Corporate Social Responsibility Indicators Research Articles

Ranking of companies according to the indicators of corporate social responsibility based on SWARA and ARAS methods

Corporate sector and companies have recognized the importance of implementation of strategy of corporate social responsibility in order to increase the company's image and responsibility towards society and the communities where they operate. Multinational companies in their everyday activities and operations pay more attention to sustainable models of corporate social responsibility. The focus of this paper is to identify the indicators of corporate social responsibility and to rank companies according to the indicators. Proposed framework for evaluation and ranking is based on the SWARA and the ARAS methods. The usability and efficiency of the proposed framework is shown on an illustrative example.

Constructing the Corporate Social Responsibility Indicators of Professional Sport Organization

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was used as a business strategy to enhance reputation, increase competitive advantage, and reduce risk. The purpose of this study was to construct the CSR indicators of professional sport organization. In-depth interviews and Delphi method were conducted. Professional sport team managers, secretary generals of sport organizations and experts in sport management participated in this research. Results indicated that CSR of professional sport organization contained 4 dimensions, 13 sub dimensions and 56 sub indicators. The main indicators include enhancing the performance of professional sport organization, increasing competitiveness of professional sport organization, protecting stakeholder’s interests, obeying the law, complying the collective bargaining agreement, protecting environment, providing safe merchandise and stadium, assisting sport promotion, assisting employees’ career development, protecting consumer rights, promoting sport, education and health programs, assisting philanthropy organizations, and enhancing community’s life quality.

La responsabilidad social en la marca corporativa de la empresa periodística

Literature on journalistic profession and business emphasizes a context of loss of credibility and reputation between internal and external audiences, supremacy of trading criteria above informative criteria, a lack of ethical leadership in managers and absence of determination for the defence of the profession among journalists themselves. To overcome this situation, the journalistic brand must assume Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria that respect and take into account the professional identity of their journalists. CSR indicators needed to build a good reputation and create a competitive brand identity are: a) the establishment of an publishing production process with its own character (identity): in which we monitor the accuracy of the information, freedom of expression and independence and b) the incorporation of fulfilment and control mechanisms. In particular, through internal organs to monitor and verify and through internal awareness. In this regard, the Editorial Board and Working Statues are essential. The Journalistic Brand should be identified with the postulates of this CSR, giving priority to the economic and labour dimension of social responsibility and encouraging the mainstreaming among all the members of the organization. With special relevance in journalists, understood as the main transmitters of the brand value. The revision of literature has analysed books and articles about management and the ethics of the journalistic profession , from the point of view of the corporate brand and CRS. Likewise, it has come to national and international company reports from the Third Sector The analysis period covers manuals and articles from 1970 to 2015. To assess the appropriateness of the materials used we have followed impact criteria of articles and authors. As a difference with the literature related, this article puts the values of the ethics of the profession in the new management of intangible assets in the journalistic business, specially, the brand and CRS. Both are constituted as decisive assets to reinforce the value of the businesses dedicated to information, increase their credibility and favour the journalists’ commitment with their environment (brand).

Indicadores de Responsabilidad Social para Pymes del Cantón Salinas y su Incidencia en el Desarrollo Humano

El trabajo informa de una revisión bibliográfica sobre las concepciones de responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE) y de interpretaciones del concepto de desarrollo humano (DH), ambas elaboradas desde diversas aportaciones hasta su construcción conceptual actual; para lo cual se han realizado consultas a diversos documentos nacionales e internacionales que incluyeron libros, leyes, actas y artículos de revistas científicas en soportes digitales y papel, entre otros. El resultado de la revisión aportó una selección de indicadores de RSE, construida mediante triangulación de enfoques, para determinar la incidencia en el DH. El resultado permite determinar los indicadores necesarios para el estudio de la incidencia de la RSE en el DH de las pymes del Cantón Salinas, provincia de Santa Elena en el período 2013- 2014.

