Andrew Alexander and Alex Nicholls
The paper aims to investigate the value of a network perspective in enhancing the understanding of the business to consumer marketing of high‐involvement product categories. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to investigate the value of a network perspective in enhancing the understanding of the business to consumer marketing of high‐involvement product categories. This is achieved through the analysis of the development of fair trade marketing in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper addresses the research question through an analysis of relevant literatures from both marketing and other disciplinary areas. The paper is thus multidisciplinary in nature. Findings from a series of in depth, semi‐structured interviews with senior representatives of a fair trade wholesaler, of a specialist fair trade brand, of supermarket retailers involved with fair trade and of other fair trade labelling and support organisations are reported and discussed.
Findings
The relevance of an actor network theory (ANT) informed interpretation of the development of the fair trade marketing network is revealed. Its emphases on the processes of exchange and the role of human and non‐human actants in enabling interactions within the network are shown to be important. fair trade marketing is shown as occurring within an unfolding network of information exchanges. Analysis of this emerging network highlights a shift of emphasis in fair trade marketing from the fair trade process to fair trade products and, latterly, fair trade places.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the requirement for further conceptualisation of the business to consumer marketing of high‐involvement product categories, and reveals the potential of ANT as one approach to meet this need. The paper also provides a detailed insight into the development of fair trade marketing in the UK.
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Benjamin Huybrechts and Alex Nicholls
This article aims to explore the role of organisational legitimacy in understanding the emergence and development of “cross‐sector collaboration” between social enterprises and…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore the role of organisational legitimacy in understanding the emergence and development of “cross‐sector collaboration” between social enterprises and corporations.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth case study of a long‐standing but fragile partnership between a UK‐based Fair Trade social enterprise and a large corporate retailer provides exploratory findings on the role of legitimacy at different stages of the collaboration process.
Findings
The findings highlight how pragmatic and moral legitimacy are mobilised by the social enterprise to justify collaboration throughout three major stages: the very decision of cross‐sector collaboration; the choice of the partner and the framing of the partnership; and the evolution of the collaboration.
Research limitations/implications
While Fair Trade is not the only sector in which social enterprise‐corporate partnerships take place, it has been a pioneering domain revealing the potential as well as the challenges of such partnerships. Taking into account the role of legitimacy throughout the collaborative process is crucial both for comprehensive research and for informed practice.
Originality/value
Although it is documented by a single case study, this paper opens new research avenues to examine social enterprise‐corporate collaborations by developing a “non‐functionalist” view of such collaborations and showing the importance of legitimacy in understanding why and how they emerge, develop and sometimes fail.
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Abstract
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In this chapter, I attempt to explain the diverse nature of social enterprise education in higher education and review the content, placement, and pedagogy of various programs of…
Abstract
In this chapter, I attempt to explain the diverse nature of social enterprise education in higher education and review the content, placement, and pedagogy of various programs of study with distinctly different approaches. I see the approaches to social enterprise education falling into three different categories that I call accommodating, integrating, and immersion. The differences are explained by the problem of the familiar: the attempt to define the field in terms of the existing economic and entrepreneurial theories alone. Building on work of others I offer a new framework for understanding social enterprise and social entrepreneurship in the form of propositions that may be empirically tested and potentially could be helpful in developing consistent models for social enterprise education. These propositions are concerned with social benefits or outcomes, agency and firm, scale, and sustainable funding.
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This paper offers a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on social finance. It provides an overview of the research field by identifying gaps in the existing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on social finance. It provides an overview of the research field by identifying gaps in the existing academic literature and presenting future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses co-word analysis and visualization mapping techniques.
Findings
This study's findings show that the social finance research field comprises five main research clusters and four main research hotspots—impact investing, social entrepreneurship, social impact bonds, and social innovation—which represent the core of this research domain. The authors also identify the researchers and the research institutions that have contributed to the development of social finance. In addition, emerging research areas are mapped and discussed.
Originality/value
Compared with most previous literature reviews, this work provides a more complete and objective analysis of the entire social finance landscape by revealing the trends and evolving dynamics that characterize its development. To this end, clear terminological boundaries have not yet been established in social finance. The field appears immature because only a few researchers have contributed to it, and papers have yet to be published by top finance journals. Finally, the findings of this research provide directions for future studies.
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This paper aims to examine the current strategic landscape of UK “bricks and clicks” retailers. The main focus of this work is to consider how e‐commerce may provide competitive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the current strategic landscape of UK “bricks and clicks” retailers. The main focus of this work is to consider how e‐commerce may provide competitive advantage via an insight into the current strategies employed by UK retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses both secondary and primary data analysis to explore its research questions. The paper begins with an overview of the e‐strategy literature and then goes on to examine the key areas of e‐value creation for bricks and clicks companies. Next an analysis of the results of a survey of the UK's top 500 retailers tests the existing literature and provides new evidence of emerging e‐strategies.
Findings
The data analysis in this research reveals significant gaps between theory and practice and leads to the development of a new model of business “e‐value‐added”.
Research limitations/implications
It is difficult to generalise the findings from this survey, given the small number of respondents. Further in‐depth qualitative research is needed to enable us to understand better the organisational issues around e‐commerce development and implementation.
Practical implications
It is suggested that, in order to exploit the internet to its full potential, legacy retailers need to analyse a variety of situational antecedents in order to identify e‐value creation opportunities. In addition, they must consider whether integration or separation with bricks and clicks operations will deliver the best solution in each value‐adding interface.
Originality/value
This research offers a new insight into current e‐tail strategies for bricks and clicks businesses, and as such is likely to be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.