Suchergebnisse

The emergence of Green parties throughout Europe during the 1980s marked the arrival of a new form of political movement and a challenge to existing party models. This work presents an in-depth, thematic comparative approach to the analysis of recent Green party development and change, questioning whether the process of party evolution has resulted in the ideological dilution of Green ideals and objectives. With Green parties across Europe experiencing a significant upturn in support in recent years, if we are to gain a clearer picture of the impact Green parties should have in the 21st centur

The emergence of Green parties throughout Europe during the 1980s marked the arrival of a new form of political movement and a challenge to existing party models. This work presents an in-depth, thematic comparative approach to the analysis of recent Green party development and change, questioning whether the process of party evolution has resulted in the ideological dilution of Green ideals and objectives. With Green parties across Europe experiencing a significant upturn in support in recent years, if we are to gain a clearer picture of the impact Green parties should have in the 21st centur.

The reshaping & reemergence of the British Green Party is described. After the party's unprecedented success in the 1989 European Parliamentary election, the "Green 2000" program outlined organizational changes (a smaller executive branch, more centralized structure, & delegate voting at party conferences) that contributed to internal divisions & the poor 1992 electoral performance. In 1993, the Greens' "Basis for Renewal" program attempted to reconcile competing party factions & reverse their bankruptcy trajectory through other organizational changes. The electoral focus was transferred to the local level, so not surprisingly, in the 1997 general election, the Green Party had little presence at the national level. During the 1990s, the Green Party's pragmatic attempts to develop relations with other parties, expand its policy, link environmental & social issues, & make policy more responsive to issues & events have not been entirely successful. In 1999, the Green Party made modest election gains at the national level, but their strategy still needs work. 10 References. M. Pflum

PurposeThis paper seeks to understand the views of employees in a UK company on an employee vounteering (ESV) scheme. It further seeks to advance theory in this area by integrating organisational identity (OI) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The paper moves forward the scholarly work on ESV by interviewing employees who do and do not volunteer within ESV schemes.Design/methodology/approachA purpose sample of 31 (n = 31) interviewees was drawn from all levels of the studied organisation. The method follows a qualitative approach using NVIVO as the analysis tool. The interview was triangulated using a focus group.FindingsEmployees have a range of emotions and responses to a company operating an ESV scheme. The study is particularly interesting in that it studies employees of a gambling organisation that bring in further rich employee views on the scheme. Much of the sparse literature on ESV does not pick up on UK‐based organisations and this study is therefore revealing.Research limitations/implicationsManagers of corporate responsibility (CR) in organisations should be concerned with how they implement their CR programmes – especially with respect to how they establish and communicate ESV programmes. Academics will find value in viewing ESV through a conjunction of OCB and OI theories. The research could be replicated in other large UK organisations with similiar ESV programmes to test whether the experiences of employees are widespread in other organisations.Practical implicationsThe paper tacitly questions the impact of ESV programmes on the employee stakeholder group and suggests that, unless ESV programmes are well run and well communicated – and given a good budget, employees may in fact view the programme negatively. It demonstrates that CR is not simply a "nice to have" that can be simply bolted on.Social implicationsOrganisations, especially those in the third sector that work with corporates, need to understand the role of ESV schemes in their partner companies and consider the views of employees and the strategic logic of the companies before embarking on working together.Originality/valueThis is an original piece of work in a relatively under‐researched area. This is the first study to consider volunteers and non‐volunteers in an ESV scheme in a UK‐based company – the added dimension of interest and value is that the studied organisation was a gambling business.

Employee Volunteering (EV) schemes represent a cornerstone of many company Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies, being identified as a classic "win-win" situation in which businesses contribute significant resources into local communities while gaining a more skilled and engaged workforce and increased reputational benefits. This article questions the "win-win" scenario of EV arguing that existing research has focused predominantly upon the business–employee dimension while largely ignoring the role of third sector organizations engaging in these relationships. By focusing more directly on third sector experiences, the article identifies four "gaps" which place considerable constraints on the reach and impact of EV. It demonstrates the importance of not simply presuming a "win" for the third sector and the added value that can be gained from redirecting EV research toward the "business/nonprofit interface."