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The future of work is constantly evolving and changing, making it increasingly challenging for businesses to anticipate and respond to these changes. Strategic foresight, the process of systematically exploring the future to identify and understand potential opportunities and threats, has become an essential tool for organisations that want to remain competitive and adapt to the changing nature of work. This paper focuses on the futures triangle tool, a widely used strategic foresight tool, and provides examples of how it can be used by organisations to prepare for the future of work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the authors discusses their call for papers on the contestations related to social responsibilities of business in both global South and global North with deadline of submission in February 2022.

The article presents the discussion on exploring the local and contextualized experiences of social responsibilities. Topics include new institutions such as multi-stakeholder initiatives and public-private partnerships; and determined by negotiated roles and associated expectations where individuals, groups and organizations/workplaces constructing and adopting in relation to other actors.

Entrepreneurship is regarded by policy makers and politicians as an accelerant for economic development. Economic geography demonstrates that rather than stimulating entrepreneurship in general, policy makers should support specific forms of entrepreneurship that fuel wider growth. The paper's original contribution is to insist that entrepreneurship research must also explore less growth-oriented, but crucially very widespread, forms of entrepreneurial activity. The paper therefore places solo self-employment – the self-employed without employees – centre stage as an exemplar of this trend. Research is presented on private tutors who run businesses from home, offering children one-to-one tuition in the burgeoning supplementary education industry. The paper scrutinises the causes, configuration and consequences of such solo self-employment as an economically marginal, but numerically dominant, form of entrepreneurship. In so doing, it makes three conceptual advances in the exploration of heterogeneous entrepreneurship. First, in examining why individuals become self-employed, the paper moves beyond classic efforts to understand entrepreneurship through binary push/pull mechanisms in models of occupational choice. Instead, the analysis demonstrates the importance of risk in entrepreneurship and paid employment, highlighting the multiple pathways into solo self-employment as opportunities and constraints coalesce in individual's lives. Secondly, in considering how the solo self-employed think about business, the research breaks through conventional definitions of entrepreneurship to demonstrate that solo self-employment involves a distinctively entrepreneurial subjectivity and practices. Thirdly, by investigating the consequences of solo self-employment, the findings transcend dualist interpretations of self-employment as the realm of entrepreneurial wealth or economic precarity, highlighting instead a security–precarity continuum in immediate and long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on re-conceptualizing the social responsibilities of business organizations by advancing research using a relational perspective. Topics include highlighting the role of context of the social responsibilities of business focusing especially on contestation in overlooked geographic settings and sites of marginalization; and designed for addressing social responsibilities globally being dominated by corporate organizations.

Countries in the Global South are particularly vulnerable to social and political violence. This paper suggests that such violence makes certain recalcitrant economic interests more open to taxes and spending on social welfare. Using results from a survey experiment of business owners and operators in Mexico, we show that relative to more innocuous institutional weaknesses, concerns over violence generally increase support for anti-poverty spending and decrease support for tax cuts. To build a theory, we explore heterogeneous effects and textual data. The findings suggest that business interests see anti-poverty spending as a tool for shoring up costs of violence in consumer markets, with some leaders even extending support to welfare-enhancing taxes. However, violence can create challenges in labor markets that increase operational costs, leading some business interests to resist tax policies that ask them to help fund social programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses several articles published within issue on topics related to social responsibilities of business.

The article focuses on Contesting Social Responsibilities of Business. Topics discussed include explore and bring to the fore experiences of different forms of contestation of these social responsibilities; and aim to highlight the role of context of the social responsibilities of business, focusing especially on contestation in overlooked geographic settings and sites of marginalization.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including social responsibilities of business, individuals and groups experience contestations, and groups and communities from various geographic and geopolitical contexts.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including individuals and groups experience contestations, social responsibilities of business, and geographic and geo-political contexts.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including local and contextualized experiences of social responsibilities, highly contextualized, and geographic and geo-political.

