Search results

Scholarly interest in the business effects of organised crime (OC) has recently increased. This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on the conditions under which OC could pose a threat to or take control of firms within a particular context.

We use narrative synthesis and thematic analysis, with a sample of 46 theoretical and empirical studies published over the past 30 years on the relationship between OC and firms within the disciplines of Business, Management and Accounting (BMA).

SLR and thematic analysis show that scholarly interest has focused on four key domains: OC as a firm, the impact of OC on firms, firms’ efforts to counter OC’s influence and governmental interventions. Using medical metaphors, we also develop a diagram depicting the interplay between OC and firms within the BMA literature.

This study contributes to the literature shaping an agenda to steer future research towards these four key themes. The effectiveness of anti-OC tools and measures depends on a thorough understanding of local norms, behaviours and business practices. In addition to measurement and methodological challenges, several grey areas remain, including the distinction between criminal enterprises and legitimate businesses. Ambiguities also surround the circumstances under which the OC preys upon firms or employs them to establish dominance over a territory.

There are still many different theoretical approaches and practical interpretations about what an integrated report is. Starting from this premise, the overall purpose of this chapter is to critically analyze the relationship between integrated reporting (IR) and social/sustainability disclosure. Indeed, although some scholars considered IR as a tool to improve the sustainability approach of the companies allowing to disclose more relevant social information, others are more critical about the potentiality of IR to improve social disclosure. Therefore, the general research question is: Is there a natural link between IR and social disclosure (true love) or is the IR a practice to “normalize” the social disclosure and accounting (forced marriage)?

In the attempt to provide a preliminary answer to the research question, the chapter analyzes what is the approach of three categories: (1) academics; (2) soft-regulators; and (3) companies. From the methodological point of view, a mixed method of analysis has been adopted.

From the analysis of the three different points of view, IR can be considered as a “contested concept” because of the heterogeneous and sometimes conflicting interpretations and implementation that are done on this type of report. This leads to relevant theoretical and practical implications.

This paper aims to conceptualize business relationships so as to include in these dimensions of both gift and gratuity, to develop the concept of “bonding value”, and to offer some ideas for the use of this within firms.

The paper analyses the concept of “bonding value”, distinguishing it from the concepts of “exchange value” and “use value” that are normally used in business, and attempts to investigate its practical implications.

The paper shows how evaluating both the relationships within the organization and between firm and stakeholders in terms of “bonding value” can have effects on the economic, organizational and social aspects of a firm's activities.

The paper is a starting point of a possible conceptual path that should be directed toward the theoretical and practical use of “bonding value” in business. It is necessary to support the theoretical considerations with future empirical investigation showing the possibility of practical applications of the concept analysed.

The main implication for business management is the possibility to propose “bonding value” and “gift logic” as new parameters in assessing whether or not a firm has achieved its institutional purposes.

In the past, “bonding value” has been studied mainly from a philosophical and sociological point of view. In this article we try to begin to address this issue specifically from a perspective of business management.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue and to point at how much in the current economic and social crisis has to do with having lost an integrative, holistic and humanistic approach to management and organizations.

Following a brief introduction of the current context, this piece summarizes the main points of the six papers selected for inclusion in this special issue. These papers were selected from among the more than 80 presented at an International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society hosted by IESE Business School in Barcelona in May 2010.

The main contributions from the papers in this special issue include conceptual elaborations on the conditions for work, that is, meaningful, holistic management delivered through management education programs, the interface between ethical values/responsibility and firm strategy, corporate community involvement, gift and gratuity dimensions of organizational analysis, and developing trust through a dialogue between management, on the one hand, and ethics and the social sciences, on the other.

This paper points at new avenues to address the main management challenges that managers confront in today's social and economic crisis

Brazil, a large developing economy whose main exports consist of primary commodities, benefited greatly from the boom in commodity prices during the first decade of the current century. However, with a large share of its population with low and very low incomes, there is a potential for some adverse redistributive effects. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by simulating the ex ante effects using a mixed endogenous–exogenous social accounting matrix (SAM) price model.

The methodology consists of two parts. First, using a mixed endogenous–exogenous SAM price model, the authors obtain the elasticities of domestic prices (goods, services and factors) in response to the increase in international prices of three types of commodities: agricultural, oil/gas and minerals. Second, the authors run micro-simulations at the household level on welfare effects, as well as on some distributive indices. Analysis at the regional level is also carried out.

Following increases in the international prices of primary commodities, the responses of internal prices (goods, services and factors) mean a welfare loss all over the entire distribution of household per capita expenditure; the least affected are those households at the low end and around the median of the distribution. However, the differences among households are not very important. Moreover, once we take into account government transfers and payments from social security, the magnitude of the effects reduces even further. Also, inequality indices and poverty rates show little responsiveness to the simulated shocks. Finally, poorer regions are the most likely to be affected, but also the distribution of effects across households shows differences between regions.

Economies with comparative advantages in the production of primary commodities can benefit at a macro-level from the increase in the international prices of such commodities. However, when a large part of the population spends a high proportion of its income on goods whose prices may be affected by the increase in commodity prices, there is a room for some undesirable effects from a redistributive standpoint. This study provides valuable results about such potential effects for Brazil, a large developing economy.