What is sociology about? • The study of society, humans living together • The problem of conflict: why do we fight? • How to deal with power? How to deal with resistance? How to deal with inequality? • Sociology looks at way to solve the problem of conflict in society • Depending on the approach, questions and answers can be very different ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Different views Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) • Homo homini lupus • Society is created to avoid state of Nature and violence among humans – which is natural Latest studies on co-operation • Chimpanzee and other primates have an innate sense of justice and cooperation • Violence is not the state of nature for advanced mammals ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 1 Positivism • Reality is objective • There is one single truth to be discovered • Only one perspective is the right one, others are biased • There is one specific configuration that is superior to all others, so we can solve all problems • Social sciences should mimic ‘hard sciences’ • We should analyse data systematically to bring order and collective prosperity ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 1 Positivism - Example • How do we solve crime? • Define crime in a single way • Find data about crime, thus defined • Analyse how it emerges and how it can be lowered • Develop proposals for institutions able to do so • Limitations? • Does not take into account cultural differences • Proposes solutions that might leave someone worst-off • It measures only what can be observed or quantified • Assumes that researcher ‘knows best’ ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 1 Example of Positivism • Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) • ‘Division of labour in the society’ • Sociology should be holistic, meaning the whole is ‘independent’ from individuals ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 2 Interpretivism • What is ‘real’ depends from the background and social position of actors • ‘Reality’ is a puzzle, made of many different perspectives on the same object • Different conditions can lead to different interpretations • Scope of research is to ‘understand’ and present multiple perspectives, so to propose ‘ad - hoc’ solutions • Social sciences should adopt qualitative as well as quantitative methods • Interviews, ethnographies, art, manufacts, language… ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 2 Interpretivism - Example • How do we solve crime? • Understand the setting to decide a definition of crime • Find data about crime, asking people who experience it ad perpetrate it • As in positivism, analyse how it emerges and how it can be lowered • Develop proposals for institutions able to do so, but solutions are not universal • Limitations? • Assumes all views are equally present, worthy, and neutral • As in positivism, proposes solutions that might leave someone worst-off • It measures only what can be observed or quantified, although better than positivism • Assumes that researcher is neutral, and should not take normative stances (A is better than B because of ethical reasons) ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 2 Example of interpretivism • Max Weber (1864 – 1920) • Society should be interpreted • Individual and ‘cultural factors’ affect society as a whole • Yet, sociology can and should provide factual answers, and lead politics ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on social structures Pierre Bourdieu (1930 – 2002) • ‘Habitus’: there are different types of capital used in social interaction • These ‘determine’ the integration and success of people, leading to a hierarchical structure of society (ie France) • ‘Symbolic violence’: how a view of the world has material consequences on whoever does not share it ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 3 Critical theory • What is ‘real’ depends on power: like interpretivists, but assigning ethical and moral values to alternatives. • Takes an historical look: who decided what is normal, just or acceptable? Who was excluded? • Begins with assumption there are injustices in society and job of sociologists is to help solving them – reject neutrality • “The point is to change [society]” as Marx put it • Scope of research is to ‘unveil’ power relations, domination, exploitation, resistance, alternatives to the current social order ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 3 Critical theory - Example • How do we solve crime? • Understand who defined ‘crime’ as such: history of deviance • Find data about crime, asking people who experience it and what is their perspective • Analyse how it is connected to social exclusion or poverty, clarify how to find ‘just’ solutions • Develop radical alternative ideas, that solve the cause behind crime • Limitations? • ‘Takes a stance’, so it is not seen as neutral or ‘scientific’ • Might rely on long-term solutions, lacking pragmatic answers • Different critical schools can be in contrast, so no coherent body of research ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Ways of studying social phenomena - 3 Example of Critical theory • Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) • Sociologists should look at the economic system and who owns the means of production • The multiple perspectives of reality are not equivalent, as one side is oppressed ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Summarising the overarching divisions Approaches Structural level of analysis Individual level of analysis • Grand theories of society • Cognitive mechanisms Positivism • Close to economics • Close to psychology • Context-dependent • Ethnographic studies of social issues Interpretivism bureaucracies • Cultural studies • Institutional theory • Comprehensive, global view • Study of different perspectives, voice Critical Theory of inequalities of minorities • Marxism • Resistance, colonialism, gender, etc… ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on knowledge and power Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984) • Centrality given to the relationship between knowledge and power • What is normal? Accepted? • The panopticon as a dispersed view of power and control ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on knowledge and power The panopticon as a dispersed view of power and control ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on Eurocentrism, colonialism Edward Said (1935-2003) • Recount history from the perspective of the colonised • ‘Orientalism’: the romanticisation, infatilisation of non-Westerns. Either barbarians or mystical lands, but without