Inspire Responsibly
The Interplay between Aspirational Talk and Corporate Responsibility
- 2024
- Buch
- Verfasst von
- Marie Schwimmer
- Verlag
- Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
Über dieses Buch
Über dieses Buch
Aspirational talk has gained increasing research attention as a compelling concept theoretically explaining the potential of talk-action discrepancies in corporate responsibility communication to instigate organizational change. Under certain conditions, aspirational talk can facilitate discourse, agreement, reframing, and corporate reflexivity. However, perceived talk-action discrepancies can negatively affect organizational members, leading to disengagement, and demotivation, causing emotional exhaustion, exposing employees to vulnerabilities, and even catalyzing unethical or illicit behaviors. Thus, this book focuses on how aspirational talk becomes irresponsible in an organizational context, and how it can be avoided. The author proposes that aspirational talk becomes irresponsible if it creates expectations that lead to illegitimate harm to employees or involved stakeholders. A framework is derived, constituting the finding that it takes two types of investments into performativity and responsibility conditions, to avoid the irresponsible use of aspirational talk – and thus, to inspire responsibly.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
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Frontmatter
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Chapter 1. Introduction
Marie SchwimmerAbstractThe collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka in 2013, which killed 1,132 workers, created a broader societal awareness of the fast-fashion industry’s impact on people and the planet. Designer Orsola de Castro remembers, “We all felt this enormous powerlessness. (…) We knew something had to change. (…) We wanted to create something that would be alive for the rest of the year”. -
Chapter 2. Understanding Aspirational Talk
Marie SchwimmerAbstractWith growing global environmental and social challenges, corporations increasingly face stakeholder demands to legitimize their actions. To demonstrate that they comply with social norms and retain legitimacy, companies communicate about their corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives and programs. In this context, it is common to articulate visions rather than reflect the organization’s actual behavior, a phenomenon described as aspirational talk. -
Chapter 3. Business Ethics Perspective on Responsibility
Marie SchwimmerAbstractChapter 2 elaborated on the concept of aspirational talk. It is best summarized as organizational self-descriptions that current corporate practice cannot yet live up to (Christensen et al., 2013). The discrepancies between aspirational statements and existing organizational reality can motivate and inspire stakeholders (e.g., employees) to implement better CR practices (Christensen et al., 2013). -
Chapter 4. Synthesis: Applying Business Ethics to Aspirational Talk
Marie SchwimmerAbstractThis chapter’s systematic basis is the scheme of the practical syllogism (Suchanek, 2015, pp. 42–46). The logic of the practical syllogism helps to reveal what is important, i.e., the normative value of aspirational talk (4.1), what hinders acting following this value (4.2) and deriving suitable actions or investments (4.3). -
Chapter 5. Conclusion
Marie SchwimmerAbstractChapter 5 provides a detailed summary and discussion of the main findings and contributions to the research of aspirational talk and business ethics. In addition, the implications, and limitations of these findings for researchers and practitioners are assessed. The dissertation concludes with a concise summary of key points and an overview of future research possibilities. -
Backmatter
- Titel
- Inspire Responsibly
- Verfasst von
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Marie Schwimmer
- Copyright-Jahr
- 2024
- Electronic ISBN
- 978-3-658-44239-2
- Print ISBN
- 978-3-658-44238-5
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-44239-2
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