1st Edition
Social Sustainability and Good Work in Organizations
This edited research monograph collects nine unique research contributions on the concept of social sustainability and its connection to possibilities and hindrances for good work in organisations. Social sustainability, in organisational contexts, emphasizes the long-term well-being of stakeholders and communities. The authors in this book demonstrate how organisational long-term strategies should prioritise employee well-being, mental health, community engagement, and ethical supply chain management, inter alia. Readers, from undergraduate students to the research community, will learn how long-term social sustainability orientation is different from Corporate Social Responsibility, which responds to immediate stakeholder expectations. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals have nudged many organisations to implement social sustainability, and many authors in this book relate to UN concepts such as the SDGs or Global Compact’s definition of social sustainability. However, many organisations have come under scrutiny for acting merely ceremonial to live up to the current megatrends. In consequence, readers will take away that the line between genuine corporate mission and ceremonial lip services must be critically observed, and how this can be done in different areas. Key chapters of this book explore social sustainability, e.g., in higher education (as sustainable knowledge in business students), in corporate communication (employee identification, corporate volunteering, and corporate heritage), and in sustainable human resource management practices. Workplace toxicity, especially towards minorities, is explored, highlighting both the role of bystanders, and the financial repercussions of ignoring workplace harassment. Digital transformation's social implications, employee well-being, and the importance of psychological safety in startups are addressed. The chapters, all together, signify the relevance of meaningful work for long-term societal cohesion and individual fulfilment.
00. Social Sustainability and Good Work in Organisations: exploring how and why a recent phenomenon is being enacted
Klarissa Lueg, Simon Jebsen
01. Exploring the Relationship between Sustainable Knowledge, Entrepreneurial Skills, and Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intention among First-Year Business Students
Simon Jebsen, Sylvia Rohlfer
02. Enlisting employees in social sustainability activities: How organisations discursively position employees as volunteers in their communication
Trine Susanne Johansen
03. Corporate Heritage and Social Sustainability: the role businesses can (and should) play in maintaining heritage and culture
Klarissa Lueg
04. The role of bystandership for socially sustainable and inclusive police organizations
Jens Rennstam, Katie Sullivan
05. How do investors react to problematic social issues in organizations? Evidence from the literature on workplace sexual harassment
Yassin Denis Bouzzine, Rainer Lueg
06. “Digital transformation is 20 percent about technological issues and 80 percent about social issues” – Negotiating social sustainability in the course of organizations’ digital transformation
Angela Graf
07. Psychological safety and social integration in a start-up context
Mia Thyregod Rasmussen
08. Leading for better health: using signalling theory and German panel data to explain leader's role in social sustainability
Lydia Bendixen
09. The Sustainable HRM-SDG Nexus: Contributions to global sustainable development
Paul Baldassari, Michael Muller-Camen, Ina Aust
10. The Way Forward: Future Research Directions in Social Sustainability Across Sectors
Simon Jebsen, Klarissa Lueg
Biography
Klarissa Lueg is an Associate Professor of Organisational Communication and Research Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Organizing Social Sustainability at the University of Southern Denmark.
Simon Jebsen is an Associate Professor of Management and Research Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Organizing Social Sustainability at the University of Southern Denmark.