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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes, Anne Keränen and Pauliina Ulkuniemi

To respond to recent calls for better understanding of the complexities related to happiness management, especially from the employees' perspective, this study examines how…

1708

Abstract

Purpose

To respond to recent calls for better understanding of the complexities related to happiness management, especially from the employees' perspective, this study examines how corporate volunteering (CV), as one form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), creates sustainable happiness in business organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Theoretical knowledge of CSR and CV as well as the literature on happiness management was examined to form a preliminary understanding of the phenomenon. The empirical section includes a qualitative multiple case study including two company cases of CV in Finland. The data were collected through qualitative interviews. Empirical analysis was made using thematical coding based on existing theory but also by allowing themes to emerge inductively from the data as well.

Findings

The study found that CV enables the emergence of sustainable happiness by allowing individual employee volunteers to transition from individual and rational mindsets to collective and emotional mindsets. A third transition was also identified, a process of change in the volunteers' approach in life that the authors describe as “from actual to potential”.

Originality/value

The study provides a theoretical contribution to the existing literature on happiness management by identifying the third dimension, from actual to potential, and depicting the way this allows employees to move from a state of being to becoming and thus the emergence of sustainable happiness. The study also contributes to existing literature on CV and CSR by revealing the way CV, as a form of practical CSR activity, generates happiness. This study concludes that companies' strategic activities that engage with society can create sustainable happiness for employees who participate. In order to achieve this, volunteering employees should have the chance to reflect on their experience and constant support from managers.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 62 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 June 2023

Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes and Naser Firoozi

To succeed in today’s dynamic and unpredictable business world, businesses are increasingly required to gain the trust of and inform the society in which they operate about the…

1425

Abstract

Purpose

To succeed in today’s dynamic and unpredictable business world, businesses are increasingly required to gain the trust of and inform the society in which they operate about the social and environmental consequences of their actions. Corporations’ claims regarding the responsibility and ethicality of their actions, however, have been shown to be contradictory to some degree. We define corporations’ deceitful implementation of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as pseudo-CSR. We argue that it is the moral characteristics of individuals, i.e. employees, managers and other decision-makers who ignore the CSR policies, which produce pseudo-CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper.

Findings

The authors conceptualize the gap between true CSR and pseudo-CSR on a cognitive individual level as “moral laxity,” resulting from organization-induced lack of effort concerning individual moral development through ethical discourse, ethical sensemaking and subjectification processes. The absence of these processes prohibits individuals in organizations from constructing ethical identities to inhibit pseudo-CSR activities.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on CSR by augmenting corporate-level responsibility with the hitherto mostly neglected, yet significant, role of the individual in bridging this gap.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2021

Aldona Glińska-Neweś, Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes, Anne Keränen and Pauliina Ulkuniemi

The purpose of this study is to examine how employee competences can be developed through corporate volunteering (CV). Specifically, this study focuses on diversity of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how employee competences can be developed through corporate volunteering (CV). Specifically, this study focuses on diversity of volunteering studies categorized according to the type of beneficiaries and intensity of volunteer contact with them. The study examines how the beneficiary-employee relation influences the development of employee competences in CV projects.

Design/methodology/approach

In this qualitative empirical study, interview data collected in Poland about the perceived effects of CV projects on employee competences was used.

Findings

The findings suggest that to understand the competences generated in CV, attention needs to be paid to the nature of the volunteering study itself. The study proposes four different logics of competence development in CV, based on the type of the beneficiary and contact with them.

Research limitations/implications

The study builds on managers’ perceptions of competence development. For a holistic understanding, future research should include employees’ perceptions of the process. Also, more research is needed regarding national and organizational settings as factors in competence development through CV.

Practical implications

The study suggests how companies could best engage in volunteering programs and improve existing ones to make them more beneficial for all parties involved.

Social implications

The findings build the better business case for CV and other corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, i.e. they deliver rationales for business engagement in this regard.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the conceptual understanding of CSR activities by presenting four logics of competence development in CV.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 April 2022

Jianzhong Li, Alhanouf Alburaikan and Rita de Fátima Muniz

The main purpose of this paper is to create a suitable structure based on neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the safety performance in construction projects in such a way that the…

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to create a suitable structure based on neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the safety performance in construction projects in such a way that the shortcomings can be highlighted with the reasoned measurement and possible strategies can be recommended.

Design/methodology/approach

Data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is a useful tool for performance appraisal, along with neutrosophic logic, which is one of the most complete tools for handling uncertainty phenomenon, has been used to evaluate the safety performance of construction projects. With this hybrid model, a new strategy is considered as an indicator for safety performance and comparisons are made between different units.

Findings

A total of 35 Chinese organizations with construction projects lasting between 1.5 and 2 years were selected for comparison. After processing the data into neutrosophic numbers and using the NN-DEA model, it can be found that projects that pay more attention to safety issues such as training and equipment are more efficient.

Originality/value

Since in the real world, there are uncertainties with different contradictions, and neutrosophical data can handle many of these challenges, using DEA model with neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the performance of construction projects from a safety perspective, can provide significantly better results. Therefore, considering that no study has been presented in this field so far, the authors will deal with this topic.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 61 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 June 2023

Nian Zhang, Shuo Zheng, Lingyuan Tian and Guiwu Wei

In the supply chain disruption risk, the issue of supplier evaluation and selection is solved by an extended VIKOR method based on regret theory.

Abstract

Purpose

In the supply chain disruption risk, the issue of supplier evaluation and selection is solved by an extended VIKOR method based on regret theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Considering the influence of irrational emotions of decision makers, an evaluation model is designed by the regret theory and VIKOR method, which makes the decision-making process closer to reality.

Findings

The paper has some innovations in the evaluation index system and evaluation model construction. The method has good stability under the risk of supply chain interruption.

Originality/value

The mixed evaluation information is used to describe the attributes, and the evaluation index system is constructed by the combined method of the social network analysis method and the literature research method to ensure the accuracy and accuracy of the extracted attributes. The issue of supplier evaluation and selection is solved by an extended VIKOR method based on regret theory.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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