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Green Business: Technicist Kitsch?[Note 1. Address for reprints: Christine Oliver, Sculich School of Business, ...]
Author(s) -
Newton Tim,
Harte George
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6486.00043
Subject(s) - rhetoric , argument (complex analysis) , sociology , theme (computing) , kitsch , evangelism , voluntarism (philosophy) , centrality , environmental ethics , political science , public relations , epistemology , law , aesthetics , philosophy , biochemistry , linguistics , chemistry , mathematics , combinatorics , computer science , operating system
In this paper we present a critical analysis of current `green business' literature. We pay particular attention to the strongly evangelical language of the literature, and we consider whether such green evangelism is likely to represent an effective rhetoric strategy. We pursue this theme through exploring arguments for `environmental excellence', organizational `eco‐cultures', and for corporate environmental strategies. We suggest that current prescriptions for `organizational eco‐change' are often buttressed by evangelical rhetoric and are reliant on the assumption that organizations will voluntarily become greener. Given the centrality of voluntarism within this literature, we devote the latter part of the paper to considering its efficacy, and explore the deferred argument that organizational eco‐change will only come about through stronger state regulation.