Identifying social trends for business management

Recognising societal developments and translating them into sustainable corporate governance and strategy is a key aspect of business practice today.

The social structure that provides legitimacy requires, through the reactive adaptation processes of the legal framework, that the economic sector – or, more specifically, companies – pursue their own legitimacy. This can be fostered by ensuring that legitimacy permeates the corporate structure. In the local authority sector in particular, it seems sensible to scrutinise companies’ strategic activities in light of the state’s influence as a shareholder. The question of who, in this constellation, bears responsibility for what and to whom can have a major impact on the direction of local authority-owned companies.

CSR in the neighbourhood management of Pro Potsdam GmbH

But what additional implications does this have for the legitimacy of these companies? This was the question addressed by Haucke Laackmann’s doctoral thesis. The research project, funded by the Hamburger Stiftung für Wirtschaftsethik, focused on the micro-level of corporate governance and was carried out in cooperation with Pro Potsdam GmbH. Through a systematic stakeholder survey of supervisory board members and tenants, the aim was to analyse the impact of societal developments on the business activities of Pro Potsdam GmbH and to identify the relevant issues.

Based on this analysis, a concrete recommendation for action was then drawn up for value-based management in the sustainability sector at Pro Potsdam GmbH, which was subsequently to be implemented operationally.