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  • 1.
    Berglund, Karin
    et al.
    Stockholms universitet.
    Johannisson, BengtLinnéuniversitetet.Schwartz, BirgittaMälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting2012Collection (editor) (Refereed)
  • 2.
    Berglund, Karin
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    The discursive construction of the social entrepreneur: Solving dilemmas and moving forward as identity practices2010Conference paper (Refereed)
  • 3.
    Dobers, Peter
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Business.
    Schwartz, BirgittaMälardalen University, School of Business. KTH.
    13th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference: Critical Perspectives on Health, Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility2007Conference proceedings (editor) (Refereed)
  • 4.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Environmental Strategies as Automorphic Patterns of Behaviour2009In: Business Strategy and the Environment, ISSN 0964-4733, E-ISSN 1099-0836, Vol. 18, no 3, p. 192-206Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The article is based on a study of three companies, i.e., Volvo, The Body Shop, and Tarkett, focusing on their development of environmental strategies. Using a drama metaphor, the empirical case indicates in detail how Tarkett has been strategically able to handle increasing environmental demands. The study also demonstrates that Tarkett depends on itself in its relationship with other actors in its organizational field, and that this influences the interplay between the actors. The article concludes that the three studied companies adopted different strategies for managing environmental demands, and that the strategy each used involved a specific sense of “dependency”. The strategies are explained by institutional automorphism, which means that the companies imitate themselves, employing strategies similar to those they have previously used when tackling other changes in their organizational fields.

  • 5.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Is Fair Trade a fair tool for implementing CSR in different contexts?2011Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The paper is based on a study of how a Swedish Fair Trade textile company interplays with other organizations such as business customers, Fair Trade suppliers in India and NGOs and how they act for changing the situation in India regarding to social and environmental issues. The paper discusses how the idea of Fair Trade is interpreted by the actors and how they translate Fair Trade into practical actions in relation to the contexts of Sweden and India. The study shows that the diffusion and translation process of Fair Trade and sustainability issues in India is dependent on actions driven by the actors’ contextualized values and norms. The Swedish actors focus on Western management models such as standards and certifications since they see control and legitimacy as important. The Indian Fair Trade supplier adapts to the standards and certifications and utilizes them for making business outside India. This adaption could also been seen as postcolonial coercive forces that maintain asymmetrical power relations when Swedish and European customers also make their own controls of the suppliers compliance to the CSR standards. A Fair Trade paradox could be seen as the Swedish Fair Trade companies in the Indian context are forced to make business in the profit maximizing logic, a logic that they as change agents for Fair Trade try to change due to its utilization of workers.

    Download full text (pdf)
    Schwartz, 2011, EGOS
  • 6.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Lissabonstrategins resa genom det Regionala tillväxtprogrammet: arenor också för entreprenören?2008In: Arenor för entreprenörskap / [ed] Berglund, K. and Johansson A. W., Örebro: Forum för småföretagsforskning , 2008Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 7.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Societal Entrepreneurship Contextualized: Dark and Bright Sides of Fair Trade2012In: Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting / [ed] Karin Berglund, Bengt Johannisson and Birgitta Schwartz, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012, 1, p. 139-162Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 8.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Societal Entrepreneurship contextualized: The dark and bright sides of Fair Trade2011Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The paper is based on a study of how the Swedish Fair Trade textile company Oria interplays with other organizations such as business customers, Fair Trade suppliers in India, and NGOs, and how they act as societal entrepreneurs to change the situation in India as regards social and environmental issues. The aim is to understand how different organizations and companies acting in different contexts like Sweden and India work to change the business society according to the idea of Fair Trade. Both dark and bright sides emerge from the results of the actors’ behaviour. The study shows that the societal entrepreneurship processes of Fair Trade in Sweden and India are dependent on actions driven by the actors’ contextualized values and norms. The Swedish actors focus on Western management models such as standards and certifications, since they regard control and legitimacy as important. The Indian Fair Trade supplier adapts to the standards and certifications, but the dark side of his adaption could be explained as postcolonial coercive forces. A brighter side is the supplier’s ability to understand and combine the possibilities in both the European and Indian contexts. A challenging perspective on societal entrepreneurship is expressed in the Fair Trade paradox and is shown by the identity dilemmas the CEO of the Fair Trade company Oria struggles with in her daily practice of entrepreneurship.

