Interest in third sector organisations (TSOs) is growing as their role in addressing social regeneration, especially in urban environments, is regarded as crucial by governmental and supra-governmental organisations. The challenge is increased in multicultural environments, where those from ethnic minorities may struggle to participate in the mainstream economy and society more broadly. There is an assumption that TSOs make a positive contribution to the social good of the diverse communities and client groups that they serve. However, (...) although there have been many studies of ethicality in commercial and public sector organisations, few focus on TSOs. Furthermore, black and minority ethnic (BME) TSOs, in particular face specific pressures, caught between the high expectations of their capacity to engage with diverse communities where the public sector has failed and, in common with all TSOs, the struggle to secure the resources necessary to manage their organisations and deliver front-line services. In this article, we investigate how implicitly ethicality is constructed in TSOs, including those with a primary mission to provide support for and services to BME communities. Building on information obtained for 305 TSOs in a post-industrial city we develop a structural equation model (SEM) in order to evaluate the relationships between elements that we argue comprise ethicality. We then assess the manner in which TSOs generally, and BME TSOs specifically, vary in the manner in which they communicate their ethical purpose and the outcomes of their actions. (shrink)

The origin of the Third Sector (TS) in Spain is rooted in the defence of social rights and demands made of the State regarding social transformation. With the development of the Welfare State, the role of the TS has progressively changed, becoming primarily a provider of services to Public Administrations (PAs), and moving away from its roots advocating and demanding social justice. This article examines the distance between the original intentions (‘ought’) and the current day-to-day actions (‘is’) of (...) the TS in the case of the region of Andalusia (Spain), focusing on a three-dimensional analysis: the objectives that mark its action, its funding model, and relations within the organisation. Using a qualitative methodology based on Thematic Content Analysis, the discourses of actors involved in the TS (managers, professionals, volunteers, users, public administration professionals, and other actors) have been analysed and linked, concluding that the gap generated between intention and deed, or ‘ought’ and ‘is’, are the result of external contextual elements, but also of decisions made within the TS. (shrink)

The NHS in England is an organisation undergoing substantial change. The passage of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, consolidates and builds on previous health policies and introduces further ‘market-style’ reforms of the NHS. One of the main aspects of these reforms is to encourage private and third sector providers to deliver NHS services. The rationale for this is to foster a more competitive market in healthcare to encourage greater efficiency and innovation. This changing healthcare environment in (...) the English NHS sharpens the need for attention to be paid to the ethical operation of healthcare organisations. All healthcare organisations need to consider the ethical aspects of their operation, whether state or privately run. However, the changes in the type of organisations used to provide healthcare (such as commercial companies) can create new relationships and ethical tensions. This paper will chart the development of organisational ethics as a concern in applied ethics and how it arose in the USA largely owing to changes in the organisation of healthcare financing and provision. It will be argued that an analogous transition is happening in the NHS in England. The paper will conclude with suggestions for the development of organisational ethics programmes to address some of the possible ethical issues raised by this new healthcare environment that incorporates both private and public sector providers. (shrink)

In this article we argue that the emergence of a new form of organization – community enterprise – provides an alternative mechanism for corporations to behave in socially responsible ways. Community enterprises are distinguished from other third sector organisations by their generation of income through trading, rather than philanthropy and/or government subsidy, to finance their social goals. They also include democratic governance structures which allow members of the community or constituency they serve to participate in the management (...) of the organisation. Partnerships between corporations and community enterprises therefore raise the possibility of corporations moving beyond philanthropic donations toward a more sustainable form of intervention involving long-term commitments to communities. At the same time they change substantively the nature of any collaboration by allowing relationships to proceed on the basis of mutual advantage, thereby broadening their appeal and scope. In doing so, partnerships build capacity and enfranchise communities in a way that avoids the paternalism that has traditionally characterised relationships between corporations and voluntary sector organisations. Power relations are transformed because partners are seen as sources of valuable assets, knowledge and expertise, rather than recipients of patronage or charity. (shrink)

