Conceptualizing businesses as social actors: A framework for understanding sustainability actions in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises

Small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) can play a crucial role in advancing environmental and social well‐being. Yet various—often conflicting—explanations have been offered to clarify why SMEs pursue sustainability. Some arguments foreground possibilities of profit maximization, whereas others emphasize individual values and convictions. Research supporting such contradicting explanations is often biased towards large enterprises or small, innovative frontrunners. In this article, we examine the underlying drivers of social and environmental interventions of SMEs by exploring empirical data from a survey of over 1,600 Canadian SMEs and complementary in‐depth interviews. We argue that sustainability actions of SMEs can be understood by viewing these firms as social actors—organizations that are shaped by individual values, internal and external interpersonal relationships, and are embedded in a social environment. This conceptualization directs attention to the full range of factors that shape sustainability engagement of SMEs and highlights frequently overlooked forms of sustainability‐oriented actions.     

The union recognition dispute at McDonald's Moscow food‐processing factory

This article reports on the union recognition dispute that took place at the McDonald's food‐processing plant in Moscow. It examines this dispute in the context of McDonald's employment practices worldwide, the interventions made by international and local unions, and Russian government bodies. Despite these interventions it became impossible to either organise the workforce or establish a collective agreement. The case illustrates the difficulties facing both local unions and global union federations when confronted by intransigent multinational companies, especially in low‐skilled sectors in transitional economies.     

Transitioning ageing workers from paid to unpaid work in non‐profits

Resource constraints and retention issues associated with an ageing workforce have challenged non‐profit institutions. Human resource management professionals in these organisations can stem the loss of organisational learning by developing strong social exchanges that encourage employees to pursue post‐retirement volunteering. This paper developed a conceptual model that described how ageing workers may evaluate and connect the quality of the relationships they build at work through social exchanges to their fit with the organisation, workgroup and vocation. Alignment of fit may create an intention to volunteer upon retirement, although we argue that this will be strengthened if the organisation is perceived to value volunteering activities. This value is also shaped through social exchange and might include attitudes toward the extra‐role activities of both employees and volunteers in the current organisation.     

Enhancing transnational labour solidarity: the unfulfilled promise of the Internet and social media

This article examines the activities of Union Solidarity International (USI), a new UK‐based organisation in the international union arena. USI seeks to encourage and support international solidarity between trade unions and other worker movements around the world by harnessing the dynamism of the Internet and social media. Drawing on a combination of in‐depth semi‐structured interviews, documentary analysis, Google Analytics and social media data, the findings of this case study suggest that USI is successfully developing an international audience in the United States, the UK and Ireland. However, USI's ability to reach beyond English‐speaking countries and mobilise people to engage in collective action appears limited. The article makes an important contribution to the growing literature on social media in industrial relations through analysing the extent to which digital technologies can contribute to effective transnational labour solidarity.     

Works council and trade unions: complementary or competitive? The case of SAGCo.

This longitudinal case study in a Japanese owned manufacturing company examines the relationship between union‐based representation and organisation and other forms of employee voice. The study covers the period before and after the passage of the Employment Relations Act 1999. During that period the Company voluntarily agreed to the recognition of an independent trade union at the same time as abandoning a pre‐existing employee works council and its replacement by a Japanese‐style company advisory board. The study investigates, inter alia, how far, and to what extent the inpending EU directive establishing mechanisms for employee information and consultation could influence existing trade union representation and organisation.     

Responsible Innovation Toward Sustainable Development in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: a Resource Perspective

What resources do small enterprises need to develop responsible innovations that enhance sustainable development? Does lack of resources prevent innovation toward sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) or can innovations be created with scarce resources? This study investigates environmentally and socially responsible innovations of SMEs from a resource perspective, based on empirical data from 13 Nordic SMEs. The findings indicate that SMEs can create responsible innovations with very different resource combinations. The most common resource combination comprises equity, research and development cooperation, networks, industry knowledge and reputation. Except for financial capital in the form of equity, which appears a necessary condition for responsible innovation from SMEs, resource needs vary between technological and business model innovations. Creating business model innovations appears to be possible with scarce resources, at the very least with equity and social capital. Environmental technology innovations call for more abundant resource combinations. In particular industry knowledge appears to be a key resource for such innovations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Shifting models of equality? Union Equality Reps in the public services

This article explores how far the emergence of public sector Equality Representatives represents a departure from a distinct radical model of union self‐organisation generated by the collective mobilisation of politically conscious identities, towards a more inclusive liberal model of equality based on abstract notions of ‘fairness’.     

