Corporate Responsibility Activities Research Articles

A Quantitative ABCD Analysis of Various Issues in Implementation of Corporate Responsibility Initiatives

Purpose: This study's main goal was to identify the crucial components and factors influencing the implementation of corporate responsibility initiatives by using the ABCD analysis framework to evaluate the advantages, benefits, constraints, and disadvantages of various issues pertaining to corporate responsibility initiative implementation. Design: The researcher used the focused group interview method, in which participants opinions on matters about corporate responsibility initiatives in organisations were obtained by assigning measurements, which were then quantitatively analysed. Findings: A quantitative analysis of the ABCD framework showed that favourable factors were given much more weight than benefit factors when it came to concerns with the actualization of corporate responsibility initiatives. It was discovered in particular that problems with establishing corporate responsibility activities have more advantages and benefits than disadvantages, demonstrating the effectiveness of such initiatives. Originality value: This paper not only helps readers gain a thorough understanding of the various factors that affect corporate responsibility initiatives, but it also points the way towards developing measurement scales for implementing such initiatives in future studies. To increase employee productivity, academics, researchers, and HR policymakers can follow the recommendations from this study. Paper Type: Empirical Research

Employee engagement practices and their impact on corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an excellent idea for businesses. Participation in CSR initiatives may benefit both firm and its stakeholder. The purpose appertaining to this study is to use Unerman’s (2007) stakeholders engagement framework to determine the determine the degree to which workers are involved in the company’s corporate responsibility activities. The primary focus appertaining to this study is ceaselessly how employees become involved in CSR initiatives. Using case study research design, this study was conducted. The results reveal that workers and managements are empowered to participate in the company’s social responsibility initiatives, as seen by their responses and opinions. Corporate responsibility programmers are closely tied to the involvement appertaining to workers at all levels, especially throughout the stages appertaining to planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting.

Executive Compensation, Sustainability, Climate, Environmental Concerns, and Company Financial Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Commercial Banks

This research investigates whether executive compensation is designed to motivate managers to pursue corporate sustainability (CS) concerns as measured by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 3.1 disclosure indicators in Indonesian listed commercial banks throughout 2007–2014. In addition, this study examines the impact of executive compensation, climate, and environmental concerns on both financial health and market value performance as components of company financial performance (CFP). This study, based on an agency theoretic and stakeholder positions, focuses on banking entities in a developing country, and enriches the literature by examining topics through the application of the Throughput Model that captures different pathways and stages. The results suggest that higher executive compensation in Indonesian banking entities may motivate management to do more for climate and environmental concerns, as well as to enhance CFP. Contrary to expectations, climate and environmental concerns have a significant negative impact on both financial health and market value performance. This implies that Indonesian banking companies may tend to conduct corporate responsibility activities only for their own-sake as an altruism motive, which influences the reduction of firms’ financial performance. This study comes to the conclusion that CS concern depicts a weakening factor as well as a partial mediator in the relationship between executive compensation and financial health performance.

Shaping or Shaking Trust in Corporate Responsibility Strategies: The Role of Financialization PracticesDate submitted: September 30, 2017Revised version accepted after double blind review: October 23, 2018

Managerial trust in a corporate responsibility strategy can be a precondition for the progressive implementation of social and ecological activities. Our findings show that the financialization of corporate responsibility activities can help overcome institutional incomplementarity between the logic of social responsibility and the dominant financial logic to build and strengthen managerial trust and facilitate implementation. This trust, however, is precarious and requires constant management. Moreover, financialization practices lead to selective implementation of corporate responsibility activities, which may lead to mistrust amongst external stakeholders. Thus, the financialization of corporate responsibility is highly ambivalent by shaping trust amongst internal stakeholders, but shaking trust amongst external stakeholders. Findings are based on quantitative and qualitative data derived from 25 interviews with experts employed by Germany’s largest publicly traded companies in 2016 and 2017, as well as an online survey of managers employed by 88 German companies listed on the DAX/MDAX/TecDAX stock indices in 2016.

