Sustainable Management
Coping with the Dilemmas
of Resource-Oriented Management
Part I Understanding Sustainability
1 Sustainability and Society 3
1.1 Germany's National Sustainability Strategy 3 1.2 The Discussion on Climate Change 6 1.3 The Scarcity of Resources in the World 8 1.4 Institutions for Sustainable Development 9 1.4.1 The Brundtland Commission 9 1.4.2 The German Council for Sustainable Development 10 1.4.3 Global Compact 10 1.5 Education for a Sustainable Development 12 1.5.1 Principles for Responsible Management Education 12 1.5.2 Organizational Competencies for a More
Sustainable Development 13 1.6 Digression: The Sustainable University 15 1.6.1 Two Perspectives on the Sustainable University 16 1.6.2 From Areas of Action to Selected Activities 18 1.6.3 From Activities to Objectives 20 1.7 Sustainability as Normative Metaphor for Global Justice 21 Further Reflection 23 References 24
2 Quo Vadis, Environmental Management? 27
2.1 The Development of Environmental Management Studies 27 2.1.1 Are Profit and Environmental Protection Goals
Complementary? 29 2.1.2 Generating Profits Through Environmental Protection 30 2.2 A Critical Evaluation of Environmental Management Systems 31 2.2.1 The Logic of Management Systems 31 2.2.2 Pros and Cons of Management Systems 33
2.2.3 Incentives-Contributions-Equilibrium for Environmental
Management Systems 34 2.2.4 The Blind Spot: Contradictory Decision-Making
Processes 35 2.3 A Critical Evaluation of the Win-Win-Hypothesis 37 2.3.1 The Negative Image of Costs 37 2.3.2 Positive Effects of Increased Efficiency for the Firm 38 2.3.3 Negative Effects of Increased Efficiency for the Firm 38 2.4 Environmental Management Studies and the Efficiency Trap 39 Further Reflection 40 References 41
3 Quo Vadis, Social Responsibility? 43
3.1 Corporate Social Responsibility in Practice 43 3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility in Theory 44 3.2.1 The Pressure to Externalize Costs 45 3.2.2 The Semantics of Responsibility 46 " 3.3 The Responsibility Trap 47 Further Reflection 48 References 49
4 Sustainability as Economic Rationality 51
4.1 The Rationality of Sustainability: Historical Roots 51 4.2 Sustainable Forestry 53 4.3 Profit-Orientation vs. Housekeeping 54 4.4 Firms as Resource-Dependent Systems 54 4.5 Sustainability as Strategic Success with Regard to Resources 57 4.6 Sustainability as a Contribution Towards a More
Comprehensive Theory of the Firm 59 Further Reflection 63 References 64
Part II Theoretical Impulses
5 A Theory of Management Ecology 69
5.1 Market Communities as Business Ecosystems 69 5.1.1 The Business Ecosystem Metaphor 70 5.1.2 What is a Successful Business Ecosystem Like? 70 5.1.3 New Perspectives on the Relationships Between
Firms and Society? 71 - 5.2 Building Blocks for A New Theory of Management Ecology 71
5.2.1 The Systems-Theoretic Approach: Survival Through
5.2.2 The Co-Evolutionary Approach: Surviving
Through Community 76 5.2.3 Ecology: Surviving as a Household 82 5.3 The Household Approach: Surviving as a Resource
Community 86 5.3.1 The Development from oikos to the Private Household 86 5.3.2 Housekeeping Theory in Business Sciences 88 5.3.3 Theoretical Significance of Household Economics 90 5.3.4 The Rationality of Housekeeping 91 5.3.5 The New Housekeeping-Oriented Building Block 94 5.4 Household Communities as the Objective of Management
Ecology 95 Further Reflection 98 References 99
6 Dominant Management Rationalities and the Necessary
Improvements for a More Sustainable Management 103
6.1 Change of Management Rationalities 103 6.2 Rationality and Its Dissidents 104 6.3 A Model of Management Rationalities 106 6.4 Improvement on the System Level 106
6.4.1 System Rationality I: Survival Through Attainment
of Ends 106 6.4.2 Digression: Survival and Attainment of Ends:
Two Different Rationalities? 107 6.4.3 System Rationality II: Survival Through Repercussion
Control 113 6.4.4 Implication: Dualistic Definition of Success 115 6.5 Improvement on the Means-End Level 115
6.5.1 Means-End Rationality I: Profit Through Efficiency
Increase 116 6.5.2 Means-End Rationality II: Stability Through Preservation
