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The aim of this paper is to explain how the globalisation of services can be limited or enhanced by societal effects.

This analysis is based on a single case study. The authors use a qualitative and longitudinal approach, with in‐depth interviews and archives collected during a six‐year period of participant observation inside the firm.

The authors argue that societal dimensions are at play in the evolution of services activities, and that their influence is especially strong in ex‐public services monopolies. They illustrate the limits of strategic change due to the specific dynamics of societal effects. The authors first look at the evolution of strategic fit before and after multiple changes in La Poste. They then identify different types of reactions at local level. They conclude by insisting on the enduring influence of social patterns and traditions on the adoption of new technologies and modes of organisation.

The main limitation of this research is that a more thorough comparison with other European national leaders in postal services would have helped strengthen this analysis.

A first practical implication for services firms is that societal changes should be greatly considered in their globalisation process and that societal changes are often underestimated. Another practical implication is that a globalisation of services process must certainly be situated at a global level based on national and local specificities built in time.

While comparative studies on international management have often focused on the different modes of organisation depending on culture and institutions, the impact of globalisation on services have been left relatively under‐explored. This paper takes the example of the service industry to show that cultural reasons are not sufficient to explain why the internationalisation of services may encounter difficulties. Other factors such as societal effect should be included.

Any endeavor to circumscribe, with a certain degree of precision, the nature of the relationship between social science and critical theory would appear to be daunting. Over the course of the past century, and especially since the end of World War II, countless efforts have been made in economics, psychology, political science, and sociology, to illuminate the myriad manifestations of modern social life, from a multiplicity of angles. It is doubtful that it would be possible to do justice to all the different variants of social science, in an assessment of their relationship to critical theory. Moreover, given the proliferation of critical theories since the 1980s, the effort to devise a “map” that would reflect the particular orientations and intricacies of each approach to critical theory also would be exacting, in its own right.¹

Any endeavor to circumscribe, with a certain degree of precision, the nature of the relationship between social science and critical theory would appear to be daunting. Over the course of the past century, and especially since the end of World War II, countless efforts have been made in economics, psychology, political science, and sociology to illuminate the myriad manifestations of modern social life from a multiplicity of angles. It is doubtful that it would be possible to do justice to all the different variants of social science in an assessment of their relationship to critical theory. Moreover, given the proliferation of critical theories since the 1980s, the effort to devise a “map” that would reflect the particular orientations and intricacies of each approach to critical theory would also be exacting in its own right.¹

The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational change depends on societal narratives – narratives about the character, history, or envisioned future of societies.

A case study of a Swedish municipal waste management company serves as an illustration.

Swedish waste governance is powered by two main narratives: “less landfilling” and “wasting less”. Less landfilling has been the dominant narrative for several decades, but wasting less is gaining momentum, and a new narrative order is establishing itself. This new narrative order significantly redefines the socio‐material status of waste and imposes major changes on waste management organizations.

Based on the case of waste governance in Sweden, the authors conclude that organizations should be aware that societal narrative affects the legitimacy and nature of their operations; therefore, they must integrate a watch for narrative change in their strategic reflections.

This paper establishes the relevance of the notion of societal narrative to understand organizational change.

The purpose of this paper is to show how macro‐social marketing and social engineering can be integrated and to illustrate their use by governments as part of a positive social engineering intervention with examples from the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign.

This is a conceptual paper that uses the case of the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign to show that macro‐social marketing, as part of a wider systems approach, is a positive social engineering intervention.

The use of macro‐social marketing by governments is most effective when it is coupled with other interventions such as regulations, legislation, taxation, community mobilization, research, funding and education. When a government takes a systems approach to societal change, such as with the Canadian anti‐smoking campaign, this is positive use of social engineering.

The social marketer can understand their role within the system and appreciate that they are potentially part of precipitating circumstances that make society susceptible to change. Social marketers further have a role in creating societal motivation to change, as well as promoting social flexibility, creating desirable images of change, attitudinal change and developing individual's skills, which contribute to macro‐level change.

Social marketers need to understand the structural and environmental factors contributing to the problem behavior and focus on the implementers and controllers of society‐wide strategic interventions.

Eliminating all factors which enable problem behaviors creates an environmental context where it is easy for consumers to change behavior and maintain that change.

