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This thesis aims at contributing to the better understanding of the roles of international and domestic institutional and governance patterns for corporate sustainability practices. By combining governance and new institutionalism approaches it bridges the gap between the close look at specific corporate sustainability (CS) policies and the broader view on institutional frameworks. The qualitative comparative approach aims to provide deeper insights on the implementation of different governance schemes by transnational corporations ((TNC). Finally, the conclusions might allow for the development of a) recommendations for the balancing of TNCs' CS management between global and domestic requirements, and b) policy recommendations in the field of CS governance. The overarching research question is as follows: What role do national governance patterns play in comparison to global governance practices in shaping the corporate sustainability (CS) management of transnational corporations (TNCs)? In order to further operationalize this research objective, it is structured into three subquestions: (1) What are relevant institutional factors and global governance patterns for corporate sustainability/ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? (2) What are relevant institutional factors and national governance patterns for corporate sustainability/CSR in Germany, the US, and India? (3) How do these national and global governance patterns influence TNCs' CS management? The first two questions aim at tracing the institutional framework and governance patterns at both national and international levels by identifying norms, stakeholder expectations, prevalent modes of governance and actors involved in governance processes. On this basis, the third question targets TNCs' reaction to internationally varying governance patterns. Here, it is of main interest how relevant governance instruments are perceived by business actors and to which extent their sustainability management at the companies' headquarters and subsidiaries reflect global and national institutional and governance patterns. In order to answer these questions, literature research and a structured qualitative analysis have been conducted. The concepts of CS and CSR build the basis to analyze how TNCs and their subsidiaries manage their social and ecological corporate responsibilities. Against this conceptual background, the research question is approached empirically by the means of an international comparison. Three institutionally highly diverse countries were chosen: Germany, India and the US. India, an emerging market economy, was included to increase the diversity of the sample and to close the research gap indicated above. In order to identify the differences in governance for CS in these three countries, document analyses and 42 guideline-based interviews with experts from governments, NGOs, trade unions and trade associations were carried out. At the same time, global governance instruments for corporate sustainability – which are already relatively well researched - were identified by analyzing the relevant secondary literature. In a second step, in order to explore how TNCs strategically deal with the multitude of different governance approaches at their headquarters and subsidiaries, three case studies of Germany-headquartered transnational corporations in the chemical and engineering industries (Siemens, BASF and Bayer) have been conducted.
Im Zuge der Einführung inklusiver Schulen verändern sich berufliche Anforderungen. Lehrkräfte sehen sich durch inklusionsspezifische Tätigkeiten zusätzlichen Belastungen ausgesetzt. Diese Belastungen sind häufig negativ konnotiert, weil nicht alle Lehrkräfte über die notwendige Expertise zur Bewältigung derer verfügen. Neue Arbeitsroutinen müssen aufgebaut und etabliert werden. Da sich die Belastungen auch auf das Gesundheitserleben der Lehrkräfte niederschlagen können, ist es wichtig Ressourcen in den Blick zu nehmen, die zur Bewältigung der beruflichen Anforderungen benötigt werden. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Analyse der Gesundheitswahrnehmung von Lehrkräften in Bezug auf inklusionsspezifische Tätigkeiten. Dabei ist von Interesse, wie sich das Konstrukt Gesundheit mit Blick auf konkrete Tätigkeiten empirisch abbilden lässt und wovon das inklusionsspezifische Gesundheitserleben beeinflusst wird (Teilstudie 1). In welchem Zusammenhang die Häufigkeit der Ausführung inklusionsspezifischer Tätigkeiten (Erfahrung) mit dem Gesundheitserleben steht (Teilstudie 2) und inwiefern sich das Gesundheitserleben von Lehrkräften unterschiedlicher Schulformen unterscheidet (Teilstudie 3). Die Arbeit leistet einen Forschungsbeitrag durch die Prüfung eines Instruments zur tätigkeitsbezogenen Gesundheitserfassung sowie in Bezug auf das Desiderat an Daten zur Gesundheitswahrnehmung von Lehrkräften im Kontext schulischer Inklusion.
In spite of growing interest in companies’ contribution to sustainable development, the implementation of corporate sustainability, i.e. the integration of environmental, social, and economic issues, is not well understood. This cumulative PhD thesis aims to answer the research question whether sustainability management is only a transitory management fashion, or whether an effective implementation is actually taking place. The thesis consists of five papers, which are either published in refereed academic journals, accepted to be published, or planned to be resubmitted. The papers analyze three important elements of the implementation of corporate sustainability: motivation (why?), organizational units (who?) and management tools (how?). Combining these three elements supplies a framework for discussing the implementation of corporate sustainability management. The results, which are mostly based on surveys of large German companies, reveal that companies predominantly manage corporate sustainability because they seek legitimacy, rather than a competitive advantage, and because they follow acknowledged standards, guidelines, or ratings (institutional isomorphism) – possibly out of uncertainty on how to best handle a concept so complex and novel. Public relations is the organizational unit engaging in sustainability management most strongly, whereas accounting, finance, and management control engage the least. Hence, corporate sustainability is currently not implemented as a crossfunctional approach. Yet, there is indication of a growing strategic relevance of corporate sustainability. This is also reflected in the awareness and application of sustainability management tools, which have been increasing continuously between 2002 and 2010 – especially in terms of integrative tools serving to balance environmental, social, and economic issues. Furthermore, market incentives are gaining in importance over time. The thesis relates these results to management fashion theory. Although there is some indication that sustainability management might in fact be a transitory fashion, an analysis over time reveals an ongoing development of the elements analyzed. Thereby, the thesis demonstrates that corporate sustainability management can be considered more than a management fashion. One implication of the analysis is that both companies and researchers are called upon to foster the implementation of corporate sustainability, with positive incentives, e.g. by markets and consumers, turning out to be promising starting points. As opposed to pressure and expectations by stakeholders, focusing on opportunities might be more suitable to induce actual change of processes, products, services, or even business models in companies. In conclusion, the author hopes to make a significant contribution to the discussion on the implementation of corporate sustainability and to stimulate the development of new theoretical approaches.