Logic Of Profit Research Articles

DECIPHERING THE HIDDEN LINKS BETWEEN CSR AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: A CRITICAL APPROACH

In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a central topic in management literature, going beyond mere economic considerations to integrate social, societal and environmental objectives. From this perspective, CSR represents an application of sustainable development within companies, historically perceived as guided solely by the logic of profit. Among the many studies devoted to CSR, a major focus is on its impact on financial performance, although the debate remains open. Research findings to date remain heterogeneous, leaving room for ongoing discussion and justifying further study of this impact. The accumulation of knowledge has not yet led to the development of a unified theoretical framework, nor to a convergence of empirical findings. This article builds on existing theoretical work and explores, through critical analysis, the relationship between CSR, as measured by Corporate Social Performance (CSP), and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP).

Knowledge Tools for Communication and the Profit Motive

This article explores the limits and risks of the domination of the profit ideology outside the economic field, especially in universities and scientific research. The ideology of profit, which starts from relativist premises, justifies its domination by rejecting any kind of radical ideology. As such, the ideology of profit has a totalitarian character. Given that the market instrumentalizes both university training and scientific research, challenging the ideology of profit requires theories and methods that do not correspond to the logic of profit, but instead enable a radical critique of capitalism.

Ruang Dialogis Sebagai Wujud Toleransi Antar Institusi Di Tengah Keberagamaan

This paper aims to know that tolerance is an attitude that needs to be developed in the midst of differences between religious people. The tolerance carried out aims to create and strengthen the ropes of silaturrahmi and relations between religious people, because the attitude of religious tolerance is a form of respecting and respecting differences. Differences are what need to be thanked in life, because there are differences, that is where there is a deep meaning in a concept of togetherness. The method that the author will use in this study is a qualitative method based on field data using data collection techniques where the researcher is a key instrument. The author's findings explain that religious dialogue alone is still not fully guaranteed in relation to building a sense of toleration between religious people. Because in fact to influence a person requires the calculation of profit and loss, modern man is quite good at using social reality in taking actions. The author thinks that in this study there is no discussion about the changes in modern society in relation to the logic of profit and loss in religious life

The Feminine Condition and Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health in Brazil and France.

IntroductionElements mark the reality of reading the female body in symbolic constructions and social symbols in the exercise of their reproductive health. The study aims to identify elements that characterize the female condition while analyzing the reproductive health of Brazilian and French women.Materials and MethodsA qualitative, multicenter, international study was conducted in Brazil and in France between 2016 and 2019. Data were produced through the use of semi-structured scripts. Focus group discussions and individual interviews were conducted with women who gave birth, hetero-female couples who lived the experience of gestation and birth of a baby, and professionals of maternal and childcare services or members of the associations concerned with the health of mothers and babies. It was guided by the theoretical-methodological framework of institutional analysis in line with the French Institutional Socioclinics.ResultsSexual and reproductive health in the realities researched in Brazil and France are sometimes close and sometimes far apart. In what involves the Brazilian health system, abortion is criminalized and often performed illegally. Furthermore, pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period are highly medicalized. In addition, childbirth is not assured as an experience for a woman and her family. This aspect is confirmed by high numbers of cesarean sections performed or by maternal and infant mortality indicators. The French health system prioritizes vaginal deliveries and seems to assure more autonomy to women, but at the same time, it is worn out by the logic of profit, the efficiency of actions, and the rationalization of practices. In association with these, there are other intrinsic elements in the functioning of the institution that delineates the format of each country: notion of women's rights, violence against women, and discussion regarding the oppression markers of race, gender, sexuality, and social class.ConclusionsBoth countries reveal aspects related to the social role of women's bodies. The established logic reflects in the decision to have children, motherhood, women's autonomy over their own bodies, and in the core values linked to the termination of pregnancy and the professional practices developed in prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum.