The value of this paper is in extending the literature on macro‐social marketing by governments and identifying the broader strategy they may be undertaking using positive social engineering. It is also in showing how marketers may use this information.

In the face of crises, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have focused on their financial viability but there are other operational aspects to consider (e.g. activity or volunteer involvement). This study aims to investigate whether governance changes made by NPOs in times of crisis have enhanced organizational viability in a broader sense.

Through community-engaged research, the link between governance changes and organizational viability is examined. This study is based on a survey of 10,926 French NPOs and the conceptual framework of societal orientation.

They show that changing governance in the midst of a crisis can protect organizational viability, if the beneficiaries and members remain the core of the strategic target and if the content of volunteering remains stable.

This study, therefore, calls for a better study of the risks of governance changes for internal stakeholders, both at the level of scholars and within the organizations themselves. The results extend recent works on governance change and highlight the relevance of societal orientation in times of crisis.

This study helps to counter the criticisms regularly made about governance (particularly in France) and highlights the importance of maintaining the board of directors in NPOs. It invites NPOs to make decisions that protect their values, mission and beneficiaries at all times.

This study focuses on societal orientation in relation to stakeholder theory, as well as the nonfinancial aspects of viability.

The goal of this paper is to enhance consideration for the potential for institutions of higher education throughout the world, in different cultures and contexts, to be change agents for sustainability. As society faces unprecedented and increasingly urgent challenges associated with accelerating environmental change, resource scarcity, increasing inequality and injustice, as well as rapid technological change, new opportunities for higher education are emerging.

The paper builds on the emerging literature on transition management and identifies five critical issues to be considered in assessing the potential for higher education as a change agent in any particular region or place. To demonstrate the value of these critical issues, exemplary challenges and opportunities in different contexts are provided.

The five critical issues include regional‐specific dominant sustainability challenges, financing structure and independence, institutional organization, the extent of democratic processes, and communication and interaction with society.

Given that the challenges and opportunities for higher education as a change agent are context‐specific, identifying, synthesizing, and integrating common themes is a valuable and unique contribution.

Changes in societal preferences can have a significant impact on the business strategy of companies. This paper aims to illustrate the utility of strategic alliances in channelizing societal preferences.

LEGO and its many strategic alliances are carefully examined to illustrate the need for considering strategic alliances from a societal preference perspective. LEGO’s strategic alliances are juxtaposed with two major societal trends of the past few decades, environmental movement and multiple efforts toward greater inclusivity.

The following important lessons are elaborated for helping business organizations pursuing strategic alliances: long-term orientation should not become an excuse for complacency, need for alignment of organizations within the strategic alliance, strategic alliances should be viewed as a bidirectional channel for influence and attending to internal transformations is crucial for success.

This paper deviates from the traditional treatment of strategic alliances as a business arrangement that only drives financial performance but instead provides insights into how strategic alliances can be connected to changing societal preferences. It also challenges the received wisdom in the academic literature on strategic alliance, which is dominated by some very restrictive theoretical perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the associations of societal trust and distrust with customer orientation. This paper also examines the impact of the above associations on organizational and HRM aspects of cautiousness, culture for change and job satisfaction in the banking industry.

The data for this paper were collected from 812 bank employees in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the USA. Based on the suggestions in the literature this paper provides evidence to support the assertion that concepts of trust and distrust are not part of the same continuum.

The results show a positive association between trust and customer orientation, and provide support for the conceptual distinction between societal trust and distrust. In addition, the study shows that the presence of a culture for change in banks moderates the relationship between societal trust and customer orientation. The results also suggest the overall importance of exercising cautiousness in the banking industry.

Limitations of this research include collection of data from single sources (bank employees) and the cross‐sectional nature of the design. Implications of the results are: the distinction between trust and distrust and its implications for management of trust in organizations; the connection between trust, customer orientation and company performance; specific issues relating to banks – e.g. importance of culture of change, cautiousness and trust.

Impact of developing trust in banks is not just for the quality of the relationships among bank employees. It is also perceived by the bank's customers and will have positive implications for the performance of the bank. Also, minimizing or removing “distrust” before expecting a working environment characterized by trust can be achievable. Also, importance of creating a culture that is conducive to change is a key component of a developing and maintaining trust in organizations.

The evidence that shows the conceptual distinction between trust and distrust is a key finding. Also, cross national data on banks in which trust is shown to be connected to customer orientation and by implication to bank's performance in a unique finding.