During the last years competition in the textile sector has increased, putting financial returns under considerable pressure. As a result, production has shifted to low wage countries in the third world. This has raised the relevance of ethical procedures. This paper analyses how C&A, as one of the largest Western apparel companies, organises its sourcing ethics, notwithstanding the financial pressure in the market. Based on interviews with Asian suppliers of C&A during the second half of 2000, we review (...) the opinions of external stakeholders about the sourcing ethics of C&A. Finally, we evaluate C&A’s sourcing ethics from a theoretical perspective. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This paper explores how children (aged 7–11) in the UK are educated about sustainability and climate change, through exploring a sample of 155 learning resources from public, private and third sector organisations. Using qualitative content analysis, key codes captured a) how sustainability was represented; b) how responsibilities for sustainability are imagined and allocated within society; and c) how children are encouraged to act for sustainability. The paper shows how sustainability resources represent children as powerful agents of (...) social change charged with the responsibility and means to change their (and their close relatives’) behaviour within the household and school. Drawing on critical debates about sustainability education, I argue these representations are problematic because they do not equip children with an understanding of the political and moral economies that shape their actions (or inactions) as citizens, nor provide them with opportunities to develop collaborative competencies. (shrink)

Ethics training—an important means to foster ethical decision-making in organisations—is carried out formally as well as informally. There are mixed findings as regards the effectiveness of formal versus informal ethics training. This study is one of its first kinds in which we have investigated the effectiveness of ethics training as it is carried out in the Indian IT sector. We have collected the views of Indian IT industry professionals concerning ethics training, and employed positivist and interpretive research. We (...) first have argued that the importance of the perception towards ethics has bearings not only on the individual ideologies but also on the organisational ethical values. In doing so, first we have conceptualised a theoretical framework: Perception of Ethics Training in Employees and Organisations. Second, we have studied the correlations between various components of this model. Third, we, under the rubric of PETINEO, examined the effectiveness of ethics training programmes for the Indian IT companies. Fourth, we have elaborated upon the results of our study. Our results suggest that the combination of both formal and informal means to undertake ethics training has superior impact on ethical decision-making in the Indian IT industry as compared to the use of any one of them in isolation. (shrink)

This chapter presents Connecting Scotland as a case study, highlighting the correlation between current research into digital inequality to identify those most in need of support, and the practical application of work to address this at scale through third sector organisations working directly with those at greatest risk of digital exclusion. The chapter also considers the vital role of the ‘trusted intermediary’ acting as digital champion for device recipients, and, using the data gathered via sessions with hundreds (...) of frontline staff, explore immediate challenges and opportunities for engagement. It will also reflect on the application of research in the creation of training and resources to support the programme. Finally, the chapter will reflect on some of the many lessons learned, and consider implications for both policy-makers and fieldworkers seeking to address digital inequality at scale. All three authors were involved extensively in the development and delivery of this work. (shrink)

The modern state – First and Third Worlds alike – pushes tirelessly to expand mass education and to deepen the schools’ effect upon children. First published in 1991, _Growing-Up Modern_ explores why, how, and with what actual effects state actors so vehemently pursue this dual political agenda. Bruce Fuller first delves into the motivations held by politicians, education bureaucrats and civic elites as they earnestly seek to spread schooling to younger children, older adults and previously disenfranchised groups. Fuller argues (...) that the school provides an institutional stage on which political actors signal their ideals and the coming of greater modernity; broadening membership in the polity, promising mass opportunity in the wage sector, intensifying modern forms of school management, and deepening a presumed commitment to the child’s individual development. Fuller advances a theory of the ‘fragile state’ where Western political expectations and organisations are placed within pluralistic Third World settings, using southern Africa as an example of the dilemmas faced by the central state. (shrink)

The paper presents the second part of the study of “sponsored goods” in the cultural sector. It describes economic activities of theaters, concert organizations and museums in three dimensional index space coordinate axes being the lag of labor productivity, faster growth of salaries and tickets prices in relation to the corresponding macroeconomic indices. The methodology of constructing such indexes and statistical data used for this purpose are described in the first article published under the title “Symptoms and consequences of (...) Baumol’s cost disease in cultural sector: an econometric study of “sponsored goods”. The aim of the present article is to construct and analyse econometric model of cost disease based on statistical data on activities of Russian theaters, concert organizations and museums for the period of 1994-2010. The regression analysis based on structural model that reflects theoretically predictable links was chosen as a method of study. Such links include first, influence on cost growth of lag of labour productivity in arts organisations and parallel trend in salaries. Second, dependence of increase of income of such organizations on dynamics of labour productivity and ticket prices, third, balanced equation - product of equilibrium conditions for sponsored goods that describes the interrelation between costs of production, prices and budget subsidies. The calculations made it possible to construct basic and modified econometric models that establish statistical correlations between income deficit and three regressors, namely indexes of labour productivity, salaries and ticket prices. As a result of this model the article presents projections of regression relation of income deficit on «expenditures plane», «income plane» and «economic results plane». Theequations derived allow to conclude that there is a statistically significant income deficit negative elasticity by labour productivity index, positive elasticity by salaries index and ticket price index, as well as rising dynamics of Russian performing arts organization income deficit and its compensation in the nearest future. (shrink)

Innovations in aligning investment with sustainability led to impact investing, enabling investors to achieve conventional financial returns and measurable social and environmental returns. Since its inception in 2007, it has grown manifolds, with significant efforts being made to create a global ecosystem. However, due to limited academic literature, the theme is yet to garner the scholarly interest it deserves. In this study, we analyse and visualise a knowledge map of the impact investment research field through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis by (...) employing a research corpus of 421 studies sourced from Web of Science and Scopus. We identify the growth trajectory, geographical concentration, productive and influential authors, journals and significant articles and examine the inter-disciplinarity of the field. The major research themes interlinked with impact investing included; social entrepreneurship, social innovation, social finance, impact investment market, innovative financial instruments, financialisation of essential services and impact reporting. To drive the field forward, future research needs to develop an impact investment ecosystem, address behavioural issues, stakeholder management and institutional context in impact investment theme, develop and diffuse innovative financial instruments, develop a framework for standardised accounting and reporting practices to measure financial and non-financial dimensions, tackle impact washing by fund managers, address lack of financial access to the third sector and develop the legal and regulatory framework for third sector organisations. (shrink)

This, the third seminar organised by the AREC university sector committee, included short presentations followed by parallel workshops. These proposed and explored basic principles for ethical review in the context of current models within the university REC sector. In this report, following an introduction, each of the speakers/workshop leaders summarizes their own perspective on the issues raised and discussed.

In management literature, intellectual capital is considered the key driver of the competitive advantage of the third millennium enterprise firm; consequently, measuring, managing and reporting IC has become a critical issue. Frameworks addressed to measure and report IC have proliferated, nevertheless the adoption of these frameworks is not so widespread in practice. The strong call for critically investigating IC practices has been raised by several leading authors in the area. Doing a critical and performative IC research means empirically researching (...) IC organisational practices in specific contexts, in order to increase the understanding of the IC dynamics. By critically analysing the IC practices of ANPAS Piemonte, an Italian non-profit organisation chosen for its long-standing experience in issuing audited IC reports, the article contributes to the knowledge of how and why IC is measured and reported in a specific, outstanding NPO disclosing IC. Moreover, the case study analysis contributes to shed lights on the levers and barriers that should be faced by other managers intending to implement and effectively use an IC measurement, management and reporting system within organisation. (shrink)

Non-governmental organisations in recent years have gained new possibilities to realise their initiatives, thanks to the strong need among corporations to maintain their socially-desired image, which translates into their greater openness towards possible cooperation with the third sector. Several representatives of NGOs, utilising the latest technological solutions, are improving both the extent of their influence and its effectiveness. As multiple examples from Lubusz Voivodeship illustrate, the strategy of cooperation between business and non-governmental organisations can take on (...) many forms, not necessarily based on financial support. Currently, a bargaining chip in the case of both sides is their knowledge capital. Corporations striving to maintain a positive image in the surroundings they function within are more eager to support social initiatives, recognising in it a possible path to gaining a competitive edge. In my article, I intend to reflect the specificity of the business/NGO relation and its determinants on the basis of selected examples from Lubusz Voivodeship. By analysing case studies, I will try to indicate the most common mutual expectations and construct a vision of a “perfect partner”. The context of analysing the quality of relations between business and NGO’s is social capital, which is an important value determining its shape. This arises from the belief that an organisation’s social capital has a meaningful impact on its attractiveness in the eyes of a potential partner. In my paper I will also present the most recent data, depicting the level of trust among the local community. (shrink)

The dismantling of the welfare state across the United Kingdom (and indeed a number of other Western industrialised democracies, such as Canada and the United States) and the reductions to welfare provisions and entitlements are having a detrimental impact on women's equality and safety. Towers and Walby argue that the recent cuts to welfare provision in the United Kingdom, particularly for women's services, could lead to increased levels of violence for women and girls. This paper makes the argument that female (...) victims of domestic abuse experience violence on two levels: first, at the intimate/personal level through their relationship with an abuser and, second, at a structural level, through the state failing to provide adequate protection and provision for women who have experienced violence in intimate relationships. Using a specific example of post-violence community services delivered to both the children of women who have experienced domestic violence and the women themselves, this paper draws on empirical research carried out in 2010–2011 with London-based third-sector and public sector organisations delivering the Against Violence and Abuse Project ‘Community Group Programme’. We argue that the lack of services for women involved in, or exiting, a violent relationship can amount to state-sanctioned violence, if funding is withheld, or indeed, stretched to breaking point. (shrink)

According to Agenda 21, the United Nation’s action plan for sustainable development, ‘Governments and private sector organisations should promote more positive attitudes towards sustainable consumption through education, public awareness programmes and other means’. But some could wonder whether the cultivation of frugal consumption habits in schools is compatible with basic liberal principles. This article argues that, in societies like ours, liberal egalitarian theories of justice should permit and even advocate teaching frugality in educational institutions. Liberal egalitarianism expects educational (...) institutions to equip children with the abilities and virtues needed to live well by their own judgment and in compliance with just institutions. The article examines how frugality could be one of these virtues. First, frugality is conducive to better compliance with our distributive obligations towards the current poor and future generations. Second, frugality enables prospective adults to live well with their fair share of scarce resources, and even with less. Third, frugality increases autonomy and facilitates its exercise. The article thus concludes that liberal egalitarian institutions should encourage schools to teach frugality. (shrink)

People experiencing mental distress and illness are frequently on the receiving end of stigma, epistemic injustice, and social isolation. A range of strategies are required to alleviate the subsequent marginalisation. We ran a series ‘philosophy of mind’ workshops, in partnership with a third-sector mental health organisation with the aim of using philosophical techniques to challenge mental health stigma and build resources for self-understanding and advocacy. Participants were those with lived experience of mental distress, or unusual beliefs and experiences; (...) mental health advocates; and mental health service providers. We draw on a shared perspective as a participant and facilitator of the workshop series to assess their impact. We discuss the following benefits: the opportunity for structured discussion of experiences and models; dialogue across different mental health backgrounds; the potential to reduce self-stigma and to increase self-understanding and advocacy; and the potential to alleviate epistemic injustice. We invite researchers and mental health practitioners to consider further opportunities to investigate the potential benefits of philosophy groups in mental health settings to establish whether they generalise. (shrink)

Les organisations du tiers secteur, notamment celles spécialisées dans les services solidaires, sont souvent considérées comme des organisations capables de promouvoir de nouvelles formes de participation politique et d'engagement dans l'espace public. En effet, en créant des espaces intermédiaires entre l'espace domestique et l'espace public, elles permettraient de mobiliser les exclus et redessineraient les frontières entre le public et le privé. Cependant, ce texte défend l'idée que pour évaluer ce rôle politique potentiel, il est tout d'abord nécessaire de (...) s'intéresser à leurs modes d'organisation, à leur mode effectif de prise de décision et à leur capacité à construire leur légitimité vis-à-vis des autres types d'organisations politiques. La sociologie politique offre les outils théoriques permettant d'évaluer ces trois éléments.Third-sector organizations - and especially those specialized in solidarity services - are often considered capable of promoting new forms of political participation and involvement in the public sphere. Indeed, by mobilizing marginalized social groups on the borderline between domestic issues, registers of proximity and political action, they re-shape the boundaries between what is considered as being « public » and « private ». Nevertheless, this article argues that in order to evaluate their potential political role, it is first necessary to focus on their modes of organization and leadership and their ability to construct their legitimacy against other forms of political organizations. And political sociology provides the tools required to obtain a realistic view of these organizations. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on care homes in the United Kingdom, particularly for those residents living with dementia. The impetus for this article comes from a recent review conducted by the authors. That review, a qualitative media analysis of news and academic articles published during the first few months of the outbreak, identified ethical care as a key theme warranting further investigation within the context of the crisis. To explore ethical care further, a set of salient (...) ethical values for delivering care to care home residents living with dementia during the pandemic was derived from a synthesis of relevant ethical standards, codes and philosophical approaches. The ethical values identified were caring, non-maleficence, beneficence, procedural justice, dignity in death and dying, well-being, safety, and personhood. Using these ethical values as a framework, alongside examples from contemporaneous media and academic sources, this article discusses the delivery of ethical care to care home residents with dementia within the context of COVID-19. The analysis identifies positive examples of ethical values displayed by care home staff, care sector organisations, healthcare professionals and third sector advocacy organisations. However, concerns relating to the death rates, dignity, safety, well-being and personhood – of residents and staff – are also evident. These shortcomings are attributable to negligent government strategy, which resulted in delayed guidance, lack of resources and Personal Protective Equipment, unclear data, and inconsistent testing. Consequently, this review demonstrates the ways in which care homes are underfunded, under resourced and undervalued. (shrink)

Un foisonnement d'expériences associatives et coopératives s'est manifesté dans les différents pays européens depuis les années 1970, particulièrement dans le champ des initiatives locales et des nouveaux services relationnels. Selon la grille d'analyse adoptée qui privilégie le potentiel de démocratisation, ces pratiques peuvent être mieux comprises à travers une perspective d'économie solidaire que par les références habituelles au tiers secteur, à l'économie sociale et aux organisations non gouvernementales. Néanmoins, comme l'interdépendance entre actions collectives et publiques s'avère déterminante dans l'histoire (...) européenne pour organiser une résistance à l'utopie d'une « société de marché », le devenir de l'économie solidaire est étroitement lié à la reconnaissance par les pouvoirs publics. Tant au niveau national qu'international celle-ci reste partielle et la pertinence d'un soutien ne fait pas consensus comme le montre la position de l'Union européenne.A large amount of associative and cooperative experiments has arisen everywhere in Europe since the 1970s particularly in the fields of local initiatives and new “relational” services. Our framework of analysis shows these practices are better understood by a civil and solidarity-based economy perspective, emphasizing their potential of economic democratization, rather than by the usual references to third sector, social economy or non-governmental organizations. Nevertheless, since collective and public action has interacted decisively in European history to organize resistance against the utopic vision of the “market society”, the future of this solidarity-based economy appears to be closely linked to its recognition by public policies. But at the European and national levels, this still remains partial and the relevance of such an economy is a highly controversial subject as the European Union’s position demonstrates. (shrink)

This paper examines the role that attention to emotions around climate change can play for third sector climate change engagement initiatives, an area to which the literature on such initiatives has paid little attention. It focuses on Carbon Conversations, a programme that explicitly acknowledges the role of difficult emotions and underlying values in people's engagement with climate change. While there are limitations to this approach, results show that it can help certain audiences engage more deeply with issues around (...) climate change and carbon reduction. Important lessons can be drawn for other initiatives that aim to engage the public on climate change. (shrink)

In this paper I describe three similar projects, and investigate origins of their success. All of them are non-governmental and non-profit voluntary international initiatives that developed from small local projects. I claim that the basis of their success is universality of their underlying philosophy.