The effect of corporate social responsibility on firm risk

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and risk for a sample of US firms rated by KLD.Design/methodology/approach– The authors’ approach involves three distinctive features. First, the authors use individual indicators of CSR to highlight which CSR dimension matters most for a firm’s risk. Second, the authors distinguish CSR strengths and concerns to reveal potentially nonlinear relationships. Third, the authors use a measure of risk that takes into account the predictable changes in a firm’s performance and that does not collapse the panel data into a single cross-section. This allows the CSR–risk relationship to be estimated by the variation within each firm and the variation across firms.Findings– Consistent with existing results, the authors find that CSR concerns relating to diversity, employee relations and corporate governance increase the risk to shareholders. More interestingly, the authors show that CSR strengths relating to diversity and employee relations are also associated with higher risk. The positive influence of both CSR strengths and concerns on a firm’s risk is confirmed using aggregate CSR indicators.Research limitations/implications– The results confirm that CSR strengths and concerns represent distinct constructs that should not be aggregated into a single measure. The effect of poor CSR on firm risk is more significant than what would appear to be the case using an aggregate index.Practical implications– Although lack of CSR engagement may not affect (and may even benefit) a firm’s current performance, it may seriously damage its performance in the future. Firms should be aware of this risk.Originality/value– The positive relationship found between CSR and firm risk underscores the inherent conflict between the interests of employees and those of shareholders. By committing to a more favorable treatment of their employees, firms incur a fixed cost that inevitably transfers more risk to their shareholders.

Logistics service providers and corporate social responsibility: sustainability reporting in the logistics industry

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present a content analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports published by logistics service providers (LSPs), and to analyse factors influencing the level and scope of reporting. In order to address this objective, the authors show to what extent various social and environmental categories are covered in the CSR reports. The authors also investigate whether any differences in the use of CSR indicators can be found with regard to the use of a formal reporting framework, the size of a company, location of its headquarter, and ownership structure.Design/methodology/approach– The study begins with a comprehensive literature review on the CSR policies and practices in relation to the field of logistics. A database of 350 international LSPs is compiled based on independent rankings of top logistics companies. Applying a content analysis approach, corporate web sites and CSR reports are examined in order to investigate how sustainability is reported and what CSR-related indicators are published. Statistical analysis is carried out to provide insight into whether any differences in the use of CSR indicators can be found with regard to four key factors identified in the literature review.Findings– Although aspects of sustainability are mentioned on corporate web sites of most LSPs in the database (53 per cent), only 13 per cent publish formal CSR reports. This research identifies a variety of indicators used by LSPs and shows that the use of a formal reporting framework and the size of a company are the two main factors influencing the levels of CSR reporting in the sector.Practical implications– This paper provides an insight into how transparently LSPs report on the sustainability of their performance. LSPs can compare their own CSR reporting approaches to the body of scientific literature and the findings presented in this paper, in order to adapt more general concepts and best practice evidence to their needs.Social implications– By focusing on best practice in reporting of the environmental and social performance, this research can potentially improve the long-term sustainability of the logistics sector.Originality/value– This is the first study providing a comprehensive review of the CSR reporting practice in the third party logistics sector. As such, this paper provides an important basis for CSR-related research in the field of logistics and supply chain management. Several areas for future research are also identified.

The relationship between disclosures of corporate social performance and financial performance: Evidences from GRI reports in manufacturing industry

Whether the corporate social performance affects the financial performance is still unclear in many manufacturing companies. We commonly expect, on one side, that profitable corporations have stronger incentives to reveal information on the social performance in order to improve their publicity; on the other hand, companies may face the fear of rising costs due to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. With increasing concerns of CSR, it is timely to investigate the relationship between the disclosure of corporate social performance and the financial performance. In this paper with the above study objective, we use Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports of 75 sample companies, collect evidences by applying the method of structured content analysis of the cases and attempt to identify this relationship. The corporate social performance is measured by the indicators according to the GRI guidelines, i.e. within the categories of Labor practices and decent work, Human Rights, Society as well as Product responsibility. Financial performance is measured by return on equity, sales growth and cash flow/sales ratio. Using statistical evaluation methods, our results indicate that the categories of Human Rights, Society as well as Product responsibility display a significant and positive correlation with the return on equity. Same conclusion also holds for many CSR indicators. Nevertheless, when examining the CSR practices across different manufacturing sectors, we have not observed significant differences. The study results are important for understanding the development and implementation of CSR practices in the manufacturing industry.