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    Schwartz, 2011, New York
  • 9.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Societal Entrepreneurship contextualized:  The Diffusion and Translation Process of Fair Trade in Sweden and India2010Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The growing debate about sustainable development in the Western society was first focused on environmental issues but the social issues have during the last years been highlighted in relation to business activities in low income countries. In a more globalized world we see more and more companies in the West move their production or their purchases to suppliers in low income countries in Asia. The debate led by NGOs stresses child labor, poor working conditions, low salaries and environmental problems in factories in Asian countries such as China and India. The demands from NGOs and customers in the West for a fairer trade with low income countries have created the arena of Fair Trade. A Fair Trade label has been developed which is based on the International Labor Organization’s criteria for human rights and farmers will be paid a minimum price and a premium for their products. The Fair Trade label idea could be seen as societal entrepreneurship where the aim is to help poor farmers in low income countries to develop their societies and be able to make a reasonable income.

     

    The paper is based on a study of how a Fair Trade textile company in Sweden interplays with other organizations such as business customers, suppliers in India and NGOs and how they act as societal entrepreneurs for changing the situation in India regarding to social and environmental issues. The paper discusses how the organizations interplay regarding Fair Trade and how this interplay is handled and understood by the actors in relation to the contexts of Sweden and India. The diffusion and translation process of Fair Trade and sustainability issues in India is focused on Western management models such as standards and certifications due to demands from Western customers who focus on control and legitimacy. The process seems to give both opportunities and consequences for the organizations studied, both in India and in Sweden.

    Download (pdf)
    Schwartz 2010, Societal Entrepreneurship contextualized
  • 10.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    The Challenge of being a fair trade soci(et)al entrepreneur2011Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    This paper is based on a study of how the CEO of a Fair Trade textile company in Sweden handles and develops her Fair Trade business and which challenges and dilemmas she meets in her interplay with suppliers, customers, and NGOs in different contexts such as Sweden and India. The combination of having a vision of changing poor working conditions in India and also make a living on her business raises some dilemmas for the soci(et)al entrepreneur. Some dilemmas regard her own life situation, business matters and others her possibility to make change for Indian workers. The dilemmas show that also in relation to a non-profit context and the business/market context the actors in Sweden and India and their actions are dependent on which values and norms they are familiar with and driven by. This results in a Fair Trade paradox and the Swedish soci(et)al entrepreneur is in the Indian context  forced to make business in the profit maximizing logic, a logic that she tries to change with the help of the Fair Trade idea.

    Download full text (pdf)
    Schwartz, 2011a, ICSB
  • 11.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Business, Society and Engineering.
    Berglund, Karin
    Stockholms Universitet.
    Holding on to the anomaly of social entrepreneuring dilemmas in starting up and running a fair-trade enterprise2013In: Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, ISSN 1942-0676, E-ISSN 1942-0684, Vol. 4, no 2, p. 237-255Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The different shapes taken on by social entrepreneurship in contemporary society show that social goals are integrated by commercial enterprises and commercial goals are incorporated by organisations with a social mission. Combining a social mission with commercial goals is often presented as a “win-win” situation. In this article we highlight the potential tensions and conflicts created by the conflicting demands and expectations when the institutional non-profit and for-profit logics meet in social entrepreneuring. From this viewpoint, social entrepreneurship is an anomaly which seems difficult to resolve. Despite this we often read descriptions of social entrepreneurs as heroes, which shows how social entrepreneurship is glorified and part of the marketisation of society. This article sets out to present a more complex and problematic picture of practising social entrepreneurship where the obvious “win-win” situations more often appear as “win-lose” and sometimes even as “lose-lose”. From a three-year ethnographic study of an emerging fair-trade enterprise, the concept of disharmony shows that dilemmas are part of everyday life in social entrepreneuring. Instead of posing insoluble conflicts, dilemmas light the way for the individual social entrepreneur. They are managed through temporary rationalisation; finding a way to integrate conflicting demands into the life of a social entrepreneur. Disharmony includes moments of identity struggle, but is also a learning process in which the social entrepreneur tries to understand the difference between what she does and what she actually achieves. 