Global commodity capitalism necessitates the fast and efficient movement of all manner of entities across the globe. Importantly, this commercial flow needs to be secured against the undocumented and unregulated flow of illegitimate people, finance and information, counterfeits, drugs, terror and other undesirables. The organizational practices of business logistics are central for achieving this objective. Yet they have received little attention in management and organization studies to date. We suggest a fruitful avenue is via Foucault's notion of 'biopower' – particularly his less discussed concept (in management studies, at least) of an apparatus of security. This is useful for understanding the emergent organizational/management practices of security in the border spaces in which business logistics operate. If 'Society Must Be Defended', as Foucault ironically notes in his famous lecture series that introduces biopower, then so too must contemporary organizations and their net-like activities within the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lack of access to affordable, accessible, over-the-counter medications and health-related items affects school attendance, academic performance, and individual health. Increasing access through innovations, such as Pharmacy Vending Machines (PhVMs), may address the burdens students face in university settings. In January 2021, two PhVMs were placed on Purdue University's campus to increase access to affordable and dependable 24/7 family planning items, cold/flu remedies, and other popular over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Based on the success of the initiative and growing student body, the program was expanded to include two additional machines in August 2021. In this article, we detail how Purdue University planned, implemented, and evaluated a campus-wide PhVM program, which was an interdisciplinary collaboration across students, faculty, and staff in the College of Health and Human Sciences and College of Pharmacy. Pharmaceutical product availability in convenient vending machines dispersed throughout a campus contributes to a solution for the increasing demand for health products among consumers in large geographic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including local and contextualized experiences of social responsibilities, inter-organizational, institutional, and discursive contestations.

Rule evasion by companies is a major driver of change in contemporary market societies. Recent research holds that periods of market instability offer opportunities to bring rule evasion under control because crises expose hidden market practices. Based on original archival evidence from the financial crisis of 1974, this article shows that rule evasion is disclosed not automatically, but strategically and selectively. To explain the ensuing dynamics, the article develops a Goffmanian framework in which regulators learn of a crisis of rule evasion backstage (in their interactions with companies) but use a conventional definition of the situation frontstage (in their presentations to the public). In an as yet unrecognized outcome, the regulators may find themselves caught between frontstage and backstage: their communications to the public limit their room for maneuver against the companies backstage, forcing them to repurpose their extant crisis-management tools. Because regulators publicly pretend to stay within their mandate, this form of crisis response renders re-regulation of rule evasion less likely. The finding contributes a new explanation for a central puzzle in the burgeoning sociology of crises: why periods of instability so rarely lead to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite numerous promises and pledges at national and international levels to confront what many acknowledge as a crisis, illegal trade in wild plants and animals continues to grow and diversify. Empirical research conducted in Norway and Uganda from 2013 to 2015 indicates that despite the different circumstances in which law enforcement operates in the two countries, policing agents face a number of comparable challenges. Drawing on institutional theory the paper argues that decoupling, that is, gaps between official policies and daily work activities within the policing organizations, compromises enforcement in both countries. Challenges stem from conflicting demands, poor resources and want of guidelines that oblige officers to prioritize the control of illegal wildlife trade in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite anecdotal evidence showing that some CEOs possess narcissistic personality traits, research on this individual characteristic is still lagging behind. Though the literature has established that narcissistic CEO traits may affect firm performance, it is not clear whether they act as constructive or destructing forces in family firms. This is particularly important given family firms' attention towards the preservation of socioemotional wealth. A question thus arises: Can family firms benefit from narcissistic CEOs or should they avoid appointing individuals with this personality trait? Our analysis of unique data from Italian CEOs – collected through a survey and a psychometric test – reveals that CEO narcissism is lower in family firms, and among family CEOs. Nevertheless, in family firms, more narcissistic CEOs tend to exploit greater innovation opportunities by fostering higher top management teams strategic decision comprehensiveness. Our findings advance our understanding of narcissism in leadership positions, highlighting its importance for family firms' innovation and providing meaningful contributions for research on CEO personality, family business and innovation, as well as for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are disproportionately unemployed, underpaid, and underemployed despite their desire and capacity to work. The U.S. federal/state vocational rehabilitation (VR) program, under the supervision of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), is charged with providing services to assist eligible PWDs (VR consumers) in achieving employment. Despite research showing that VR consumers closed to self-employment (vs. non-self-employment closures) have better outcomes, self-employment is often considered as a last resort. Moreover, some evidence suggests self-employment (like