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International Management (IM) needs a better understanding of how managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make sense of cultural differences in international business relationships, especially regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in relationships between firms from emerging and developed countries. We address this lacuna by uncovering how dyads of Russian and Finnish SME managers, engaged in mutual international business relationships, construct their understanding of CSR. The findings indicate that conceptualizations of CSR are embedded both in SME managers' cultural backgrounds and in the contextual environment. This extends previous research on the role of CSR in IM and respond to calls to study the microfoundations of CSR and internationalization, adding to the sparse knowledge of CSR in cross-cultural SME settings. publishedVersion

Purpose This study aims to explore the challenges and complexities of interaction in international stakeholder networks within the context of projects focused on the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In particular, it examines the challenges faced by stakeholders in a network from a developed country during interaction in the context of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative approach, this study analyses interview data collected from the key managers of an international consulting company in charge of a water supply and sanitation project in Nepal. The primary data is triangulated with secondary data, such as project reports and related academic articles. Findings This study illustrates how interaction in international stakeholder networks affects and is interrelated with SDGs, as well as how aiming to achieve one specific goal can stimulate the implementation of other sustainable goals. Further, this research shows how project managers from a developed country had to adapt to the specifics of the developing country context and how their sustainability project influenced the well-being of local communities by improving environmental and social sustainability. Research limitations/implications The research suggests that challenges in stakeholder interaction may arise because of differences in process management methods used by the international stakeholders involved in the project and country-context specifics, such as corruption, imperfect national regulations, cultural specifics, effects of climate change, etc. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on international multi-stakeholder interaction between actors from developed and developing countries. Furthermore, it adds to the literature on stakeholder networking by highlighting the importance of engaging in a dialogue with local communities during the conceptualisation stages of both sustainability and SDG implementation because of diverging worldviews and practices.

PurposeThis study aims to explore how Russian-origin immigrant entrepreneurs manage to adapt their business-to-business (B2B) relationship management practices and moral concerns to the business ethics of their country of origin and of the host country via the prism of ethical relativism. By focusing on the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in a business relationship context, the study aims to extend the currently limited understanding of these issues in the B2B marketing field.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach is applied to provide findings from eight in-depth interviews with first-generation Russian entrepreneurs living and doing business in Finland. A narrative approach to the data analysis is used, in particular by applying a thematic analysis of the collected interviews because of the focus on the personal experiences of the interviewees.FindingsThe results illustrate how the immigrant entrepreneurs adapt to ethical values and norms in Russia and Finland and how they enact those values in B2B relationship management in the countries. Immigrant entrepreneurs share several national and ethical backgrounds, which may influence their interaction in international markets, helping them adapt to country-specific business ethics.Practical implicationsThe results imply that managers should acquire knowledge on ethical norms at the global level and at the national level, where they aim to expand their business. Productive business relationships involve the premises of honesty, transparency, fairness toward business partners and minimizing opportunism. However, business relations between developed and emerging markets may demand relativism when addressing ethical behavior.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that explore the ethical values of immigrant entrepreneurs in the context of international business relationships. The study contributes to the limited literature on ethics in the fields of B2B marketing and immigrant entrepreneurship. The authors encourage further research on ethical values adoption by immigrant entrepreneurs, which is an essential topic in times of increased workforce immigration.

Purpose This paper aims to explore methods of teaching sustainability and business ethics, relevant to the modern demand for student’s skills and knowledge. The study explores the challenges of teaching a business school undergraduate-level course and argues that a constructivist pedagogy is a suitable epistemological approach for designing a course unit concerning sustainability and ethics. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents case study findings drawn upon course feedback and course reflections aimed at making sense of what the most effective pedagogic approaches were that influenced students’ learning. Findings Results indicate that students appreciate active forms of learning via practical assignments and discussions. As knowledge of sustainability and business ethics is important for the student’s future career path, students need to develop skills of applying conceptual knowledge to practice via constructive pedagogical methods. Practical implications This empirical study contributes to the literature of constructivist pedagogics, which is explored in the context of sustainable development and business ethics teaching. Practically, it contributes to the analysis of teaching methods and frameworks applied in the course emphasizing the necessity of engaging in interactive and personalized learning and teaching processes. Originality/value Issues of teaching ethics and sustainable development are known concerns, but they have to be addressed systematically because of the changing business environment. This study explores the constructivist pedagogy based on empirical evidence and highlights its value in the educational process.

Business practitioners tend to show little interest in academic journals, raising concerns that research-based knowledge potentially relevant to their managerial practice might evade them. The literature suggests academic writing style as one of the major reasons for this lack of interest. Against this background, we quantitatively examine the readability of 150 business-to-business (B2B) marketing research articles published in five leading journals. Our analysis identifies certain variations across journals and categories of papers, implying that it is possible to improve readability. We discuss the possible role of improved readability in encouraging practitioners to read B2B marketing research, while potentially increasing its relevance.

International audience; Collecting rich qualitative data in business-to-business market context, where respondents are more reluctant towards investing time in academic research, may impose several barriers for researchers. In particular, challenges may emerge in collecting data and establishing its trustworthiness in Central Eastern European (CEE) countries, due to a distinct business context that has developed over several historical instances. The aim of this paper is to investigate and understand the methodological challenges of collecting rich qualitative data on business relationships and networking in CEE countries. The countries in focus are Russia, Croatia and Hungary. In order to achieve our aims, we critically reflect on personal experiences and consult the literature on conducting research in the aforementioned countries. The contribution of the paper lies in context-sensitive implications for methodological specifics and plausible solutions to overcome barriers to conducting qualitative research on business relationships and networks in CEE countries.

This empirical research contributes to the understanding of how actions of networking companies are going beyond their networks picture and impact on society. For the structural analysis of this phenomenon the concept of ethical embeddedness is applied which assumes that business organizations are embedded in a broader social network and have mutual interconnection of their functions. The research proposes that embeddedness of businesses may be exemplified via ethicality of responsibilities that specific business actors employ. Therefore, the research adopts Industrial network approach to investigate ethical embeddedness of business organizations in society and their impact on its current and future development. The ?social face? of industrial markets has being extensively discussed in the works of K. Polanyi (e.g. 1968) who collaborated on the concept of social embeddedness of the economic interaction. Granovetter (1985) has developed this idea even further by emphasizing that companies interact in social environment and the social networking is not dividable form the business networks. The concept of ethical embeddedness is adopted for this study (Lindfelt & Tornroos, 2006) which can be explained as ethical values in relations to economic values that are created in a particular business network.Empirically, this framed as a case-study research is grounded on the interviewed representatives of RD the ethical value embedded in business activities and its impact on society and business partnership. Current interest to the ethical issues requires filling a research gap in lacking empirical evidences of ethical and, consequently, socially significant managerial practices executed in business networks that influence on general public good.