210 research outputs found
The collaborative enterprise framework
No full textThis chapter aims to explore collaborative ways of doing business
where enterprises seek to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders and want to produce sustainable values for their whole business ecosystems.
Based on the arguments developed by the Group of Lisbon,
chaired by Riccardo Petrella, and the late London Business School
professor Sumantra Ghoshal, we criticize the one-dimensional pursuit of competitiveness of contemporary business. We think that the exclusive focus on monetary results (especially short-term shareholder value) is detrimental for nature, society and future generations, and finally for business itself.
The strength and sustainability of enterprises come from their
ability to fit into the environmental, social and cultural context in
which they function. By creating values for all stakeholders, enterprises can involve them and gain deep support based on their commitment. This may lead to superior performance from a multiple bottom line perspective
Beyond competitiveness: Creating values for a sustainable world
No full textEconomics is rightly called a ‘dismal science.‘ It propagates a
negativistic view of human nature. In this view agents are always
self-interested and want to maximize their own profit or utility. Their interactions are based on competition only and their criterion of success is growth measured in money terms. Mainstream economics generates vicious circles in which market players expect the worst from others and act accordingly. Competitive economics produces an enormous abundance of goods and services but at an intolerable environmental and social cost.
If we want to get closer to a sustainable world we need to
generate virtuous circles in economic life where good dispositions,
good behavior and good expectations reinforce each other. Our
collaborative enterprise project promotes a view in which economic agents care about others and themselves and aim to create values for all the participants in their business ecosystems. Their criterion of success is mutually satisfying relationships with the stakeholders
Engaging in progressive entrepreneurship
No full textShareholder value maximization and competitiveness are at the
core of today’s business and economic policy. Companies seek to
improve their productivity and try to gain competitive advantage. But these efforts often produce negative effects on various stakeholders at home and abroad. Competitiveness in most cases produces monetary results for the shareholders at the expense of other stakeholders.
Based on the arguments developed by the the Group of Lisbon, the late Sumantra Ghoshal of London Business School, and Canadian management guru Henry Mintzberg, we criticize the one-dimensional pursuit of profit and the competitiveness of contemporary business. We contend that the exclusive focus on monetary results (especially short-term shareholder value) could produce negative results for nature, society, and future generations, and finally be self-defeating for business itself.
We argue for a collaborative approach, one which goes beyond the
current constraints of the business-as-usual perspective and provides a more reliable framework for broad values-creation processes
The importance of meta-economics
No full textE.F. Schumacher was one of the first scholars who recognized the crucial role of metaeconomics.
In his "Small is beautiful" he writes: "The science of economics is 'so prone to usurp
the rest' … because it relates to certain very strong drives of human nature, such as envy and
greed. All the greater is the duty of its experts, the economists, to understand and clarify its
limitations, that is to say, to understand meta-economics." (Schumacher, E. F. 1973: p. 38)
Meta-economics is the basic assumptions about the subject-matter, value-orientation and
methodology of economics. (Zsolnai, L. 1991) The paper attempts to reconstruct the metaeconomic
foundation of mainstream economics and that of alternative economics initiated by
Schumacher. It shows how the emerging alternative economics transcends the erroneous metaeconomic
assumptions of mainstream economics by considering the total economic process,
choosing sustainable livelihood as basic value-orientation, and employing a constructive
methodology
The future international manager: a vision of the roles and duties of management
No full textThe professional standing of business management is questionable
today. In comparing business management with the more
traditional professions of law and medicine, we can find the
former wanting. This book presents the desired professional
profile of international managers working in the challenging
context of the twenty-first-century ecological, economic, and social
reality. The future international manager is defined as a reflexive
practitioner, who is committed to environmental sustainability,
exercises social responsibility, works with sensitivity toward
gender and diversity issues, harmonizes information communication technologies with processes and organizational culture, applies holistic perspective in problem solving, cooperates with social and political actors, and is engaged in progressive entrepreneurship.
Unless future international managers demonstrate that they
serve the common good in their daily practice, the legitimacy
and moral standing of the business profession remain questionable.
