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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.

Previous studies considered effectuation and causation as alternative decision-making strategies used by entrepreneurs to navigate uncertainty, having various individual- and firm-level antecedents. This study aims to broaden our understanding of individual-level antecedents by examining the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) temporal focus in decision-making processes in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Based on a multiple case study research design, the authors empirically analyse 16 Russian SMEs to uncover how the CEO temporal focus relates to the choice of effectuation/causation strategies under uncertainty.

CEOs with past orientation tend to adopt causation, future-oriented CEOs adhere to effectuation, while present-focused CEOs rely on both decision-making strategies (i.e. ambidexterity). Prior crisis-related experience is the underlying mechanism behind the relationship between CEO temporal orientation and effectuation/causation strategies. The authors formulate several propositions that may be tested in future studies in the field.

The contribution of this study consists in uncovering a new individual-level antecedent of effectuation/causation under uncertainty (i.e. CEO temporal focus) and suggesting that prior crisis experience acts as a mechanism underlying this relationship. The authors advance the strategic leadership theory by underscoring the CEO’s role in decision-making processes in SMEs.

Sport organizations hold substantial ideological power to showcase and reinforce dominant cultural ideas about gender. The organization and portrayal of sporting events and spaces continue to promote and reinforce a hierarchical gender binary where heroic forms of masculinity are both desired and privileged. Such publicly visible gender hierarchies contribute to the doing of gender beyond sport itself, extending to influence gender power relations within sport and non-sport organizations. Yet, there has been a relative absence of scholarship on sport organizations within the organizational sociology field. In this paper, we review findings of studies that look at how formal and informal organizational dimensions influence the doing and undoing of gender in sport organizations. Subsequently, we call for scholars to pay more attention to sport itself as a source of gendered organizational practices within both sport and non-sport organizations. We end with suggestions for research that empirically explores this linkage by focusing on innovative theoretical perspectives that could provide new insights on gender inclusion in organizations.

This chapter discusses how the real options theory can be useful for understanding the adoption of human resources management (HRM) practices. The authors review how the real options theory has provided insights into the processes through which firms manage uncertainties involved in the adoption of HRM practices. The authors offer propositions for future HRM research from the real options perspective. The authors contend that analyzing HRM practice adoptions through the lens of real options theory can enhance our understanding of the mechanisms through which firms choose which HRM practices to adopt and how they adjust the timing, scale, and methods of investment in these practices. Specifically, the authors suggest that differences in information relevant to valuation of HRM options are the source of distinct choices of HRM options across firms. Finally, the authors propose advancing knowledge on HRM practice adoptions by using a portfolio of options approach, as well as considering factors like competitors, path dependence, and switching options.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of stakeholder integration and project complexity on information technology (IT) projects in Kenya. The following research question guided our inquiry: what is the influence of project complexity and stakeholder integration on the performance of IT projects in Kenya?

To advance the current understanding of the effect of stakeholder integration and project complexity on IT projects, multiple regressions were used to predict how project complexity and stakeholder integration influence project performance. Both government-funded and privately funded IT projects from a developing country were examined.

The study found that any project’s complexity and stakeholder integration levels offer a distinctive contribution to its success. Theoretically, the study contributes to linkages between stakeholder integration and project complexity concerning IT project performance. Through the adoption of actionable research and theoretical elaboration, we have shown that the successful execution of IT projects is driven by the successful integration of stakeholders and monitoring the level of complexity at each phase of the project.

The findings of this study add to the burgeoning literature on the performance of IT projects and come with several managerial implications as well. It brings to the fore the concept of stakeholder integration as an essential element of project success. The findings suggest that the inclusion of stakeholder integration into corporate decisions, strategies and policies can be an asset to the production of sustainable competitive advantages needed during the implementation of IT projects in government entities and organisations. As shown in this study, all the above require a collaborative platform allowing for data sharing among diverse stakeholders to ameliorate distrust or lack of information.

The aim of this paper is to explore the stakeholder exclusion practices of responsible leaders.

