Key Concepts 3

Question 1

Climate Change as a Critical Challenge

Answer 1

The conflict between economic growth and environmental protection is the primary issue corporations face, shifting the focus from “saving the planet” to transforming human consciousness

Question 2

Corporate Responsibility (Wright & Nyberg, 2017) (FLN)

Answer 2

● Framing: Corporations frame climate change as compatible with business goals, often associating their image with positive environmental values while distancing themselves from harm.
● Localising: Translating global climate challenges into business-specific initiatives, assigning economic value to climate actions.
● Normalising: Embedding climate actions into daily operations while minimizing disruption to traditional business models

Question 3

From Grand Challenge to Business as Usual (TFLSDPEF)

Answer 3

1. Triggering Events: Climate-related crises and external critiques (from NGOs, media, etc.) push companies to respond to environmental concerns.
2. Framing: Companies initially frame climate change as a business concern, focusing on risk management or opportunities. However, this framing is critiqued for distracting from core profitability goals.
3. Localizing: Companies adapt climate initiatives into practical actions like:
   ○ Incorporation: Developing eco-friendly products or roles.
   ○ Commensuration: Turning actions into quantifiable metrics.
   ○ Proselytization: Promoting these actions internally and externally.
4. Splitting: Companies may engage in symbolic actions without meaningful implementation (e.g., greenwashing).
5. Deterioration and Critique: Over time, financial pressures cause climate actions to be critiqued for their impact on profitability.
6. Purification and Dilution: Companies scale back or reframe climate initiatives to focus on core business goals, abandoning or diluting environmental commitments.
7. Embedding: Some companies delay the normalization of business-as-usual through temporary compromises but eventually revert due to market constraints.
8. Fiduciary Duty: Managers are limited by their duty to prioritize shareholder value, restricting long-term integration of environmental concerns

Question 4

Dissonance

Answer 4

The tension between corporate actions and external expectations about climate responsibility

Question 5

Regulatory Risk

Answer 5

Potential consequences of carbon taxes or mandatory restrictions

Question 6

Market Risk

Answer 6

The threat from competitors adopting green technologies

Question 7

Reputational Risk

Answer 7

Public perception of environmental harm can damage brand image

Question 8

Physical Risk

Answer 8

Climate-related disasters directly impact infrastructure

Question 9

Corporate Environmentalism Critiques (Wright & Nyberg, 2017): Greenwashing

Answer 9

Presenting a false image of environmental responsibility to align with societal values, without genuine ecological efforts

Question 10

Corporate Environmentalism Critiques (Wright & Nyberg, 2017): Capitalism’s Growth Imperative

Answer 10

Economic growth, driven by fossil fuels, is incompatible with radical decarbonization and climate change mitigation

Question 11

Temporal Disconnect

Answer 11

Businesses have short-term profit objectives, while climate change requires long-term solutions

Question 12

Complicity

Answer 12

Companies are often responsible for causing the issues they claim to address, making radical change difficult

Question 13

Shareholder Value Synonymous with Egosystem

Answer 13

Prioritizing shareholder wealth over systemic environmental consequences, with externalities being disregarded

Question 14

Externalities

Answer 14

Costs or benefits caused by an economic actor that do not directly affect the actor itself, often leading to environmental degradation

Question 15

Polycentric Governance (Ostrom & Polanyi)

Answer 15

Multiple centers of decision-making working towards the common good, supporting sustainable resource use

Question 16

Commons

Answer 16

Shared resources managed collectively for mutual benefit

Question 17

Circular Economy Systems (Patala, Albareda, & Halme, 2022)

Answer 17

Systems where resources are reused, recycled, or remanufactured in a closed loop, involving collective action among businesses and stakeholders for sustainability

Question 18

Systemic Collective Action

Answer 18

Cooperation between businesses and other stakeholders for sustainability through shared resource management

Question 19

Closed-Loop Economic Systems

Answer 19

Resources are maintained and reused across multiple organizations, emphasizing collaboration to manage resources efficiently

Question 20

Challenges in Circular Economy Systems (4)

Answer 20

● Lack of Perceived Value: Residual materials are often undervalued.
● Lack of Scale: Efficient systems require infrastructure to manage resources on a large scale.
● Lack of Resource Information: Limited sharing of leftover materials between companies.
● Lack of Governance Mechanisms: Public-sector involvement is needed to address environmental costs.

