Artification in the Industrial Sector: Exploring Florim Ceramiche's Integration of Art Into Business

How are decisions in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arrived at in the mining sector, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest area of the globe and where corruption is rampant? To date, the literature on mining and development in sub-Saharan Africa has mostly analysed individual interventions made in the name of CSR and critiqued the case for embracing it. These assessments, however, very crucially overlook exploration, an essential phase of the mine lifecycle, during which inaugural dialogues are initiated with local communities that ultimately have a bearing on CSR strategy over the long term. The mining sector is a mergers and acquisitions industry, and in the developing world, the initial exploration phase typically sees numerous companies arrive to work a concession over a specified – and at times, lengthy – a period of time in locations that are often impoverished and ruled by unaccountable and corrupt governments. Each of these companies has its own management philosophy and strategy which ultimately shape dialogues and engagement with communities long before a mining commits to production. It is how the actions that occur during the exploration phase affect CSR outcomes which have gone virtually unexamined in the literature, a gap which this thesis seeks to bridge using a case study of Ghana, the location one of the largest and most dynamic mining economies in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the thesis examines the dynamics of community development and engagement at the initial exploration phase of mining projects, surveys local communities’ perspectives on the subject, and assesses how the actions of international mineral exploration companies influence CSR outcomes at the production phase. It does so using a series of qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with policymakers, NGO officers, mining and exploration company officials, and inhabitants of and leaders in mining communities, supplemented with field observations and content analysis of policy briefs, industry reports and company sustainability reports. The findings suggest that mining and mineral exploration companies do not communicate their CSR strategies to their host communities very effectively. While mineral exploration and mining companies use CSR as a platform to showcase their commitments to social and environmental standards, they have made little efforts to understand the socio-cultural, economic and political dynamics of their host communities. This, coupled with their over-dependence on CSR frameworks and standards designed mostly around Western cognitions, have limited the impact of mineral exploration and mining companies’ social and environmental programmes. A critical examination of the exploration phase of mineral development projects in Ghana also reveals that host communities are not afforded the opportunity to provide inputs into decisions on how CSR should be operationalised. Further analysis revealed that host governments in mineral-rich sections of sub-Saharan Africa are more fixated on securing mineral rents than with getting companies to honour their commitments. This has allowed companies, particularly those exploring for minerals, to decide on the type of projects implemented in the name of CSR, without truly engaging with communities. The thesis makes significant contributions to knowledge in a number of ways. First, it introduces the lifecycle (temporal) dimension into the mining-CSR research and demonstrates in detail how the factors highlighted in the literature as underpinning CSR, apply in different settings. It also nuances further the mining-CSR discourse by demonstrating very clearly how events at one phase of the lifecycle (e.g. exploration) can influence developments at another phase (e.g. production). The research seeks to facilitate a ‘rethinking’ of how social and environmental programmes implemented in mineral-rich sub-Saharan Africa are assessed. It specifically calls for a shift in analysis from critiques which focus on the actions being taken at individual mine sites towards more comprehensive examinations of the different phases of mineral development projects, the actors involved and detailed histories of companies’ engagements in communities, and reflects critically on how these factors shape contemporary CSR strategy. Finally, the thesis offers a blueprint for stakeholders in the mining industry, especially companies operating in Ghana and the wider sub-Saharan African region, on how to design and implement more grounded CSR strategies capable of bringing about meaningful change in local communities.

Purpose– The paper aims to examine the determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the annual reports of Malaysian public listed companies (PLCs). In 2006, Bursa Malaysia Berhad (BMB) launched its CSR Framework (effective in 2007) which is supposed to guide the Malaysian PLCs’ CSR disclosures. It is believed that this CSR framework may influence CSR disclosures to be more systematic, yet there is no evidence whether this framework influences the extent and quality of CSR disclosures. Thus, this study examines this area of research. The study also tests the influence of award on CSR disclosures.Design/methodology/approach– CSR disclosure checklist was developed to analyse the extent and quality of CSR information disclosures in the year 2008 annual reports of the Malaysian PLCs.Findings– Malaysian PLCs disclose more CSR information related to community and environment than workplace and marketplace CSR themes. On the other hand, the quality of disclosure practices was minimal when it is compared to the extent of disclosure practices. Finally, the study also found that the award’s variable has a significant positive relationship with both the extent and quality of CSR disclosure practices of the Malaysian PLCs.Research limitations/implications– The recently developed BMB’s CSR framework seems to have impact on the level and systematic CSR reporting practices of Malaysian PLCs. However, the quality of CSR disclosures is considered minimal.Practical implications– The results of the study bring some practical implications to the regulators, particularly Bursa Malaysia. First, it is good to observe that most companies have practiced specific disclosure in a separate statement with regard to CSR. However, the format of presentation and the extent of disclosure vary among the firms. Second, further guidelines need to be developed to provide a clearer framework of disclosure for CSR information. At the moment, Bursa Malaysia only listed down general principles of CSR themes. In addition, the regulators should also look into the evolving issues in CSR, such as the issue of climate change reporting. For example, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board has issued a voluntary Climate Change Reporting Framework.Originality/value– This study examined both the traditional (i.e. firm size and profitability) and non-traditional (i.e. award) factors influencing management’s decision to disclose CSR information in the annual reports of the Malaysian PLCs. Furthermore, the study reported how Malaysian PLCs comply with the recently implemented CSR framework issued by BMB.

