From “less landfilling” to “wasting less”: Societal narratives, socio‐materiality, and organizations

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational change depends on societal narratives – narratives about the character, history, or envisioned future of societies.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study of a Swedish municipal waste management company serves as an illustration.

Findings

Swedish waste governance is powered by two main narratives: “less landfilling” and “wasting less”. Less landfilling has been the dominant narrative for several decades, but wasting less is gaining momentum, and a new narrative order is establishing itself. This new narrative order significantly redefines the socio‐material status of waste and imposes major changes on waste management organizations.

Research limitations/implications

Based on the case of waste governance in Sweden, the authors conclude that organizations should be aware that societal narrative affects the legitimacy and nature of their operations; therefore, they must integrate a watch for narrative change in their strategic reflections.

Originality/value

This paper establishes the relevance of the notion of societal narrative to understand organizational change.

Citation

Corvellec, H. and Hultman, J. (2012), "From “less landfilling” to “wasting less”: Societal narratives, socio‐materiality, and organizations", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 297-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811211213964