Katja Rinne-Koski and Merja Lähdesmäki
Municipalities seek new opportunities for co-producing services in rural areas. One potential partner is community-based social enterprises (CBSEs). However, whilst service…
Abstract
Purpose
Municipalities seek new opportunities for co-producing services in rural areas. One potential partner is community-based social enterprises (CBSEs). However, whilst service co-production through CBSEs obscures the traditional roles of actors, it may lead to a legitimation crisis in local service provision. In this paper, the ways CBSEs are legitimised as service providers in rural areas are addressed from the CBSE and municipality perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical data combine interviews with CBSE representatives and open-ended national survey responses from municipality decision-makers. The data analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis to examine legitimation arguments.
Findings
Results show that unestablished legitimacy and un-institutionalised support structures for co-production models build mistrust between CBSEs and municipalities, which prevents the parties from seeing the benefits of cooperation in service production.
Research limitations/implications
The research focusses on the legitimation of CBSEs in service co-production in rural areas. As legitimation seems to be a context-specific process, future research is needed regarding other contexts.
Practical implications
Municipalities interested in the co-production of services might benefit from establishing a collaborative and responsive (rural) service policy forum that would institutionalise new models of co-production and enable better design and governance of service provision.
Originality/value
Results will give new theoretical and practical insights into the importance of legitimacy in the development of service co-production relationships.
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Anna-Maija Lämsä, Markku Mattila, Merja Lähdesmäki and Timo Suutari
In this paper, the following research question is addressed: Why do business organisations recruit employees with a foreign background? This was examined in terms of the values…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the following research question is addressed: Why do business organisations recruit employees with a foreign background? This was examined in terms of the values that guide organisations and their management. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focused on two businesses in Finland that are pioneers in the recruitment of immigrants. A case study approach was adopted. The research data consist of interviews and documentary data. The data were analysed using content analysis in accordance with grounded theory.
Findings
Companies can act as an enabling force in the integration of immigrants into the local labour market, especially when the company’s value basis extends beyond only economic values.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted only in two case companies in Finland.
Practical implications
Companies have the potential to affect local people’s attitudes towards immigrants as workers. This is important because many western societies are likely to face a labour shortage in the future due to the ageing population and low birth rate.
Originality/value
Prior research has mostly investigated the topic from the viewpoints of the immigrants themselves and of policy makers. The value of this study is that it makes the employers’ viewpoint visible. The dominant theories applied in the field of immigrant recruitment are inadequate to explain employers’ behaviour because of their underlying assumption of the overwhelming importance of economic values in decision making.
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Hannele Suvanto and Merja Lähdesmäki
In this paper, the authors integrate the psychological ownership theory with the concept of commitment to contribute to the discussion on agricultural supply chain management. The…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors integrate the psychological ownership theory with the concept of commitment to contribute to the discussion on agricultural supply chain management. The purpose of this study is to examine how farmers experience their commitment to the business relationship with the processor and how this is conveyed through the routes of psychological ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data are based on 14 in-depth face-to-face Finnish farmer interviews. To understand the farmers’ routes to psychological ownership, the critical incidents technique was used.
Findings
According to the three routes to psychological ownership – control, profound knowledge and self-investment – the authors argue that farmers mainly consider their routes to be more or less blocked because of the asymmetrical power and information distribution in the business relationship with the processor. Furthermore, based on farmers’ perceptions of psychological ownership, the authors provide a farmer typology that reflects in the farmers’ willingness to commit to the business relationship. The identified types are named as satisfied, captives and leavers.
Originality/value
By integrating the theory of psychological ownership with the concept of commitment, this study provides a more robust understanding of how farmers experience their commitment to the business relationship, thus, contributing to the literature on supply chain management in the agri-food business context. Implementation of these findings can help business partners to proactively improve their business relationships through the perceived level of commitment and to deal with critical incidents influencing the effectiveness of the whole chain.
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Merja Lähdesmäki and Tuomo Takala
The purpose of this study is to examine corporate philanthropy from the perspective of small business owner‐managers to find out whether there is room for altruism in business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine corporate philanthropy from the perspective of small business owner‐managers to find out whether there is room for altruism in business life.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on 25 thematic interviews with small business owner‐managers. The data analysis is based on a method of qualitative content analysis.
Findings
Based on the analysis, it is shown that reactivity, an emphasis on personal interests, the willingness to utilize philanthropy as part of marketing and lack of planning are typical of philanthropy in the small business context. Small businesses often emphasize strategic business reasons as the main motive for their philanthropic engagements. Nevertheless, in some cases the philanthropic decisions are based on mere willingness to contribute to the welfare of others. Thus, the paper suggests that there is room for altruism in the small business context. The existence of altruism in the context of small business philanthropy is closely related to owner‐managers' values and business ambitions. Indeed, the organizational context does not usually hinder the existence of altruism to any great extent among small businesses, as it might do in the large business context. Similarly, based on the results of this study, the authors suggest that close relationships between a small business and its stakeholders increase the probability of altruism in business.
Research limitations/implications
It is acknowledged that corporate philanthropy is but one possible context in which to study altruism.
Originality/value
The study provides useful information on whether there is room for altruism in business life from the perspective of small business owner‐managers.
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Leena Viitaharju and Merja Lähdesmäki
The purpose of this paper is to identify the different perceptions of the antecedents of trust in asymmetrical business‐to‐business relationships between food producers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the different perceptions of the antecedents of trust in asymmetrical business‐to‐business relationships between food producers and retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data consist of semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews with 38 small food businesses and 54 retailers. The analysis combined both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Findings
The main differences identified in the antecedents of trust concerned the role of price, market potential, customer orientation, size, organisational/personal competence, marketing spirit, previous experiences, distribution of liabilities, communication, intimacy, reputation and references. In an asymmetrical business relationship, the characteristics of the less powerful partner are emphasised while the role of the more powerful partner in the development and maintenance of trust is minor.
Practical implications
If business partners are not aware of the particular antecedents of trust valued by the other party, this may create a sense of mistrust and hinder the development of the relationship at more profound levels. By revealing the essential differences in the perceptions of antecedents of trust, the paper enables both researchers interested in business relations and practitioners to better understand the challenges that businesses in dyadic relationships encounter, especially where the relationship is marked by asymmetry.
Originality/value
As there is a lack of dyadic approach to trust, studying both sides of the relationship dyad simultaneously makes visible the asymmetrical features inherent in the relationship between retailers and small food businesses. The paper contributes to the gap in the literature on trust by presenting new insights on asymmetrical buyer‐seller relationships.
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Martina Kurki and Marko Järvenpää
Expectations regarding the participation of management accountants (MAs) in the promotion of sustainability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been poorly realised. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Expectations regarding the participation of management accountants (MAs) in the promotion of sustainability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been poorly realised. This raises the question of whether MAs are invited to join in sustainability promotion or does sustainability not fit the perceived professional role of MAs. We suggest that the development of individual-level engagement of corporate sustainability is required for MAs to start contributing to corporate sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
We utilise the psychological ownership theory to investigate how MAs’ professional role could develop to incorporate advancing sustainability. Our qualitative study is based on 32 interviews conducted in seven local business units of three different technology-oriented MNEs.
Findings
We reveal features connected to the professional role of MAs that may impede the activation of the routes to psychological ownership of corporate sustainability, thus undermining their involvement in corporate sustainability enhancement. Moreover, we show that MAs’ own perceptions of their professional role may impede the stimulation of the routes.
Originality/value
From a managerial viewpoint, our study helps readers to understand how the routes to psychological ownership of corporate sustainability could be cultivated in the development of the future role of MAs. It also gives input for MA professional organisations and MA professional education providers to develop conditions that foster sustainability thinking among MAs. Moreover, by integrating the examination of MAs’ professional role with the psychological ownership theory, we broaden the theoretical scene both in management accounting and in business sustainability research.