Brewing Organizational Responses to Institutional Logics

Dissertation o. Habilitation

This dissertation examines how the multinational brewer Carlsberg Group responds to the issue of ‘alcohol-related harm’, expressed in its work with the focus area of ‘responsible drinking’ (RD). RD is associated with different initiatives aimed at reducing the misuse of alcohol, e.g., youth drinking, binge drinking (i.e., drinking to excess), and drunk driving. The issue of ‘alcohol-related harm’ is not a new issue, but public perception of the issue has changed in the direction of emphasizing health and lifestyle; rather than simply being a question of a few alcoholics, ‘alcohol-related harm’ has recently become a question of a more general health risk. As a result, brewers and other alcohol produces are increasingly expected to engage in solving the associated problems of ‘alcohol-related harm’, while making sure that they do not amplify the problem via potentially problematic product launches and inappropriate advertisement campaigns. In 2010 Carlsberg Group initiated the development of a new strategic approach to responsible drinking that differed from the previous orientation, in which each subsidiary had its own approach (or non-approach) to the issue. The call for an integrated approach has given rise to multiple ways of tackling the issue, both at headquarters and subsidiaries, all of which represent the unification of a social and a commercial dimension (the social responsibility logic and the market logic). This dissertation examines the concrete conceptualizations of organizational responses to the issue of ‘alcohol-related harm’, focusing on the different actors involved and, specifically, on the construction of the interplay between the social and commercial aspects. The question guiding my research is therefore: How does Carlsberg Group handle multiple institutional logics in its responses to the complexity related to the issue of ‘alcohol-related harm’?

Object Details

• ISBN: 9788792977670
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: PhD Series ; No. 27.2013

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Management

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Højgaard Christiansen, Lærke
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
• (where): Frederiksberg
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/208862
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET