From Rationality to Emotionally Embedded Relations: Envy as a Signal of Power in Stakeholder Relations

Although stakeholder salience theory has received a great deal of scholarly attention in the business ethics and management literature, the theory has been criticized for overemphasizing rationality in managerial perceptions. We argue that it is important to better understand what socially constructed emotions signal in business relations, and we posit the role of envy as a discursive resource used to signal and construct the asymmetrical power relations between small business owner–managers and their stakeholders. Our study is based on a qualitative study on discursive accounts elicited from 33 interviews with small business owner–managers in Finland. Our study makes two primary contributi…

Get some respect – buy organic foods! When everyday consumer choices serve as prosocial status signaling

Status considerations have recently been linked to prosocial behaviors. This research shows that even everyday consumer behaviors such as favoring organic foods serve as prosocial status signaling. Key ideas from the continuum model of consumer impression formation and the theories of costly signaling and symbolic consumption are synthetized to make sense of this phenomenon. Two web-surveys (Ns = 187, 259) and a field study (N = 336) following experimental designs are conducted. This approach allows the analysis of both the more and less conscious reactions of consumers. Study 1 shows that the image of consumers favoring organic product versions is marked by characteristics consistent with …

Palkkatyöstä itsensä työllistäjäksi : kahdentoista käsityöyrittäjän kokemuksia yrittäjäksi ryhtymisestä ja yrittäjyydestä

Empowered by stigma? Pioneer organic farmers' stigma management strategies

Abstract Pioneers of organic farming often faced social challenges as their innovative ideas on agriculture not only encountered opposition in the conventional farming community, but led to stigmatization of organic farmers as social deviants. In this study, we examine what kind of stigma management strategies pioneer organic farmers engage with in order to cultivate an alternative positive image of themselves. Our research is based on the interviews with 14 pioneer organic farmers. Based on a qualitative analysis of the interviews, we provide a model of those strategies that the creation from a stigmatized to valued identity requires. Our study increases the understanding of the institutio…

The Dynamics of (De)Stigmatization : Boundary construction in the nascent category of organic farming

This study finds that it is possible for organizations in emerging categories to resist stigmatization through discursive reconstruction of the central and distinctive characteristics of the category in question. We examined the emerging market of organic farming in Finland and discovered how resistance to stigmatization was both an internal and an external power struggle in the organic farming community. Over time, the label of organic farming was manipulated and the practice of farming was associated with more conventional and familiar contexts, while the stigma was diverted at the same time to biodynamic farming. We develop a process model for removal of stigma from a nascent category t…

Towards a Variety of Meanings - Multiple Representations of Reputation in the Small Business Context

This paper examines the discursively constructed meanings for reputation in the small business context – an area of reputation research that has so far attracted little attention. We argue that viewing reputation as a social construction makes it possible to uncover and understand the variety of meanings attached to the concept in small businesses. On the basis of 25 thematic interviews with owner-managers we (re)constructed four meanings for reputation: reputation as an economic resource, as social recognition, as a restrictive control mechanism and as a risk for personal status. We also investigate the variety of discursive events in which these meanings are created. The study further emp…

Placing resilience in context: Investigating the changing experiences of Finnish organic farmers

Understanding how farmers are resilient is critical for effective government and individual\ud management responses in an increasingly uncertain world. Through an inter-temporal focus on\ud Finnish organic farmers, we explore changing identities, attitudes and practices, and reflect on\ud ramifications for farming resilience. Despite the essentialising binaries perpetuated by discussions of\ud conventionalisation and bifurcation in the organic movement, organic production systems are, and\ud always have been, heterogeneous. This paper offers a nuanced analysis of the fluctuating and mixed\ud practices and identities that compose the sector. Considering the experiences of both ‘pioneer’ and\…

Stakeholder salience for small businesses : a social proximity perspective

This paper advances stakeholder salience theory from the viewpoint of small businesses. It is argued that the stakeholder salience process for small businesses is influenced by their local embeddedness, captured by the idea of social proximity, and characterised by multiple relationships that the owner-manager and stakeholders share beyond the business context. It is further stated that the ethics of care is a valuable ethical lens through which to understand social proximity in small businesses. The contribution of the study conceptualises how the perceived social proximity between local stakeholders and small business owner-managers influences managerial considerations of the legitimacy, …

Sweet taste of prosocial status signaling: When eating organic foods makes you happy and hopeful.

As the current research suggests that there are links between prosocial acts and status signaling (including sustainable consumer choices), we empirically study (with three experiments) whether food consumers go green to be seen. First, we examine how activating a motive for status influences prosocial organic food preferences. Then, we examine how the social visibility of the choice (private vs. public) affects these preferences. We found that when consumers' desire for status was elicited, they preferred organic food products significantly over their nonorganic counterparts; making the choice situation visible created the same effect. Finally, we go beyond consumers' evaluative and behavi…

Company values guiding the recruitment of employees with a foreign background

Purpose In this paper, the following research question is addressed: Why do business organisations recruit employees with a foreign background? This was examined in terms of the values that guide organisations and their management. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The study focused on two businesses in Finland that are pioneers in the recruitment of immigrants. A case study approach was adopted. The research data consist of interviews and documentary data. The data were analysed using content analysis in accordance with grounded theory. Findings Companies can act as an enabling force in the integration of immigrants into the local labour market, especially …

Altruism in business – an empirical study of philanthropy in the small business context

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine corporate philanthropy from the perspective of small business owner‐managers to find out whether there is room for altruism in business life.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 25 thematic interviews with small business owner‐managers. The data analysis is based on a method of qualitative content analysis.FindingsBased on the analysis, it is shown that reactivity, an emphasis on personal interests, the willingness to utilize philanthropy as part of marketing and lack of planning are typical of philanthropy in the small business context. Small businesses often emphasize strategic business reasons as the main motive for their philan…