Discursive foundations for sustainable evaluation
A case study on organizational change
Publication date
2025-12-01
Document type
Preprint
Author
Jastram, Sarah Margaretha
Foersterling, Johanna
Zeller, Anna
Rajagopalan, Rupini Deepa
Organisational unit
Department Strategy & Leadership, Hamburg School of Business Administration
Publisher
Universitätsbibliothek der HSU/UniBw H
Part of the university bibliography
Nein
File(s)
Language
English
DDC Class
330 Wirtschaft
Keyword
Institutional theory
Discourse ethics
Sustainability
Impact investment
Abstract
In this paper, we contribute a differentiation of micro-institutional reasoning types to further develop discursive institutionalism within the larger fields of organizational theory, institutional theory, and social responsibility. Discursive institutionalism outlines the relevance of discourse in building institutions, their maintenance and change. However, the theory provides incomplete knowledge on micro-institutional foundations, especially with regard to individual discursive reasoning in economic contexts. Building on Habermasian discourse ethics, we identify pragmatic, ethical/moral and strategic types of reasoning in a bank’s institutional discourse relating to sustainable impact investment. Our contribution helps to better understand and further analyze the interplay between actors’ agency and their institutional context. We explain the challenges of discursive institution building and help to gain a better understanding of why institutional change in organizational contexts can be challenging or even failing when pragmatic, ethical, or moral reasoning collide with strategic interests. Our contribution is based on an empirical, qualitative, and longitudinal case study of a bank’s discursive development of a bundle of new institutions in the field of sustainable impact assessment. Our results inform theoretical debates about institution building, such as discursive institutionalism or strategic institutional entrepreneurship, as well as related literature concerned with organizational legitimacy. Moreover, our case study provides relevant insights for practitioners as it illustrates core challenges and opportunities for practical impact measurement and impact investment.
Version
Author's original
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Open access