  • 12.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Berglund, Karin
    Stockholms Universitet.
    Social Entrepreneurship from an entrepreneuring perspective: Holding on to anomalies and solving identity dilemmas2011Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Social entrepreneurship seems commonly related to two different missions. On the one hand it is about making profits and surviving in a market context, and on the other hand there is a social mission. This study focuses on tensions of multiple identities from the social enterprise perspective in the form of a fair-trade company emphasizing the social mission of human rights issues, albeit challenged by the business assignment. The purpose of this article is to elaborate on the connection between identity dilemmas and the tensions of social entrepreneurship from the perspective of entrepreneuring. The dilemmas presented in this article arose from an attempt to dissolve an anomaly that a social entrepreneur perceived. In these situations she found herself to be in a deadlock position between the non-profit and the for-profit logic. Moving between these logics creates opportunities as well as dilemmas for the social entrepreneur. Choosing one of the logics, in which the dilemma is re-constructed as an opportunity, seems to be a way to move on, until another dilemma arises. Hence, becoming an entrepreneur involves a process of negotiating one’s Self from the different expectations and making identity adjustments in relation to the different logics.

  • 13.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Berglund, Karin
    Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering.
    The Discursive Construction of Entrepreneurial Identities: Solving Dilemmas and Moving Forward as Identity Practices2010Conference paper (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Becoming an entrepreneur seems to be an endless topic in entrepreneurship research. In other words the question posed (often implicitly, but sometimes explicitly (e.g. Burns, 2005) is: can one become an entrepreneur, or are we born to be entrepreneurs? This is the story line that seems to have imbued the entrepreneurship discourse as one of the basic assumptions that works as a back-drop in writings on entrepreneurship, and is consequently often generally taken for granted. Moving away from the idea of the “born-to-become” entrepreneur there is a claim for other epistemological standpoints (e.g. Jennings et al., Lindgren and Packendorff, 2009). As well there has been some interest regarding how entrepreneurs are socially constructed (e.g. Goss, 2005), by different discourses in society (Berglund, 2006), a process that can be described as both complex and multi-faceted, going beyond notions from ‘entrepreneurial’ discourses (Watson, 2000), and which not always construct the heroic figure that is depicted by the entrepreneurship discourse (Kets de Vries, 1986, Shepard and Haynie, 2009).

    In this paper we aim to develop knowledge on the discursive construction of identity when it comes to an entrepreneurial setting that is multi-faceted. From following an entrepreneur on her journey in developing a business that could both be described as traditional (commercial) entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship (fair trade) it is obvious that becoming an entrepreneur does not come from any prescribed recipe. On the contrary, entering an entrepreneurial route is followed by a number of identity dilemmas. Thus, we will elaborate on some examples considering how the CEO of Oria is challenged by different dilemmas when she combines the social part and the commercial part of her entrepreneurship in constructing an entrepreneurial identity. First we will discuss entrepreneurship from different logics.

    Download full text (pdf)
    Berglund and Schwartz, 2010
  • 14.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Berglund, Karin
    Stockholms Universitet.
    Johannisson, Bengt
    Linnéuniversitetet.
    Conclusions2012In: Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting / [ed] Karin Berglund, Bengt Johannisson and Birgitta Schwartz, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012, p. 259-277Chapter in book (Refereed)
  • 15.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Berglund, KarinStockholms universitet.Johannisson, BengtLinnéuniversitetet.
    Societal Entrepreneurship: Positioning, Penetrating, Promoting2012Collection (editor) (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Entrepreneurship generally is about creative organizing, but with social enterprising this is especially so. Most social ventures cross the boundaries between the private, the public and the non-profit/voluntary sectors. This broad involvement of actors and intertwining of sectors makes the label ‘societal’ entrepreneurship appropriate.

    Stating the importance of both the local and the broader societal context, the book reports close-up studies from a variety of social ventures. Generic themes include positioning societal entrepreneurship against other images of collective entrepreneurship, critically penetrating its assumptions and practices and proposing ways of promoting societal entrepreneurship more widely.

    Providing a new conceptual framework and research methodology, this compendium will prove insightful for academic scholars. The basic concepts and illustrative cases/stories will also appeal to students and reflective practitioners. 