An interpretive multiple case analyses of seven responsibly led organisations was employed. Twenty-two qualitative interviews were undertaken to investigate and understand perceptions and practice of responsible leaders and their approach to stakeholder inclusion and exclusion.

The findings revealed new and surprising insights where responsible leaders compromised their espoused values of inclusivity through the application of a personal bias, resulting in the exclusion of certain stakeholders. This exclusivity practice focused on the informal evaluation of potential stakeholders’ values, and where they did not align with those of the responsible leader, these stakeholders were excluded from participation with the organisation. This resulted in the creation and continuity of a culture of shared moral purpose across the organisation.

This study focussed on responsible leader-led organisations, so the next stage of the research will include mainstream organisations (i.e. without explicit responsible leadership) to examine how personal values bias affects stakeholder selection in a wider setting.

The findings suggest that reflexive practice and critically appraising management methods in normative leadership approaches may lead to improvements in diversity management.

This paper presents original empirical data challenging current perceptions of responsible leader inclusivity practices and indicates areas of leadership development that may need to be addressed.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the perception of real teamwork and sustainable quality culture as well as success factors for achieving a sustainable quality culture within an organisation, focusing on top management teams (TMTs). An additional purpose is to explore the relationship between real teamwork and sustainable quality culture.

A mixed-methods design focusing on TMTs was used. Four TMTs were open-sampled and located in different parts of Sweden. The data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions between April 2022 and December 2022. Follow-up meetings were thereafter held with the participants. A meta-analysis was conducted of the data from the four TMTs.

Two overarching conclusions of this study were: to follow the developed methodology can be one way to increase TMTs' abilities for real teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture, and the results also showed the importance of a systems view, emotional commitment and continuous improvement for improving real teamwork and creating a sustainable quality culture.

Practical implications were suggestions on how to increase the TMTs' abilities for real teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture. A deepened understanding of real teamwork and a sustainable quality culture was also achieved by the participants.

The novelty of this paper is the use of a new methodology for assessing teamwork and sustainable quality culture. To the authors' knowledge, no similar research has previously been performed to investigate teamwork alongside a sustainable quality culture, focusing on TMTs.

This article centres on the pertinence of redefining accounting for tomorrow, particularly for facilitating the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, thereby, for shaping a better world. In aspiring for accounting to reach its full potential as a multidimensional technical, social and moral practice, this paper aims to focus on ideas, initiatives and proposals for realising accounting’s future potential and responsibilities.

The study deploys a further developed “strategic implementation framework”, initially proposed by Carnegie et al. (2023), with an emphasis on accounting serving “the public interest” so as “to enable the flourishing of organisations, people and nature” (Carnegie et al., 2021a, p. 69; 2021b). It depicts strategies towards the future of accounting and the world.

Significant opportunities are identified for accounting and accountants, working closely with a diversity of stakeholders, to become alert to and cognisant of the nature, roles, uses and impacts of accounting. The evidence presented notes a predominant inattention of accounting and accountants to the SDGs despite the deteriorating state of our social and natural environment.

Whilst this article examines other articles in this special issue (SI), there is no substitute for carefully reading, reflecting on and deliberating upon these articles individually.

The time for accounting to focus on creating a better world can no longer be extended. Accounting’s full potential will not be realised by remaining in a narrow and complacent, technicist state.

This article proposes that survival can be a legitimate organizational goal, challenging a common view that dismisses it as unambitious or contrary to innovation. Drawing parallels from nature and survival strategies across various systems, it advocates that organizations, much like living organisms, should prioritize survivability (i.e. ability to survive) to ensure long-term success. Contrary to being seen as limiting, survival, when understood in its broad sense, can encompass and enhance performance goals such as growth. The article outlines the ERP factors —efficiency, resilience and prominence—as key to achieving survivability, offering a framework for organizations to manage resources, adapt to external forces and balance visibility to thrive amidst challenges.

Conceptual framework.

This model introduces the significance of survivability as an organizational goal.

This article argues for the consideration of survival as an overarching organizational goal, challenging the prevalent view that dismisses it as unambitious or contrary to innovation.