Navigating Global Sustainability Compliance Challenges: The Role of Organizational Change Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of compliance, change management involves identifying, assessing, and implementing procedures and controls to facilitate institutional advancements in accordance with laws, rules, and regulatory requirements.

To achieve compliance, organizations need to implement strategies that enable them to adapt and evolve in response to changing regulatory environments and best practices.

The theme of compliance, which is closely linked to the theme of corporate sustainability, is currently a highly regarded area of research and professional intervention. Identifying appropriate programs of organizational change (both in terms of organizational structure and organizational culture) that take into account specific corporate characteristics and regulatory and economic constraints represents, in my opinion, a field of inquiry that is still relatively unexplored. This special issue could help fill this gap.

Here are some ways organizational change strategies contribute to compliance: 

1. Risk Assessment and Management - Before implementing change, it's essential to assess and manage potential risks. Organizational change strategies should involve risk assessment and management to identify potential compliance risks and develop proactive measures to mitigate them. This reduces the likelihood of compliance breaches and fines. 

2. Communication and Training - Communication and training initiatives must be part of any organization's change strategy. Employees must be informed of changes and the corresponding compliance obligations. Ongoing education and training help employees understand their roles and responsibilities in upholding compliance. This approach mitigates the risk of noncompliance due to a lack of knowledge or neglect. 

3. Collaboration and Consultation - Organizational change strategies must involve collaboration and consultation with various stakeholders, including legal and compliance departments, business units, and employees. This ensures that all perspectives are considered and that the proposed changes are appropriately aligned with regulatory requirements and organizational objectives. 

4. Monitoring and Review - Change must be monitored and reviewed to ascertain compliance effectiveness. Regular audits, reports, and reviews must be conducted to confirm that the implemented changes remain compliant. Feedback analysis and continuous improvement measures are necessary to identify gaps, areas of nonconformity, and opportunities for improvement. 

5. Regulatory Compliance Frameworks - Organizations must build a compliance framework that aligns with regulatory requirements. The framework includes policies, procedures, risk management tools, and testing and monitoring programs. This ensures that all compliance obligations are met, reducing the risk of breaches and fines. 

Organizational change strategies must be strategic, comprehensive, and aligned with regulatory requirements, organizational objectives, and stakeholder expectations. By following this approach, organizations can continuously achieve compliance, minimize compliance breaches, and strengthen their regulatory and reputational standing.

References

Busse, R., & Doganer, U. (2018). The role of compliance for organisational change: Qualitative evidence from German SMEs. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(2), 334-351.

Kalev, A., & Dobbin, F. (2006). Enforcement of civil rights law in private workplaces: The effects of compliance reviews and lawsuits over time. Law & Social Inquiry, 31(4), 855-903.

Oreg, S. (2006). Personality, context, and resistance to organizational change. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 15(1), 73-101.

Parella, K. (2019). Improving Human Rights Compliance in Supply Chains. Notre Dame L. Rev., 95, 727.

Piderit, S. K. (2000). Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: A multidimensional view of attitudes toward an organizational change. Academy of management review, 25(4), 783-794.

Tsoukas, H., & Chia, R. (2002). On organizational becoming: Rethinking organizational change. Organization science, 13(5), 567-582.

Weick, K. E., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational change and development. Annual review of psychology, 50(1), 361-386.

Wijen, F. (2014). Means versus ends in opaque institutional fields: Trading off compliance and achievement in sustainability standard adoption. Academy of Management Review, 39(3), 302-323.

Ybema, S., & Horvers, M. (2017). Resistance through compliance: The strategic and subversive potential of frontstage and backstage resistance. Organization studies, 38(9), 1233-1251.

Dr. Francesco Ceresia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Administrative Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• compliance
• organizational change
• corporate sustainability
• organizational development
• human rights
• human resource management