subjectivity ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on Eurocentrism, colonialism Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) • Book ‘The Wretched of the Earth’: consequences of Algerian war and French colonisation • The condition of the colonised as altered forever: • Collective psychological trauma • National identity of former colonies is defined through struggle • There is a common condition between colonised/oppressed, which should create a collective identity ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Focus on Liberalism Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992) • Part of the ‘Austrian School’: • Social systems should maximise individual freedom • The best way to achieve collective freedom is through markets – reaction to XX Century totalitarian regimes • The State should limit its action to enforce contracts, so market can work • Radical liberalism: each individual should autonomously decide what is best for her, and be coerced as little as possible within her property • His views were less extreme than those of some followers, i.e. Ayn Rand and the Chicago School ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Author Main question Scope of his research How can we use it? To have an overarching view of Western Durkheim How do societies stratify? Understand social structures societies, focusing on division of labour How do bureaucracy and values Understand social values and To understand the importance of Weber intertwine? institutions bureaucracies and institutions How does capitalism shape To understand how economic differences Marx Develop (radical) social change societies? How to change it? affect social settings To understand how personal backgrounds Bourdieu How does social mobility work? Understand social reproduction reproduce social settings How does power influence Affirm that knowledge is relative and To understand the limitations of scientific Foucault knowledge and social relations? not neutral paradigms, and to study social exclusion How does colonialism affect Understand non-Western social To study the consequences of colonialism, Said knowledge? structures even in Western societies How do we overcome Develop (radical) social change from To understand how violent social change Fanon colonialism? a non Western perspective happens, and the impact of trauma How do we maximise individual Develop a theory of freedom To understand how individuals coordinate Hayek freedom? through markets and minimal State themselves without central authority ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Summarising… • Durkheim – Positivism We could add… • Weber – Interpretivism • Talcott Parsons • Marx – Critical theory • Societies as biological systems • Niklas Luhmann • Bourdieu – Social stratification • Systems’ reproduction • Foucault – Knowledge and power • Saskia Sassen • Global cities • Said – Postcolonialism • Gayatri Spivak • Fanon – Postcolonialism • Postcolonialism • Many more… • Hayek – Liberalism ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Some ethical questions TAKING DECISIONS FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
How do we avoid evil? Hannah Arendt (1906 – 1975) • ‘Banality of evil’: how political and social relations are embedded by individuals • She studied the relationship between bureaucratic State and totalitarianism • Connected to the theory of hegemony of Antonio Gramsci ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
How can we be democratic? Jürgen Habermas (born 1929) • Importance of taking decisions by consulting all actors involved • ‘Deliberative democracy’ as a bottom-up, collective process ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
How to give voice to the oppressed? Patricia Hills Collins (born 1948) • ‘Stand point theory’ • The social position of actors matters in taking decisions • What is ‘fair’ depends on your social position, so decisions affecting minorities should be taken by them • Questions of race, gender, LGBT etc. cannot be solved in isolation but need to be connected • Intersectionality ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Sociology in a business environment WHICH ARE THE MAIN SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECTING BUSINESS STUDIES? ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Moving forward… • We have seen thinkers... But what is the status quo? • Types of social order • Socialism • Neoliberalism • Ordoliberalism • ‘Chinese capitalism’ • Corporate Social Responsibility • Critical issues in management ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Different ways of organising the society Organisations, public and private, operate in a society The way in which such society is organised matters! • Legal issues • Cultural issues • Access to capital and people ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Business studies and sociology Why should we care? • Power and resistance in organisations • How society impacts the activities of organisations matters • How do we implement strategies taking into consideration others? • Which types of business affect others more? Which have positive outcomes? For who? • What is the scope of the organisation? ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Mapping Markets and Politics • Horizontal axis: how should the exchange of goods and services being done? Should it be fully under the control of the State (LEFT), fully in control of free markets (RIGHT) or a mix of the two? • Vertical axis: how much individual freedom should be granted to personal and social choices? How should be power managed? ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The PESTLE framework ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Macro social-setting 1 • Socialism (State monopoly) • Political: strong role of State and of few political parties • Economic: State intervention in markets is strong, high regulation • Technology: it depends, but tend to be centralised • Legal: strong constrains to market activity, high bureaucracy • Examples: USSR, Venezuela, Cuba, some African and Middle-Eastern countries. To date, very rare in its extreme form ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Macro social-setting 2 • Neoliberalism (privatisations) • Political: strong role of ‘civil society’, small role of State in economy • Economic: very high freedom to trade, presence of large corporations • Technology: it depends, but tend to be decentralised and privatised • Legal: minimal constrains to market activity, low bureaucracy • Examples: USA, Chile, South Korea. To date, high number of countries has introduced some degree of neoliberal reforms, but few