An Evaluation of the Impact and Effectiveness of Environmental Legislation in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Experiences from the UK

With small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) accounting for 99.7% of the 4.7 million UK businesses, they can have a huge collective impact on the environment, which in turn is being increasingly regulated. This study investigated the impact and effectiveness of environmental legislation on UK SMEs as well as determining if ‘compliance’ results in improved environmental protection. Interviews were conducted with SME management, site staff, regulators, policy officials and support organisations. Forty‐four SMEs from the north‐west of England participated in the study, and overall a total of 99 individuals were interviewed. The study clearly indicates that the impact of environmental legislation on SMEs is overstated and impact increased commensurate with effort to comply and enforcement action. Only one of the SMEs studied had been prosecuted and only two had been inspected. Compliance issues identified in those SMEs subject to direct regulation did not correlate with previous compliance audits conducted. In general, SMEs had poor awareness of compliance issues; non‐compliance was only really recognised and acknowledged if identified by a regulator and only regarded as serious if prosecuted. Regulation of the environment is clearly only effective if complied with; understanding compliance levels can help measure the link between legislation and environmental protection. The effectiveness of environmental legislation can only be understood if SMEs are subject to regular regulatory contact. Recommendations to improve SME compliance control systems are provided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Forms of cross‐border mobility and social capital in multinational enterprises

This paper discusses how different forms of cross‐border employee mobility all contribute to establishing social ties across different units of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite the growing recognition of the significance of employees' cross‐unit social ties in MNEs for both individuals and the organisation, the mechanisms for creating such ties remain underspecified. We contribute to closing this gap by identifying the role that an array of forms of international mobility can play in promoting employees' (cross‐unit) social ties inside MNEs. We draw upon empirical accounts of the job‐related international mobility experiences of 72 high‐skilled employees in three leading MNEs in the mobile telecommunications sector. Guided by a framework that utilizes some of the key concepts of the debate on social ties and social capital, we discuss traditional expatriation, short‐term assignments, localised transfers and business travel in terms of the structure and strength of the cross‐unit ties they engender, as well as their accessibility. We find (1) that it is not only traditional long‐term assignments in the form of expatriation that enable individuals to create cross‐unit social ties; and, (2) that different forms of international mobility promote cross‐unit social ties in variable ways and to different extents.     

Britain in a social Europe: industrial relations and 1992

This article suggests that European Community social policy is now moving into a third stage that is having an increasing impact on the UK. However, continuing differences in European labour markets, collective bargaining and trade union organisation make it impossible to identify a common European pattern of industrial relations     

Eco‐innovation and firm growth in the circular economy: Evidence from European small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises

As the circular economy (CE) concept gains growing popularity among consumers and producers, small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly look for ways to reorganize their offering and operations to integrate into the CE. This study examines the impact of (a) circular eco‐innovations and (b) external funding available for CE activities on the growth of European SMEs using a data set of 5,100 SMEs across 28 European countries in 2016. Findings reveal that a significant threshold investment (i.e., higher than 10% of revenues) into circular eco‐innovations is required for SMEs to benefit from investing into the CE. Moreover, the majority of circular eco‐innovations fail to boost the growth rates of SMEs, with the exception of investments into eco‐design innovations. Although traditional forms of debt and grant finance targeted to CE activities are found to have no or negative impact on the growth of SMEs, equity finance (i.e., angel and venture capital investments) contributes positively to their growth. The study offers insights into the lower levels of SME engagement in the CE as well as policy implications for improving engagement.     

Employee representation and partnership in the non‐union sector: a paradox of intention?

Non‐union forms of employee representation have become increasingly prominent in UK workplaces in the last 15 years. In addition, partnership working has been encouraged by New Labour, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Confederation of British Industry and the TUC as a route to higher commitment and higher individual and organisational performance. These trends have been further encouraged by recent European Union legislation. This article seeks to examine the implied linkages between non‐union employee representative mechanisms and partnership working and their influence on the effectiveness of employee voice as a conduit of high performance. The article is based on a case study organisation from within the UK finance sector, and data are drawn from semi‐structured interviews with managers and staff and a survey of employee attitudes. The article concludes that employers’ attempts to utilise a non‐union partnership framework for organisational gain are severely constrained by structural limitations on effective employee voice.     

Union suppression and union substitution strategies of multinational enterprises in Ghana

This article complements the literature by furthering the understanding of an ‘African dimension’ of multinational enterprise (MNE) union avoidance. The evidence suggests that MNEs engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies by (i) exploiting young employees' apathy to promote opposition and indifference for union organisation (evil stuff), (ii) implementing union member‐centred employee retrenchment (fear stuff), (iii) using enterprise‐level collective bargaining arrangement to suppress union bargaining power (fear and fatal stuff), (iv) exploiting the fragmented labour union environment to suppress union organisation (fatal and evil stuff) and (v) promoting individual employee voice and involvement mechanisms (sweet stuff). Although MNEs in Ghana engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies, they appear to particularly favour the adoption of ‘union suppression’ strategies and what might be termed as ‘corridor tactics’. Our article highlights four transitional issues underpinning the emerging success of ‘corridor tactics’ in union suppression in a less developed host country.     

