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A Case Study of How Dupont Reduced Its Environment Footprint: the Role of Organizational Change in Sustainability

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A Case Study of How Dupont Reduced Its Environment Footprint: the Role of Organizational Change in Sustainability A Case Study of How DuPont Reduced Its Environment Footprint: The Role of Organizational Change in Sustainability By Scot Holliday B.A., 1996, Boston University M.A., 2004, The George Washington University A Dissertation Submitted to The Faculty of The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Human Resource Development May 16, 2010 Dissertation directed by David R. Schwandt Professor of Human and Organizational Learning The Graduate School of Education and Human Development of The George Washington University certifies that Scot Holliday has passed the Final Examination for the degree of Doctor of Education as of March 9, 2010. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation. A Case Study of How DuPont Reduced Its Environment Footprint: The Role of Organizational Change in Sustainability Scot Holliday Dissertation Research Committee David R. Schwandt, Professor of Human and Organizational Learning, Dissertation Director Mark Starik, Professor of Strategic Management and Policy, Committee Member Susan Swayze, Assistant Professor of Education, Committee Member ii ©Copyright 2010 by Scot Holliday All rights reserved iii DEDICATION To my wife, Metri, for your compassion, understanding, tireless support, and always abundant love, and to our new son, Alex iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my dissertation committee—Dr. David Schwandt (Chair), Dr. Mark Starik, and Dr. Susan Swayze—for your guidance, reviews, and coaching on this dissertation. Some of the seeds you sowed have already sprouted and over the coming years will fully mature. I thank my outside examiners—Dr. Clyde Croswell and Dr. Suzanne Geigle—for your due diligence and guidance. I know your constructive criticism has improved the quality of this study. I thank my parents, Chad and Ann, for your support, love, and always believing in me. I thank Dr. Clyde Croswell and Dr. Shaista Khilji for advising me during independent study electives, helping me to narrow my topic and develop my literature review. I thank Sue Simmons, Nancy McGuire, and Nancy Gilmore for helping me stay connected to the doctoral program, jump over bureaucratic hurdles, and encouraging me. I thank Dr. Bob Brescia for advising me on data coding and using Atlas Ti. I thank Bill L. Lease for encouraging me to attend graduate school, helping me realize the need for higher education. I thank Linda J. Fisher who sponsored my study at DuPont, Dawn Rittenhouse who supported me, and the many other DuPont leaders (names omitted for confidentiality) who provided data for this study through interviews. I thank Dr. Stuart Hart for sharing his knowledge on DuPont and sustainability. I thank the Hagley Museum and Library for showing me DuPont’s history in multimedia. I thank the George Washington University’s Virginia Campus library for support in navigating Aladdin and finding articles and books. v ABSTRACT A Case Study of How DuPont Reduced Its Environment Footprint: The Role of Organizational Change in Sustainability This dissertation examines the actions, decisions, interactions, and operations undertaken by DuPont from 1989 to 2008 that enabled it to transform into a sustainable organization. Specifically, this dissertation examines the role of organizational change in sustainability exhibited by DuPont during its change process. The researcher in this single case study uses novel theoretical lenses in order to gain insight into the role of organizational change in sustainability, including sustainability theory, organizational change theory, and organizational diagnosis theory. From 1990 to 2008, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 72% and changed its product composition from 100% chemical based to 70% chemical based (and 30% biological matter based). Two major findings of this research study were determining some of the conditions in which business strategy and sustainability support one another and the criticality of social responsibility. Once DuPont was able to embed sustainability into its business strategy, sustainability became an integrated part of its operations, products, and services. The data from this study support the conclusion that environmental footprint reduction supports social responsibility. Thus, when designing a strategy for organizational change for sustainability, one needs to first consider the needs of the people affected (e.g., customers, employees, and other stakeholder) and second the inherent role of, and impact on, the environment. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. v Abstract............................................................................................................................. vi List of Figures.................................................................................................................... x List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Overview....................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................. 4 Purpose.......................................................................................................................... 5 Research Questions....................................................................................................... 5 Foreshadowed Problems, Conjectures, or Exploratory Questions................................ 7 Gaps Between Research, Theory, and Practice ............................................................ 7 Between Research and Theory................................................................................ 8 Between Theory and Practice ................................................................................. 8 Between Practice and Research ............................................................................ 10 Conceptual Framework............................................................................................... 11 Tipping Point for Change at DuPont .................................................................... 11 Dynamics for Organizational Sustainability......................................................... 12 A More Sustainable DuPont ................................................................................. 14 Summary of the Methodology .................................................................................... 14 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 16 Delimitations............................................................................................................... 16 Definition of Key Terms............................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2: Literature Review........................................................................................ 20 Sustainability Principles.............................................................................................. 20 Sustainability Theory............................................................................................ 20 Development of the Concept of Sustainability ..................................................... 21 Sustainability Constructs ...................................................................................... 24 Implications of Sustainability ............................................................................... 29 Stages of Change......................................................................................................... 31 Organizational Change Theory............................................................................. 31 Revolutionary Versus Evolutionary...................................................................... 32 Punctuated Equilibrium ........................................................................................ 34 Normative Versus Rational................................................................................... 34 Organizational Diagnosis...................................................................................... 35 Restructuring Social Interactions................................................................................ 38 Social Psychological Background of Symbolic Interactionism............................ 39 Complexity Theory ............................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3: Methods ........................................................................................................ 48 Overview of Methodology.......................................................................................... 48 Data-Gathering Methods....................................................................................... 48 Plan for Allocating Time to Each Research Method ............................................ 52 Foreshadowed Problems, Conjectures, or Exploratory
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