ISO 26000 gets taken around: Diffusion work as crucial link between standard creation and adoption

Abstract

Transnational CSR standards are neither imposed nor do they automatically find their way to potential adopters. Instead, they get “taken around” by diffusion actors at the organizational field level. The contribution conceptualizes diffusion as part of institutionalization processes and mobilizes the concept of diffusion work to study people’s activities aimed at the dissemination of transnational CSR standards. Based on a case study on the early diffusion of ISO 26000—Social Responsibility Guidance Standard in Germany, it shows the interplay of various types of actors committed to diffuse, and for some, to hinder the diffusion of the standard. By categorizing diffusion work on two axes (direct–indirect and explicit–implicit), the chapter sheds light on the diffusion dynamics surrounding a newly released standard. The findings reveal that the standard setter must rely on external actors to diffuse its standard that the national context matters and that some characteristics of ISO 26000 influence diffusion forms and trajectories.