Expand firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework to systematically address social determinants of health (SDOH) in their communities and improve firms' performance (FP). GAP: The U.S. healthcare systemhas struggled to improve population health outcomes while enhancing delivery performance. An oft-overlooked contributor to this deficit is SDOH inequities, accounting for 25-60% of deaths in the USA annually. Ironically, most healthcare firms do not view investment in SDOH, a neglected phenomenon, to develop sustainable healthy communities as their direct responsibility due to the "wrong pocket problem." Although extant literature theorizes theCSR construct, there is a paucity of research on SDOH integration with the CSR framework. We integrate a quantitative and qualitative study with supplementary literature on CSR and SDOH using the grounded theory method by researching fourteen health plan firms across the USA. Research reveals early efforts undertaken by top-performing healthcare insurers to address SDOH and provides evidence that such measures can be integrated profitably under CSR as a competitive advantage. Contributes to CSR theory and practice by providing an empirical model and expanding its framework to address SDOH systematically. Key implications are as follows: (1) healthcare firms to link with unconventional partners, such as housing authorities, food banks, employment agencies, and schools; (2) the entire healthcare supply chain to collaborate with social enterprises and regulators to develop sustainable communities; (3) policymakers must incentivize firms to align social equity and corporate goals; and (4) long-term view on CSR, SDOH, and healthy living (HL) will in-turn eliminate social inequities while enhancing FP.

An efficient corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework in many economies has been linked with human capital development, social and financial inclusion, environmental protection and better stakeholder management. This article examines the level of efficiency of the CSR framework in Nigeria; it underscores the developmental potentials of CSR practices within the Nigerian business community. However, a prevailing trend of haphazard and sometimes dodgy CSR practices by free riding rogue companies mars such potentials. Underpinning these dodgy practices has been a CSR 'business case' argument coupled with dysfunctional business (corporate) law assumptions among other causative factors. The article appraises the implications of these causative factors and towards minimising the haphazard practices, proposes corporate law reforms through which the Nigerian CSR framework may become more effective.

South Asian businesses have made major changes to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices which show different approaches between their theoretical frameworks and their actual business operations. Rapid industrialization brings together social, economic and environmental issues in the region. This study compares the CSR model in Bangladesh and India based on their philosophical and legal systems, operational mechanisms and results of their voluntary and mandatory models. The research uses stakeholder theory together with institutional theory and Carroll’s CSR Pyramid framework for analysis. The Bangladesh’s CSR mostly voluntary and market-driven model which is shaped by interactions with civil society and global supply chain pressure whereas India’s statutory CSR framework, mandated by the Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and rules frame under this. The investigation uses qualitative methods to study official government documents together with peer-reviewed journal articles and regulatory documents. The findings reveal that voluntary CSR framework of Bangladesh encourage adaptability, creativity, sector-specific practices, especially in banking and ready-made garments. However, the current system faces three major challenges viz. insufficient disclosure practices, insufficient accountability measures and the potential for companies to make false environmental claims known as greenwashing. But India’s CSR framework is based statutory rules, coercive, and spending on CSR predictable. The system of CSR in India encounters three main obstacles which stem from regulatory requirements that force companies to act in certain ways and from unbalanced regional distribution and from inadequate systems to measure their effects. A combined approach that merges mandatory disclosure, strategic focus, and regulatory incentives may enhance CSR effectiveness in both the countries. The paper also provides essential data about business responsibility practices, enables policymakers to craft policies through methods for constructing national CSR frameworks that support worldwide sustainable development targets.