Assessment of Performance Indicators CSR for Socially Responsible Investment in Emerging Markets

Purpose - the study of indicators of corporate social responsibility in the implementation of socially responsible investing through ETFs (Exchange trade funds) in emerging markets.Composed of the regression equation and the figures obtained correlation between the criteria of corporate social responsibility and economic data, as well as the degree of this influence. In the identified CSR indicators, the use of which in corporate governance promotes socially responsible investirovanie in emerging markets through Exchange trade funds. The proposed methodology for the assessment of the seven key CSR indicators and the results of evaluation of companies included in the financial rating of "500 FT".

Corporate Social Responsibility Index for Ukrainian Banks: The Essentials for Implementation

The aim of this paper is to solve the problem of CSR performance measurement for Ukrainian banking institutions by developing a CSR index. It is done by measuring a corporate social responsibility (CSR) through 25 different indicators for 40 Ukrainian banks, which represent 80% of total banking system assets. This paper is a first attempt in Ukrainian practice to put CSR indicators into a standard metrics and develop specific methodology that would allow comparing CSR for different banks. To check the adequacy of our preliminary findings we compare CSR results for Ukrainian banks with CSR results for Swedish banks, where the level of CSR is definitely higher, since it is a socially directed developed economy. After that the weights of CSR index for Swedish banks counted by our methodology was compared to different professionally made indexes.

The Influence of Family Ownership on Corporate Social Responsibility: An International Analysis of Publicly Listed Companies

Manuscript TypeEmpiricalResearch Question/IssueWe investigate the impact of family equity holdings on three indicators of corporate social responsibility: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rankings. We further evaluate how firm governance mediates the effect of family ownership on environmental and social improvements and how national governance systems influence the response of family holdings to ESG.Research Findings/InsightsBased on a sample of 23,902 firm‐year observations drawn from 2002 to 2012 covering 46 countries and 3,893 firms, our findings show that both closely held equity and family ownership are negatively associated with ESG performance. When we control for governance, closely held equity is no longer associated with environmental and social rankings, but family ownership retains a significant negative association. These results are strong and consistent across liberal market economies (LME), whereas coordinated market economies (CME) exhibit generally weaker results and considerable diversity. Japan stands out as different from the other countries examined in depth.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsOur results are consistent with agency relationships driving decisions concerning ESG commitment in LMEs. They also emphasize the role of institutional differences given the weak and variable association between ownership and ESG in CMEs. We show that families may be able to influence decisions, possibly through participation in management, despite normally effective governance constraints. As the impact of ownership and governance varies across economies and ownership type, this implies that both agency and governance should be evaluated in the context of the economic environment.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsOur results offer insights to regulators and policy makers who intend to improve ESG performance. The results suggest that encouraging diversified ownership is particularly important in LMEs, that improvements in governance may benefit social and environmental performance where equity is closely held by institutions, but that governance may be less effective in the presence of family ownership.

Powerful CEOs and employee relations: evidence from corporate social responsibility indicators

In this paper, we investigate whether powerful CEOs who dominate the top management team exhibit positive or negative behavior towards their employees. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that CEO power as evidenced by high pay disparity between the CEO and top management, results in positive Employee Relations as measured by the KLD Statistics. We also find that CEO power affects the individual categories of Employee Involvement as well as Employee Health and Safety, indicating that pay disparity positively effects Employee Relations on a number of measures. However, the strong positive relationship is not found when the CEO holds the dual role of Chairman. In addition, neither measure tests positive for union relations, although high profitability, as measured by industry adjusted Return on Assets, appears to permit firms to have positive relations with employees on a number of different measures.