Doing Well by Reporting Good: Reporting Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Performance

AbstractThis article aimed to examine the impacts of reporting‐type corporate responsibility activities (CRA‐R) on corporate social and financial performance. Academic research has explored how varying attributes of markets, industry sectors and firms might shape corporate social and financial performance, but includes little effort to examine the impacts of different kinds of CRA on corporate performance. We build on debate about the value of firms' reporting activities related to corporate responsibility. Recent literature suggests that CRA‐R is superficial marketing or “greenwashing.” Despite this viewpoint, corporate reporting activities related to responsibility are rising. In order to solve this puzzle, this article explores the impact of CRA‐R on corporate performance. First, drawing from the institutional perspective, we propose that CRA‐R will positively impact corporate social performance (CSP) oriented toward secondary stakeholders. Second, combining the stakeholder–agency perspective and corporate responsibility literature, we motivate the hypotheses that CRA‐R positively influences corporate financial performance (CFP). Empirical testing with a unique dataset of large US corporations selected in the Fortune 500 support the proposed hypotheses. In particular, both corporate social responsibility and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) activities positively influence corporate environmental performance, and financial performance. In particular, GRI reporting is a strong indicator to impact both social and financial performance. Our findings indicate that CRA‐R should not simply reflect shallow motivations, but deliver value to noninvestor stakeholders as well as investors.

Corporate responsibility reporting in UK construction

An ever increasing number of British companies are realising the benefits of reporting to stakeholders on their corporate responsibility activities. With the exception of the UK Companies Act, which requires certain companies to report but does not specify anything more than this, corporate responsibility reporting is currently voluntary. The topics reported on by companies can therefore vary widely, both between and within industries. Using a comparative framework and a detailed review of 12 construction industry corporate responsibility reports, this paper identifies the most prominent topics reported upon by the industry. The framework uses the global reporting initiative's key performance indicators but also incorporates and expands upon the idea of ‘waves’ of corporate responsibility in order to provide a second level of comparison for the reports. The paper also touches upon some of the possible drivers behind the topics which organisations choose to report upon. Health and safety, environmental performance, energy and resources, carbon, supply chains, and community were identified as the most commonly occurring themes in construction industry corporate responsibility reporting.

The development of governance structures for corporate responsibility

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore patterns of integrating corporate responsibility issues into corporate governance mechanisms and their development over time.Design/methodology/approachData from the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index is explored to reveal dominant governance patterns of corporate responsibility issues for the 51 organizations continuously participating in the index since its launch in 2002.FindingsThis research reports three major findings: First, there is increasing CEO leadership for the corporate responsibility agenda of the firm. Second, governance structures developed over time are now increasingly making use of corporate responsibility committees. In 2002 about 15 percent of the firms were using a CR committee, the number had increased by 2008 to more than 60 percent. Third, firms with a CR committee in place outperform others in the Corporate Responsibility Index.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this paper gives a good insight into which structures companies set up to deal with the corporate responsibility agenda, interviews with practitioners would help to understand why this is the case and in which direction the governance of corporate responsibility is expected to evolve.Practical implicationsTo understand how companies are governing their corporate responsibility activities is useful for managers seeking to learn from best practices.Originality/valueThis paper is the first empirical research looking at the development of governance structures for corporate responsibility beyond a single case study design.

Communicating corporate responsibility through media

The purpose of this study is to analyse 'how a company communicates its corporate responsibility activities through press releases' and 'how these activities are then presented by media in newspaper articles'. Our analysis is targeted at an empirical case of building a pulp mill in Uruguay. The data consist of the company's press releases and of the newspaper articles published in the biggest quality daily in Finland related to the construction project. The data analysis is conducted as a qualitative content analysis. Corporate responsibility activities are identified utilising the three dimensions of corporate responsibility. In addition, the most important stakeholders are identified and the elements of firm-stakeholder relations analysed. Our findings suggest that in terms of the three dimensions of corporate responsibility the company provided more information than what the media presented to its audience. On the other hand, the newspaper articles consisted of much more information than the press releases regarding the stakeholder relationships.

Corporate responsibility activities and economic performance: a theory of why and how they are connected

AbstractWhether a firm undertakes corporate responsibility (CR) activities for strategic or altruistic reasons, it is important to understand the relationship between such activities and economic performance. CR activities may be distinguished based on which combination of three possible outputs – learning, reputation and CR outcomes – they produce. This distinction matters not only for the ultimate environmental and social sustainability but also for the relationship between CR activities and economic performance. Taking advantage of this distinction, an integrative synthesis of knowledge of the relationship between CR activities and economic performance can be developed that presents the relationship in terms of a dynamic, case‐specific, inverted U‐shaped efficiency frontier and the vertical distance from this frontier. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Economic Drivers of Corporate Responsibility Activities

Economic Drivers of Corporate Responsibility Activities