| The Business & Society/Business Ethics field's early focus on corporate involvement in serious social problems has given way in large part to more specific, firm-focused research questions. This dissertation returns to the fields' early interests in social justice and offers a consolidation of theoretical developments in recent years.;The purpose of this dissertation is threefold. First, the study provides a rationale for placing emphasis on the societal issue(s), instead of on any one particular organization or institution. Second, this study seeks to discover how societal issues (and not merely organizational issues or firm issues) may be better addressed. Ultimately, this study attempts to provide a better understanding of the facilitators of and the impediments to multi-sector, multiple-player attempts to further social justice.;This study uses a longitudinal case as a setting for developing theoretical connections among several key strands of Business & Society thinking, particularly issues management and collaborative social problem-solving. The case involves the economic and socio-economic activities within Garrett Square, a distressed section of Cleveland Ohio's Glenville neighborhood. A period spanning three decades—1968 to 1999—is examined, as neighborhood actors from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors attempt to resolve entrenched problems of urban decay, poverty, and unemployment. |