The main objective of the paper is to present a model of the good practices of deliberative cooperation in a parliamentary setting. This goal is achieved through applying the three functions of the deliberative system—epistemic, ethical and democratic —to an analysis of cooperation between different stakeholders during the work of a Polish Parliamentary Subcommittee. They are used as an evaluative tool for analysing the cooperation of MPs, members of the public and representatives of the government. The paper analyses a concrete (...) example of the work of the Permanent Subcommittee on the government bill amending the Act on Public Benefit Activity and Voluntary Work in the Polish Parliament. This concrete example is presented as a model of good practices when it comes to deliberative cooperation between representatives of the authorities and citizens aiming at the development of shared practical judgement. The paper consists of three parts. In the first, a systemic approach to deliberative democracy is briefly introduced, and the history of the work on the bill is outlined. The main part consists of an analysis of the three speeches of three main stakeholders in the legislative process, from the perspective of their view of legislative deliberations, and in terms of the three functions of deliberative system. In the conclusions, four main issues are analysed with reference to the presented legislative deliberations: 1. Legislative committees as mixed deliberative spheres; 2. Internal/external deliberation; 3. The distinction between stakeholders/ordinary citizens; and 4. Deliberative stance/deliberative mindset. (shrink)

The use of advanced AI and data-driven automation in the public sector poses several organisational, practical, and ethical challenges. One that is easy to underestimate is automation bias, which, in turn, has underappreciated legal consequences. Automation bias is an attitude in which the operator of an autonomous system will defer to its outputs to the point where the operator overlooks or ignores evidence that the system is failing. The legal problem arises when statutory office-holders (or their employees) either fetter (...) their discretion to in-house algorithms or improperly delegate their discretion to third-party software developers—something automation bias may facilitate. A synthesis of previous research suggests an easy way to mitigate the risks of automation bias and its potential legal ramifications is for those responsible for procurement decisions to adhere to a simple checklist that ensures that the pitfalls of automation are avoided as much as possible. (shrink)

Our study considers the governance, ethics and operational challenges associated with the acquisition, manipulation and commodification of ‘big data’ in the financial services sector. To the best of our knowledge, there are no published studies describing empirical research undertaken within companies in this sector to understand how they are responding to such challenges: our field-based research is a significant initial contribution in this respect. We describe the results of a micro-ethnographic study undertaken in a small-to-medium-sized company developing disruptive, (...) technology-related platforms and services in the banking and retail sectors based on big data and associated analytics: these are used to derive commercially valuable insights from personal customer data in exchange for cash back and targeted rewards. The company was found to employ a multi-level innovation governance approach, underpinned by an ethical strategy based on a principle of mutual benefit. Opt-in and informed consent for using data for specific purposes was supported by principles of data minimisation and anonymisation, with unrestricted use of secondary, anonymised and aggregated data to develop insights. Governance, which included contextual data protection legislation, payment-card industry data usage standards and internal corporate controls, presented as bespoke organisational practices relating to data security and privacy. These in total set the governance and ethics frame for big data innovation at the company within which it has had to be both adaptive and responsive under conditions of normative and regulatory uncertainty. (shrink)

Health‐care and public sector institutions are high‐risk settings for workplace bullying. Despite growing acknowledgement of the scale and consequence of this pervasive problem, there has been little critical examination of the institutional power dynamics that enable bullying. In the aftermath of large‐scale failures in care standards in public sector healthcare institutions, which were characterised by managerial bullying, attention to the nexus between bullying, power and institutional failures is warranted. In this study, employing Foucault's framework of power, we illuminate (...) bullying as a feature of structures of power and knowledge in public sector institutions. Our analysis draws upon the experiences of a large sample (n = 3345) of workers in Australian public sector agencies – the type with which most nurses in the public setting will be familiar. In foregrounding these power dynamics, we provide further insight into how cultures that are antithetical to institutional missions can arise and seek to broaden the debate on the dynamics of care failures within public sector institutions. Understanding the practices of power in public sector institutions, particularly in the context of ongoing reform, has important implications for nursing. (shrink)

This paper reports the results of a survey of ethical attitudes, values, and propensities in public sector employees in Australia. It was expected that demographic variables, personal values, and contextual variables at the individual level, and group- and organisational-level values would predict use of formal codes of ethics and ethical tolerance (tolerance of unethical behaviour). Useable data were received from 500 respondents selected at random across public sector organisations in a single Australian state. Results supported the study (...) hypotheses, but indicated that different mechanisms underlie each of the criterion variables. Use of ethical codes was determined primarily on the basis of a perception that others use the code, while ethical tolerance was determined by personal values. At an applied level, the research highlights the need for orgasnizations to establish a critical mass of code users, so that this operates as a normative influence on others in the organization. (shrink)