Union responses to ‘multi‐enterprise’ factories in the Italian motor industry

During the 1990s, outsourcing work was commonly associated with the weakening of union organisation and the deterioration of pay, working conditions and job security. A variant of outsourcing, termed here as ‘insourcing’, involves a firm purchasing ‘non‐core’ functions and services from enterprises located under the same roof. This case study of Fiat outlines the impact of insourcing on traditional arrangements and practices, and analyses the response of Italian local unions. The findings indicate that in the context of ‘bargained compromise’ between trade unions and management in the Italian motor industry insourcing did not have the negative implications for union organisation and employee terms and conditions associated with traditional outsourcing.     

Exploring the dynamics of industrial relations in US multinationals: evidence from the Republic of Ireland

While previous work has identified a shift in the host business system which facilitates multinational corporations in their quest to introduce non‐union approaches, little or no qualitative data have been brought to bear on this issue. This article presents case‐based evidence on the dynamics of this trend in Ireland, focusing specifically on management approaches to collective employee representation as well as providing an exposition of the patterns of trade union recognition and avoidance in evidence.     

The dark side of solidarity: social norms and social relations in the aftermath of strikes

This paper studies how employees anticipate change in social relations after a strike in their organisation. We hypothesise that two group norms affect employees' fear that a strike deteriorates the social relations with their colleagues. We distinguish between two different norms associated with a collective action problem such as a strike. A ‘solidarity norm’ prescribes that workers should participate in collective protest when called for. A ‘free rider punishment norm’ describes whether and how violators of the solidarity norm should be treated. While the former itself theoretically does not impact intra‐group social relations, the latter one does. We test our hypotheses on a data set of 468 Dutch union members. Adherence to the free rider punishment norm significantly increases a fear for deterioration of social relations with colleagues after a strike, while adherence to the solidarity norm does not. We also find a moderating effect of expected proportion of strikers. The results are discussed with reference to industrial relations theory and mobilisation theory, further probing into mechanisms that relate social norms to the (anticipated) costs of participation and the quality of social relations after a strike.     

Environmental Strategy and Competitive Advantage: The Role of Small‐ and Medium‐Sized enterprises' Dynamic Capabilities

Drawing on the resource‐based theory and institutional theory, we develop a framework to explain the processes by which the environmental strategy of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) contributes to their competitive advantage. We test our assumption using data collected from 214 UK‐based SMEs in the technology sector. We find that the effects of environmental strategy can lead to development of their marketing competence, as well as research and development (R&D) competence, which ultimately contributes to superior financial performance. We also find that a reciprocal causal relationship exists between SMEs' marketing and R&D competences. Combined, we reveal the presence of a serial multiple mediation relationship between SMEs' environmental strategy and financial performance through marketing competence and then R&D competence, or vice versa. Our study offers important academic and managerial implications, and also points out future research directions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

A quarter‐century review of HRM in small and medium‐sized enterprises: Capturing what we know,exploring where we need to go

Despite the proliferation of HRM research, only a small fraction explores the context of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Where HRM in SMEs has received attention, the literature base remains fragmented and variable, comprising a plurality of definitions, explanations, and methods. To advance understanding, this paper uses a quarter‐century systematic review drawing on an evidence base of 137 peer‐reviewed articles. A cumulative framework is presented capturing key developments and synthesizing existing areas of research focus. Analysis of limitations and knowledge‐gaps finds a failure to differentiate across various types of SMEs, limited appreciation of SME characteristics and contextual conditions, and a dominance of managerial perspectives. An agenda for future research on HRM in SMEs is outlined with respect to definitional parameters, HR practices, HRM–performance, key determinants, and presenting issues. The paper concludes that SMEs offer a unique, fruitful, and timely context for investigations of HRM.     

Union militancy and left‐wing leadership on London Underground

The article provides evidence from case study research into trade union organisation and activity on the London Under‐ground during the 1990s. It explores the extent to which left‐wing political leadership influenced the collectivisation and mobilisation of workers in an adversarial direction, and whether or not this militant trade unionism was self‐defeating compared with a more moderate approach.     

Just vote no! Union–busting in the European fast–food industry: the case of McDonald’s

This paper examines the problem of effectively regulating the labour relations practices of multinational corporations. It focuses on the activities of the McDonald’s Corporation in a number of European countries. The findings suggest that public and private codes of conduct have a very limited effect and that determined and well–resourced corporations can not only undermine regional forms of regulation—such as that provided by the European Union—but also, and to a considerable extent, national–level regulation. This is particularly evident in the area of independent trade union representation. Although its aim of avoiding collective bargaining and union recognition wherever possible is only partially successful, McDonald’s appears to have developed a number of highly effective strategies for limiting the presence of trade unions at restaurant level, particularly in avoiding or undermining statutory works councils and union representation rights.