non-self-employment) outcomes are associated with VR consumers' gender and racial/ethnic identity. The objective of this study was to determine trends of case closures in self-employment among PWDs within the VR program from 2011–2013 to 2017–2019 and to examine the effects of gender and race/ethnicity on self-employment outcomes. Variables of interest were obtained from RSA's Case Service Report (RSA-911) data set for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Data were recoded and analyzed. The number of closures in self-employment declined significantly. Weekly earnings in self-employment increased. Time from application to closure in self-employment decreased. Differences in VR self-employment outcomes by race/ethnicity and gender were noted. Efforts should be made to increase competency in self-employment of VR counselors and promote self-employment within the VR program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time is NOW for Lifestyle Medicine. In this review based on a presentation at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) 2021 annual conference, ACLM Current President Cate Collings, MD, Immediate Past-President Dexter Shurney, MD, and President Elect Beth Frates, MD, share insights on the current state of lifestyle medicine (LM). Interest in LM has greatly advanced in the face of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded educational opportunities in the field, and a rapidly changing healthcare landscape. With growing access to virtual care, advancing technologies, growing emphasis on home-based chronic care, continuing corporate healthcare mergers and acquisitions, and widening adoption of personalized, patient-empowered treatments, the time is ripe for LM interventions to move to the mainstream. As health investments and costs skyrocket, and new players enter the scene, traditional models of payments, reimbursements, and incentives are slowly being upended. Companies and healthcare systems are finally recognizing the scientific evidence and powerful but undervalued potential of LM to accelerate healthy outcomes while controlling costs. Taken together, the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth in LM educational opportunities, and the evolving "business of medicine landscape" signal that the time for lifestyle medicine is NOW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How has the experience of managerial work changed in the digital age? This two-phase (2002–2006, 2015–2019) study addresses this question by examining how middle managers perceive the spatio-temporal boundaries of their work to have shifted. Typically, such managers report change occurring in two directions: (i) the contractual employment boundary becoming stretched as hours completed inside the workplace increase; and (ii) this boundary becoming breached as managers conduct additional work voluntarily from locations outside corporate premises. Although such trends can be explained deterministically – the former stemming from corporate acceptance of consultancy-influenced organizational prescriptions (business process reengineering, lean management, agile management etc.), and the latter from widespread adoption of digital communication innovations (BlackBerry, email, WhatsApp etc.) – we argue that to achieve a more rounded appreciation of such work 'extensification' attention must also be paid to agentic forces of strategic and political choice. Developing this argument, and acknowledging paradox when theorizing spatio-temporal change, we suggest future research on managerial employment must entail documenting not only factors influencing the stretching and breaching of work boundaries, but also – given incipient political regulations and innovative surveillance technologies – others serving to strengthen and protect them, notably those directed at improving work–life balance and physical/psychological health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 2010s, the future of work gathered attention from the most influential actors in global social governance. The International Labour Organization (ILO), since 2015 and in the context of its Future of Work Initiative, aimed to position itself in the discussion by putting this issue at the centre of their activities for its centenary (2019). The normative and conceptual approach developed by the ILO in this initiative was named the 'human-centred agenda', aimed to align technological change with decent work and social justice. Although preliminary scholarly works have seen these efforts as a humanistic and pro-worker 'countermovement', a deeper analysis of the ideas and interests involved in the Future of Work Initiative reveals a different, more complex picture. This article studies the creation of the human-centred agenda led by the ILO secretariat and the Global Commission on the Future of Work, and how it was further negotiated and modified by the social partners in the making of the Centenary Declaration in 2019. In particular, it shows how business at the ILO and right-wing populist governments, in tandem, reoriented the human-centred agenda towards a pro-employer perspective, thus framing social and labour policy as a tool for adapting the workforce to technological change. It concludes with some reflections about the consequences of these developments for the ILO's position in global governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how political connection shapes firm owner preference on economic openness and international competition in China, a topic that is getting increasingly relevant today amid China's trade disputes with its trading partners over the nature of the country's business-government relations. Politically connected entrepreneurs and their enterprises usually exploit and benefit from their political resources, but this can lead to both supporting and opposing views on expanding trade liberalization. To solve this puzzle, this article proposes a theory that focuses on (1) a selection effect of political connection on firm productivity and (2) trade-related institutional development in China. With survey data on China joining the world trade organization, I develop a modified Bayesian item response theory model to measure political connection and find that Chinese politically connected entrepreneurs held a less supportive view before joining the world trade organization than their less