Od arki do azylu: w poszukiwaniu nowej tożsamości dla ogrodów zoologicznych

Prezentowany artykuł oferuje krytyczną refleksję nad tzw. etycznie działającymi ogrodami zoologicznymi, które co najmniej od lat 70. XX w., nierzadko pod szyldem współczesnych arek Noego, starają się przejść na pozycje nowych instytucji ochrony przyrody. W jego kolejnych częściach przekonuję, że ograniczenia wpisane w metaforykę arki – np. antropocentryzm – jak również właściwe dla współczesnego zoo sprzeczności, wynikające m.in. z biopolitycznego wartościowania gatunków czy realizowanej przez nie logiki rentowności, okazują się istotną przeszkodą dla przyjęcia bardziej zdecydowanej postawy wobec szóstego wymierania i masowej defaunacji. Szansy na ich przekroczenie upatruję w procesie „stawania się azylem”, który dzięki rzeczywistemu zainteresowaniu zranionym nieludzkim życiem i współpracy z ruchem na rzecz praw zwierząt, może być traktowany jako zapowiedź szerszej zmiany na gruncie omawianych instytucji. Artykuł składa się z trzech głównych części. W pierwszej z nich przedstawiam w zarysie kulturową historię metafory arki, która w wypadku ogrodów zoologicznych zakorzenia się w działaniach Carla Hagenbecka. W drugiej uwypuklam jej niedostatki, wskazując, że nie tylko osłabiają one nowy model usprawiedliwiania zoo, lecz także wpływają na nieskuteczność podejmowanych przez nie działań w zakresie ochrony przyrody. Wreszcie w trzeciej części przyglądam się alternatywnym narracjom i sposobom funkcjonowania instytucji o podobnych zadaniach do zoo, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem interwencyjnej działalności ogrodu zoologicznego w Poznaniu.

The paradox of being a food artisan entrepreneur: responding to conflicting institutional logics

PurposeThe aim of this study is to understand how artisanal food entrepreneurs acting as businesses, which are grounded in the logic of profit and growth, navigate the anti-growth constraints of artisanal logic. The study answers the research question of, how and when do the artisanal entrepreneurs respond to tensions between the small-scale craftsmanship logic and the business growth logic?Design/methodology/approachThis study consists of two cases of artisanal food entrepreneurs situated in rural regions of Sweden. The empirical material is collected through interviews, observations and secondary sources. The analysis consists of two steps: a narrative analysis and a categorization of institutional logics using Pache and Santos (2013) framework.FindingsOur findings show that the artisanal food entrepreneurs used several types of response to the tensions between the two institutional logics. As businesses grew, business growth logic increasingly penetrated the companies' operations. They responded by combining and blending the two logics and avoided growing too large themselves by collaborating with suppliers and local farmers. In addition, other activities needed to be compartmentalized and hidden since these activities could threaten their business images and their own criteria for small-scale food artisans.Originality/valueMuch work on how different institutional logics affect businesses have been on a structural level. This study answers the call on that more research is needed on an individual level by studying how individuals interpret logics and use them in their business activities.

Property’s competing values: the public house re-cycled as “community asset”

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the potential of the “image-idea” of a “circular economy” for re-thinking property in law: In particular, to develop a strategy for making visible “alternative property practices” of community ownership across the subject areas of business and property law, to enhance the visibility of models of community ownership and interrogate their potential.Design/methodology/approachCase study research was undertaken into three public houses to investigate the ways in which the orthodoxies of property and ownership in the academy are challenged by evidence of “alternative property practices” in the community.FindingsUsing this approach renders visible tensions between the logics of economic value and social asset, carried in processes of abstraction and materiality, and mediated within the field of property by the development of techniques for holding property as title and benefit. It reveals the ways in which “property” as idea, practice and technique is used by people seeking to disrupt or defend against the economic logic of profit and investment. It raises questions concerning how property and law is imaged in the academy and it introduces one way of using an image-idea to open new perspectives and potential.Research limitations/implicationsThese implications emerge: the partiality of orthodox accounts of property; the importance of thinking property in terms of life-cycle and logics ecologies, field and techniques; how an model-theory derived from one discipline can be repurposed, in a second life, in an other discipline as an “image-idea” to refresh the host discipline; the significance of investigating “community assets” within and for property law and the need for more research into “alternative property practices” and the importance of case studies.Practical implicationsAn enhanced knowledge of the development and potential of “community assets” within the academy, and of the potential to promote and support “alternative property practices” with the requisite legal skills and techniques – alongside a consideration of the limits of formal law in terms of policy expectations.Social implicationsThe research is of value to community activists in thinking how law can be used to support community development in terms of holding community assets; and the limitations of formal law which then requires an embedded approach considering how the development of practices and narratives can support community initiatives in relation to property held for community benefit.Originality/valueThere has been very little coverage of “community assets” within legal research, especially moving across business and property as subject areas, and no coverage on public houses taken into community ownership. This paper combines an introduction to the relevant legal forms with a consideration of the use of them in practice: considering, in particular, how practices and narratives deployed by and within the community think and present “property” as a means by which to counter the economic logic of profit. All this is made possible through the use of case-studies made visible by the utilization of the image-idea of the circular economy – used here not as a model-theory, but rather as an aid to opening thinking into new territories accessed through new perspectives.

