Organizational culture and sustainability in Brazilian electricity companies

Darticléia Almeida Sampaio Da Rocha Soares,Edson Keyso De Miranda Kubo,Karen Talita Tanaka,Eduardo Camargo Oliva,Virginia Parente

doi:10.1108/rausp-07-2018-0038

Darticléia Almeida Sampaio Da Rocha Soares, Edson Keyso De Miranda Kubo + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/rausp-07-2018-0038

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Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the relationship between cultural profiles and the economic, environmental and social dimensions of electricity companies’ reporting based on the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) sustainability framework.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used the competing values framework, developed by Cameron and Quinn, as the theoretical starting point, with primary data collected through surveys that assessed organizational culture and with secondary data collected through the GRI indicators reported by the companies.FindingsFirst, the framework shows whether a company’s organizational culture corresponds with one of the following options: clan, adhocracy, market or hierarchy. The results show that most of the companies’ organizational cultures were hierarchical, characterized by a greater need for stability and control and a formal work environment. Clans were the second most popular type of organizational culture, characterized as having greater internal flexibility, more informal environments and fewer hierarchical levels. Second, by combining the above results with the assessment of the GRI indicators in the companies’ sustainability reports, the study checked whether the companies had strong (balanced) or non-balanced cultures. The results show that there was a greater correlation between a strong (balanced) culture and the total value of the reported indicators, compared to a non-balanced culture.Originality/valueThe paper takes an innovative approach by correlating two different but well-recognized methodologies as a way to create a more holistic assessment that can help stakeholders to understand both the way these companies work and how this choice reflects the transparency of their reporting.

Highlights

Owing to the increasing demand to create new management models, to gather reliable data for society and to provide sustainability recommendations to businesses, research on the themes of organizational culture and sustainability has become more prominent
The main challenge for companies and their managers in this regard is to achieve a balance between organizational culture and sustainability in the economic, environmental and social dimensions
The cultural typology developed by Cameron and Quinn Organizational culture and sustainability are topics that can be used to develop strategies that create programs and processes that measure results

Summary

Introduction

Owing to the increasing demand to create new management models, to gather reliable data for society and to provide sustainability recommendations to businesses, research on the themes of organizational culture and sustainability has become more prominent. When these themes are put into context, they become aligned with each another and favor making information available to stakeholders – the different audiences that have some kind of influence on the company or that are influenced by it. This article explains the conceptual theoretical model adopted in this research It sums up the research goals, main topics and proposed relations, as well as the sampling, data collection and analysis

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