Leading Organizations through the Stages of Grief : The Development of Negative Emotions over Environmental Change

Item Type Journal paper
Abstract This conceptual paper theorizes about the effect of emotions of individual organizational leaders during a period of sustainability-related upheaval within an industry. To illustrate the effect of emotions, it proposes to draw on the model of five stages of grief by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1969), a conceptual framework describing terminally ill patients' responses to their impending death. The authors adapt Kübler-Ross' taxonomy and use anecdotal evidence from grieving top managers of energy companies in response to the nuclear phase-out in Germany. The paper conceptualizes the influence of emotions in the decision-making process of key agents in response to institutional pressures in their field. The paper suggests that focusing on emotional influences will add an important dimension to the analysis of sustainability strategies, and discuss implications for further research at an individual and organizational level.
Authors Friedrich, Elmar Konstantin & Wüstenhagen, Rolf
Journal or Publication Title Business and Society
Language English
Keywords Emotions, stages of grief, organizational change, decision-making, corporate sustainability, nuclear energy, energy policy.
Subjects business studies
HSG Classification contribution to scientific community
Refereed Yes
Date 24 March 2017
Publisher Sage Publ.
Place of Publication Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Volume 56
Number 2
Page Range 186-213
ISSN 0007-6503
ISSN-Digital 1552-4205
Publisher DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650315576151
Depositing User Elmar Konstantin Friedrich
Date Deposited 22 Aug 2014 02:09
Last Modified 20 Jul 2022 17:21
URI: https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/publications/233869

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Friedrich, Elmar Konstantin & Wüstenhagen, Rolf (2017) Leading Organizations through the Stages of Grief : The Development of Negative Emotions over Environmental Change. Business and Society, 56 (2). 186-213. ISSN 0007-6503

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https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/id/eprint/233869
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