  • 16.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Business, Society and Engineering.
    Nordbö, Ingeborg
    Telemark University College, Norway.
    A societal perspective on business and sustainability: A comparison between Nordic and Baltic countries2013Conference paper (Other academic)
    Abstract [en]

    The aim of the paper is to discuss similarities and differences with reference to how companies in the Nordic and Baltic countries deal with issues of sustainability and CSR, and how they in this respect relate to actors such as other businesses, governments, consumers and NGOs. Empirically the paper is based on company case studies from Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Lithuania conducted during 2011, 2012 and 2013. A critical perspective related to the theoretical framework was used in the analysis of the companies and organizations. The methods used were interviews and document studies. The case studies demonstrate that the commitment for the companies to deal and engage with sustainability issues and CSR differ according to company size, industry and external factors (customers, NGOs and/or governmental legislation and procedures) which push or inspire the companies towards more sustainable behaviour. Differences are specially observed between the Nordic countries with a long history of attention towards sustainability compared with the less developed sustainability engagement in Estonia and Lithuania. In this respect, contextual and cultural issues related to the countries different historical heritage and the presence or not of a strong environmental movement are discussed as possible explanations. Push factors for Baltic companies to engage in sustainability issues and CSR seem to be foreign customer demand or issues of being perceived as modern and western oriented businesses. As such export oriented companies show greater interest and commitment to sustainability and CSR than those operating only in the domestic market which still seems to be influenced by the former Sovjet union mentality.

  • 17.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Tilling, Karina
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Den institutionella teoribildningens begränsningar för att förstå maktförhållanden och organisationers ansvar i arbetet för en hållbar utveckling2009In: Nordiske organisasjonsstudier, ISSN 1501-8237, Vol. 3, p. 82-98Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    The article discusses the potential for using institutional theory to understand organisational behaviour, and to identify alternative behaviours that could contribute to social change with regard to environmental and social issues. The discussion is based on three studies in which institutional organisation theory has been applied, while at the same time it identifies a common need to supplement the theory formation with other theoretical perspectives in order to address the actors' responsibilities and the power relationships that arose when environmental and social issues were developed in the respective organisational fields. The studies show that sustainable development, in the form of the acceptance of environmental and social responsibility, comprises political/social issues in which the dominance and power of institutions affect how the actors act.  In a comparison of the studies, the time perspective plays a salient role in terms of the ways in which environmental and social issues are handled in organisational fields as they continue to mature. The freedom of action enjoyed by companies and government agencies appears to be limited by this process over time, and the options for legitimate behaviour seem increasingly to follow standardised models such as environmental management systems and social standards. At the same time, the environmental and social issues become depoliticised, and those constructions that fit into the standardised control models take precedence over a focus on deeper and more complex perspectives. In this context, institutional organisation theory contributes significantly to an understanding of the ways in which organisations translate ideas and act to achieve legitimacy in their environmental and social behaviours over time. Supplemental theoretical perspectives are also needed to elucidate what is not constructed as an environmental or social issue. By combining the merits of institutional organisation theory with critical perspectives, we are looking toward a developmental process that will enable analyses of potential social changes in relation to organisational behaviour.

  • 18.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Tilling, Karina
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    'ISO-lating' Corporate Social Responsibility in the Organizational Context: A Dissenting Interpretation of ISO 260002009In: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, ISSN 1535-3958, E-ISSN 1535-3966, Vol. 16, no 5, p. 289-299Article in journal (Refereed)
    Abstract [en]

    Sustainable development is frequently an object of standardization, and over 100,000 organizations hold ISO 14001 certificates proving they have legitimate environmental management systems. Guidelines for social responsibility are now the object of standardization, resulting in the upcoming ISO 26000 standard. This paper examines the rationale behind developing ISO 26000, highlighting the tendency to decouple complex CSR issues in the organizational context. This is relevant to current problems of poor working conditions, weak regulatory compliance, and corruption often encountered in the production context in low-income countries. In addition, existing codes of conduct are frequently decoupled from actual organizational performance. We highlight how CSR standardization risks isolating complex and contested social issues, more radical attempts at change conflicting with striving for legitimacy. Like the decontexualizing tendency proceeding from the standardized treatment of complex sustainable development issues in organizations, CSR issues also risk becoming decontextualized with the application of standardized approaches such as the ISO 26000 standard.

  • 19.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Tilling, Karina
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Standardizing Sustainability: A Critical Perspective on ISO 14001 and ISO 260002010In: Corporate Social Responsibility: Challenges and Practices / [ed] Peter Dobers, Stockholm: Santérus Academic Press , 2010Chapter in book (Other academic)
  • 20.
    Söderbäck, Maja
    et al.
    Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare.
    Schwartz, Birgitta
    Mälardalen University, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology.
    Mälardalen möter Moçambique: fältstudier som processorienterat kunskapsarbete2011In: Verktyg för ökad förståelse: Lärdomar från 10 år av fältstudier / [ed] Ove Gustafsson, Svenska missionsrådet , 2011, p. 20-29Chapter in book (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
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