Business and Society Research Drawing on Institutionalism: Integrating Normative and Descriptive Research on Values

Risi, David

doi:10.1177/0007650320928959

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(136 reference statements)

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“…This insight implies the different spheres of influence of normative and comparative reference groups. In addition, understanding how different reference groups influence values, which then, in turn, shape the investment behaviors of SRI-oriented HNWIs, echoes the relevance of values for studying contexts where, as in the case of SRI, it is a matter of conceptualizing the interactions between economic issues and social aspects [46,62].…”

Section: Contributions To the Literaturementioning

confidence: 96%

“…Values are normative beliefs that guide human actions, as they specify "the things that are worth having, doing, and being" [44] (p. 356; see also [45]). Values are particularly central in normative contexts when, as in the case of SRI, it is a matter of conceptualizing the respective possibilities and limits in reconciling economic and social aspects [46].…”

Section: Reference Group Theory Perspective On the Investment Behavio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wealthy Private Investors and Socially Responsible Investing: The Influence of Reference Groups

2021

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Sustainable development requires a shift from traditionally invested assets to socially responsible investing (SRI), bringing together financial profits and social welfare. Private high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are critical for this shift as they control nearly half of global wealth. While we know little about HNWIs’ investment behavior, reference group theory suggests that their SRI engagement is influenced by their identification with and comparison to reference groups. We thus ask: how do reference groups influence the investment behavior of SRI-oriented HNWIs? To answer this question, we analyzed a unique qualitative data set of 55 semi-structured interviews with SRI-oriented HNWIs and industry experts. Our qualitative research found that, on the one hand, the family serves as a normative reference group that upholds the economic profit motive and directly shapes HNWIs to make financial gains from their investments at the expense of social welfare. On the other hand, fellow SRI-oriented HNWIs serve as a comparative reference group that does not impose any concrete requirements on social welfare performance, indirectly influencing SRI-oriented HNWIs to subordinate social concerns to financial profits. Our scholarly insights contribute to the SRI literature, reference group theory, and practice.

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Section: Contributions To the Literaturementioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Reference Group Theory Perspective On the Investment Behavio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wealthy Private Investors and Socially Responsible Investing: The Influence of Reference Groups

2021

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“…These examples indicate that grand challenges are evaluative by “cutting across jurisdictional boundaries, impacting multiple criteria of worth and revealing new concerns even as they are tackled” (Ferraro et al, 2015, p. 364, our emphasis). Grand challenges are always infused with multiple values and these values serve as a common reference point when different actors interact in relation to these challenges (Risi, 2022).…”

Section: Values Institutions and Societal Deliberationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Illuminating the Dark Side of Values: A Framework for Institutional Research

Risi

Marti

2022

Journal of Management Inquiry

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Values are pivotal to institutions. Although prior research has mostly highlighted their positive effects, values also have a “dark” side, which we illuminate by looking at cases in which values perpetuate societal grand challenges, such as corruption or climate change. Societal deliberation plays an important role in efforts to change such values. In this essay, we explore how institutional scholars can produce insights that support societal deliberation on values that perpetuate grand challenges. We develop a framework on how institutional scholars can support such deliberation by analyzing (1) which alternative values are attainable and (2) how dominant values create trade-offs. By using this framework, institutional researchers can take a middle position between activist research on values, which jeopardizes the independence of research, and detached research on values, which loses the connection to practical concerns.

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“…Values are critical yet underappreciated building blocks of institutional research on CSR as they influence what firms do beyond economic and legal aspects and are central to issue areas of CSR such as fair working conditions (Lin‐Hi & Blumberg, 2017), inclusivity (Mair et al., 2012), equality (Karam & Jamali, 2013), and care for the environment (Aravind & Christmann, 2011). Even though CSR is often understood as a phenomenon that focuses centrally on values, since it relies on a normative concept based on ‘the right thing to do’ (Bansal & Song, 2017; Wickert & Risi, 2019; Wicks, 1996) and reflects the norms and values of societal stakeholders (Bansal & Roth, 2000; Brammer et al., 2012; Risi, 2022), institutional theory‐based CSR research has yet to capture the role of values systematically. In the context of this research, we understand values as the ‘beliefs about the things that are worth having, doing, and being’ (Kraatz & Flores, 2015, p. 356), which ‘carry a normative weight’ while ‘people experience [them] as moral imperatives and use them to judge the world, each other, and themselves’ (Kraatz et al., 2020, p. 477).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional theory‐based research on corporate social responsibility: Bringing values back in

Risi

Vigneau

Bohn

et al. 2022

Int J Management Reviews

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Research applying institutional theory to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has experienced remarkable momentum. Institutional theory-based CSR research illustrates the role of values in guiding both agentic choices for CSR and the influence of institutional structures on CSR agency. Although values have been explored in this literature, systematic studies of values that seek to gain insights into the mutual relationship between agentic choices and structures are lacking. Such insights are crucial for exploring whether and how CSR is enabled or constrained. We thus ask two interrelated questions: (1) What is the role of values in institutional theory-based CSR research? (2) How and along which avenues should future institutional theory-based CSR research that focuses on values be mobilised? Based on our analysis of this line of literature from 1989 until 2021, first, we take stock of established institutional theory perspectives on CSR and disentangle what role values have played in this literature. Second, we outline how to mobilise values in future institutional CSR research based on fourpromising but under-investigated areas. From our literature analysis, two central functions emerge (which we label 'bridging' and 'referencing') that values can perform in the institutional analysis of CSR. Based on these two functions, our values-focused framework will help scholars examine the moral foundations that inform business-society interactions as well as understand how companies can responsibly manage those interactions with societal stakeholders.

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Business and Society Research Drawing on Institutionalism: Integrating Normative and Descriptive Research on Values

Cited by 13 publications

References 101 publications

Wealthy Private Investors and Socially Responsible Investing: The Influence of Reference Groups

Wealthy Private Investors and Socially Responsible Investing: The Influence of Reference Groups

Illuminating the Dark Side of Values: A Framework for Institutional Research

Institutional theory‐based research on corporate social responsibility: Bringing values back in

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