Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2015
  • Article
  • Organization & Environment

Institutional Theory and the Natural Environment: Research in (and on) the Anthropocene

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and P. Devereaux Jennings
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:24
ShareBar

Abstract

This review article summarizes the main tenets of institutional theory as they apply to the topic of the Anthropocene in the domain of organization and the natural environment. But our review is distinctive for two reasons: First, it is focused on providing avenues researching the Anthropocene Era. Second, while based on the trajectory of current, accumulated theory and research, our review is forward-looking in its orientation and thus aimed at guiding future work to explore the emergence of a new social reality in Anthropocene Society. We begin by summarizing the scientific research on the Anthropocene Era, then move to its implications for grand and midrange institutional theory principles, and of institutional principles for the study of it. We end with a call to reenergize and reradicalize the organization and the natural environment field to properly address the magnitude and scope of this shift to the Anthropocene.

Keywords

Institutional Theory; Natural Environment; Society

Citation

Hoffman, Andrew J., and P. Devereaux Jennings. "Institutional Theory and the Natural Environment: Research in (and on) the Anthropocene." Special Issue on Review of the Literature on Organizations and Natural Environment: From the Past to the Future edited by Stephanie Bertels and Frances Bowen. Organization & Environment 28, no. 1 (March 2015): 8–31.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

More from the Authors

    • May 9, 2024
    • Inspiring Minds

    Business Education Is Broken: Here Are Strategies to Fix It

    By: Andrew J. Hoffman
    • January 2, 2024
    • AACSB Insights

    Academic ‘Elders’ Wanted: Inquire Within

    By: Andrew J. Hoffman
    • July 5, 2023
    • Financial Times

    Why Management Research Needs a Radical Rethink

    By: Andrew J. Hoffman
More from the Authors
  • Business Education Is Broken: Here Are Strategies to Fix It By: Andrew J. Hoffman
  • Academic ‘Elders’ Wanted: Inquire Within By: Andrew J. Hoffman
  • Why Management Research Needs a Radical Rethink By: Andrew J. Hoffman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.