Both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union believe that information and communication technologies have potential to transform the way in which we work. Many organizations, including those of the Third Social Sector, have to incorporate the web 2.0 tools and social software into their structures and their daily activity. The aim of this article is to analyze whether these tools are regularly used by institutions of the Third Social Sector in Catalonia (...) in an attempt to transform their daily tasks and move towards a change in their organizational culture. (shrink)

Se abordan los retos de la comunicación del Tercer Sector en un contexto de digitalización de los procesos sociales y productivos, y de distanciamiento social provocado por la emergencia sanitaria. Se realiza una aproximación a la ciudad como escenario de prácticas comunicativas innovadoras, orientadas a la sensibilización e información sobre los desafíos ecosociales. Entre los resultados se presenta una caracterización de los espacios de encuentro presencial y una propuesta metodológica de investigación para indagar sobre las prácticas de comunicación participativa.

Definition of the problemOrganisations play a vital role in modern societies. This article presumes a lack of sufficient organisational reflection of well-established forms of ethics and ethics counselling in institutions belonging to the health sector or sees particular challenges where it is implemented.ArgumentsWe have therefore conceived a procedural type of organisational ethics which critically examines the organisational fit of processes in terms of ethical reflection, leading to practicable suggestions.ConclusionsOn the one hand they relate to where differences are established when (...) asking for the good; on the other hand they are concerned with background theories and the organisational fit of the reflection settings. (shrink)

Organisational Ethics could be more effectively taught if organisational agency could be better distinguished from activity in other group entities, and defended against criticisms. Some criticisms come from the side of what is called “methodological individualism”. These critics argue that, strictly speaking, only individuals really exist and act, and organisations are not individuals, real things, or agents. Other criticisms come from fear of the possible use of alleged “corporate personhood” to argue for a possible radical expansion of corporate rights (...) e.g. to claim a right to vote. Others say that if corporate businesses were persons, and judged as such, they would be sociopaths (Bakan 2004). Large corporate businesses are one kind of organisation, and if organisations were allowed to claim to be full persons, this would mean that the latter criticisms were valid. The proposed account goes between the horns of the above dilemma: impersonal aggregates or full persons. It avoids both the reductive individualism and expansive, full personhood account. It gives grounds for attributing and distributing praise and blame to organisations as whole complex entities, and to their parts. Primarily, responsibility belongs to Board incumbents within them, on the basis of their goals; their direction of the acts of the other main internal role incumbents, managers and staff, and enablers, in the role structure; their own ethical decision methods; the impact of their acts on external stakeholders like end-users, other players in the practice or local community, and on the state. These factors are picked out on the basis of a theory of meaning Aristotle’s theory of analogy of attribution, some architectonic features of his Philosophical Anthropology; and Neo-Aristotelian Virtue Ethics (NAVE). The paper expounds a quasi-person model of organisations, (QPM), previously described in this journal (Ardagh 2011, 2012, 2013). This model identifies functional similarities at three levels, between capacities within natural persons (NPs) on the one hand and the roles/ incumbents within the structure of organisational artificial/quasi-persons (APs on the other). In each entity, we find an architectonic direction, sub-ordered operational entities, and enablers (a DOE structure) in a communicative structure or reporting chain of authority. The common elements between natural persons (NP) and artificial persons (AP) and their ethically relevant attributes are captured in an acronym –GRAEOS. Both persons and organisations have a “top” entity capable of having/choosing worthwhile ethically permissible goals, G; of architectonically directing the use of capacities/repertoires or incumbents in designed architectonic roles, R, within a DOE-type structure, well or badly; of using ethical decision making procedures, E; of execution of good choices for the person or organisation in action, A, with good or bad impacts on others, or with others, O, in the context practice or domain; and of having good relations with the law and the state, S. Application to the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, and public sector organisations, is briefly discussed to illustrate the potential to deal with short or long case study narratives. (shrink)