Lifestyle, profit, and the selling of home to tourists in Lijiang, China

Home, as a site of daily dwelling and a set of meanings, offers a way into studying the relationship between lifestyle and profit in tourist destinations. Situated in the context of lifestyle entrepreneurship, we explore the synergy of lifestyle and profit within the space of tourism production. Using Lijiang Old Town, China, as a study case, we have two objectives. First, we examine how lifestyle entrepreneurs make lifestyles for themselves as well as for their tourist customers in Lijiang. Second, we analyze the strategies by lifestyle entrepreneurs to achieve the balance between lifestyle and profit. We find that the selling of home to tourists in guesthouses facilitates the process of capital accumulation, a process that sustains entrepreneurs’ pursuit of lifestyle and production of experience economy in Lijiang. We argue that the synergy of profit and lifestyle shapes the role of hospitality from basic supply of temporary residence to meaningful zones of sentimental care, defining and installing home-related elements into the space of tourism consumption. It also means connecting these elements to the commodification of home, as a sense of home becomes a selling point in the tourism market and facilitates the logic of profit making.

Business Model Analysis from the Activity System Perspective: A Design Science Research

Abstract Understanding a business model is at the core of organizational strategy, competitiveness, and business sustainability. Descriptive approaches to understand business models are often based on the analysis of their components by looking at organizational assets, resources, plans, and competencies. Although there are numerous contributions in the literature, few guidelines are offered regarding an Activity System perspective, in a prescriptive rather than a descriptive way. In this study, we propose a pragmatic solution to help cover this literature gap and to extend on previous studies. A Design Science Research approach was adopted including a multicase study of four business companies we examined in order to create a method for business model analysis from an Activity System perspective. The resulting artefact of the study is illustrated with data from the empirical cases. Three analytical movements are described as well as prescribed: dimensions analysis (i.e., business definition, customer segment, value proposition, profit logic, critical factors of value proposition, and Activity System); visual representation including illustrations of its Activity System; and competitive analysis including prospection for changes and innovations. Finally, the artefact is discussed in relation to its quality, utility, and usability.

Resistance strategies through the CEO communications in the media

Abstract This study analyses the strategic responses to institutional pressures through organisational discursive practices. This analysis is developed through an interpretive case study of EDP, the largest Portuguese group in the electricity sector. Our empirical material includes CEO communications in the media from 2010 to 2014, and is interpreted through a theoretical framework derived from institutional theory, developed by complementing Oliver (1991) strategic responses to institutional pressures with the verbal accounts as defined by Elsbach (1994). The study highlights the country-level institutional structures, the organisations’ own characteristics and the power of the constituents involved in the process as important predictors of responses in a complex environment. EDP strategically resisted institutional pressures as it negotiated among competing forces of institutional control, delaying partial compliance to coercive pressures and using time as a resource for organisation actions. EDP’s strategies reinforce the argument that organisations may consider unconditional compliance with broader stakeholder interests unacceptable when the profit logic is called into question before the dominance of the neo-liberal capitalist ideology. We have rendered visible the consequences of the project of neoliberalisation and the agenda of state privatisation of the European Union, resulting in a simple redistribution of resources towards shareholders and investors, to the disadvantage of other groups in society.

Economic Theologies of Abundance: Halal Exchange and the Limits of Neoliberal Effects in Post-war Bosnia–Herzegovina

ABSTRACTThis paper questions claims about the all-pervasive neoliberalization of everyday life that dominate many debates in anthropology and beyond. Situated in deprived rural areas of post-war Bosnia–Herzegovina where socio-economic restructuring has led to a reduction in social redistribution and access to many once-guaranteed state provisions, I explore the workings of an Islamic economic theology of halal exchange that mediates divine abundance through an ethics of care and generosity. In a situation of increasing socio-economic inequalities, the economic theology of halal exchange offers villagers a parallel logic of relating to the divine and to each other, as it is concerned with generosity and sharing rather than with the calculative logic of profit and accumulation. Ultimately, this paper addresses the way that specific reconfigurations of cultural values provide a significant basis for moral imagination, innovative practice and virtuous action at a time of radical change and uncertainty.

