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Reports on a study which aimed to initiate a quality assurance process among health care personnel in Sweden. An epidemiological survey concerning treatment of leg ulcers in a defined region in Sweden was conducted and the costs of treating leg ulcers at different levels of care were analysed. The epidemiological survey provided the data necessary to calculate the socio‐economic costs for the treatment of leg ulcers. The weekly cost was found to be about 24 times higher for hospital in‐patients than it was for patients treated at home. The quality assurance process has continued through an interdisciplinary regional consensus conference and the establishment of a consensus programme in the region, with targets and general suggestions for the care and treatment of leg ulcers. To maintain high quality in leg ulcer treatment in the region, an interdisciplinary reference group has been established with members from different clinics at the hospital and members from the primary health care.

Despite the fact that citrus industry is growing in Pakistan where production is dominated by small-scale citrus growers, no research has been done to evaluate and analyse the marketing channel choice decision-making process of these citrus growers. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing factors affecting decision making of small-size citrus growers in citrus supply chain in Pakistan and also measures and analyses the factors that affect the marketing channel decisions of these small size growers.

A multivariate decision analysis technique, conjoint analysis, was used to analyse and evaluate the major factors affecting marketing channel choice decisions of small-size citrus growers.

It was concluded that among nine very important factors, six factors played a major role in the marketing channel choice decision making. Only three factors namely, “price”, “time of complete fruit picking” and “number of fruit pickings” were considered highly important factors and reflected that citrus growers not only want to secure his payments but also to save their orchards for next season(s).

The research would provide valuable information about citrus grower’s marketing decision-making process and thus would contribute to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of citrus industry in Pakistan.

This analysis would suggest them to make rational decisions and help choosing them the most appropriate combination of different levels of different factors which would increase their profits. This study identifies the most relevant factors and their levels which citrus growers and pre-harvest contractors preferred in citrus marketing channel choice decision making, thus, server as a guideline for the buyer’s to deal with them accordingly. This would improve the efficiency and reduce the transaction cost along the citrus supply chain in Pakistan.

This chapter assembles the key literature on value creation for consideration in relationship to stakeholder theory. The literature review identifies and explains the core topics concerning value creation and related ideas. The purpose is to stimulate research into the theory, practice, and social consequences of value creation in a stakeholder management framework. The construct of “value” lacks theoretical precision and empirical verification. The most fundamental and disputed question addressed is which value approach for the firm best contributes to overall (aggregate) social welfare. The vital issue is whether the managerial stakeholder theory is superior, at long-run value creation for multiple stakeholders including society at large, to the conventional agency theory. Business executives and directors are the ones who choose between agency and stakeholder approaches to management. Their actions influence organizational and social outcomes. Research is limited to a literature review, followed by a discussion of the likely role of value creation theory in future stakeholder research. The chapter first defines value. The basic approach is then to focus on key topics in the relevant literature. The last section addresses the role of value creation theory in future stakeholder research.

This chapter presents a case study involving a socio-economic Organizational Development (OD) project carried out in a European subsidiary of a large multinational corporation traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This research case study, one of the 1,854 socio-economic interventions undertaken by the ISEOR research center, was chosen for its good illustration of the OD engineering process. It connects the dots between OD and financial performance, between immediate results and the creation of potential. We look at some of the tools and methods, such as overhauling loss and profit accounts and balance sheets with an eye on socio-economic balance, to illustrate socioeconomic tools at work and how they help enhance compatibility between the objectives of all stakeholders, including shareholders. With this case study, we also set out to provide food for thought on the contribution of socio-economic OD to the construction of socially responsible capitalism (Savall et al., 2015).

The purpose of this paper is to show that steering overall performance requires not only juxtaposing indicators focused on economic, social and environmental performance but also negotiating the measurement of performance metrics with all the stakeholders.

This is an action-research and intervention-research project aimed at experimenting an integrated and negotiated management control system for overall performance. The choice for the case study is a hospital in the Middle East that practices green management and that has to be self-financed while accepting all patients, even those who cannot pay.

The integration of the three dimensions of overall performance requires involving all stakeholders in the implementation of innovative management control.

