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This paper describes a project which investigates the human resource management practices that are being used in managing information professionals in ICT companies or ICT departments. The effectiveness of the practices is evaluated from individual and management perspectives. It is assumed that the nature of the contract between the IS professional and the organization influences the effectiveness of different practices. Thus, the notion of “best practice” is seen as context dependent. When writing the paper, the research was still in progress and no results can yet be given. After completing the study, practitioners can use the results to compare their own practices with those that were found to be effective in the nine case organizations. For researchers, the results will provide hypotheses about the relationship between HRM practices and job satisfaction of the IS professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to study the meaning of socially responsible human resource management (HRM) in the global business context.

This paper is based on a multiple case study and is descriptive. The study focuses on four case studies of two Finnish multinational companies. The data sources are company documents and web sites, newspapers, financial periodicals and web‐based open communication channels.

The study shows the contextual nature of socially responsible HRM and highlights the need to recognise the magnitude of the issues and viewpoints that affect the evaluation of social responsibility from the HRM point of view. The study also reveals the gap between the rhetoric used by top management and the messages given out by the HR function.

The four cases examined in this study do not allow for empirical generalisations.

The study stresses that the costs and consequences of unethical behaviour cannot be overlooked when aiming to maintain the image of a socially responsible company.

This study addresses a research gap in HRM studies by adopting an ethical perspective and suggesting that instead of balancing global integration with responsiveness to local customs companies should find a balance between profitability and responsibility. The study provides rich material for discussion and illustration.

Improving capability to generate value for customers is seen as a way to create a new competitive edge, but developing the related organisational capabilities involves facing several obstacles that stem from the producer‐orientation of the retail‐banking business. This paper aims to focus on defining and describing those obstacles.

An in‐depth, qualitative single case study of a European retail bank was conducted.

A retail bank can find it challenging, first, to understand the deepest meaning and character of customer value and, second, to harness the organisational attributes to deliver that value. The main barriers lie in the strong producer‐oriented way of doing business, a lack of employee commitment, a strong product and sales orientation, a restrictive network, difficulties in seeing the profitability aspect of a new mindset, lack of conceptualisation and proper segmentation, and finally, silo‐style bank organisations.

The research is focused on the retail‐banking industry, while the findings are transferable to other retail finance businesses.

Enhancing value creation may provide a competitive edge, but developing that edge means facing several obstacles, which may jeopardise the calculated positive return on investment. For management, understanding the value of the banking service in the customer's own context is critical.

Developing customer experience and value‐in‐use has been suggested as a good starting point for customer orientation. However, research on its implications for organisations and potential obstacles to implementation remains scarce. This paper offers a detailed view on the organisational development necessary to generate value‐in‐use in a retail‐banking context.

Public procurement is a major driving force that can be used to advance societal goals such as sustainability. The lack of strategic management and top-level commitment have been found to be major hindrances to the promotion of sustainable public procurement (SPP). This study aims to examine the functioning of a successful Finnish SPP development programme, the KEINO Academy (2019–2020), that tackled these challenges in a holistic way.

The article is mainly based on qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 municipal representatives.

The KEINO Academy advanced SPP management through the following functions: legitimising SPP development work, structuring SPP development work, offering expert support and facilitating peer support. The functions were mainly able to meet the key challenges experienced by the participating municipalities. However, some challenges cannot be directly solved by an intermediary such as the KEINO Academy. These challenges include, for example, a lack of resources.

On the basis of the study, SPP development programmes should: build a holistic working model; respect the versatility of the participating organisations; involve all the key people in the organisations, including the directors; and sustain change.

The main theoretical contribution is the combination of two streams of literature, those of SPP management and intermediary functions. Further, the article makes an empirical contribution by studying the KEINO Academy as a pioneering SPP development case.