Corporate Perspective Research Articles

Ethics, Enlightened Self-Interest, and the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: A Critical Look at the Justificatory Foundations of the UN Framework

ABSTRACT:Central to the United Nations Framework setting out the human rights responsibilities of corporations proposed by John Ruggie is the principle that corporations have a responsibility to respect human rights in their operations whether or not doing so is required by law and whether or not human rights laws are actively enforced. Ruggie proposes that corporations should respect this principle in their strategic management and day-to-day operations for reasons of corporate (enlightened) self-interest. This paper identifies this as a serious weakness and argues that identifying the responsibility to respect human rights as an explicitly ethical obligation to be respected for that reason would provide a much stronger justificatory foundation for respecting the principle seen from a corporate perspective, given that corporations are accountable to their shareholders for their deployment of the firm’s financial resources.

Pursuing Better Childhoods and Futures through Curriculum: Utopian Visions in the Development of Australia's Early Years Learning Framework

In recent years, globalised curriculum discourses have given rise to local curriculum texts that convey and produce particularised imaginings and narratives, as well as hopes for, and expectations of, young children, their childhoods and their futures. In this article, the authors employ concepts from utopian studies and Deleuzeguattarian concepts of assemblage, rhizomes and lines (supple, rigid and lines of flight) to undertake a preliminary and partial rhizomatic mapping of utopian visions of better childhoods and futures evident in the development of the Early Years Learning Framework, Australia's first national curriculum for early childhood settings. Drawing on the perspective of policy makers, News Corporation, the public, politicians, academics and practitioners who shaped the development of the Framework, the authors seek alternatives to the well-rehearsed dichotomies that so often characterise and confine curriculum politics and debates, and ways of exploring spaces between the possible and not (yet) possible.

Path Dependency and Recombinant Exploration: How Established Firms Can Outperform in the Creation of Technological Breakthroughs

How can established firms create technology breakthroughs? Adopting an evolutionary perspective of corporate R&D, we argue and show that firms which leverage knowledge, skills and technology accumulated from prior R&D by brokering technology subfields of established competence with less or unfamiliar subfields are most likely to create breakthroughs. Using patent stocks to measure firms’ capabilities in each technology subfield at a particular moment in time, we find patents recombining technology subfields for the first time in history are most likely pioneered by new firms. Nevertheless, technological breakthroughs originating from brokering disconnected subfields are most likely pioneered by firms with most prior knowledge, skills and technology and capable of recombining them in a novel way.

Gendered Corporeality and Bare Lives: Local Sacrifices and Sufferings during the Vietnam War

AbstractPrevious research on war rarely considers local gender configurations or the ways in which expectations about female and male roles relate to particular conflicts. Studies of war seem inclined to consider either the roles of women or the roles of men but less often the ways in which gender, as a relational sociocultural logic, permeates warfare. Furthermore, a gender analysis of conflicts tends to be conflated with a focus on women. This article addresses this paucity in feminist studies of war by applying a corporeal perspective to local Vietnamese experiences of the conflict between North Vietnam and the United States (1965–75). It examines three distinct yet intimately intertwined bodily dimensions that together elucidate how the war machine, in a continuous motion of reciprocity, was informed by, while simultaneously twisting, local gender constructions. The article shows how experiences of brutality are incorporated in the social and individual body, how such experiences are shaped by distinc...

Lessons from 54 years of pharmaceutical research

A recent article (Lessons from 60 years of pharmaceutical innovation. Nature Rev. Drug Discov. 8, 959–968 (2009))1 presents a corporate perspective on the reasons why the annual output of new drugs during the past few decades has not increased, despite vast increases in spending on pharmaceutical research and development (R&D). Here, I provide a researcher's perspective on the issue, based on my experience in the industry during this time.