Considering the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the airline industry including safety issues, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impact of CSR incorporating efforts to ensure safety (safety activity) on corporate image, customer trust, and passengers’ behavioral intentions in South Korea. An onsite survey was conducted for Korean passengers in three international airports" lounges (Incheon International Airport, Gimpo International Airport, and Gimhae International Airport). The results of this study reveal that ethical CSR and safety activity significantly affect corporate image, whereas ethical CSR, safety activity, and philanthropic CSR have significant influence on customers’ trust, and trust and corporate image affect passengers’ behavioral intentions. However, economic CSR, legal CSR, and philanthropic CSR are not statistically significant for predicting the airline’s corporate image. Moreover, economic CSR and legal CSR are not significant antecedents of customers’ trust for the airline. Based on these findings, this study contributes theoretically to the tourism literature not only by confirming corporate image and customers’ trust as mediating factors between CSR dimensions and customers’ behavioral intentions, but also by incorporating safety activity as another essential and industry-specific CSR dimension for airlines’ CSR frameworks.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) aims to mediate between business interests and local communities. It consists of social, economic, ethical and environmental dimensions. Established studies, however, indicate that the economic profit remains to be the most visible objective of CSR activities, which in turn engenders massive disaffection and resistance to the programs. This article offers a new framework for CSR through which applicable policies can be formulated to renegotiate the disintegrative aspects of corporate and community interactions in an Indonesian context. The idea encompasses both regulatory and perational principles enabling for the enlargement of the ethical component of CSR.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an organisation's ongoing commitment to ethical behaviour and economic development, as well as improving the quality of life for its employees and their families, the local community, and society at large. It is an unavoidable requirement for long-term development, particularly in developing countries. Although there has been some focus on CSR and business performance in large corporations, research on CSR in SMEs, particularly in economically depressed African countries is becoming increasingly important. To reap the benefits of CSR efforts, SMEs should be encouraged to create strategic CSR frameworks. Hence this study aims to investigate the influence of CSR on the business performance of a medium-sized manufacturing enterprise in the eThekwini metropolitan area. It will contribute to theoretical discussions and improve their performance. The data for this study was gathered in two parts, that is quantitative and qualitative. The pre- and post-CSR quantitative data were derived from business performance values obtained from company records. To collect qualitative data, both semi-structured and focus group interviews with the manager and employees were used. The SPSS was used to analyse the quantitative data, while Nvivo analysed the qualitative data. Furthermore, inferential statistics used in quantitative data included regression analysis and factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), while qualitative data analysis employed thematic content analysis. The findings of this study reveal that the medium-sized enterprise has a positive attitude towards CSR. Emanating from his humanity and Ubuntu, the owner of the organisation was inspired to practise CSR. The benefits gained by a sampled medium-sized enterprise that incorporated CSR into its business operations were highlighted in this study. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge on CSR and business performance in South African SMEs. It adds to the body of knowledge by creating a CSR framework for SMEs.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not new in the corporate world. Many researchers and academics have developed their own definitions of CSR over time. Since the 1950s, academics and researchers have been unable to agree on a single, accepted definition of CSR. Companies throughout the world are dealing with a variety of issues related to their new position, which is to fulfil the requirements of the contemporary generation in an ethical manner. Undoubtedly, CSR an innovative idea in Malaysia increases the significance of CSR for banks in Malaysia. The researchers will try to determine about the existing legal framework of Corporate Social Responsibility for banks in Malaysia and United Kingdom (UK) by making a comparison of the legal framework between two countries and seeks recommendations for improvement of existing legal framework of CSR for banks in Malaysia.To achieve that, we will try to will try to determine the existing legal framework of Corporate Social Responsibility for banks in Malaysia and United Kingdom and will try to find possible deficiencies in the legal frame CSR for banks in Malaysia. Additionally, it is important to consider the CSR legal framework for banks in UK. The study will attempt to look out for pertinent laws, rules, regulations, and recommendations in the local and international legal frameworks of CSR for banks in UK and Malaysia.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the mining sector in the DRC is a crucial subject, given the country's abundance of natural resources and the resulting socio-economic challenges. CSR in this context refers to the commitment of mining companies to operate ethically and sustainably, taking into account the impact of their activities on local communities and the environment. One of the main challenges of CSR in the DRC is the equitable sharing of national resources. Companies must not only respect internal and international regulations, but also contribute to the socio-economic development of the regions where they operate. This includes job creation, support for local infrastructure, education, health, etc. However, effective implementation of CSR is often hampered by governance issues, corruption, and lack of transparency. Local communities often express concerns that the economic benefits derived from mining do not sufficiently benefit the population. For CSR to be truly effective, it is essential to establish a constructive dialogue between business, government and local communities. This may involve benefit sharing initiatives, community development projects and better resource management to ensure that mineral wealth contributes to sustainable and inclusive development for all Congolese. Beyond that, we also need binding measures against mining companies that do not fulfill their obligations within the framework of CSR. These measures also include the mechanisms of appeals.

