Cherie Ann Sherman and Philip M. Anderson
This case discusses the best-selling security system for preventing shoplifting and the dilemma its startup manufacturer faced when it learned there was a very remote possibility…
Abstract
Case description
This case discusses the best-selling security system for preventing shoplifting and the dilemma its startup manufacturer faced when it learned there was a very remote possibility that the system might interfere with heart pacemakers. The theme of the case is that when health is involved, a company must carefully consider any level of preventable risk a product poses, even if that level of risk is extremely low.
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The paper seeks to offer a novel perspective on “deep benefit management” in inclusive business ventures at the Base‐of‐the‐Pyramid (BoP). Furthermore, it explores tensions…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to offer a novel perspective on “deep benefit management” in inclusive business ventures at the Base‐of‐the‐Pyramid (BoP). Furthermore, it explores tensions between social impact creation and financial objectives in multinational corporations (MNCs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper opts for an exploratory research design using empirical data, including an expert interview survey and expert discussions. Data is supplemented by documentary analysis, including corporate publications as well as case and impact studies. The paper applies a nested cross‐case comparison of three sustainability driven initiatives of PHILIPS Electronics.
Findings
The paper provides empirical insights on value creation for customers and partners. Findings indicate the need for “external benefit management”. In addition, MNCs can gain financial as well as non‐financial benefits by venturing at the BoP. “Internal benefit management” should consider employee engagement, reputation, and partnering capabilities. Nevertheless, results indicate conflicts between social and financial objectives to which employees respond with “social intrapreneurship”.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the research methodology, results may not be generalized. Future research is encouraged to corroborate findings.
Practical implications
The paper develops deep benefit management as a powerful tool to plan, manage, and assess value creation in inclusive BoP ventures. Further, the paper proposes to establish protective space in MNCs to capitalize on social intrapreneurship.
Originality/value
This study provides an enhanced understanding of benefits of and barriers for inclusive business. Novel insights on social intrapreneurship are provided additionally.
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Thomas D. Beamish and Nicole Woolsey Biggart
Following Philip Selznick’s lead in using pragmatist social science to understand issues of public concern we conducted a study of failed innovation in the commercial construction…
Abstract
Following Philip Selznick’s lead in using pragmatist social science to understand issues of public concern we conducted a study of failed innovation in the commercial construction industry (CCI). We find that social heuristics – collectively constructed and maintained interpretive decision-making frames – significantly shape economic and non-economic decision-making practices. Social heuristics are the outcome of industry-based “institutionalization processes” and are widely held and commonly relied on in CCI to reduce uncertainty endemic to decision-making; they provide actors with both a priori and ex post facto justifications for economic decisions that appear socially rational to industry co-participants. In the CCI – a project-centered production network – social heuristics as shared institutions sustain network-based social order but in so doing discourage novel technologies and impede innovation. Social heuristics are actor-level constructs that reflect macro-level institutional arrangements and networked production relations. The concept of social heuristics offers the promise of developing a genuinely social theory of individual economic choice and action that is historically informed, contextually situated, and neither psychologically nor structurally reductionist.
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This paper presents a review and classification of reported experiments in job design. The study is confined, in the main, to published experiments directed towards the…
Abstract
This paper presents a review and classification of reported experiments in job design. The study is confined, in the main, to published experiments directed towards the improvement of the motivational content of blue‐collar jobs, and is intended principally to provide a reference source to those researchers or practitioners engaged in work in this field. Before describing these experiments, we shall briefly review the methods available to the job designers who seek to restructure jobs. Much has been written on the subject and for this reason our discussion will be brief, nor will we discuss the history or development of job design principles which is adequately dealt with elsewhere.
Hannah R. Marston, Linda Shore, Laura Stoops and Robbie S. Turner
The vast majority of contemporary social scientists have distanced themselves from moral reflection and the academic disciplines that engage in it. Throughout his long career…
Abstract
The vast majority of contemporary social scientists have distanced themselves from moral reflection and the academic disciplines that engage in it. Throughout his long career Philip Selznick took a different path, engaging deeply with the moral content of the concepts he employed. This paper argues that he had good reasons to do so. Value neutrality in social research can fatally sever inquiry’s connection to the practical concerns that originally motivated it, and it can distort our understanding of those concerns by recasting them in a scientific mold. To make this case I draw from a long tradition of philosophical thought about the relationship between facts and values, and I illustrate it by examining the limitations of recent social science research about procedural justice in organizations and the order maintenance function of the police.
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“GIVE a dog a bad name and hang him,” is an aphorism which has been accepted for many years. But, like many other household words, it is not always true. Even if it were, the dog…
Abstract
“GIVE a dog a bad name and hang him,” is an aphorism which has been accepted for many years. But, like many other household words, it is not always true. Even if it were, the dog to be operated upon would probably prefer a gala day at his Tyburn Tree to being executed in an obscure back yard.