Co‐operative performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the historical basis of development of corporate social responsibility and the impact of this on co‐operative enterprises and member‐owned businesses.Design/methodology/approachThis is a viewpoint identified by years of experience dealing with co‐operative organisations.FindingsThe paper finds that the basis of development of corporate social responsibility from the perspective of commercial corporations does not promote an adequate accounting framework for co‐operative enterprises and member‐owned businesses.Research limitations/implicationsPractitioners in different areas of business are trying to make sense of sustainability accounting and reporting in a commercial setting. This piece by one of these, draws on a topical initiative around co‐operative enterprises to raise questions around what is meant by performance in the context of member‐owned enterprises and whether the field of corporate social responsibility has overlooked the relevance of ownership in terms of organisational incentives for action.Practical implicationsThe author proposes a series of definitions for co‐operative performance, which are designed to underpin metrics that relate to “member value”. This is offered in contrast to “shareholder value” for companies that, unlike co‐operatives, are owned by external shareholders.Social implicationsThe field of corporate social responsibility is a major user and innovator of the tools and techniques for sustainability accounting and reporting. But it tends to be silent on ownership. However, if different models of ownership create different incentives for action on sustainable development, then rather than just accounting for “how” an enterprise operates, however it is owned and led, there may be value in tools to test “whether” an institution is fit for purpose in its fundamental design.Originality/valueThe paper develops a new perspective and future research opportunities in identifying performance measures for co‐operative enterprises.

Gang Set Space, Drug Markets, and Crime around Drug Corners in Camden

Gang set space is defined as ‘‘the actual area within the neighborhood where gang members come together as a gang’’ (Tita, Cohen, and Engberg 2005:280). The current article examines one subarea of gang set space: where gangs maintain street corner-centered open-air drug markets. Two types of corners—corner markets dominated by one gang and corner markets with multiple gangs—were contrasted with one another and with non-gang, non-dealing corners. Functional and corporate perspectives on gangs would both predict single gang corner markets to have lower violent and property crime than non-gang corners, whereas a traditional view would predict more violence. Territorial and economic competition models expect the highest crime levels around corner markets occupied by multiple gangs. Using Thiessen polygons to define the sphere of influence of each corner, and controlling for community demographic fabric and nearby crime, results showed higher crime counts around space used for drug distribution and higher still when the set space was occupied by multiple drug gangs. Further, crime counts were higher in less stable locales. The portions of drug gang set space centered on small, known, open-air corner drug markets, especially when control is questioned, link to more crime.

Managing issues in the face of risk uncertainty: lessons 20 years after the Alar controversy

PurposeThis paper aims to take a 20‐year perspective to revisit the Alar controversy, one of the most hotly argued public issues of the late 1980s, and to explore what fresh conclusions can be drawn for modern risk and issue managers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews contemporary reports and analysis, along with subsequent retrospective opinions from some key participants and commentators, and examines those conclusions in the context of current communication practice.FindingsThe Alar case triggered a major reassessment of risk communication and the role of activists and the news media in amplifying issues. But even today some facts of the case remain in dispute and some of the purported lessons have been blurred by history or appear to have had little lasting impact.Practical implicationsIssue managers increasingly find themselves defending reputation in the face of public issues which focus on scientific uncertainty, and the Alar case provides vivid examples of both what to do and what not to do.Originality/valueWhile most scholarship on the case discusses the implications for scientists, regulators and journalists, this paper throws fresh light on the case from the corporate perspective of the manufacturer of Alar, and the apple growers who found themselves in the eye of the storm.

The Conversing God: Exploring Trinitarian Information Transfer from the Perspective of Gordon Pask's Conversation Theory

The traditional Christian belief in the Trinity states that God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit, and that people were created in “the image of God.” This is understood to mean that humans reflect the nature of God and His ability to communicate. This ancient Christian concept has implications not only for theology, but also for communication within Christian communities. The goal of this paper is to explore the ability of a modern information theory to shed light on this doctrine and improve communication within the Church. This paper seeks to bridge the gap between ancient theology and modern theory by asking the following question: “Can Gordon Pask’s conversation theory serve as a framework for information transfer within the Trinity and within Christian religious communities?” The author’s perspective is that conversation theory can be used as a framework for exploring knowledge creation and sharing within the Trinity and subsequently within the Christian community. These new insights are based on Pask’s conceptualization of psychological and mechanical individuals, entailment meshes, and consciousness. As these concepts create new perspectives, they have significance for communities who model their communicating on Trinitarian theology. This discussion will be based on theoretical, theological, and biblical evidence which demonstrates that conversation theory is compatible Trinitarian theology. Conclusions include implications for the process of creating and sharing religious knowledge from the individual and the corporate perspective.

