| 1. |
- Abord-Hugon Nonet, Guénola, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-stakeholder Engagement for the Sustainable Development Goals : Introduction to the Special Issue
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 180, s. 945-957
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The world is not on track to achieve Agenda 2030-the approach chosen in 2015 by all UN member states to engage multiple stakeholders for the common goal of sustainable development. The creation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) arguably offered a new take on sustainable development by adopting hybrid and principle-based governance approaches, where public, private, not for profit and knowledge-institutions were invited to engage around achieving common medium-term targets. Cross-sector partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagement for sustainability have consequently taken shape. But the call for collaboration has also come with fundamental challenges to meaningful engagement strategies-when private enterprises try to establish elaborate multi-stakeholder configurations. How can the purpose of businesses be mitigated through multi-stakeholder principle-based partnerships to effectively serve the purpose of a common sustainability agenda? In selecting nine scholarly contributions, this special issue aims at advancing this discourse. To stimulate further progress in business studies, this introductory essay, furthermore, identifies three pathways for research on multi-stakeholder engagement processes in support of the Decade of Action along three coupling lines: multi-sector alignment (relational coupling), operational perception alignment (cognitive coupling) and goal and strategic alignment (material coupling).
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| 2. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Enabling Sustainable Transformation : Hybrid Organizations in Early Phases of Path Generation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 165:3, s. 547-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rapidly growing research on hybrid organizations in recent years suggests that these organizations may have particular abilities to facilitate institutional change. This article contributes to our understanding of change and, in particular, sustainable transformation in society by highlighting the importance of organizational forms. Looking more closely at the role of hybrid organizations in processes of path generation, we analyze the conditions under which hybrid organizations may enable path generation. A retrospective (1988–2017) exploratory case study of the Swedish hybrid organization The Natural Step confirms how hybrids can take part in- and may facilitate the early phases of path generation: assimilation and coalescence. The conclusion drawn is that hybrids have multivocal abilities that enable them to earn trust and authority to open up “neutral” spaces for orientation and connection between actors in separated sub-paths, and that this in turn may ease tensions and trigger dialogue and exchange, also between former opponents. Yet, as also seen in the case, this enabling position of the hybrid may be both fragile and temporary.
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| 3. |
- Astrachan, Joseph H., et al.
(författare)
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Values, Spirituality and Religion : Family Business and the Roots of Sustainable Ethical Behavior
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 163, s. 637-645
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The inclusion of morally binding values such as religious—or in a broader sense, spiritual—values fundamentally alter organizational decision-making and ethical behavior. Family firms, being a particularly value-driven type of organization, provide ample room for religious beliefs to affect family, business, and individual decisions. The influence that the owning family is able to exert on value formation and preservation in the family business makes religious family firms an incubator for value-driven and faith-led decision-making and behavior. They represent a particularly rich and relevant context to re-assess the relationship between ethical beliefs, decision-making processes and behaviors in business organizations at the interface between family and professional logics. This Special Issue is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the role religious values and spirituality play in the formation of organizational ethical practices in faith-led family firms and resulting organizational and family-related outcomes. In this editorial, we introduce the 10 papers included in this Special Issue, which investigate the relationship between religion or spirituality and family firm ethical behavior in various geographical, cultural and religious contexts, using a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By focusing on the effects of religious or spiritual orientations on both the business and the family, as well as on the values, norms and goals present in the family business system, further research can gain a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between religious and spiritual believes, and sustainable ethical behavior in family firms.
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| 4. |
- Babri, Maira, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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An Updated Inquiry into the Study of Corporate Codes of Ethics : 2005–2016
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 168:1, s. 71-108
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a review of 100 empirical papers studying corporate codes of ethics (CCEs) in business organizations from the time period mid-2005 until mid-2016, following approximately an 11-year time period after the previous review of the literature. The reviewed papers are broadly categorized as content-oriented, output-oriented, or transformation-oriented. The review sheds light on empirical focus, context, questions addressed, methods, findings and theory. The findings are discussed in terms of the three categories as well as the aggregate, stock of empirical CCE studies in comparison with previous reviews, answering the question “where are we now?” Content and output studies still stand for the majority of the studies, whereas the transformation studies are fewer. Within these areas, two new trends are found to have emerged: discursive analyses and a focus on labor conditions. The review finds that (a) the content of CCEs is still predominantly self-defensive, (b) that CCEs are insufficient in themselves in terms of protecting workers’ rights, (c) that CCEs are likely to encounter tensions when implemented across national and organizational boundaries, and (d) that while perception of CCEs is generally positive, CCEs may lead to both positive and negative outcomes. Based on these findings, potential areas for further exploration in the area of CCE research are suggested.
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| 5. |
- Baldassarre, Brian, et al.
(författare)
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Responsible Design Thinking for Sustainable Development : Critical Literature Review, New Conceptual Framework, and Research Agenda
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer Science+Business Media B.V.. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697.
