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Patriotism is often described as the “love of country” that individuals display in the acclamation of their national community. Despite the prominence of this sentiment in various societies around the world, organizational research on patriotism is largely absent. This omission is surprising because entrepreneurs, human resource (HR) divisions, and firms frequently embrace both patriotism and patriotic organizational practices. These procedures include (among other interventions) national symbol embracing, HR practices targeted toward military members and first responders, the adulation of patriots and celebration of patriotic events, and patriotic-oriented corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here, the authors argue that research on HR management and organization studies will likely be further enhanced with a deeper understanding of the national obligation that can spur employee productivity and loyalty. In an attempt to jumpstart the collective understanding of this phenomenon, the authors explore the antecedents of patriotic organizational practices, namely, the effects of founder orientation, employee dispersion, and firm strategy. It is suggested that HR practices such as these lead to a patriotic organizational image, which in turn impacts investor, customer, and employee responses. Notably, the effect of a patriotic organizational image on firm-related outcomes is largely contingent on how it fits with the patriotic views of other stakeholders, such as investors, customers, and employees. After outlining this model, the authors then present a thought experiment of how this model may appear in action. The authors then discuss ways the field can move forward in studying patriotism in HR management and organizational contexts by outlining several future directions that span multiple levels (i.e., micro and macro). Taken together, in this chapter, the authors introduce a conversation of something quite prevalent and largely unheeded – the patriotic organization.

Why is Finland failing to adequately address the issue of child poverty? Approximately 150,000 children are currently “at risk of poverty.” As data on at-risk-of-poverty (AROP) and financial assistance over a 30-year period illustrates, numbers, in percentage terms, remain fairly constant despite continuing “political” recognition of the problem. Child poverty thus seemingly presents as a classic “wicked problem” particularly in the emerging social space that constitutes UN Sustainable Development Goal implementation. In line with “wickedness theory,” the chapter discusses the various technical and value-based possibilities for persistent policy failure around child poverty which sees increasing polarization between the majority and some increasingly marginalized social groups such as single parent and immigrant families. While definitive explanations for the persistence of child poverty in a Nordic welfare state such as Finland remain elusive, the Finnish experience suggests that interorganizational conflicts, siloed-thinking, and outdated implementation in relation to the benefits system represent key hindrances to better policymaking and thus to more equitable policy outcomes.

Discourse concerning the most effective way for enterprises to offset environmental impacts is well established. While certain approaches like the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) have gained widespread acceptance, other initiatives like introducing the Carbon Tax in Australia have not been successful. This study examines the practical implementation of two environmental accounting models, the TBL and Carbon Tax, analysing their benefits and drawbacks and focusing on their application within the Australian accounting system. Using discourse and content analysis within two case studies of two different sectors – the banking sector (Westpac) and the manufacturing sector (BlueScope), this research contributes to the discourse concerning the implementation of such disclosures and how models such as the TBL and Carbon Tax initiative could be effectively used in practice. The results show that the implementation of the TBL was more widely adopted and seen as a positive factor in determining the company's environmental impact as viewed by investors. The Carbon Tax was initially adopted less frequently until modifications were made to allow for voluntary compliance. This was due to the misalignment of the cost of the tax with the financial priorities of each sector. Furthermore, the study suggests that a more comprehensive approach that leverages the strengths of both models to complement each other within an integrated framework may be the best solution for organisations seeking a more systemic approach to environmental disclosures and offsetting in their supply chain network.

Building inclusive businesses (IBs) that generate shared value (a value including both social and business benefits simultaneously) is essential to instill the principles of inclusion, diversity, and equity in society. Yet, few studies specifically address how shared value is created in IBs. Drawing on the exploratory insights of a single case study involving an inclusive company IntendiMe, we provide an empirical investigation of the process of shared value creation. The findings of this study have shown that to create shared value in IBs, firms need to implement different practices that can be grouped into the following three phases: (1) aligning the environment with inclusion, (2) execution of inclusive business operations, and (3) value construction. During the first two phases, business and social values are still perceived separately; only after the execution of the two preparatory phases, in the third phase, IBs build shared value with the close collaboration of different market players and stakeholders. Shared value can be translated into developing innovative, inclusive products and market expansions that satisfy multiple needs of socially excluded people. With this study, we contribute to the literature on IBs and shared value by offering a dynamic analysis of the development of shared value and delineating a concrete set of practices that managers may accomplish in their business to develop a more significant value proposition based on socially inclusive principles.

This chapter addresses research results regarding the past and current messages disseminated about Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) in Romania, as well as how new messages about CCUS are perceived by stakeholders. The research was conducted within the ACT ALIGN CCUS Project, funded by the European Commission to accelerate the demonstration and implementation of CCUS by addressing specific R&D gaps across the CCUS chain (act-ccs.eu/align). Media analysis and website analysis were conducted in Romania to identify the current and past core messages about CCUS used in society, while focus group research was conducted to test new core messages among citizens in Romania. The media analysis results show that media coverage and representations of CCUS for the time periods analysed were low in Romania, while the overall tone of the articles identified was relatively positive, as expressed by the division of arguments in favour of versus against CCUS. The CCUS topic is scarce on stakeholder websites in Romania. The results of the focus group study show that participants in the industrial area considered both environmental and economic benefits important, whereas participants in the non-industrial area considered environmental benefits more important. Most of the participants in the two focus groups expressed concerns about the safety of storage and transport, expressing the need to prevent further climate change. The CCUS messages testing shows the need for clarity, accessibility and appeal to citizens’ personal interests. This research was relevant for investigating the public debate on CCUS technologies in its early stages of development.