Search results

This study aims to investigate how organizations that invest in social innovation – such as for-profit and social enterprises – organize and shape the dynamics between social innovation and transformation.

This is a qualitative interpretative study through the theoretical lens of social innovation. The organizational phenomenon studied was the business strategy for sustainable regional development of a Brazilian financial institution. Secondary data were collected from financial institution’s documents. The data analysis followed a categorization technique.

This research presents five intersectional elements that act as agglutinating factors between the structural elements common to these organizations: the processes (inter-organizational and intra-organizational), the forms of materialization of social innovation (products, experiences and replicable forms) and the impacts (in society and organization).

The paper contributes to the debate about social innovation as to its definition, showing that it is both a phenomenon and a theory, which is still little explored. In particular, in emerging countries, such as Brazil, which publishes little about social innovation in international literature, going beyond European countries. Second, an empirical deeper understanding of the for-profit “organizations” modus operandi adopts and integrates social innovation in their strategies and operations. Third, given the multidimensional and complex nature of the social systems involved in innovation actions, it discusses a strategy that acts as an agglutinating factor. Finally, with reflections so that managers can discuss and start up a social innovation project.

Most research is based on nonempirical evidence. Among the few empirical works, the focus is on the performance of nonprofit organizations in the promotion, development and implementation of projects involving social technology. The literature does not adequately understand how for-profit organizations adopt and integrate social innovation into their strategies and operations. Furthermore, it is observed that research analyzes data from European countries, with few approaches eying countries in development.

This study analyzes the impacts of trust in the confessional institution of primary education on a students’ spirituality and performance and the moderating effect of the families' religion on the relationship between trust in the school and the student's spirituality as perceived by parents and guardians.

This study takes the form of a survey with 346 parents and guardians from a Brazilian Adventist education network. The authors used partial least squares structural equation modeling by SmarPLS 4 to analyze the data.

The results reveal that parents' and guardians' trust in the confessional institution of primary education positively influences their perception of students' spirituality, which, in turn, has a positive impact on their performance. In addition, the families’ religion does not strengthen the relationship between school trust and students’ spirituality. It does not matter to which religious group the family belongs – as their overall spiritual development that favors the students’ academic performance.

The research contributes to the literature on school management, individual spirituality and relationship marketing – particularly customer relationship management in schools, involving parents, guardians and students.

Society is asking for a humanized business strategy. In this paradigm-shifting, the first change is in companies’ discourses. This paper aims to analyze an organization’s discourse involved in a scandal (environmental crime) from the perspective of corporate social responsibility and organizational spirituality.

This study conducted an interpretive qualitative study using discourse analysis encompassing Samarco, a joint venture between Vale S.A. and BHP Billiton. The collapse of the Fundão dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, caused the spillage of approximately 56 million cubic meters of iron ore and silica tailings, among other particles affecting 41 cities and three indigenous reserves degrading 240.88 hectares of Atlantic Forest, until reaching the Atlantic Ocean. This paper analyzed the company website and all public documents available, both before and after the crime, Code of Conduct (2014), Annual Sustainability Report (2014) and Actions Report (2016), Biennial Report (2015–2016 and 2018–2019) and the Transaction and Conduct Adjustment Term (2016). This study chose the data considering the series of judicial processes in course, environmental crime’s delicacy, and its consequences for Samarco employees, stakeholders, affected communities and families.

The spiritual elements underlined in organizational discourses are different from the corporate practice in their everyday interactions with their stakeholders. As a result, the organizations’ identity seems problematic. The company has failed to provide an environment that encourages spirituality.

This is the first article to analyze a company’s discourse involved in a scandal through the lenses of corporate social responsibility and organizational spirituality. It contributes to the research concerning irresponsible management and the rhetorical use of spirituality in management.