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Presents and analyses a current discourse surrounding social and environmental responsibility in the Finnish paper industry between 1970–1995. Addresses theoretical modes of social responsibility and related environmental issues. Media as forum for debate and discourse are described and the campaign to protect Finnish wild forestry is discussed. Implications for strategic communication theory and practice are considered.

Based on Plato's thinking, connects several aspects of communication and leadership theory to focus on charismatic leadership. Speculates on the application of Plato's ideas to managerial communication and makes recommendations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the reciprocal relations between the caregiving imparted by immigration centre managers and the role of the researcher in responding to the care that is given by managerial caregivers. To enable this, we draw on a feminist theory of care ethics that considers individuals as relationally interdependent.

The analysis draws on a semi-structured interview study involving 20 Finnish immigration reception centre managers.

Insight is generated by reflecting on moments of care that arise between research participants and the researcher in a study of immigration centre management. We emphasise the importance of mature care, receptivity and engrossment in building caring relationships with research participants by acknowledging the care they give to others. Our findings draw attention to the moral and epistemological responsibility to practice care in organizational research.

The paper highlights the relationality between practicing care in immigration centre management and doing qualitative organizational research, both of which rely on mature care, receptivity and engrossment in order to meet the other morally. We draw attention to the moral responsibility to care which characterises researcher–researched relationships and emphasise the importance of challenging methodological discourses that problematise or dismiss care in qualitative organizational research.

Charismatic leadership can be defined by the features of the leaders, but also by the multiple‐level interaction processes that take place between the leaders and the led. As we approach the phenomenon, it is easy to see that in earlier research charismatic leadership is faced with many kinds of criticism. As seen, its consequences may be dangerous for organizations which may be led for “shared madness”. The undesirable consequences at the societal level include totalitarian aspects as well as truth manipulation practised by charismatic leaders. At the same time, charismatic leadership can be regarded as part of transformational leadership, where vision, intrapreneurship and emotions play a vital role. In this paper we explore charismatic leadership and followership taking a case from ice hockey coaching as an example. We suggest that ethics usually takes a guardian’s role in evaluating the outcome of charismatic leadership processes, that emotionality plays a vital role both in charismatic leadership and followership, and that charismatic leadership needs to be understood in the contexts that may culturally trigger it.

The aim of this paper is to describe and qualitatively explain certain observations concerning corporate social responsibility from the personnel standpoint with special reference to various stakeholders.

The observations were made in connection with earlier studies on organizational change. The paper draws on stakeholder thinking and offers a view regarding the way employees perceive business issues concerning CSR in relation to corporate stakeholder groups. Should a business give priority to the interests of its owners or take all stakeholder groups equally into account? How do employees see their own relations with other stakeholder groups, and do their views change in the course of a post‐merger integration process? The interviews were conducted at two points in the change process in Nordic energy sector companies: first in the pre‐merger situation in 2001 and then in the post‐merger situation four years later in 2005.

The main contribution of the study is the observation of the changing positions of stakeholder groups in a merger process. The findings show that two of these primary stakeholder groups – namely, management and owners – shift places in a merger, with owners replacing the management in the corporate core and the old, pre‐merger management joining the stakeholder group of other personnel.

The paper produces new and validated scientific information about energy‐sector mergers from the employees' point‐of‐view.

The aim of this article is to present the great lines of managerial thoughts concerning ownership, business, social responsibility and leadership. The perspective of consideration is historical, and especially conceptual. We noticed that in the twentieth century a modern business ideology began to take form. Old suppositions according to the classical economic theory about the nature of economic activities started to give way when the modern professional manager type came into the management of the firm. At that time also there developed the idea of the firm as an institution with many targets. The position of the firm in society changed, people started to make demands for a wider social responsibility. It was desired that this responsibility would be allocated to the firm and the top management on the basis that they had the obligation to do so. In this way management as a public steward is obliged to maintain and develop social targets. Further, it was essential that firms themselves began to understand the necessity of taking responsibility. Instead of maximizing profit in the short run, this was replaced by the relevant functioning which emphasized the firm’s long‐term benefit.

This paper analyzes the concept of racism in the context of business ethics and globalization. It first introduces three ethical traditions to understand moral issues in business: deontological, utilitarian and virtue ethics. Then it discusses about the challenges and demands that globalization has set to multicultural and multinational business operations. Third, it clarifies how racism works when it is understood as an ideology‐based phenomenon. It argues that there is a great value of knowing how racism works for the development of an anti‐racist and nondiscriminating organization. Although any of the three traditions on ethical thinking does not give direct answer to the question of how to develop and manage an anti‐racist business organization, but connected with the understanding of racism they can be useful tools for the leader of a multicultural organization.

The aim of this paper is to focus on the legitimacy problems faced by the Finnish forest industry in the Brazilian context, specifically from the perspective of the region's indigenous communities: the Tupinikim, the Guarani and the Pataxó.

The method used is qualitative research with a case study approach. The empirical data are based on the fieldwork in the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia. The aim was to scrutinize the corporate tactics in gaining societal legitimacy, both in Brazil and in Finland; these were categorized into thematic groups.

The legitimacy of the Finnish companies becomes questionable due to the unethical tactics of their Brazilian business partner, Aracruz Celulose SA. When the company takes its “marginal” stakeholders' demands seriously and commits itself to them in diverse ways (economically, ecologically etc.), corporate social responsibility becomes a reality. The search for legitimacy also requires the company to change its corporate knowledge production systems, and also requires a willingness on the part of the company to encounter different types of knowledge that are locally attached.

The study offers new information about the relationship between multinational corporations and local communities in Brazil – especially from the perspective of indigenous communities. The paper also contributes to legitimation research. Finally, the authors offer some concluding remarks considering the new cultural environments of Finnish companies operating in the global South.

To highlight and explore the concept of charisma and charismatic leadership and to suggest how good leadership is possible.

The article is based on the conceptual consideration.

A way to better charismatic leadership is possible to achieve, but this needs a lot of work and commitment.

The article suggests some key points to develop better charismatic leadership.

The article will be of value to those business managers who want to develop their skills of leadership

Collects thoughts that emerged during the recent virtual conference, Business and Leadership Ethics. For the consumer, legislation often seems insufficient to control the activities of business and business suffers as a result. A company’s ethical stance is frequently as important as more traditional considerations like product, service and even pricing. Considers three themes as a basis for the ethical orientation of organizations. Postmodernism is important – after all, this new collective consciousness is largely responsible for the changing view of business that necessitates this study. Despite links with older business styles, competition can be used to shift the ethical base, provided that the ethics of competition (as in sport) are also considered. Total quality management can easily be adapted – the TQM fundamental of “excellence” can become “ethical excellence”. Concludes that as business and society become partners a true moral leadership will be needed to make the relationship work.