connected counterparts. This suggests an anticipation that the imminent opening would neutralize the privileges of politically connected entrepreneurs. By looking at trade liberalization, this article offers a firm level analysis that political opposition to sustained economic reform may derive from the short-term winners, instead of the losers, in transitional societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pensions and social insurance—key parts of the welfare state—redistribute income and wealth across class by providing, or not providing, practical and legitimate access to basic income without requiring work for pay. Mistaken attention to generational equity and austerity economics creates a set of beliefs that older people should work more, forming what the article calls an emerging "Working Longer Consensus," which is supported by three false doctrines. Using OECD data and secondary sources, the article counters each false doctrine by showing that healthy longevity gains are not distributed equally; there is no demonstrated trade-off between public spending for the elderly and children; and a greater supply of elder labor does not necessarily mean economic prosperity. The Working Longer Consensus, like the Washington Consensus, promises that pension austerity will yield economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do some business associations mobilize, engage in collective action, and take public stands against the populist right while others do not? This article examines business mobilization against the populist right in Germany, which is heavily export-oriented and reliant on the European and global market order. Drawing on interviews with three business associations, the article presents three key findings. First, economic self-interest is a powerful driver of business mobilization: perceived threats and vulnerability spurred two German associations to act collectively against right-wing populism. However, mobilization is driven not by declining revenues or profits but by a mixture of values and material interests. Second, business associations that mobilize stress the need to reform the system, democratize the European Union, and address those who feel "left behind." Third, medium-size, export-oriented manufacturers are the core business constituency supporting liberal democracy and the European Union. The article shows that some business factions can play a role in defending the liberal international order against right-wing populism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on 49 oral-history interviews with Scottish family business owner-managers, six key-informant interviews, and secondary sources, this interdisciplinary study analyses the decline of kinship-based connections and the emergence of new kinds of elite networks around the 1980s. As the socioeconomic context changed rapidly during this time, cooperation built primarily around literal family ties could not survive unaltered. Instead of finding unity through bio-legal family connections, elite networks now came to redefine their 'family businesses' in terms of affectively loaded 'family values' such as loyalty, care, commitment, and even 'love'. Consciously nurturing 'as-if-family' emotional and ethical connections arose as a psychologically effective way to bring together network members who did not necessarily share pre-existing connections of bio-legal kinship. The social-psychological processes involved in this extension of the 'family' can be understood using theories of the moral sentiments first developed in the Scottish Enlightenment. These theories suggest that, when the context is amenable, family-like emotional bonds can be extended via sympathy to those to whom one is not literally related. As a result of this 'progress of sentiments', one now earns his/her place in a Scottish family business, not by inheriting or marrying into it, but by performing family-like behaviours motivated by shared ethics and affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: As the scope and nature of practice evolves in an ever-changing health and social care landscape, it is imperative the profession continues to expand the evidence base underpinning interventions. The Royal College of Occupational Therapists partnered with the James Lind Alliance to bring together people with lived experience, occupational therapists and other people working in the health and care sector to identify contemporary research priorities for the profession in the United Kingdom. Method: The JLA's well-established methodology was adopted. An opening consultation survey gathered unanswered questions. Analysis of responses and evidence checking preceded an initial prioritisation survey. The final prioritisation workshop drew on nominal group technique. Findings: 927 respondents submitted 2193 questions. Those within the project's scope were captured in 66 overarching summary questions using thematic analysis. These were initially ranked by 1140 respondents. 18 questions comprising the 10 most highly ranked by people with lived experience and by those with professional experience were considered by 19 participants in the final workshop. Together, they reached consensus on the Top 10 priorities. Conclusion: These research priorities provide a contemporary framework influencing and guiding future research, ensuring it addresses the issues of greatest importance to people accessing and delivering services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In board governance literature and practice, the presence of outside directors is presumed to have a beneficial effect on board effectiveness and firm performance. This study challenges this prevailing view by exploring the boundary conditions and intermediate mechanism preventing the potential benefits of outside directors. Our results reveal that reality is more complex than previously assumed. Using unique data from a sample of 561 Belgian small and medium-sized enterprises, we find that the presence of outside directors has a neutral or even negative effect under certain boundary conditions on board service engagement in the small and medium-sized enterprises context. Family ownership control and infrequent board meetings are two important contingencies that reduce management's propensity to disclose firm-specific information to the board in the presence of outside directors. The