Corporate Social Responsibility: A Call For Multidisciplinary Inquiry

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the most important and pressing issues confronting business executives these days. Despite widespread attention, there is little agreement about what constitutes CSR, or why companies should pursue social objectives, or what effects this has on firm performance.  We trace the evolution of the CSR concept in various business disciplines and synopsize interrelated constructs and themes.  The picture that emerges suggests a multidimensional construct worthy of multidisciplinary attention. &nbsp

Hegemony and its discontents: A critical analysis of organizational knowledge transfer

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of knowledge transfer within multinational corporations (MNCs), and how the imperatives of thought and action that constitute new knowledge are received in the terrain that constitutes the MNC subsidiary. Design/methodology/approach - This study employs an ethnographic approach, and juxtaposes primary data collection with a variety of secondary data sources. Findings - The data are analyzed in light of the theoretical construct of hegemony, and three themes theorized that underlie the process of knowledge transfer. These include knowledge loss at the local level, the coercive practices that ensure knowledge transfer, and the invocation of imperial subjectivities by the headquarters of the MNC when dealing with subsidiaries from poorer nations. Originality/value - This paper goes beyond the mainstream approaches into organizational knowledge transfer, by analyzing these issues in light of political economy, and the changing landscape of industrial accumulation. It offers in some measure, the building blocks of a different organizational theory, one that is sensitive to those subjects who are consigned to the periphery of mainstream organizing

The Knowledge Based View of the Firm: An Assessment

The knowledge-based view of the firm has gained currency in organizational theory since the 1990s. This paper evaluates it in a historical perspective, and suggests that the new theories of the firm as a receptacle of knowledge emerged in the context of the intensified knowledge communication within organizations in the early 1990s, and organizational practices that appropriated public property through the regime of intellectual property rights. This paper contends that organizational theory and practice are both in a state of dynamic mutual interaction, with theory often playing a lagging role. In other words, organizational actions precede, and are retroactively described (and legitimized) by theoretical developments. This paper subjects knowledge-based theories of the firm to scrutiny, and concludes that they resort to simplistic definitions of knowledge. Using information from other social sciences, this paper identifies some of the facets of knowledge that need to be considered in order to make the theories posited more meaningful

Non-Local Deformation of a Supersymmetric Field Theory

In this paper, we will analyse a supersymmetric field theory deformed by generalized uncertainty principle and Lifshitz scaling. It will be observed that this deformed supersymmetric field theory contains non-local fractional derivative terms. In order to construct such deformed N=1 supersymmetric theory, a harmonic extension of functions will be used. However, the supersymmetry will be only preserved for a free theory and will be broken by the inclusion of interaction terms.Comment: 12 pages, pulished versio

“Educate, Agitate, Organize” : Inequality and Ethics in the Writings of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

Scholars of business and management studies have recently turned their attention to inequality, a key issue for business ethics given the role of private firms in transmitting—and potentially challenging—inequalities. However, this research is yet to examine inequality from a subaltern perspective. In this paper, we discuss the alleviation of inequalities in organizational and institutional contexts by drawing on the ideas of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a jurist, political leader and economist, and one of the unsung social theorists of the twentieth century. Specifically, we focus on Ambedkar’s critique of the Indian caste system, his outline of comprehensive reform, and prescription of representational politics to achieve equality. We contend that an Ambedkarite ethical manifesto of persuasion—focused on state-led institutional reforms driven by the subaltern—can help management researchers reimagine issues of inequality and extend business ethics beyond organizational boundaries

AN OVERVIEW OF SMARTWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: STRATEGIC POTENTIAL IN BANGLADESH

Water loss management is becoming an increasingly important as supplies are stressed by population growth or water scarcity. A SmartWater system ensures optimum consumption and prediction of future water use. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to global climate change considering its rapid urbanization, inequitable land use, low income and greater reliance on climate sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture. Agricultural lands used for cropping and livestock rearing are more susceptible to degradation than non-agricultural lands. Most farmers irrigate through flooding, losing up to 75% of water to evaporation and creating a substantial drawdown of much needed water for the sustainability of seasonal crops. As a result, these traditional irrigation systems take four times the water they need to produce one ton of grain. In order to achieve a comprehensive SmartWater network solution, water systems require measurement and installation of sensing devices (Smart meters, sensors, and actuators), real-time communication channels, basic data management software, real-time data analysis and modeling software, and automation and control tools to conduct network management tasks remotely and automatically. Presently, the usable water quality and amount is constrained due to surficial contamination that takes places from various sources including anthropogenic reasons. Contemplation of any new or upgrading existing facilities for agricultural and urban needs, local Water Budget estimation should be taken into account and expanded to accommodate regional needs. To ensure an overall quality of water involving every sector, application of SmartWater Management warrants greater attention before initiating any new plan or upgrading facilities. Furthermore, an effective implementation of SmartWater concept should incorporate a comprehensive management structure at regional or city level, based on sustainability and self-reliance by adopting more intelligent solutions and technologies. It should also consider water recycling, water treatment technologies, and monitoring on regular bases

The key to the future lies in the past: Insights from grain legume domestication and improvement should inform future breeding strategies

Crop domestication is a co-evolutionary process that has rendered plants and animals significantly dependent on human interventions for survival and propagation. Grain legumes have played an important role in the development of Neolithic agriculture some 12,000 years ago. Despite being early companions of cereals in the origin and evolution of agriculture, the understanding of grain legume domestication has lagged behind that of cereals. Adapting plants for human use has resulted in distinct morpho-physiological changes between the wild ancestors and domesticates, and this distinction has been the focus of several studies aimed at understanding the domestication process and the genetic diversity bottlenecks created. Growing evidence from research on archeological remains, combined with genetic analysis and the geographical distribution of wild forms, has improved the resolution of the process of domestication, diversification and crop improvement. In this review, we summarize the significance of legume wild relatives as reservoirs of novel genetic variation for crop breeding programs. We describe key legume features, which evolved in response to anthropogenic activities. Here, we highlight how whole genome sequencing and incorporation of omics-level data have expanded our capacity to monitor the genetic changes accompanying these processes. Finally, we present our perspective on alternative routes centered on de novo domestication and re-domestication to impart significant agronomic advances of novel crops over existing commodities. A finely resolved domestication history of grain legumes will uncover future breeding targets to develop modern cultivars enriched with alleles that improve yield, quality and stress tolerance