SHIFTING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS IN TWO FINNISH PAPER FACILITIES: A BROADER VIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL THEORY

Abstract

Environmental management paradigm shifts are examined in two organizations, a packaging company and a printing paper firm, both of which belong to a Finnish paper corporation. The article looks at how new rules for the social construction of the business–natural environment relationship evolve in a business enterprise when its institutional context changes. The environmental issues with respect to the environmental management paradigm shift studied concern recycling and forest management. Both companies were able to respond to changes in their institutional context, but the change processes differed substantially. Important elements of shifting environmental management paradigms included the external impetus for change, the role of change agents, the influence of the identities of different professional groups on change, and phases in unlearning and relearning. In the packaging firm the results indicate a shift from a traditional management paradigm to an environment-related management. In the paper company, a shift from large-scale Scandinavian forestry to small-scale forest management is ongoing.