Not Roadmaps but Toolboxes: Analysing Pioneering National Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production

The profusion of knowledge about the complexity of promoting sustainable consumption has led to calls to address the issue in a cross-cutting manner. This article discusses pioneering national sustainable consumption and production (SCP) programmes as tools for informed decision making. The analysis is based on a theory of three organizing principles for SCP policy: (1) deliberation, (2) efficiency and (3) sufficiency. These organizing principles protect and enact particular values and can be promoted in either a weak or strong manner. A comparison of three SCP programmes from Finland, Sweden, and the UK shows that different programmes emphasize somewhat different principles: programmes in the UK and Finland emphasize the efficiency principle, whereas the Swedish programme places considerable emphasis on promoting sufficiency, as well. Meanwhile, deliberation is well presented in all the programmes, but the countries apply it somewhat differently. On the whole, government commitment to the programmes is limited, and clear targets, timetables, and resources are mentioned only occasionally. Thus, rather than being credible roadmaps towards SCP, the pioneering programmes take the form of mixed toolboxes. The programmes contain many innovative and potentially effective proposals, but in responding to the challenges acknowledged in the programme documents, individual actors must bear heavy responsibilities. From this perspective, the pioneering SCP programmes also provide false reassurance and a means to outsource the promotion of SCP to non-government actors.     

Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce: Some Remarks on the Jordanian Electronic Transactions Law

It has become increasingly certain that the success of e-commerce in any country depends mainly on the predictability and suitability of the legal framework and whether such framework copes sensibly with the needs of online consumers. For e-commerce to reach its full potential, consumers must have effective protection when shopping online, and their primary rights must be adequately protected. This paper thus explores the way in which the Electronic Transactions Law deals with such rights and determine whether or not this law gives due attention to consumer protection in an online environment. Furthermore, this paper encourages debate of what such law should be in order to enhance legal certainty as well as increase trust in e-commerce in Jordan. This paper, however, is not intended to provide the final answer to all questions and challenges in this regard, but to identify the main components, and provide perspectives on how to deal with such issue.     

Are Ethical Banks Different? A Comparative Analysis Using the Radical Affinity Index

This article studies the differences between traditional financial intermediaries (commercial banks, savings banks and cooperative banks) and ethical banks based on property rights, in which the owner decides the ideology, principles, standards and objectives of the organisation. In ethical banking, affinity centres on positive social and ethical values. The article consequently focuses on an index proposed both to differentiate ethical banks from other types of banks, and also to pinpoint the differences between the various ethical banks themselves. This is the Radical Affinity Index (RAI), which groups banks together in terms of their stance on ethical commitment, concentrating on ethical ideology and principles (information transparency, placement of assets, guarantees and participation) and using a sample of 114 European banks. The evidence shows that transparency of information and placement of assets are factors that differentiate ethical banks from other financial intermediaries. Guarantees and participation are characteristics specific to ethical banks; these variables, however, do not offer clear evidence to our analysis.     

The Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia: Problems and Implications

The adoption of the 2007 Indonesian Law No. 40 has created significant debate over the nature of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), namely, whether it is voluntary or mandatory. On the one hand, the adoption of such a law represents a legal recognition of the existence of CSR, and this clarification on the legal nature of a concept is necessary for understanding the obligation and responsibility. On the other hand, it has created much confusion surrounding its substance and procedures. This article tries to analyze the development and consequences of CSR under 2007 Indonesian Law No. 40, through the discussion of mandatory versus voluntary dichotomy. It is argued in this article that the mandatory nature of CSR is legitimate and therefore encouraged; however, in practice, this is problematic, as it not only requires a precise concept of interpretation of CSR and identification of the duty bearer and beneficiaries, but also an effective implementation mechanism and a means of verifying the impact.     

Erratum to: Beyond Acclamations and Excuses: Environmental Performance,Voluntary Environmental Disclosure and the Role of Visibility

Some researchers have argued that firms with favorable environmental performance are more likely to provide voluntary environmental disclosure, while others have argued that firms with poor environmental performance are most likely to disclose. The authors propose a curvilinear relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure that is moderated by visibility. Data were obtained from S&P 500 firms queried by Ceres’ Climate Disclosure Project. Results show a U-shaped environmental performance–environmental disclosure relation and a main effect for visibility but no moderating effect for visibility on the U-shaped environmental performance–environmental disclosure relation. The authors discussed the implications of these results for future research and practice.     

The Principled Legal Firm: Insights into the Professional Ideals and Ethical Values of Partners and Lawyers

Understanding how the professional ideals and values of partners influence lawyers’ everyday life is a relatively unexplored area given the inherent difficulties of gaining access to lawyers. This case study sheds light on the professional ideals and ethical values of partners and lawyers in a mid-tier Sydney law firm. Semi-structured interviews with partners and lawyers/legal clerks reveal how partners’ professional ideals and ethical values play a pivotal role in: (1) upholding positive normative evaluations of lawyer/firm propriety (moral legitimacy), (2) stressing the importance of a balanced working life (cognitive legitimacy) and (3) satisfying younger lawyers’ needs for personal support, autonomy and responsibility (pragmatic legitimacy). The principled actions of partners are portrayed as the cornerstone of shaping a moral community in legal practise.     

Exploring the Influence of Organizational Ethical Climate on Knowledge Management

In recent years, knowledge management has been utilized as an essential strategy to foster the creation of organizational intellectual capital. Organizational intellectual capital can be derived both individually and collectively in the process to create, store, share, acquire, and apply personal and organizational knowledge. However, some organizations only focus on the development of public good, despite the concerns arising from individuals’ self-interest or possible risks. The different concern of individual and collective perspectives toward knowledge management inevitably leads to ethical conflicts and ethical culture in the organization (Jarvenpaa et al., J Manage Inf Syst 14(4):29–64, 1998; Ruppel and Harrington, IEEE Trans Prof Commun 44(1):37–52, 2000). The purpose of this study is to examine the ethical climate within the organization and its possible influence on members’ evaluation, satisfaction, engagement, and job performance with respect to knowledge management practice. The research results reveal that several types of organizational ethical climate coexist in the organization and have different degrees of influence on employees’ attitude as well as participation in knowledge management activities. In this article, we argue the importance of organizational ethical climate and highlight the implications of such a climate for facilitating knowledge management.     

The Emergence,Variation, and Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Public Sphere, 1980–2004: The Exposure of Firms to Public Debate

This study examined the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public issue over 25 years using a content analysis of two national news-papers and seven regional, geographically-dispersed newspapers in the U.S. The present study adopted a comprehensive definition encompassing all four CSR dimensions: economic, ethical, legal, and philanthropic. This study examined newspaper editorials, letters to the editor, op-ed columns, news analyses, and guest columns for three aspects: media attention, media prominence, and media valence. Results showed an increase in the number of opinion pieces covering CSR issues over the 25-year period. The prominence of each of the four CSR dimensions varied over time. Each of the four CSR dimensions had its moment of media prominence when it was more important than the other dimensions. The most prevalent valence of the opinion pieces was negative; the volume of negative pieces increased over the 25 years, whereas the number of opinions with positive, neutral, and mixed tones showed little change over time. The study concludes by tracing the implications of the role of the news media for business ethics research.