A model is presented that examines the interactions between employee and organizational values toward the natural environment and its influence on important sustainability-related outcomes. Perspectives from the new environmental paradigm (Catton & Dunlap, 1980; Stern & Dietz, 1994), anthropocentric value orientation (Shrivastava, 1994, 1995; Pursor, Park & Montouri, 1995; Starik & Rands, 1995), behavioral view of HRM (Schuler & Jackson, 1987, 1995), and person-organizational (Chatman; 1989; Kristoff, 1996) are applied. The overall proposition is that level of congruence between employee and company values toward the natural environment influences employee attitudes toward firm green initiatives, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions.

Numerous business research models or frameworks have been developed to explain, predict, and prescribe the decisions and actions behind changing organizational behaviors to advance sustainability, including sustainability issues related to businesses. The objective of this paper is to recognize that the integration of business sustainability models for the purpose of highlighting the need and prescriptions for more urgent and effective socio-economic and environmental crises resolution is a social innovation that can be encouraged both within and outside of business academics. The scope of the paper is the full set of current and near-future entwined socio-economic and environmental challenges that appear to need to be addressed holistically by entities at the multiple levels of organization (including business), individual/community, and society.

This paper prepares an investigation into environmental performance among multinational enterprises in the context of greenhouse gas emissions. The authors offer a theoretical background about how MNCs are faced with opposing choices with regard to standardising or adjusting their local environmental performances. Moreover, we outline a potential methodology for exploring the variation in MNCs’ levels of greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

This paper prepares an investigation into the roles and effectiveness of different types of corporate governance and environmental governance mechanisms in driving improvements in environmental performance. More specifically, the authors provide background theory regarding the way in which different types of traditional corporate governance and new concepts of environmental governance might have an impact on reducing firms’ levels of greenhouse gas emissions intensities. The paper also suggests a method of how this could be empirically tested.

Against the background of various innovative business approaches developed in the last two decades that aim at directly targeting poor people as producers or consumers, this research looks at the potential of the private sector to contribute to poverty reduction in rural Ethiopia by providing improved seed to poor smallholder farmers. Smallholder productivity is very low and demand for improved seed is higher than supply in Ethiopia. An institutional economics framework is applied to analyze more than 40 expert interviews carried out in Ethiopia with stakeholders of business, government and NGOs. Results suggest that national institutions vitiate incentives for seed producers and cause transaction costs to be very high for Ethiopian seed companies. This hampers private sector development, which causes a lack of improved seed in the country. Institutional reforms are undertaken but are ambiguous in their effect on private sector development.

Shareholder activism challenges management control over the corporate status quo. Drawing on reactance theory and recent empirical work on corporate political activity (CPA) and on firms’ response to shareholder activism, and testing using data complied by the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the Federal Election Commission and others for S&P 500 firms from 1999-2006, we find evidence that CPA buffers firms from corporate social responsibility-related or socially-oriented shareholder proposals. Greater CPA, particularly greater relational CPA, influences responses of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as well as responses of the targeted firm, to help neutralize socially-oriented shareholder activism.

This paper challenges the conventional wisdom concerning the impact of the Citizens United v. FEC decision by examining the flow of corporate money into the 2012 election. The decision, which is consistent with most prior case law and was not a radical departure, promoted the use of super PACs and 501-c(4) committees for political money that were not widely used by corporations, and the super PACs and c-4 committees were largely ineffective in the 2012 election. They also did not produce a marked advantage for the Republican Party, especially in the presidential election. The Citizens United decision did, however, lead to other legal and regulatory developments in an effort to promote greater disclosure, though those developments have not been successful. Investors have been somewhat more successful in promoting limits on corporate political spending through shareholder proposals. Some state laws and upcoming court cases maylimit other restrictions on political contributions.

This paper draws upon recent insights into the emergence of issue-focused stakeholder networks which engage in a co-creative process for constructing mutual value. It applies these insights to evaluate Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott’s “21st Century Leadership” effort to impose an ethical supply chain control system in China. The paper concludes that further institutional innovation (especially relating to the decentered process of co-creative learning) is needed to realize the potential of 21st century transformational leadership at Wal-Mart and elsewhere.

As important stakeholder research streams have built their own silos over time, it has become increasingly difficult to visualize a full picture of stakeholder management. To begin to address this gap, we synthesize five distinct stakeholder research streams, which include stakeholder identification, stakeholder understanding, stakeholder awareness, stakeholder prioritization, and stakeholder action. We juxtapose each of these five stakeholder research streams with Scott’s framework consisting of participants, socials structure, environment, technology, and goals of an organization, respectively. What emerges from this analysis of the literature is the notion of “stakeholder work” defined as the purposive processes of an organization aimed at identifying, understanding, being aware of, prioritizing, and acting with respect to stakeholders.