countries are purely neoliberal ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Macro social-setting 3 • Ordoliberalism (State regulation) • Political: multi- party democracy, medium role of ‘civil society’, State regulates after listening to social parts • Economic: mixed. Some sectors are regulated, some services are provided publicly, rest is managed by markets • Technology: it depends, but tend to be both public and private • Legal: medium to high bureaucracy, right to individual freedom in most spheres • Examples: European Union (Germany as birthplace), Canada ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Macro social-setting 4 • Remaining dimensions of PESTEL • Social: different countries go towards different trends. For instance Europe and Japan are growing older. USA, China, as well as Afriacan and Asian countries are experiences growth in population and overall shift in resources allocation ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Macro social-setting 5 • Remaining dimensions of PESTEL • Environmental: Global warming is a global trend which overarches local issues. It is of utmost urgency • Examples: extreme weather, desertification, rising sea levels, new routes through Artic circle opening, stigma on fossil fuels, stigma on non- sustainable production and consumption… ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism FEW ADDITIONAL WORDS ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 1 Friedrich von Hayek (1899 – 1992) • ‘ Austrian school’ & ‘Chicago School’ • Individual Freedom is the highest value • The best way to organise the society is through markets because they are the best way to allocate resources and informations while respecting individual freedom • See also Ayn Rand & Thomas Sowell ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 1 Initialy ignored, then applied in 80s • UK: Margareth Thatcher – the ‘ Iron Lady’ • USA: Ronald Reagan Main policies: 1. Privatisations 2. Cut of welfare 3. Limitation of Unions 4. Globalisation ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 2 Why are we talking about neoliberalism? • If the market is the best way to allocate resources, then businesses are central in the way we understand and manage our society • Centrality of businesses and financial markets makes them political actors • Control of resources • Wealth inequality • Actual vs formal opportunities • Responsabilities of businesses ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 3 A case in point: ‘Meritocracy’ • Michael Young, 1958, ‘The rise of meritocracy ’ • Distopic book, yet it almost became reality • Everyone should advance thanks to its merits • But if we ignore the social conditions, rules can be biased and have negative effects • Who decides who and what is meritocratic? ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 4 Let’s think of examples of consequences of privatisations: • Control of resources • Wealth inequality • Actual vs formal opportunities • Responsabilities of businesses ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Neoliberalism 4 What’s the problem with organising the society through markets? Imagine the economy as a poker game. Same opportunities and same rules mean that the game does not favour anyone per se. Yet, each round the fishes become more and more concentrated in somebody’s hand. So even though the game is still ‘fair’ in terms of rules, newcomers or people with less fishes have way lower chances of winning. ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Business studies and sociology Why should we care? We have seen that as markets grow in importance, businesses provide for more and more goods and services ‘Corporate Business Responsabilty ’(CSR) addresses these points: • How do we implement strategies taking into consideration others? • How do we do business taking into consideration others? • What is the scope of the organisation? • How do organisations can tackle political issues? • Power and resistance in organisations ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Context Globally Liberalisation of markets – reduction of the regulatory approach Emergence of global giants, consolidation of market share Development of the ‘embedded firm’ and the global value chain ◦ Development of supplier networks in developing countries ◦ Tendency towards monopolies or few giant corporations ◦ Detachment between national legislation and corporate activities ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Business studies and sociology Corporate Social Management Shareholder – An individual, a group of Responsibility people, a private organisation or a public one that owns a part or all the company. Shareholders Stakeholders Stakeholder Theory (Freeman, 1984) – A stakeholder is “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of an organisation’s purpose.” Argues that it is in the company’s strategic interest to Profits Welfare respect the interests of all its stakeholders. maximisation maximisation ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Source: Parmar, B. L., et al. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. The academy of management annals , 4 (1), 403-445. ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 1 / Friedman, 1970 • Calls for a neat division between government and private organisations • QUOTE: “What does it mean to say that ‘business’ has responsibilities? Only people have responsibilities. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but ‘business’ as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense.” ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 1 / Friedman, 1970 • Why does he say this? Because the business should maximise the profits and distribute dividends to its shareholders. With this money then the shareholders will independently decide who to finance, how etc… • The only responsibility is to do what is legal • Managers are only agents of shareholders, nothing else ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 1 / Friedman, 1970 WHY IS THIS VIEW PROBLEMATIC? • Ethical issues • Externalities • Growing role of businesses in regulation and services ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR - 2 Classic answer to ethical problems: • Albert Hirschmann (1915 – 2012) • ‘Exit, Voice, Loyalty ’ (1970) • Recently, people added ‘ neglect ’ as a form of loyalty • If you do not like what a business does, just choose one of three options But, there is power imbalance: can you really exit or voice? • Examples of Facebook, Google, Whatsapp … ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 3 The evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility • Initially, secondary