The role of social capital in cross-cultural M&As: a multinational corporation perspective

This paper advances a social capital perspective to the literature on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). A conceptualisation of social capital is used that encompasses internal and external social capital as the two sources of social capital available to Multinational Corporations (MNCs) that undertake M&As across cultures. A theoretical model is developed which suggests that internal and external social capital mitigate the negative effects of organisational and national cultural differences on sociocultural integration and so enable MNCs to exploit opportunities for cultural arbitrage which, in turn, contributes to the performance of M&As. This paper further forwards a dynamic perspective of M&As by considering these transactions as vehicles to both exploit existing and explore new social capital. This paper, therefore, sets out to contribute to a better understanding about M&A performance determinants over time. The implications for research and business practice are discussed.

Rebellions across the (Rice) Fields: Social Scientists and Indochina, 1965–1975

This essay presents how, during the Indochinese revolutionary wars of the 1960s and 1970s, the traditional image of rebels inspired by moral causes or socioeconomic grievances was superseded by an image of purely materialistic, rational insurgents. Economists studied revolutions from two different traditions: the systems analysis perspective of the RAND Corporation and the rational choice analysis from the public choice school of Virginia. We situate their views with reference to explanations offered by other social scientists, especially modernization and relative deprivation theorists, as well as Marxist scholars to show how, from 1965 to 1975, economists' approach to revolutions gained momentum among social scientists.

The performance implications of company‐salesperson corporate brand misalignment

Purpose – Global competition has increased a manufacturer focus on relationships and optimization of internal processes within channels of distribution. One of the central themes of channel relationships and an important theoretical proposition in corporate branding has been achievement of alignment between corporate and stakeholder perspectives. Using three corporate brands, this study seeks to use a configurational theoretic approach to investigate how deviation of salespeople from the corporate perspective is related to their satisfaction and commitment.

The enterprise perspective: a new mind‐set for competitiveness and sustainability

PurposeThe purposr of this paper is to introduce a new perspective on the organization's role, purpose, and relationships, both within and among organizations, that holds the promise of more ecologically sustainable and economically competitive business practices.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes critiques of the current corporate perspective of organizations and builds upon Roome's framework for sustainable management to articulate a new model for organizational relationships that engage value‐chain members in an enterprise‐based competitiveness model. The paper offers examples to illustrate the potential of the new model.FindingsThe new model requires a shift in the mind‐set of executives and major shareholders, but that shift holds the theoretical potential to improve long‐term competitiveness and environmental sustainability.Practical implicationsThe enterprise perspective model (EPM) holds the promise of improving competitive strength for firms and reducing negative environmental impacts from their operations. Executives who have embraced this model also find renewed energy and sense of purpose in their work.Originality/valueThis paper introduces the EPM and provides a framework for thinking about the assumptions and practices that need to change to move from the corporation perspective model to the EPM. The paper raises important research questions about implementing the EPM.

Corporate Perspective: Martin Swarbrick

Corporate Perspective: Martin Swarbrick

Economic evaluations of occupational health interventions from a corporate perspective – a systematic review of methodological quality

