Editorial

Citation

Pesqueux, Y. (2015), "Editorial", Society and Business Review, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-11-2014-0056

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Society and Business Review, Volume 10, Issue 1

This issue is built with 6 papers.

In “Directors” networks and access to collective resources’, G. Breton and S. H. Dicko investigate the ties between the nomination of board members and the different external resources needed by a firm. Using a case study approach, they document the ties between the members of the board of a major Canadian firm and different categories of resources.

M. De Rosa and G. McElwee have conducted “an empirical investigation of the role of rural development policies in stimulating rural entrepreneurship in the Lazio Region of Italy”, in which they did an analysis of the adoption of Rural Development Policies (Rdp) and their outcomes. They underline the fact that farmers’ success in accessing funds requires them to be proactive and take a strategic perspective to convince funders that they have a coherent strategy, which meets the requirements of the particular Rdp. In terms of policy, they conclude on the need for a more nuanced understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of some practices in a rural setting and how they require multi-agency investigation.

In “More than three’s a crowd … in the best interest of companies! Crowdfunding as Zeitgeist or ideology?”, K. Bouaiss and I. Maque and J. Méric have addressed several questions to the notion of crowdfunding because, as any neologism, “crowdfunding” could be considered a faddish concept linked with temporary social trends (such as crowdsourcing or micro-funding in the sole area of financial practices) and contemporary economic contexts (financial crisis, credit crunch, etc.). Beyond the “bubble” it may depict, the term “crowdfunding” is considered as being significant of a Zeitgeist after having made a short analysis of how terminology around such concepts is consolidating presently.

In “Left to their Fate: Rights of Minority equity holders in Ghanaian firms”, O. S. Agyemang, E. Aboagye and J. Frimpong quote that the minority shareholders has become a pressing concern for academics, regulators and policymakers. They also quote that egalitarianism for particular shareholders in decision-making processes of companies is utterly “utopic”. At a time when many emergent and transition economies are making the very effort in fashioning out appropriate governance practices to safeguard minority shareholders, an investigation into minority shareholder rights in some of these developing economies will unquestionably be imperative. In this study, they provide evidence from an emergent economy, Ghana, on the rights of shareholders particularly, minority shareholders in the management of corporate organizations.

In “The Role of Spirituality in Business Education”, K. Illes and L. Zsolnai argue that there is a strong imbalance in business education between providing abstract, rational concepts and opportunities for personal growth. Introducing spirituality in business education seems to be desirable if we want to prepare students for the complexities and challenges of the workplace today. This paper shows that by introducing some new approaches in business education, we can provide opportunities for students to connect their rational thoughts with conscience and the “true self”. When students make an integrated use of our mental, emotional and spiritual resources they are better equipped to make complex decisions and behave ethically in the workplace and in their personal lives.

In “Demateriality: a key factor in the embedding of society within commodification and financialization”, A.-S. Binninger, E. Fimbel and C. Karyotis argue that whilst the dematerialization process has been the subject of a large body of research, the state of demateriality that it creates raises many questions, both for society and for organizations. This article analyses its symbolic and practical impacts in two spheres that are emblematic of the way the modern world operates: first, finance via currency, and second, trade via the relationship between trading firms and their customers. By including the role played by so-called “information” technologies in its analytical framework, thus overcoming traditional disciplinary boundaries, the article explores the double-embedding that is currently apparent: that of society within trade, and that of trade within finance.

Yvon Pesqueux