Desafios e oportunidades para a comunicação das organizações nos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável

Corporate Social Responsibility represents the incorporation of social and environmental concerns into an equation traditionally subordinated to the economic logic of profit. This integration led to the emergence of new organizational management paradigms, guided by a narrative that calls for an economy at the service of life (Laszlo, Sroufe and Waddock, 2017). Higher education institutions, which form the leaders of tomorrow, are no different, as they also have important and unique impacts on society in general, and on the communities in which they are inserted, in particular. However, it adds a unique and differentiating element that lies in its ability to produce knowledge and promote learning (Vallaeys, 2009). It highlights the challenges and opportunities that SDG brings to organizations, in general, and to higher education institutions, in particular.

Digital Humanities and e-commerce: considerations on digital monographs

Humanities, Commerce and Monographs are three terms that have been existing since a very long time. Nowadays, all of them are often conceived in a digital way that implies a radical change of paradigm in their main features. The aim of the article is to investigate the possibility of interaction between digital humanities and e-commerce, by their application to the genre of digital monographs. For digital monograph we mean born-digital, long-form, media-rich, scholarly publications, that reject the print-based form (and so the e-book format) and take advantage of the methods and tools of digital humanities. In particular, they re-think the traditional textuality of the essays that becomes “liquid” and multimodal. Because of publishing, obsolescence, discoverability, use, evaluation, etc. these products have to be hosted on a publishing platform that is suitable for the scholarly needs both of the authors and of the final users. The link with e-commerce arises from the need of the publishers of selling the research outputs, especially in countries where the academic publishing system is not based on University Presses but on commercial ones. The study wants to reflect on how the logic of profit and the cultural logic can coexist in a digital publishing platform: is it possible to overcome the «monograph crisis»? What are the major problems about selling an academic monograph? What business models could be the most suitable for this kind of publications? In what way can a publisher improve customer loyalty? The thesis of the article is that the digital enhancement of the monograph plays a key role in the sale. The opportunities offered by the digital humanities, in fact, are not only a matter of format; they are, indeed, what makes the substantial difference in the quality of the scientific communication. They make the authors and the publishers able to offer the consumer something that neither the print version, nor the e-book can do. First of all, a digital monograph allows a direct link with primary and secondary sources; secondly, it supports different layers of fruition and a larger accessibility. Moreover, it gives, both the author and the reader, the possibility to better represent and understand the complexity of the research work and of the methods and tools that are used. On the other hand, the article considers the infrastructure for producing and hosting these products and its importance in the development of a cultural community based on scholarly value creation. It’s only setting this goals that a digital publishing project could realize the ambition of selling his products and so make the project sustainable. After discussing these aspects, the article postulates a possible functioning business model of subscription based on the concept ofcultural engagement. The conclusions concern the requirement of an editorial workflow that links together all the phases, from the author’s composition work to the reader’s purchase method.

Social Business in the Logic of Capitalism Rhizomatic: Alternative of Resistance or Trademark Modeling?

Significant changes in the social, political, economic and environmental structures that affect the individual and the environment that surrounds him are observed in contemporary times. In this new logic, alternatives emerge from business models that act directly on social tensions and may or may not impact the individual and the environment that surrounds them. In this context, a new concept of management called social business arises, which seeks to develop market solutions that can contribute to reduce the inherent consequences of social and environmental problems. In this kind of business proposal, profit is not an end in itself but a means to generate solutions that help reduce poverty, social inequality and environmental degradation. However, the consumer society, which has as its backdrop Rhizomatic Capitalism, reveals that the issues inherent in nature and the social problematic can be appropriated as a strategic tool to feed the marketing logic in favor of capital. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze whether or not the social business management in less affluent communities in the context of the consumer society aligns with the proposal of overcoming environmental and social problems from the discussion of authors such as Deleuze, Guattari and others who with these dialogues. It is questioned whether the development of social business can be observed from the perspective of Rhizomatic Capitalism, which adapts itself to incite new brand models produced and reproduced in the market, multiplying subjectivities even more rooted in consumption and profit. Therefore, this research discusses, from a clipping, a look at the social business creation movement in Brazil. The methodology adopted is qualitative, bibliographical and documentary exploratory research. From the theoretical framework constructed, campaigns, social media and reports from the Moradigna startup are analyzed. The idea is to build a look at this movement from a case study carried out through the application of the Content Analysis method inspired by the precepts of Bardin. It is identified, through this study, a possible applicability of projects installed under the social business model as well as the aspect that assumes in the context of the Consumer Society. From this crop, this research aims to analyze and identify some clues about the potential and consistency of Social Affairs as alternative business models and of resistance to the logic of profit or as mere movement of reproduction of the consumer models installed contemporaneity.