Question 21

Rivalrous Goods

Answer 21

Physical resources (e.g., oil, food) that are depleted with use

Question 22

Non-Rivalrous Goods

Answer 22

Digital resources or data that can be used by multiple people without depletion

Question 23

Cosmolocalism

Answer 23

A combination of digital commons (open knowledge) and local production, emphasizing sustainability and local empowerment

Question 24

Monopolization of Non-Rivalrous Goods

Answer 24

Companies like Google and Amazon dominate digital infrastructures, leading to “tech feudalism.”

Question 25

6 Mechanisms of Algorithmic Control (6 Rs)

Answer 25

● Recommending: Algorithms direct workers' actions. ● Restricting: Algorithms limit access to information or behaviors. ● Recording: Continuous surveillance of worker behavior. ● Rating: Performance data used to evaluate workers. ● Replacing: Underperforming workers are replaced based on algorithmic evaluations. ● Rewarding: Workers receive rewards for meeting algorithmic standards

Question 25

Network Effects in Digital Goods (3)

Answer 25

● One-Sided Network Effects: Growth within a single user group increases the platform's value. ● Two-Sided Network Effects: Platforms like Airbnb benefit from interactions between consumers and providers. ● Complementary Network Effects: Mutual benefits between related industries (e.g., iPhone and app developers).

Question 26

Algoactivism

Answer 26

Workers resisting algorithmic control through tactics like platform organizing, legal mobilization, and discursive framing focusing on fairness, accountability, and transparency

Question 27

Algorithmic Curation

Answer 27

The process by which algorithms filter and recommend tasks or content (e.g., Netflix recommending shows), influencing what workers or users are exposed to

Question 28

Algorithmic Brokerage

Answer 28

Algorithms mediating relationships between workers, clients, and customers (e.g., Uber matching drivers to customers), often with limited transparency

Question 29

Algorithmic Articulation

Answer 29

The process by which workers interpret algorithmic outputs and make them actionable (e.g., customer service agents using algorithmic prompts)

Question 30

Recursive Relationship Between Morality and Decision-Making

Answer 30

The idea that morality influences decision-making, and decision-making reshapes moral norms, complicated by the introduction of AI into these processes

Question 31

Pragmatist Ontology of Judgment

Answer 31

A decision-making process involving imagination, empathy, and moral reflection, where values are inseparable from choices

Question 32

Principled Ontology of Reckoning

Answer 32

The data-driven, rule-based process used by algorithms, which treats data as isolated from moral concerns and is more rigid compared to human judgment

Question 33

Ontological Assimilation

Answer 33

The process by which morality is reshaped to fit within algorithmic frameworks, making moral decisions more rigid and universalized when algorithms dominate decision-making

Question 34

Dignum’s Responsible AI Framework

Answer 34

● Ethics in Design: Incorporating ethical concerns into the design process of AI systems. ● Ethics by Design: Ensuring that the ethical use of AI is embedded in its application. ● Ethics for Designers: Focusing on educating designers about ethical implications

Question 35

Structure-Induced Dynamics in Polycentric Governance

Answer 35

Formal governance mechanisms that create shared visions and prompt organizations to align with broader system-wide goals for collective action

Question 35

Actor-Induced Dynamics in Polycentric Governance

Answer 35

Dynamics where collective agency practices (e.g., resource-sharing initiatives) drive organizations to adjust their roles and governance approaches, creating new governance structures.

Question 36

Cooperation Under Anarchy

Answer 36

The challenge of addressing climate change without a singular global governing body, making coordinated responses difficult for corporations

Question 37

Proselytization in Corporate Climate Action

Answer 37

The promotion of corporate climate initiatives to internal and external stakeholders in order to legitimize efforts and gain support, even if they are not actually really focused on this.

Question 38

Commensuration in Corporate Climate Responses

Answer 38

The process by which companies turn environmental efforts into quantifiable business metrics, such as carbon pricing and energy savings

Question 39

Purification of Climate Commitments

Answer 39

Stripping back climate commitments to refocus on core business goals such as profit, often in response to financial pressure

Question 40

Theoretical Stagnation

Answer 40

The idea that academic research may be stuck in outdated paradigms, despite the availability of new data and societal changes, raising questions about the real progress being made in various fields

Question 41

Purpose of Theory

Answer 41

A critique of theory for theory’s sake, questioning whether academic research is developed to address real-world problems or simply to generate more publications, without meaningful application

Question 42

Shift to Problem-Driven Research/Practical Theory

Answer 42

A call for organizational theory to transition from theory-driven to problem-driven research, with a focus on addressing pressing societal issues

Question 43

Technological Growth Without Theoretical Advance

Answer 43

Relates to the challenges posed by emerging technologies (e.g., AI) and the lack of theoretical adaptation