DIT PhD Project / Doctoral Project
Supervisor name & contact details:
Dr Alan Gilmer
alan.gilmer@dit.ie
Supervisors Profile:
http://www.dit.ie/spatialplanningtransportengi
neering/staff/
Research Centre (if applicable):
Environmental Sustainability & Health Institute
Research Centre website (if applicable):
http://www.dit.ie/eshi/
Supervisors Publication List:
http://arrow.dit.ie/authors.html#G
Title of the Project: Corporate Sustainability & Brand - a policy implementation network
Project Summary:
Sustainability refers to the endurance of systems and processes and has become a key focus both
in academic circles and within industry practice. The ability to control continued existence
depends on the recognition of the inter-dependent and interconnected nature of systems.
Corporations in their drive to exist and prosper have embraced many aspects of sustainability yet
there remains a debate as to the depth and recognition of true sustainability and sustainable
development within organisations. Sustainability in the corporate context can often be perceived
as a vague and intangible term which can mean many things depending on organisational
philosophy, operational perspective, market conditions or societal context. There is evidence
that where sustainability initiatives are used solely as a marketing ploy rather than reflecting a
deeper sense of responsibility to the natural and social environment which is the business
setting, then these very initiatives can be sighted as the reasons for discontent with the services
offered and the meaning of brand (Calabrese & Lancioni, 2008). Sustainable policy in
corporations is typically driven by mimetic, coercive or normative pressures (DiMaggio and
Powell, 1983, Liu et al., 2010) yet how organisations translate these drivers into policy is
fraught with complexity often demonstrating a multiplicity of factors. An outcome of this
is that while the rational model represents the more preferable model for policy development
the incremental model or one demonstrating punctuated equilibria, more typically describes the
actual practice. Thus the logic of the participants rather than the logic of the system will have a
significant role to play in determining the outcome of the sustainable policy and its
implementation in practice (Lindblom & Woodhouse, 1993). Consequently, this study seeks to
explore the meaning of corporate sustainable policy in defined sectors and through the
development of a theoretical framework analyse the development paradigm, the implementation
context and the relationship between corporate sustainability and brand identity.
Please indicate the student requirements for this project:
Minimum 2.1 (life sciences, environmental science, environmental management, geography,
engineering or related disciplines considered)
Deadline to submit applications (only for funded projects)
Please choose College as appropriate
Arts & Tourism
Business
Engineering & Built Environment

Science & Health
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Engineering and other technological areas

Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)
Health and Biomedical Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production

Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technology of prevention and remediation of natural disasters
Biodiversity and Bioprospection

Marine Sciences
Creative Industry

New technologies in constructive engineering
Capacity Building for technological personnel