Reflexos da perda do controle estatal sobre os agrotóxicos no Brasil e sua regulação pelo mercado

Nos últimos anos, o Brasil tem se revelado um dos maiores produtores de commodities agrícolas como soja, milho e açúcar. Este modelo depende do uso de insumos químicos, tornando o país um dos maiores consumidores de agrotóxicos do mundo. A expansão das commodities agrícolas e, consequentemente, do uso de agrotóxicos, se dá em função do neodesenvolvimentismo que orienta a reprimarização da economia brasileira, ocorrida no âmbito das políticas neoliberais. O presente artigo fundamenta-se em trabalho que objetiva evidenciar a perda da função reguladora do Estado no que se refere ao registro de agrotóxicos no Brasil diante da reprimarização econômica. A lógica capitalista de rentabilidade busca substituir o Estado pelo mercado como forma de socialização e enquanto mecanismo regulatório. Em meio à expansão do agronegócio, a flexibilização da função regulatória estatal tende a desproteger a população dos efeitos nocivos dos agrotóxicos, principalmente seus segmentos de maior vulnerabilidade como trabalhadores e moradores de áreas rurais.

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Preference: A Structural Equation Analysis

AbstractNowadays, environmental and social problems are very important for modern consumers and firms, which cannot operate only in accordance with the logic of profit. In this paper, by administering a questionnaire to consumers, we have tried to assess the impact of the solidarity of responsible initiatives on consumer preferences: the conclusions are also a matter for thought for further discussion. The investigation was conducted through a sample size survey. The analysis was carried out considering a representative sample of more than 300 families, selected on a functional relation to the objectives of the work in one of the most important and representative Italian cities. This study has two main aims: to investigate consumer preferences regarding responsible initiatives of a company; and to develop and validate a structural equation model, in order to formalize the origins of behaviours regarding consumer preferences towards responsible initiatives and detect the drivers of their purchase. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Il profitto delle passioni. Giochi e strategie nella macchina mitologica del capitalismo

Behind the appearance of a rejection of the passions, a matter too little governable in the logic of profit, capitalism has come to become greedy of them, vacated this space from the Marxist tradition, which has almost never had an adequate view of their importance in the super-structural processes. A socio-semiotic theory of instincts is probably the way by which we can deconstruct the complex sense strategies, of mythical nature, with which capital develops the processes of subjectivity. The crucial point seems to be that in which the power abandon the creation of its own passions language and parasitically exploits the multiple discourses on them, loading them incessantly anaclitic meanings, useful to indefinitely prolong the profit areas.

Partycypacja społeczna na tle zasady zrównoważonego rozwoju

SOCIAL PARTICIPATION AGAINST THE PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTThe problems of sustainable development take on meaning in proportion to growth of the meaning of these problems, which result from disrespect of principle of sustainable development. The matters of drawing out of resources, irrational using of them, inappropriate management of wasters, the unbalanced consumption are clearly perceptible through these problems, which appear as result from applying the simply and short-term logic of profit. In last years however, especially after financial crisis from 2008 it is quite clear, that the logic of free market is not appropriate to manage of supplies and to create stable and sustainable economic growth. In order to solve these problems and create the terms of sustainable development, it is necessary to create the mechanisms of social participation. The social commitment, which is evidence of responsibility and using a social potential can be tool to direct of social-economic development to more reasonable and sustainable tendency.

Nаture and human in the age of biotechnologies

The rapid development of biotechnology in recent decades has brought about the debate over the consequences of genetic modification of living organisms. Opposing views are particularly pronounced when it comes to the possibilities of biotechnological human enhancement. Margaret Atwood?s dystopian novel Oryx and Crake shows the final outcome of a development trend that has existed since the emergence of modern society - a combination of science, technology and capitalism supported by the ideology of progress. The paper deals with the problem of boundaries between natural/unnatural, human/animal in the future world which turned into ?one vast uncontrolled experiment? by the application of biotechnologies. Based on the analysis of the Atwood`s novel, the paper aims to present arguments for and against genetic engineering and human enhancement. Two problems are analyzed: what is natural and what is human uniqueness. The problem of the human in the novel is shown on several levels: animal and human hybrids, the posthuman people and former human. Atwood shows that the arguments in defense of nature are powerless against the logic of profit and deep-rooted human domination over nature. When it comes to man, the uniqueness of human nature is disrupted by reducing the man to the object of study of natural sciences which makes social, cultural and emotional characteristics of man unnecessary and obsolete. If there is no idea of the uniqueness of life and of human nature, it is difficult to answer the question - ?how much is too much, how far is too far? when we interfere with nature, life and human.

La función cultural de la filosofía en tiempos de crisis

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