Using a standardized quality criteria list, we appraised the methodological quality of economic evaluations of occupational safety and health (OSH) interventions conducted from a corporate perspective. The primary literature search was conducted in Medline and Embase. Supplemental searches were conducted in the Cochrane NHS Economic Evaluation Database, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) database, the Ryerson International Labour, Occupational Safety and Health Index, scans of reference lists, and researchers' own literature database. Independently, two researchers selected articles based on title, keywords, and abstract, and if needed, fulltext. Disagreements were resolved by a consensus procedure. Articles were selected based on seven criteria addressing study population, type of intervention, comparative intervention, outcome, costs, language, and perspective. Two reviewers independently judged methodological quality using the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria (CHEC-list), a 19-item standardized quality criteria list. Disagreements in judgment were also resolved by consensus. Data were analyzed descriptively. A total of 34 studies were included. Of these, only 44% of the studies met more than 50% of the quality criteria. Of the 19 quality criteria, 8 were met by 50% or more of the studies. The 11 least fulfilled criteria related to (i) performance of a sensitivity analysis, (ii) selection of perspective, (iii) description of study population, (iv) discussion of generalizability, (v) description of competing alternatives, (vi) presentation of the research question, (vii) measurement of outcomes, (viii) measurement of costs, (ix) valuation of costs, (x) declaration of researchers' independence, and (xi) discussion of ethical and distributional issues. Apart from a few exceptions, the overall methodological quality of the economic evaluations of OSH interventions from a corporate perspective was poor. As such, there is a risk of biased results. The quality of future evaluations needs to be improved to increase the validity of their conclusions and recommendations.

Welfare and capital-theoretic foundations of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) are variously defined in the literature. Providing formal definitions for the two concepts, we show in this article that CS and CSR are distinct but interrelated concepts that can be usefully formalized with capital-theoretic and welfare economic approaches. CSR can particularly constitute a strategy to cope with externalities and serve as insurance against reputational risks that harm profit prospects and corporate value. Moreover, we present a formal approach for integrating the societal perspective of sustainable development with the corporate perspective of CSR and CS. This approach is complementary to a company's internal CSR and CS evaluation.

Natural Environment Management at Larsen & Toubro's ECC Division – A Case Study

The natural environment is the silent provider of all the natural, renewable and non-renewable resources used by corporate organisations in manufacturing and allied processes. A lack of concern for its well-being and protection would be at the organisations' own peril in the long-run. This could be in the form of increased and compulsory costs imposed through stringent environmental regulations by the government and other statutory bodies or in the form of a destroyed ecosystem. The price for this will have to be paid not only by the corporate organisation but also by mankind at large. From a corporate perspective, environmental welfare can make a lot of business sense and could be a major source of economic and competitive advantage for corporate organizations. In recent times, green products, green processes and even green companies have become the order of the day. Among the most polluting industries in Corporate India; besides the manufacturing and chemical industries, is the construction industry, given its nature of work. Larsen & Toubro's ECC Division, which is the largest construction company in India, has been selected for this case study. An attempt has been made in this paper to highlight some of the best practices implemented by the Company for Natural Environment Management and protection. The data collection for the case has been done by the authors through personal interviews with top executives of the Company and supplemented by other relevant information available in the public domain.

Review Essay

This review essay reflects on relationships between the NGO activism and advocacy movement and corporations. The essay does so through a review of Yaziji and Doh’s 2009 book NGOs and Corporations: Conflict and Collaboration. The review essay considers the strengths and weaknesses of the book in relationship to our understanding of NGOs. The essay emphasizes that both NGO and corporate perspectives are important in assessing NGO—corporation relationships.

CAREERS Conference Symposia Abstracts.

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. ArticlesCAREERS Conference Symposia Abstracts.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2009.44277747AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractThe article presents abstracts for symposia at a careers conference including “Beyond Work and Family,” Adopting a Broader Role Perspective on Nonwork Roles,” “Crossing Boundaries of the ’Boundaryless Career’: Examining Empirical Possibilities and Limitations,” and “Developing and Accommodating Self-Directed Careers: Academic and Corporate Perspectives.”FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2009, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 August 2009 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsABSTRACTSCONFERENCES & conventionsCAREER developmentOCCUPATIONSVOCATIONAL guidanceDownload PDF

ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE Conference Symposia Abstracts.

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. ArticlesORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE Conference Symposia Abstracts.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2009.44278013AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractThe article presents abstracts of symposia for a conference on organizational development and change including "Conversations and the Conduct of Change," "Curriculum for an Academic Coaching Program," and "Developing and Accommodating Self-Directed Careers: Academic and Corporate Perspectives."FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2009, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 August 2009 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsABSTRACTSCONFERENCES & conventionsORGANIZATIONAL changeCAREER developmentCONSULTANTSDownload PDF