problem/no problem (see Friedman) • Then moved from Shareholders theory to Stakeholder theory • Shareholders: those that have economic links with the business • Stakeholders: those who have something ‘at stake’ with the business, so beyond just economic links ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 3 What are externalities? An economic perspective • ‘The tragedy of commons’ ( Hardin, 1968) • If anyone follows its own interest, society will maximise it is own interest • Resources will be allocated though the market • But what happens when a common resource, like a river or a lake, is used this way? • Positive and negative externalities ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Main Concepts of CSR CSR Firms have responsibilities to societies including economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (or philanthropic). Social Contract There is a tacit social contract between the firm and society; the contract bestows certain rights in exchange for certain responsibilities. Institutional Theory Campbell, 2007: ‘Do no harm’ – Companies mimic what those around them are already doing ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Freeman’s (1984) view of Stakeholders “ Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach” (1984) Look at the different ‘actors’ involved in business activities ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Carroll’s (1991) pyramid “ The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders” (1991) A visualisation of the different issues that managers can look at when taking decisions and assessing consequences ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The rise of CSR – 4 The evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in the way business perspective shifts 1. From neglect to reactive • From ‘not my problem’ to ‘ok, we fix it’ 2. From reactive to proactive • From ‘ok, we fix it’ to ‘we will have a manager dealing with that’ 3. From proactive to becoming a full business function • From ‘we will have a manager dealing with that’ to fully embedding political and ethical questions in the decision making + strategic choices ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
CSR: explicit or implicit? ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Current critiques – 1 Some people critical towards CSR say it is used only as a marketin tool, and it is not embedded in the decision-making No real change has happened, only better comunication Examples: • Greenwashing • Communicating that you are environment-friendly, but still polluting or damaging the environment • Pinkwashing • Communicating that you are implementing gender policies, yet still not enforcing women-friendly or gay-friendly policies in the board or in the HR department ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Current critiques – 2 Why would this happen? Four main critiques from some people • Companies are by definition motivated by profit. Need to change the scope of the organisation in the society to achieve change • There is a stong asymmetry of information. Large firms can ‘spin the story’, or just pretend to listen to stakeholders concerns • Managers do actually care, but the short-term nature of management makes impossible to bring real change (see Foucault, peer- pressure, etc…) • Managers all come from a similar background, so it is very hard to have different views as many do not even see the problem (see Bourdieu, Sassen, etc) ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
New types of challenges: platform online organisations
Platform business model ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The exponential growth of platform business model ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
What does a platform do? • “Platforms are technologies, products or services that create value primarily by enabling direct interactions between customers or participant groups.” ( Hagiu, 2014: 71) • Their business model is based on the ability of connecting demand and supply, instead of directly producing or buying the goods or services to be distributed • Supply chain is no longer how you make money - what the organization owns is of lesser importance than who and what it can connect. ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
What does a platform do? 1. Make extensive use of AI technologies, from more basic like data collection, to predictive ones, like Deep Learning. They transform data points in information as a core part of their business model 2. Set rules privately, as part of their managerial activities, with far fetching social consequences/negative externalities ◦ Trained algorithms might not recognize and therefore exclude users from disadvantaged backg 3. Have a global reach, as the online-based business model makes them able to operate in many countries without being physically present in the country ◦ But they need a license to operate, which could be problematic (Uber, AirBnB ….) ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
“In a lot of ways Facebook is more like a government than a traditional company. We have this large community of people, and more than other technology companies we’re really setting policies” (Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, 2018) ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
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Problems with data 1. Platforms COLLECT, CREATE, STORE, ANALYSE, USE, COMMERCIALISE data 2. The better they do the above, the more successful they are Yet, data can be SENSITIVE, PRIVATE, MISUSED, BIASED ◦ Data can lead to privacy breaches to an unprecedented scale (see Cambridge Analytica) ◦ Data contain biases ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Problems with data ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Problems with data Examples: bias on gender & ethnicity https://www.newscientist.com/article/2166207- discriminating-algorithms-5-times-ai-showed-prejudice/ ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Problems with data https://www.newscientist.com/article/2206211-ais- seem-to-be-much-worse-at-recognising-objects- from-poorer-countries/ ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Problems with data https://twitter.com/jackyalcine/status/615329515909156865?ref_sr c=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E615329 515909156865&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2 015%2F7%2F1%2F8880363%2Fgoogle-apologizes-photos-app-tags- two-black-people-gorillas ALESSANDRO NICCOLO' TIRAPANI – SPRING 2020 – SOCIOLOGY IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
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