Editorial

Citation

Pesqueux, Y. (2017), "Editorial", Society and Business Review, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 2-3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-11-2016-0060

This issue is built with seven papers.

In “Entrepreneurship and ethics under extreme conditions of poverty – exploring the realities”, Tendai Chikweche and Richard Fletcher investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship and ethics under extreme poverty conditions to unearth context specific nuances faced by entrepreneurs in these conditions. A qualitative case study approach was used to collect data from established firms engaged in some form of entrepreneurship and new entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe.

In “Brand religiosity: An epistemological analysis of the formation of social anti-structure through the development of distinct brand sub-culture”, Juhi Gahlot Sarkar and Abhigyan Sarkar propose an epistemological analysis of the formation of social anti-structure through the development of distinct brand sub-culture to define the brand religiosity phenomenon and develop a theoretical process model showing the inter-relationships between brand religiosity and other related concepts, leading to the formation of a distinct brand sub-culture or community.

In “Sing Hosanna for the Brands: The process of substitution religion with brand”, Abhigyan Sarkar and Juhi Gahlot Sarkar propose another paper on a related topic. They discuss the fact that an individual’s relationship with a brand can be structurally similar to both interpersonal love relationship and religious relationship. This article conceptualizes the psychological process through which an individual can substitute his/her religion with brand. The basic theoretical premise of this substitution behavior is the proposition that brand meanings can be perceived as equivalent to religious meanings.

In “Toward a spirituality mode of firm sustainability strategic planning processes”, Katelin Barron and Shih Yung Chou attempt to develop a spirituality mode of firm strategic planning processes that incorporates four basic firm spirituality elements, including transcendence, an inexhaustible source of will, a basic and supreme power and interconnectedness and oneness, used for promoting corporate and community sustainability.

In “The hunt for the precious wood: illegal trade of sandalwood as an international criminal enterprise in Kenya”, Emmanuel Bunei analyzes the increasing trend of illegal logging of endangered forest tree species in Kenya, specifically sandalwood tree species which has continued to occur despite the existence of a ban prohibiting harvesting and trading of any product from the tree. Like other rural crimes such as cattle rustling, tractor theft and wildlife crime, sandalwood poaching has joined the wagon of organized crimes in northern Kenya. Also, sandalwood cannot be viewed in the same lenses as other commercial trees whose control and improvement has been successful. Thus, the precious tree needs to be viewed from criminological and entrepreneurial perspectives so as to understand and discern the sophisticated nature of illicit trade of sandalwood. Indeed, the rapid depletion of sandalwood through theft must be placed in its proper theoretical and conceptual context so as to help in addressing the problem.

In “Sustainable Business Strategies: Typologies and future direction”, Jeffrey Gauthier develops a typology of sustainable business strategies to guide future empirical research. The approach involves a review of prior typologies and an application of the resource-based view of the firm to identify the resources and capabilities associated with each strategy, and research propositions concerning the relationship between implementation of each strategy and the ability to gain competitive advantage requisite capabilities are offered.

In “Reflections on CSR: the case of Egypt”, Menatallah Darrag and David Crowther investigate CSR issues in Egypt. Through six sub-purposes, this paper intends to identify the hands-on definition of CSR, budgeting practices, type of activities undertaken, strategic direction and drivers for and obstacles against CSR considering the timeline before and during transition during the January 25th, 2011 revolution.