Strategic responses to institutional pressures in university carbon management: a neo-institutional perspective

Using neo-institutional theory (three institutional mechanisms and Oliver’s strategic responses framework), this study aims to critically examine the strategic responses of English public universities to institutional pressures for carbon management (CM). Diverse universities were selected to reflect institutional variation. Data were collected through 20 semistructured interviews with key sustainability-related managers responsible for CM. Approximately 800 documents were also analyzed. This paper reveals how universities navigate complex and changing stakeholder demands through a combination of acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance and manipulation strategies. The findings highlight the predominance of superficial adaptation over substantive transformation, driven by the weakening of institutional pressures, universities’ strategic resistance and power asymmetries. The evidence suggests universities should create internal incentive systems, be cautious of highly visible but superficial initiatives, and democratize sustainability governance. Demonstrating credible and transparent CM progress not only reduces universities’ footprints but also influences public attitudes and professional behaviors through graduates, staff and community partnerships. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to apply Oliver’s strategic responses framework to analyze universities’ CM engagement, providing new insights into the embedded strategic agency of universities. It challenges traditional interpretations of mimetic behavior as a passive acquiescence response and reconceptualizes imitation as an active strategic tool. It also addresses the underexplored role of power dynamics in shaping institutional processes.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

• Publication date

  2026-02-26

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1108/ijshe-05-2025-0481
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Environmental and social accountability in emerging economies: strategic pressures from and responses to vulnerable local communities

  2024cited by this paper
• The use of institutional theory in social and environmental accounting research: a critical review

  2024cited by this paper
• Sustainability reporting, institutional pressures and universities: evidence from the Spanish setting

  2024cited by this paper
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation: A Review and a Research Agenda Towards an Integrative Framework

  2022cited by this paper
• Holistic integration of sustainability at universities: Evidences from Colombia

  2021cited by this paper
• Strategic responses and disclosures in a sporting drugs scandal: the case of the Essendon Football Club

  2021cited by this paper
• Impact of stakeholder pressure on the adoption of carbon management strategies

  2020cited by this paper
• A Structural Model for the Antecedents of Sustainable Project Management in Pakistan

  2020cited by this paper
• Regulatory influences on CSR practices within banks in an emerging economy: Do banks merely comply?

  2020cited by this paper
• Barriers to innovation and sustainability in universities: an international comparison

  2019cited by this paper
• Sustainability and procurement practices in higher education institutions: Barriers and drivers

  2019cited by this paper
• Challenging Institutional Theory’s Critical Credentials

  2019cited by this paper
• Achieving a climate justice pathway to 1.5 °C

  2018cited by this paper
• Managing Carbon Aspirations: The Influence of Corporate Climate Change Targets on Environmental Performance

  2017cited by this paper
• Carbon accounting for sustainability and management. Status quo and challenges

  2012cited by this paper
• Institutional Complexity and Organizational Responses

  2011cited by this paper
• Information Disclosure Policies: Evidence from the Electricity Industry

  2007cited by this paper
• Performance measurement and institutional processes: a study of managerial responses to public sector reform

  2001cited by this paper
• A Field Study of Control System “Redesign”: The Impact of Institutional Processes on Strategic Choice*

  1996cited by this paper
• STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO INSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES

  1991cited by this paper
• Naturalistic inquiry: Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1985, 416 pp., $25.00 (Cloth)

  1985cited by this paper
• THE IRON CAGE REVISITED:

  1983cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.