The case is a pilot experiment and shows the conditions for an appropriate design of an overall performance management control methodology. However, further experiments should be carried out to shed light on the factors that form invariants regarding integrated performance log-books.

The study design is that of a management control methodology that enables the short- and long-run economic impacts of social and environmental performance.

The action-research process has proved to be a learning experience for the hospital and both internal and external stakeholders. However, replicability remains to be proven through experimenting the method in various settings.

This paper shows the need for negotiation of overall performance with all stakeholders to design and implement an appropriate participative approach to management control.

The purpose of this paper is to address the issues raised by hidden conflicts in a charismatic-led organization. The paper investigates the transformation from a management paradigm of quelling conflict artificially through charismatic leadership to a paradigm of negotiation that favors participation, systematicity, the multiplying of innovation sources and synchronization. The research is based on a specific approach to action research aimed at revealing the inherently masked conflictive energy, and contributing to a more sustainable, peaceful and well-performing construct.

The framework is a specific approach to participatory action research that the authors call socio-economic intervention research.

The results of the research support the proposition that while charismatic leadership quells conflict and jeopardizes the sustainability of the organization, socio-economic intervention research can help transform conflicts into cooperation in this type of organization.

The main contributions relate to shedding light on the hazards of denying conflict in charismatic-led organizations, and the importance of systemic negotiation in transforming conflict into cooperation in the Middle Eastern cultural context.

The Swedish government is likely to implement longer and heavier road freight vehicles, so-called high-capacity vehicles (HCVs), in the near future. The purpose of this paper is to analysis the expected effects on the whole transport system regarding tonne-kilometres, vehicle-kilometres on road, CO₂ and socio-economics with three possible implementation strategies (HCVs on all roads, a designated road network and a designated road network with a kilometre-based truck charge) and two vehicle types (74 t/25.25 m and 74 t/34 m).

Calculations are based on two well-established scenarios for transport development in Sweden. Changes per tonne-kilometre are modelled for ten product groups with considerations taken to their transport networks. Socio-economic effects are analysed using the net present value rating method over a 40-year period.

The study shows the increase in demand for transport and the modal shift, from rail and sea to road, in terms of tonne-kilometres, vehicle-kilometres and CO₂ emissions for three implementation strategies of HCVs in two scenarios. All implementation strategies show a positive social net-benefit with the introduction of HCVs.

The results reveal potential benefits to the implementation of HCVs. The results are limited by possible over/under-estimations of effects considered in the calculations, due to uncertainties and assumptions.

The results highlight expected levels of modal shift and induced transport for different HCV implementation strategies and how they depend on transport and climate policies and the expected growth of tonne-kilometres.

The calculations consider socio-economic effects, particularly from increased CO₂ emissions due to modal shift and induced traffic, which is lacking in previous studies. To balance conflicting economic and environmental goals, the findings indicate that the implementation of HCVs could be accompanied by other policy measures. The findings are based on the Swedish context, but the model can be adapted to other countries or regions and to study other freight transport reforms.

In this chapter we develop sustainability implications of the Savall, Zardet, Bonett, and colleagues’ approach, known worldwide as socioeconomic approach to management (SEAM). SEAM can be used as a way of doing management and organizational inquiry into the ecological sustainability of practices with planetary boundaries. We conclude that a socially responsible approach to management needs to consider the hidden costs to an enterprise if it is not being sustainable to planetary resource limits.

This article presents the socio‐economic model founded and developed by the author since 1973. It focuses on the fundamental hypothesis of the socio‐economic approach to management (SEAM) and demonstrates how the model is a system‐ wide approach to change management.

At the beginning of 1992, the European Commission inaugurated its second DRIVE R&D programme to examine the benefits of implementing various Advanced Transport Telematic applications. METAFORA, one of the projects funded within this programme, was initiated by a consortium of 14 organizations. The objective of this project was to assess the applicability of mobile data communications (MDC) using satellite and electronic data interchange (EDI) in the real working environment of the road freight sector, with special attention paid to the needs of small and medium‐sized enterprises. Concentrates on presenting the findings of the MDC pilots carried out during the project. Describes the pilots, technology implemented, data sources and collection techniques, evaluation methodology used and concludes with a financial and socio‐economic cost‐benefit analysis of the trials.