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the 1960s, influential thinkers defined design as a rational problem-solving approach to deal with the challenges of sustainable human development. In 2009, a design consultant and a business academic selected some of these ideas and successfully branded them with the term “design thinking.” As a result, design thinking has developed into a stream of innovation management research discussing how to innovate faster and better in competitive markets. This article aims to foster a reconsideration of the purposes of design thinking moving forward, in view of the sustainable development challenges intertwined with accelerating innovation in a perpetual economic growth paradigm. To this end, we use a problematization method to challenge innovation management research on design thinking. As part of this method, we first systematically collect and critically analyze the articles in this research stream. We uncover a prominent focus on economic impact, while social and environmental impacts remain largely neglected. To overcome this critical limitation, we integrate design thinking with responsible innovation theorizing. We develop a framework for responsible design thinking, explaining how to apply this approach beyond a private interest and competitive advantage logic, to address sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, resource depletion, poverty, and injustice. The framework contributes to strengthening the practical relevance of design thinking and its theoretical foundations. To catalyze this effort, we propose an agenda for future research.
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| 6. |
- Barbera, Francesco, et al.
(författare)
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The family that prays together stays together : Toward a process model of religious value transmission in family firms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 163:4, s. 661-673
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research indicates that religious values and ethical behavior are closely associated, yet, at a firm level, the processes by which this association occurs are poorly understood. Family firms are known to exhibit values-based behavior, which in turn can lead to specific firm-level outcomes. It is also known that one’s family is an important incubator, enabler, and perpetuator of religious values across successive generations. Our study examines the experiences of a single, multigenerational business family that successfully enacted their religious values in their business. Drawing upon intergenerational solidarity and values-based leadership theory, and by way of an interpretive, qualitative analysis, we find that the family’s religious values enhanced their cohesion and were manifested in their leadership style, which, in turn, led to outcomes for the business. Our findings highlight the processes that underlie the relationship between religious values and organizational outcomes in family firms and offer insights into the role of solidarity in values-based leadership.
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| 7. |
- Berg, Natalia, Dr, 1978-
(författare)
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The Public Effect of Private Sustainability Reporting : Evidence from Incident-Based Engagement Strategy
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 182, s. 559-572
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines whether private information exchange between institutional investors and public companies in engagement dialogs on sustainability issues improves the publicly disclosed measurements of the target company’s financial and non-financial performance and transparency. It uses a unique dataset containing 326 private reports related to environmental, social, and anti-corruption recommendations to address material incidents among publicly traded MSCI World Index portfolio companies of Nordic institutional investors. The results indicate that target companies appear to have similar values with matched companies on sustainability performance and transparency ratings in the 3 years following the initiation of private reporting. Unexpected sustainability incidents are subsequently reflected in the next year’s fall in the market value of target companies relative to MSCI World Index. This paper provides empirical evidence for the legitimacy-based provision of private sustainability information used in a larger disclosure system of public companies.
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| 8. |
- Borglund, Tommy, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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The Professional Logic of Sustainability Managers : Finding Underlying Dynamics
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 182:1, s. 59-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The role of the Sustainability Manager (SM) is expanding. Whether SMs are turning into a new profession is under debate. Pointing to the need for a distinct professional logic to qualify as a profession, we identify what is contained within a professional logic of SMs. Through analyzing ambiguities present in the role of the SMs, we show that there is no specific distinct professional logic of SMs, but rather a meta-construct building on market, bureaucratic, and sustainability logics. In addition, we point to the complex configurations of and relationships between these underlying logics. The complexities also explain why the SMs differ from traditional professions and why it is problematic to talk about a ‘SM profession’. Rather, SMs are ‘organizational professionals’. The article builds on 21 interviews with SMs working for Swedish companies.
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| 9. |
- Brandtner, Christof, et al.
(författare)
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Where Relational Commons Take Place: The City and its Social Infrastructure as Sites of Commoning
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer Nature. - 1573-0697 .- 0167-4544. ; 184, s. 917-932
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Commons enjoy recognition as an alternative to the dichotomy of state and market. In contrast to liberal market theorists who frame the commons as resource-based, we build on alternative and critical conceptions that describe the commons as processual, social, and inherently relational. Our analysis adds to these accounts an articulation of the contemporary commons as "social infrastructure" in the urban spatial conditions where the social processes of commoning take place. We argue that the relational features of urban commons depend on social interactions and cross-sector partnerships in physical places that promote social cohesion, suggesting that the urban commons fold together the spatial and social in hitherto undertheorized ways. To theorize this relationship, we articulate the idea of the relational urban commons as sites of social interaction and relationship building-social infrastructure. This conceptualization suggests that the commons can be governed indirectly by enabling access, participation, and partnerships across sectors, fostering mixed uses and the provision of maintenance and repair. As a result, the commons are both maintained by and conducive to place-based cross-sector partnerships, anchored in place in ways that transcend resources, issues, and ownership.
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| 10. |
- Butler, Nick, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Redemption Through Play? Exploring the Ethics of Workplace Gamification
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Today, it is becoming increasingly common for companies to harness the spirit of play in order to increase worker engagement and improve organizational performance. This paper examines the ethics of play in a business context, focusing specifically on the phenomenon of workplace gamification. While critics highlight ethical problems with gamification, they also advocate for more positive, transformative, and life-affirming modes of organizational play. Gamification is ethical, on this view, when it allows users to reach a state of authentic happiness or eudaimonia. The underlying assumption, here, is that the ‘magic circle’ of play—a sphere that exists entirely for its own sake—should be protected in order to secure meaningfulness at work. However, we argue that this faith in play is misguided because play, even at its most autotelic, is ethically ambivalent; it does not lead inexorably to virtuous work environments, but may in fact have an undesirable impact on those who are playing. Our study thus contributes to research on the ‘dark side’ of organizational play, a strand of scholarship that questions the idea that play always points toward the good life.
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