Business Performance Measurement in Relation to Corporate Social Responsibility: A conceptual Model Development

This paper aims to define the concept and to provide a comparative analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility, based on case study of reporting initiatives such as: Global Reporting Initiative, Resource Based View Initiative and Global Environmental Management Initiative. This comparative analysis will highlight the similarities and differences of reporting elements used in Corporate Social Responsibility reporting from the initiatives point of view. The proposed model of Balanced Scorecard provides a new structure of Corporate Social Responsibility indicators. This was done according to each perspective in order to analyze which reporting initiative is the most relevant. Also there are presented future directions for implementing the proposed model.

The relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate performance: evidence from the US semiconductor industry

This study adopts a two-stage approach to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and semiconductor companies’ performance during 2004–2008. In the first stage, dynamic data envelopment analysis is adopted to explore whether CSR affects US semiconductor firms’ performance, and the difference in performance between CSR firms and non-CSR firms is analysed; in the second stage, panel data regression is used to determine which quantitative indicators of CSR significantly affect the performance of US semiconductor firms. The empirical results show that social responsibility investment by US semiconductor firms has positive effects on their performance. This study thus suggests that the US semiconductor companies should pay more attention to the CSR quantitative indicators, including human rights, employee relationships, and environment issues in order to enhance their corporate efficiency.

Strategic corporate social responsibility and economic performance

This article proposes a novel Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) index based on a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. Acknowledging the argument that companies might favour those CSR dimensions that provide strategic competitive advantages, we argue that the index can capture companies’ strategic approach to CSR. Furthermore, our findings reveal a neutral relationship between this strategic CSR index and economic performance as measured by Return on Assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q, when controlling for firm unobserved heterogeneity and past economic performance. By contrast, an equally-weighted index of the same CSR indicators is found to be negatively related with ROA, which reinforces our claim that this specific DEA-based index is a measure of strategic CSR.

Socially Responsible Corporate Communications in Mexico: Evidence of the Large Companies by Their Operational Levels

The aim of this study is to know the general condition of business communications regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in large Mexican companies, and identify the significant differences in terms of a set of indicators and in comparison with three different operational levels. Specifically, based in a relevant previous research work by Maignan and Ralston (2002) and analyzing the content of 150 Mexican business websites as a sample frame, the study evaluates the differences in a set of CSR indicators divided in principles, processes and stakeholder issues. And then, compare these indicators among the national, international and multinational level by utilizing the statistical Chi-square test. The main findings suggest a high prevalence of corporate communications regarding social responsibilities in large Mexican companies, especially from those that operate on a multinational level and coming from abroad. The performance-driven principle was found to be the main motivation behind CSR communications for all levels; quality programs were the most employed CSR process in order to build a good citizenship image; and the stakeholder issues related to shareholders and the indicator of service/product quality from the customers group, were those found more significantly similar among the groups.

Corporate social responsibility index for Ukrainian banks: The essentials for implementation

The aim of this paper is to solve the problem of CSR performance measurement for Ukrainian banking institutions by developing a CSR index. It is done by measuring a corporate social responsibility (CSR) through 25 different indicators for 40 Ukrainian banks, which represent 80% of total banking system assets. This paper is a first attempt in Ukrainian practice to put CSR indicators into a standard metrics and develop specific methodology that would allow comparing CSR for different banks. To check the adequacy of our preliminary findings we compare CSR results for Ukrainian banks with CSR results for Swedish banks, where the level of CSR is definitely higher, since it is a socially directed developed economy. After that the weights of CSR index for Swedish banks counted by our methodology was compared to different professionally made indexes.

Coupling Corporate Social Responsibility into Millennium Development Goals is a Mere Wishful Thinking?

