainability
| dc.contributor.advisor | Feront, Cécile | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | van Achterbergh, Elzé | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.other | Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Centre for Sustainability Transition | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-02-08T17:14:50Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-05-18T06:58:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-02-08T17:14:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-05-18T06:58:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-03 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2023. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ENGLISH SUMMARY: Pressure is mounting for businesses to shift towards sustainability by serving nature and society. My study explores the role of social interactions in increasing support for corporate sustainability, particularly in the context of ongoing crises in the macro environment. I build upon institutional change, change agent, and social-symbolic work literature. Institutional change literature provides insights into exogenous and endogenous change processes. Literature on change agents highlights the role of individuals who seek to change the institutions in which they operate. Social-symbolic work provides a framework of analysis for how people negotiate social meanings. While prior literature acknowledges the importance of social interactions in driving institutional change, there is limited research on how precisely interactions contribute. My qualitative study investigates how social interactions influence support for institutional change. It analyses the spread of the sustainability agenda in corporate organisations in South Africa during several crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a grounded theory methodology, I collected and analysed primary data from semi-structured interviews and a focus group. 18 change agents participated in my research. 13 change agents were directly employed by eight different corporations listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and the remaining were employed by other organisations along the value chain, such as in suppliers. I found that social interactions play a major role in furthering the sustainability agenda in two ways. First, there are three ways agents challenge the values of someone who is not a change agent: value association (pointing out where sustainability and corporate values align), value relocation (contextualising a non-corporate value into the corporate space), and value shifting (facilitating a person’s introspection). Furthermore, a crisis catalyses this by disrupting the routines of the non-agent, leading to anxiety, which change agents could creatively leverage to accelerate change contagion. Second, change agents use social interactions to drive sustainability transitions through negotiating with one another on what sustainability means. I termed this process value negotiation. Value negotiation legitimises and operationalises sustainability transitions, thereby accelerating change contagion. My research builds upon existing scholarship. First, it introduces the concept of change contagion, which scholars can use in the future to analyse how ideas spread between people. Second, it articulates the role of social interactions in driving institutional change by describing the mechanisms which lead to the permeation of change agency. Third, it adds to social-symbolic work literature, particularly to our understanding of value work, as it introduces the concepts of value association, value relocation, value shifting, and value negotiation. Last, it provides insights into the how crises provide opportunities that can be leveraged by change agents to accelerate institutional change and catalysing change contagion. My findings also provide practical insights. Firstly, it recommends the positioning of agents throughout the value chain, linking them together through spaces where they could interact with one another. Second, my study shows how sustainability teams can harness crises to further corporate sustainability transitions. Finally, my findings provided some tools and techniques agents could use to help spread change agency. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die druk neem toe dat besighede hul fokus na volhoubaarheid verskuif deur tot diens van die natuur en die samelewing te wees. My studie ondersoek die rol van sosiale interaksies in die daarstel van groter ondersteuning vir korporatiewe volhoubaarheid, veral in die konteks van voortdurende krisisse in die makro-omgewing. Ek bou voort op institusionele verandering, die veranderingsagent, en die literatuur rakende sosiaal-simboliese werk. Die literatuur oor institusionele verandering verskaf insigte in eksogene en endogene veranderingsprosesse. Literatuur oor veranderingsagente beklemtoon die rol van individue wat poog om die instellings waarin hulle funksioneer te verander. Sosiaal-simboliese werk verskaf ’n ontledingsraamwerk vir die manier hoe mense sosiale betekenisse beding. Terwyl bestaande literatuur die belang van sosiale interaksies in die dryf van institusionele verandering erken, is daar beperkte navorsing oor hoe presies interaksies daartoe bydra. My kwalitatiewe studie ondersoek hoe sosiale interaksies ondersteuning vir institusionele verandering beinvloed. Dit ontleed die ontplooiing van die volhoubaarheidsagenda in korporatiewe organisasies in Suid-Afrika tydens verskeie krisisse, waaronder die COVID-19-pandemie. Ek gebruik ’n begrondeteorie-metodologie vir die insameling en ontleding van primere data via semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude en ’n fokusgroep. Agtien veranderingsagente het aan die navorsing deelgeneem. Dertien veranderingsagente was regstreeks in diens van agt verskillende korporasies wat op die JSE Sekuriteitebeurs Suid-Afrika genoteer is, terwyl die oorblywende agente in diens van ander organisasies in die waardeketting was, byvoorbeeld by die leweransiers. Ek het gevind dat sosiale interaksies ’n belangrike rol speel by die bevordering van die volhoubaarheidsagenda, naamlik op twee wyses. Eerstens is daar drie maniere waarop agente die waardes uitdaag van iemand wat nie ’n veranderingsagent is nie: waarde-assosiasie (om uit te wys waar volhoubaarheid en korporatiewe waardes ooreenstem); waardehervestiging (kontekstualisering van ’n nie-korporatiewe waarde in die korporatiewe ruimte); en waardeverskuiwing (wat ’n persoon se introspeksie fasiliteer). Verder kataliseer ’n krisis dit deurdat die roetines van die nie-agent ontwrig word, wat tot angs lei, en veranderingsagente kan dit kreatief benut om die oordrag van verandering te versnel. Tweedens gebruik veranderingsagente sosiale interaksies om volhoubaarheidsoorgange te dryf deur met mekaar te onderhandel oor wat volhoubaarheid beteken. Ek noem hierdie proses waarde-onderhandeling. Waarde-onderhandeling regverdig en operasionaliseer volhoubaarheidsoorgange, en versnel sodoende veranderingsoordrag. My navorsing bou voort op bestaande kundigheid. Eerstens stel dit die konsep van veranderingoordrag bekend, wat vakkundiges in die toekoms kan gebruik om te ontleed hoe idees tussen mense versprei. Tweedens verwoord dit die rol van sosiale interaksies in die dryf van institusionele verandering deur die meganismes te beskryf wat tot die deurdringing (permeation) van veranderingsagentskap lei. Derdens dra dit by tot die literatuur oor sosiaal-simboliese werk, veral tot ons begrip van waardewerk, aangesien dit die konsepte waarde-assosiasie, waardehervestiging, waardeverskuiwing en waarde-onderhandeling bekendstel. Laastens bied dit insigte oor hoe krisisse die geleenthede bied wat deur veranderingsagente gebruik kan word om institusionele verandering te versnel en veranderingsoordrag te kataliseer. My bevindinge verskaf ook praktiese insigte. Eerstens beveel dit aan dat agente in die hele waardeketting geposisioneer word, en dat hulle met mekaar verbind word in ruimtes waar hulle in wisselwerking met mekaar kan wees. Tweedens dui my studie aan hoe volhoubaarheidspanne krisisse kan inspan om korporatiewe volhoubaarheidsoorgange te bevorder. Ten slotte verskaf my bevindinge ’n aantal instrumente en tegnieke wat agente kan gebruik om veranderingsagentskap te help versprei. | af_ZA |
| dc.description.version | Masters | |
| dc.format.extent | xiii, 106 pages : illustrations, includes annexures | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/126973 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University | |
| dc.rights.holder | Stellenbosch University | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Social responsibility of business | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Sustainable development | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Sustainability -- Economic aspects | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.name | UCTD | |
| dc.title | Change contagion : exploring the role that social interactions play in increasing support for corporate sustainability | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |
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