We hope that "The Future International Manager" contributes to
changing the business profession for the better
The Collaborative Enterprise
No full textInstead of the currently prevailing
competitive model, a more collaborative strategy is needed to
address the concerns related to the unsustainability of today’s
business. This article aims to explore collaborative
approaches where enterprises seek to build long-term,
mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders and
want to produce sustainable values for their whole business
ecosystem. Cases here analyzed demonstrate that alternative
ways of doing business are possible. These enterprises
share more democratic ownership structures, more
balanced and broader governance systems, and a more
comprehensive view of organizational goals and performance
– which goes beyond the narrow concept of
financial bottom line and into a stronger and systematic care
of the needs and requirements of the different stakeholder
groups. Thanks to this evidence and different theoretical
and empirical contributions, we suggest that the strength
and sustainability of enterprises come from their ability to fit
into the environmental, social, and cultural context in
which they operate. By creating values for all stakeholders,
enterprises can involve them and gain deep support based
on their commitment. This may lead to superior performance
from a multiple-bottom-line perspective
Collaborative Enterprise and Sustainability: The Case of Slow Food
No full textThe current and prevailing paradigm of intensive agricultural production is a straightforward example of the mainstream way of doing business. Mainstream enterprises are based on a negativistic view of human nature that leads to counter-productive and unsustainable behaviours producing negative impact for society and the natural environment. If we want to change the course, then different players are needed, which can flourish thanks to their capacity to serve others and creating values for all the participants in the network in which they are embedded. In the article, through the analysis of the Slow Food movement and the use of recent theoretical and empirical contributions in behavioural sciences and psychology, we support the collaborative enterprise model as an alternative to the still prevailing, mainstream business models. Evidence shows that caring and responsible efforts of economic agents are acknowledged and reciprocated even in highly competitive markets
Future of Capitalism
No full textThe moral foundation of capitalism should be reconsidered. Modern capitalism is
disembedded from the social and cultural norms of society and produced a deep financial,
ecological and social crisis. Competitiveness is the prevailing ideology of today’s business
and economic policy. Companies, regions, and national economies seek to improve their
productivity and gain competitive advantage. But these efforts often produce negative effects
on various stakeholders at home and abroad. Competitiveness involves self-interest and
aggressivity and produces monetary results at the expense of nature, society and future
generations
The collaborative enterprise framework promotes a view in which economic agents care about
others and themselves and aim to create values for all the participants in their business
ecosystems. Their criterion of success is mutually satisfying relationships with the
stakeholders. New results of positive psychology and the Homo reciprocans model of
behavioral sciences support this approach.
The economic teachings of world religions challenge the way capitalism is functioning, and
their corresponding perspectives are worthy of consideration. They represent life-serving
modes of economizing which can assure the livelihood of human communities and the
sustainability of natural ecosystems.
Ethics and the future of capitalism are strongly connected. If we want to sustain capitalism for
a long time we have to create a less violent, more caring form of it
The Collaborative Enterprise: Creating Values for a Sustainable World
No full textCompetitive economics produces an enormous abundance of goods and services but at an intolerable environmental and social cost.
Competition has become an end in itself, which leads to detrimental effects on nature, society and future generations. A change of paradigm is needed. Business should respect the ecological and social limits in which it operates and embed its activities in the natural and social systems.
This book promotes a collaborative attitude of doing business based on a positive view of the self and others. Theoretical contributions, reflections, cases, examples, and initiatives collected in the book show that a collaborative enterprise is not only possible but also a feasible and desirable alternative to the current, self-defeating, managerial models. Innovative firms seeking to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with all of their stakeholders while producing values for their business ecosystems represent well-grounded hopes for a really sustainable future
The Collaborative Enterprise: Creating Values for a Sustainable World
No full textCompetitive economics produces an enormous abundance of goods and services but at an intolerable environmental and social cost.
Competition has become an end in itself, which leads to detrimental effects on nature, society and future generations. A change of paradigm is needed. Business should respect the ecological and social limits in which it operates and embed its activities in the natural and social systems.
This book promotes a collaborative attitude of doing business based on a positive view of the self and others. Theoretical contributions, reflections, cases, examples, and initiatives collected in the book show that a collaborative enterprise is not only possible but also a feasible and desirable alternative to the current, self-defeating, managerial models. Innovative firms seeking to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with all of their stakeholders while producing values for their business ecosystems represent well-grounded hopes for a really sustainable future
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