Scholars from various disciplines have studied humor since antiquity. Yet, over the centuries, these researchers have also struggled to conceptualize a viable, well-accepted notion of humor. Beyond pleasure and amusement, people use humor for a variety of social functions. On the one hand, humor can cause others to like the humorous source more, attract regard, ease conversations, promote expression and the exchange of ideas, introduce new topics of discussion, or smooth interactions. On the other hand, in aggressive forms, humor can halt verbal interactions, modify the usual rules of conversation, communicate critiques, or contribute to the creation of subversive environments. Not All Claps and Cheers: Humor in Business and Society Relationships is an original research anthology that considers different angles from which to address the use of humor by individuals, groups and business actors in their interactions within, around, and across organizations-that is, at the interfaces of business and society. Accordingly, the research anthology is organized in four sections-"Humor, Business and Society," "From Society to Business: Humor's Use and Roles in Activist Movements," "From Business to Society: Humor's Use and Roles in Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Public Relations," and "Society within Business: Humor's Use and Roles in the Workplace and in Organizations." This ground-breaking research anthology draws on material from marketing, communications, human resources and stakeholder theory to throw light on this poorly understood facet of human business behavior.

This research anthology explores the concept of food production and supply, from farm gate to plate, bringing together contemporary thinking and research on local, national, and global issues from a stakeholder perspective. A Stakeholder Approach to Managing Food includes a number of sections to represent these challenges, opportunities, conflicts, and cohesions affecting relevant stakeholder groups within food production and supply and their reaction to, engagement with, and co-creation of the food environment. For some, local, national, and global interests may seem at odds. We are in an era of growing and pervasive multi-national corporations, and these corporations have significant influence at all levels. Rapidly growing economies such as China are a focus for the global brand, but is this a scenario of adaptation or homogenization of food? Alongside this trend toward national and global development in food, this volume presents the counter-reaction that is taking place (especially in developed countries) toward local speciality and culturally bound foods, with emphasis on the importance of the inter-connection of local communities and agri-food culture and economy. With an in-depth analysis of agricultural businesses, this book shows that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in rural communities with often renewed and engaged connection with consumers and imaginative use of new media. This book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy-makers concerned with agriculture, food production and economics, cultural studies.