The purpose of this study is to explore the opportunity of building the synergy between the government and private sector to accelerate the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). From the content analysis, the indicators of CSR from various CSR Guidelines have the same motives and goals with those of MDGs. This indicates that CSR can be harmonised with government programs to achieve the MDGs. The individual and external environment aspect has less significant effect; institutional aspect becomes the central of attention in this study. The harmonisation mechanism between government and private sector in Indonesia is formulated through focus group discussion. The development programs designed by Indonesian government should comply with the principles of German government in AP 2015. Other countries can benefit this study that has same goal to achieve MDGs in 2015.

A corporate social responsibility indicator system for construction enterprises

In the construction industry, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly valued as one factor that will contribute to business sustainable development. Construction enterprises typically develop CSR reports as one way to maintain a positive corporate image. There is a growing body of research which considers the effectiveness of CSR. However, understanding what CSR means to the construction industry, and how to practice it, is limited. This paper develops a framework for CSR indicators relevant to construction enterprises worldwide as a tool for CSR performance. CSR stakeholders are identified through literature review, and these stakeholders are mapped on construction process and corporation to represent stakeholders involved in construction enterprises. Based on stakeholder theory, CSR performance issues related to each stakeholder are developed to show key factors of CSR performance of construction companies, and the indicators are subsequently extracted to reveal specific contents included in these performance issues. The indicator system provides guidance for CSR implementation in the construction industry and enables construction enterprises to assess CSR performance scientifically, which in turn will assist the attainment of business sustainable development. Future research opportunities exist to define a transparent weight system, to investigate the role of contextual factors, and to examine interactions of stakeholders and interactions of indicators in this model.

Qualidade Informacional dos Relatórios de Sustentabilidade de Empresas Premiadas por suas Práticas de Responsabilidade Socioambiental: Uma Análise com Base nos Indicadores da ONU

Given the importance of the Sustainability Report as an instrument of management and disclosure of investments and actions taken by companies in the socio-environmental area, this study aims to analyze the information quality of Sustainability Reporting (SR) for the period 2007 to 2009, published by companies recognized for their practice of environmental responsibility, based on the indicators of corporate social responsibility of the UN. This is a descriptive study, qualitative and quantitative in nature, bringing a sample of 25 companies awarded in Guia Exame 2009 Sustainability Award or the winners of ECO prize from AMCHAM and the journal Valor Economico (2007, 2008 and 2009. The information quality of RS was investigated by the technique of content analysis and measured as indicators of the UN. For statistical evaluation we used the cluster analysis. The results show that the categories of the UN’s Guide that had the highest levels of disclosure in the period studied are Technology and Human Resources Development, Health and Safety and Contributions to Government and Society at the expense of Information on corruption, which represent the lower incidence of disclosure, possibly because they express negative externalities of business. In cluster analysis, we found that most companies ranked in cluster 2 (moderate disclosure), representing 76% of firms. Already five companies, equivalent to 20%, were classified in cluster 1 (low disclosure) and only one in cluster 3 (high disclosure), which shows that even companies regarded as a benchmark for its socially responsible practices have a long way to go towards transparency and quality of disclosure of their social and environmental practices.

A Delphi Study to Identify Corporate Social Responsibility Indicators: The Case of Greek Telecommunication Sector

The Telecommunication sector deals with numerous social and operational challenges such as technological development, increased demand for telecommunication services, health concerns and environment protection. The aim of this paper is to identify both general and sector-specific indicators in order to measure the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance. The Telecommunication sector has analyzed and identified the main stakeholders that affect and are affected by business operations. Six main stakeholders, namely suppliers, customers, corporate governance, environment, society and human resources and forty three indicators are indentified concentrating on the Greek market with the use of Delphi technique. Additionally, the study presents a specific formula for each indicator so as to measure CSR performance in specific terms. The contribution of the study is to formulate an aggregate CSR index and translate CSR concerns into specific indicators and to recommend a methodology in order to propose indicators applicable to any sector.