Signaling the fundamental tensions in the conceptualization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corruption has simply lost its capacity to inspire. Like an emperor without clothes, both concepts are estranged from comprehension. This paper therefore examines these deeply contested conceptions of corruption and CSR frameworks as they relate to Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. It seeks to test the competing notions within institutional and operational corruption on the one hand and CSR frameworks on the other hand. The idea is to establish a fundamental nexus between the inconsistent narrative conception of the above forms of corruption and the incoherent framing of CSR within institutional settings in Nigeria. This paper maintains the view against the voluntarist conception that sees corruption as the offshoot of cultural disposition wrapped into the logical frames of CSR. As a result, the study seeks to resolve the question of whether corruption is incidental to or a function of framework and systems design. The aspects of relativist, nonrelativist, and communalist analytical methods provide a context for an examination of the competing notions of corruption and its relationship with the incoherent CSR framework in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. It argues that the intentionality of gaps created within the CSR framework provides the basis for corrupt activities. Initial findings reveal a strong connection between defective systems design and a high tendency for institutional and operational corruption within the CSR framework in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. This has implications for associated and connected institutional systems in Nigeria, Africa, and across the world.

PurposeBy exploring the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and evaluating major frameworks of CSR provided in a wider range of early works, this paper attempts to identify key domains of CSR and propose the revised CSR framework for strategic CSR management processes. The paper provides extended insights into how the concept of strategic CSR is integrated into city branding and design and highlights and addresses the roles of CSR that are inter‐linked to city brand management in terms of sustainable value creation to meet a community's societal, political or economic objectives.Design/methodology/approachThe overall content of this paper is concerned with theory of CSR and the fundamental logic behind city branding. The frameworks are developed based upon the historical review of theory and observation of trends in the current issues.FindingsThe paper funds that CSR is an integral framework to encompass not just principles of social responsibility, but processes of social responsiveness and outcomes of social performance as well.Research limitations/implicationsNotwithstanding a number of management literature that seeks out strategic linkages between competitive advantage, a crucial strategy concept and CSR, research concerned with the relationship between CSR and city branding is at in its infancy. There is a need to examine the essential ingredients that produce design‐driven value in the process of implementing strategic CSR into city branding. Future research, taking the difference between the firm/product and the city into account, will further investigate how city branding and design can be implemented to reflect social responsibility, notably in terms of the process and evaluation.Originality/valueThe paper not only presents the revised framework of CSR and major constituents of strategic CSR but also seeks to enlighten and establish a new connection between CSR and value creation that bring us an innovative perspective when implemented in city branding and design.

The value added contribution of this article is twofold. Firstly, this article advocates that Board members, Directors and Managers must have a clear understanding that the mental models of employees and themselves influence the effectiveness of strategies implemented within an effective Corporate Governance (CG) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework. Secondly, this article uses data collected and findings from participants in Australia and South Africa regarding the factors (from their mental model) that retain them in their organisation as one example of how Board members, Directors and Managers could explore the mental models of their employees regarding retention and then develop strategies (within a CSR framework) based on a solid CG foundation.

Germany aims to achieve climate neutrality in its residential building stock by 2050. It is on track for this with newbuilds, through mandating tight energy efficiency standards. However, it lags more than 50 % behind its climate goals for energy-efficiency upgrading of existing buildings. Further, the costs of upgrading often fall on tenants, through legally permitted post-upgrade rent increases that are too high to be offset by energy savings. This paper reports on a set of interviews and discussions with a panel of experts/stakeholders, exploring how these climate goals can be met without economically disadvantaging low-income tenants. A key finding is that the governance of this transition is weak, including both “hard” governance, through laws, regulations and sanctions, and “soft” governance, through corporate and cultural drivers of energy efficiency renovation. A hybrid between these two, corporate social responsibility, appears to offer promise for moving things forward. However, while large corporate rental housing providers have corporate social responsibility frameworks, there is no equivalent among small private landlords/landladies. Further, while these frameworks help drive energy efficiency renovation forward, they often fail to protect low-income tenants from sharp rent increases. Rental corporations' corporate social responsibility frameworks need be revised to take this issue into account. Further, a framework similar to corporate social responsibility needs to be developed for small private landlords/landladies. This could begin as voluntary, as in Scotland and Wales, and transition to mandatory over time, as has happened with corporate social responsibility in the EU.

A purpose-action framework for Corporate Social Responsibility in times of shock