Certification and labeling initiatives that seek to enhance environmental and social sustainability are growing rapidly. This article analyzes the expansion of these private regulatory efforts in the coffee sector. We compare the five major third-party certifications – the Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh, and Shade/Bird Friendly initiatives – outlining and contrasting their governance structures, environmental and social standards, and market positions. We argue that certifications that seek to raise ecological and social expectations are likely to be (...) increasingly challenged by those that seek to simply uphold current standards. The vulnerability of these initiatives to market pressures highlights the need for private regulation to work in tandem with public regulation in enhancing social and environmental sustainability. (shrink)

Public or stakeholder participation in environmental governance has been strongly advocated within the United Nations (UN) since the early 1990s. A relatively new mechanism for global climate finance that emphasises stakeholder engagement is the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a UN strategy for channelling funds from the Global North to the Global South. Drawing on previous critical approaches to multi-stakeholder involvement in global governance, this article explores stakeholder involvement within the GCF. The study combines ideas from institutional logics and resource dependency (...) to provide a better understanding of how stakeholder arrangements are shaped in climate organisations. Results show that the GCF stakeholder arrangement favours private sector stakeholders – stakeholders that take a technical and apolitical approach to climate finance – and disfavours smaller, less resourceful stakeholders as well as those who perform a politicised watchdog function. (shrink)

Organisational citizenship behaviour towards the environment (OCBE) aids in both environmental protection and in harnessing sustainable competitive organisational advantage. This study proposed a conceptual research model which investigated managerial perceptions of the relationship between OCBE and economic cost performance (ECP) in the UAE hospitality sector, with green innovative behaviour (GIB) mediating and green training moderating the relationship. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and abilities motivation opportunity theory, the study administered 479 structured questionnaires to hotel managers in the (...) UAE using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was applied to test the hypotheses in SmartPLS3.3. Findings showed that OCBE had a direct and significant impact on ECP, with GIB emerging both as a direct and mediating predictor. Additionally, green training directly and significantly moderated the OCBE–cost performance relationship. These results evince the integration of sustainable philosophies with innovative mindsets to encourage green innovative endeavours among hotel managers. (shrink)

_Observing Organisations_ presents a unique approach derived from direct participant observation of small units within institutions, all in the health and social services sector. A range of contributors bring together the results of their own observational projects to show how they were able to come to a psychoanalytically informed understanding of the cultures that arise within healthcare organisations, and how this understanding can be used to overcome difficulties that arise.

This paper analyses the use of strategies and instruments for organising ethics by small and large business in the Netherlands. We find that large firms mostly prefer an integrity strategy to foster ethical behaviour in the organisation, whereas small enterprises prefer a dialogue strategy. Both large and small firms make least use of a compliance strategy that focuses on controlling and sanctioning the ethical behaviour of workers. The size of the business is found to have a positive impact on the (...) use of several instruments, like code of conduct, ISO certification, social reporting, social handbook and confidential person. Also being a subsidiary of a larger firm has a significant positive influence on the use of instruments. The most popular instrument used by small firms is to let one member of the board be answerable for ethical questions, which fits the informal culture of most small firms. With respect to sectorial differences, we find that firms in the metal manufacturing and construction sectors are more actively using formal instruments than firms in the financial service sector and retail sector. The distinction between family and non-family firms hardly affects the use of instruments. (shrink)

First Published in 2004. Do women organise differently? Can organisation theory meet the challenges of new forms of organisation? Women Organising is the first of its kind to bring together organisation theory and the real experiences of women organising. This is the first book to analyse and explain what is special about the way women organise. The book will be of interest to all who have asked themselves ‘how otherwise?’, to students and teachers of organisation theory and women’s studies, to (...) those in the voluntary sector and to anyone wishing to see fairer and more active participation in organisation a reality. (shrink)

This paper reviews the origins of organisational economics and critically examines its influence on business-school scholarship and pedagogy in the eighties and nineties and argues three points. First, it is useful to analyse the infiltration of economic ideas about internal organisation of firms into organisational science within the context of the methodology of scientific research programmes. Second, the adoption by management theorists of organisational economics as part of a new science of organisations represented a significant change in research style (...) within business schools and may have contributed to practices that came under heavy criticism in the last decade. Third, the influence of economic ideas on management science represented not only an infusion of methods and models, but an infusion of ideology as well, raising important philosophical questions concerning the development of management science. (shrink)