A Typology of Institutional Frameworks for Organizations

Abstract

According to Dr. Clare Graves, mankind has developed eight core value systems1, as responses to prevailing circumstances. This phase wise orientation to (environmental) contexts and value systems suggests that a one-solution-fits-all concept of corporate sustainability is not adequate. This chapter introduces an integral business framework – a sequence of ideal type organizations - each characterized by specific institutional arrangements – supporting and enabling particular sets of sustainability efforts aligning organizational development phases. Each phase presents a specific definition and manifestation of sustainability, linked to particular (societal) circumstances and related value systems.