disclosure of such information, in turn, serves as a critical mechanism to offset firm-specific information asymmetry, associated with better board service engagement and (indirectly) enhanced firm performance. Based on our study, we articulate new theoretical insights for understanding board governance in small and medium-sized enterprises, which integrate existing board governance theories with the dominant coalition context, serving as a springboard for future board governance research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Interface pressure measuring devices are used to assess the pressures exerted by compression. Their performance, however, has not been considered as a contributing factor to reported inconsistences in the application of compression. A systematic review was undertaken to investigate the performance of commercially available devices used to measure interface pressure. Methods: Six databases were searched identifying 17 devices, grouped into five sensor categories. Results: A range of methodologies assessed the devices' accuracy and precision, including method of pressure application, device calibration and type of surface used. No sensor category outperformed the others, however some individual sensors showed higher accuracy and/or precision compared to others. Two major factors influenced the performance of a number of sensors: the amount of applied pressure and the calibration method used. Conclusion: Inconsistences in the application of compression may reflect, in part, issues related to accuracy and precision of the devices used to assess compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent should firms get close to government for competitive advantage? What happens if they get too close? In this article we explore how corporate political activity inculcated strategic homophily in leading UK aluminium producer, the British Aluminium Company Ltd, resulting in its path dependence and eventual lock-in. The article makes three main contributions: a longitudinal study of corporate political activity and strategic homophily revealing their organizational manifestations and detailed understanding of certain mechanisms of path dependence; articulating the value of historical methods and perspectives to exploring organizational path dependence; and exploring the impact that prolonged business-government relations can have on the organizational behaviour and strategic outlook of the firm with implications for TMT selection and environmental scanning. In so doing it responds to calls for firms to align market positions with political activity, as well as those for the recognition of the value of business history in better understanding the links between corporate political activity and firm performance. It further elucidates the longer-term consequences of strategic homophily, which has to date focused on the early stages of venture formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) regulations include the highest mandatory provision for negotiation of transnational employee voice. What are the effects of transnational employee voice, enacted at works council and board levels, on knowledge exchange within the multinational corporation? This qualitative study of globally active SEs incorporated under the SE regulations that have 'dual-forum' transnational employee voice addresses that research gap. Our main contribution reveals that, over time, transnational employee voice facilitates multifaceted knowledge exchange, both widening the platform and strengthening relations for intra-multinational corporation collaboration. Alongside expressing labour interests as intended, dual-forum transnational employee voice stimulates managers and employees to develop mutually beneficial competencies and trust. These aid multilateral knowledge exchange. That knowledge, which includes factors affecting employees and quality of organizational and work life, also includes insights into country-specific market, industrial and operational issues. Importantly, dual-forum transnational voice fosters development of a participatory culture across the multinational corporation. Robust multifaceted knowledge exchange generates better-informed and more productive decision-making that yields plural socio-economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On April 8, 2020, the Navajo Nation issued an administrative order limiting business operations. Facing high coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rates and limited food infrastructure, a survey was conducted among Navajo Nation store managers to assess: (1) COVID-19 adaptations; (2) challenges; (3) changes in customer volume and purchasing; and (4) suggestions for additional support. Purposive sampling identified 29 stores in Navajo communities. Representatives from 20 stores (19 store managers/owners, 1 other; 7 grocery, and 13 convenience/other stores) were interviewed by phone or in-person to reach saturation (new information threshold < 5%). Responses were coded using frequencies and inductive thematic analysis. All 20 stores implemented COVID-19 guidelines (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]/Navajo Nation) and most received orientation/support from local chapters, community organizations, or health centers. Stores implemented staff policies (50%, handwashing, vaccinations, protective personal equipment (PPE), sick leave, temperature checks), environmental changes (50%, hand sanitizer, checkout dividers), customer protocols (40%, limit customers, mask requirements, closed restrooms), and deep cleaning (40%). Most stores (65%) reported challenges including stress/anxiety, changing guidelines, supply chain and customer compliance; 30% reported infection or loss of staff. Weekday customer volume was slightly higher vs. pre-COVID, but weekend lower. Stores reported consistent or more healthy food purchases (50%), more nonfood essentials (20%), or shelf-stable foods (10%). Desired support included further orientation (30%), leadership support (20%), overtime/time to learn guidelines (20%), and signage/handouts (15%). Despite a high COVID-19 burden and limited food store infrastructure, Navajo Nation stores adapted by implementing staff, environmental and customer policies. Local support, staffing, and small store offerings were key factors in healthy food access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]