I introduce a conceptualization of stakeholders as social groups and of stakeholder relationships as intergroup processes. Drawing on instrumental stakeholdertheory and social identity theory, I argue that salient stakeholder identities affect trust and cooperation in issue-based stakeholder relationships differently. Two web-based experimental studies are presented to support this claim. Study 1 (N = 115) provides evidence for the negative impact of salient specific stakeholder identities on trust and cooperation among stakeholders in the context of a complex issue. Study 2 (N = 83) introduces the concept of a superordinated stakeholder identity to counteract these harmful consequences of salient specific stakeholder identities. Further, both studies support the hypothesis of intergroup trust being a mediator of the relationship between an individual’s identification with a stakeholder group and cooperation.

Recent studies have shown that we should re-think the value creation process leveraging the utility functions of multiple stakeholders (Harrison et al., 2010; Tantalo and Priem, 2010; Tantalo, 2011). Following this approach, we develop a case study that shows a real example of shared value creation. The case focuses on Palm, a small Italian pallet manufacturer that has adopted a socially and environmentally conscious business model that produces value for multiple stakeholders.

The purpose of this research was to discover and describe the economic contribution one group of women entrepreneurs. The research participants were lowresource and laid-off women who had graduated from a Microenterprise Assistance Program (MEP). There was no differentiation among women by age, race, or ethnicity. The theoretical landscape that underpins this research includes economic geography and women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship and economic development. This research provided a geographic representation of the dispersion and volume of the self-reported business expenses of women entrepreneurs located in one geographic area. In addition, this research developed and examined the viability of an assessment tool that maps the business payments made by entrepreneurs.

This workshop complemented a Professional Development Workshop offered at the 2012 Academy of Management meeting on “Effective online teaching for social and environmental topics.” This workshop provided new perspectives on how to adapt and enhance Business & Society/Business Ethics (B&S/BE) undergraduate courses with the adult learner in mind. This workshop was led by conference participants who have experience teaching B&S/BE courses for adult learners.

The Millennial Generation (Gen Y) has grown up with unprecedented access to technology and they view learning and access to information differently than previous generations. These differences mean that there is a need to engage them in new and creative ways in the classroom. This paper offers a variety of pedagogical approaches for Business & Society that are linked specifically to generational differences in order to better address the needs of Gen Y. Responses from student reflections to these changes are discussed, as are limitations and considerations necessary when making any extensive pedagogical shifts.

Experiential education produces numerous benefits to students in terms of higher order thinking skills such as the ability to evaluate, analyze, and synthesizeinformation (Illeris, 2007; Ives & Obenchain, 2006; Lidon, Rebollar, & Møller, 2011), engagement (Baker & Comer, 2012), and work-readiness (Jollands, Jolly, & Molyneaux, 2012). Partnering with community organizations provides a means to create experiential education opportunities for students. In this symposium, we discussed three examples of experiential education to promote learning around themes of sustainability, providing a brief outline of the activities, the intended outcomes, and the lessons learned from our experiences. We concluded with a meditation on the importance of working with community partners and managing expectations so that students, the community, and the institutions gain the best possible outcomes when creating town-gown partnerships for sustainability education.

Bottled water drains natural resources and harms the environment. Yet, sometimes conference attendees rely on bottled water for the sake of convenience. Thispaper, summarizing our interactive session, outlines the issues associated with the manufacture, distribution, and disposal of bottled water. Next, we present results of the Bottled Water Challenge, summarizing attendees ideas for reducing the use of bottled water at IABS. Finally, we outline how the Bottled Water Challenge can be adapted for other instructional uses.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an empirical study aimed at examining whether a student’s competitiveness orientation in a negotiation class could be shifted to a more socially responsible collaborative orientation. Several subtle manipulations were made between two different sections of the same undergraduate negotiation class. Data on competitiveness, empathy and perspective taking were collected at the beginning and again at the conclusion of the class. While sample size limited the impact of the findings, the data suggested that the manipulations may have had a positive effect.

As the name indicates, we wanted to provide a forum for new and experienced IABS members to share current challenges and insights about teaching in our field. Within our participant group, many had taught in the field for more than two decades and had shared ideas with each other over these years at previous IABS meetings. We were happy to welcome and learn from several younger scholars as well, who brought their inspiration and enthusiasm to our discussion. There was no conceived or imposed structure for our session, in the true Open Mike format. We did try to follow up each idea and question that was raised with supportive reflections and relevant contributions.

This “paper” recalls the events that shaped the first international conference of the International Association for Business and Society. A number of surprises andfortunate circumstances determined the actual nature of our 1992 meeting in Leuven, Belgium. This description provides a brief overview of that conference’s planning and execution.