of the Resource Base 117 6.5.3 Sustainability and Efficiency as Contradictory Means-End
Rationalities 119 6.5.4 Efficiency and Sustainability in the Value Context 120 6.6 Enhancement on the Decision Level 124
6.6.1 Decision Rationality I: Cost-Benefit-Maximization (Utility Maximization) on a Short-Term Basis 124 6.6.2 Decision Rationality II: Non-Consequentialist Ties
on A Long-Term Basis 126 6.7 Implications for the Change of Economic Behaviour 127 Further Reflection 128 References 129
7 Coping with Contradictions as Core Problem of Modern
and Sustainability-Oriented Management Studies 131
7.1 Contradictions in Management Studies 131 7.2 Terminology of Contradictions 132 7.2.1 Contradiction in Philosophy 132 7.2.2 Contradiction-Related Thinking Contexts 134 7.2.3 Contradiction-Related Terms 135 7.2.4 The Nature of Contradictions 137 7.3 Logical Ways of Coping with Contradictions 139 7.3.1 Non-Coping Through Ignorance or Abstraction 139 7.3.2 Systematization of Logical Ways of Coping
with Contradictions 140 7.3.3 The Pendulum 142 7.3.4 Hybrid and Segmenting 145 7.3.5 Tightrope-Walking and Balancing 147 7.4 Decision-Making, Trade-Offs and Contradictions 149
7.4.1 Trade-Offs: The Decision-Making Problem
with Contradictions 150 7.4.2 Prescriptive Decision Theory and Trade-Offs 150 7.4.3 Descriptive Decision Theory and Trade-Offs 151 7.4.4 Ways of Coping with Trade-Offs 152 7.5 Implications for a Contradiction Management 153 7.6 Coping with Contradictions Through Tolerance
of Ambivalence and Ambiguity 153 7.6.1 Leadership and Contradictions 154 7.6.2 Tolerance of Ambiguity 155 7.6.3 Tolerance of Ambivalence 156 7.6.4 Exemplary Linkage of Tolerance of Contradictions
and Coping with Contradictions 157 Further Reflection .: 158 References 159
Part III Sustainable Resource Management
8 The Use of the Term "Resource" in Management Studies 165
8.1 Deficits of Strategic Management Studies 165 8.2 Different Resource Terms 166
8.2.1 Resource Definition of the Input-Transformation-Output
Model 167 8.2.2 Resource Definition of the Resource-Based View 167 8.2.3 Resource Definition of the Means-End-Scheme 168 8.2.4 Against the Everyday-Perception of Resources? 169 8.3 Resource Relationships: Mutual or Dependent? 170 8.4 Autonomies of Sources 172
8.4.1 The Natural Environment as a Source 172 8.4.2 The Economy as a Source 173 8.4.3 The Society as a Source 173 8.5 An Overview of the Perception of Resources in Functional
Business Areas 174 8.5.1 Environmental Management and Conservation of Natural
Resources 174 8.5.2 Human Resource Management and the Sustainable
Treatment of Resources 180 8.5.3 Marketing and the Sustainable Treatment of Resources 183 8.6 Management Studies on the Way Toward a Resource-Oriented
Business Image 186 Further Reflection 188 References 189
9 Salutogenesis as Heuristic for Resource-Oriented
Management Studies 191
9.1 Sustainability and Health 191 9.2 Health Management and Management Studies 192 9.3 Pathogenesis: The Traditional Thinking Model 193 9.4 Salutogenesis: The New Thinking Model 194 9.4.1 History of Origins 194 9.4.2 The Sense of Coherence as a Central Resource
for Health 195 9.4.3 Health and the Resource Term 196 9.5 Insights for an Institutional Resource Management 198
9.5.1 From the Individual to the Institutional Resource
Management 199 9.5.2 Approaches for an Institutional Resource
Transaction Model ./. 199 9.5.3 Moderating Role of Immaterial Resources 201 9.6 Contributions to a Sustainable Resource Management 201 Further Reflection 202 References 203
10 Strategic Resource Management 205
10.1 Sustainability and Strategic Management 205 10.2 From Market Strategies to Sustainable Management
Strategies 207 10.2.1 Sustainable Resource Management in Human
Resource Management 207 10.2.2 Sustainable Resource Management in Marketing 209 10.2.3 Sustainable Resource Management in Environmental
10.3 Strategic Sustainability Vector 211 10.4 Business Principles for Management Ecology 213 10.5 Strategic Resource Controlling 216 10.5.1 SWOT Analysis for Management Ecology 217 10.5.2 Management of Resource Regimes 219 10.6 Resource-Oriented Sustainability Monitoring 224 Further Reflection 233 References 233
