CSR Reports Research Articles

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Securing human rights through risk-management methods: Breakthrough or misalignment?

AbstractThis is a study of three authoritative instruments that promote a common idea: economic activities and development should be conducted with respect for human rights. The World Bank Framework, the International Financial Corporation Performance Standards and the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights are examined to get clarity on how human rights risk management differs from more conventional management approaches. The focus here is on prevention of human rights impacts. Do the three instruments employ approaches adequate for handling human rights risks? To understand prevention, one needs to reflect on what makes human rights a particular type of impact and account for the regulatory context of protecting human rights transnationally. The analysis identifies four ‘offsets’ through which economic decision-makers can distort their human rights performance and place causal observers at a disadvantage. Prevention becomes an issue of how to relate to ‘residual impacts’ on human rights. This article finds that the ‘hierarchy or mitigation’ and even ‘human rights due diligence’ under illuminate the challenge. The proposal here is to add ‘reduction at source’ as a parameter of human rights risk management. The sources for this analysis are the three instruments, and the practice of implementing organizations, particularly IFC projects, CAO cases, impact assessments, and CSR reports. In conclusion, the potential for cross-fertilization among instruments is genuine. Increased clarity on prevention of human rights impacts should assist economic decision-makers in their risk management task and casual observers in assessing their performance.

Strategies for Social and Environmental Disclosure: The Case of Multinational Gambling Companies

This study investigates how firms in the gambling industry manage their corporate social disclosures (CSDs) about controversial issues. We performed thematic content analysis of CSDs about responsible gambling, money laundering prevention and environmental protection in the annual reports and stand-alone CSR reports (2009–2016) of four USA-based multinational gambling firms and their four Macao counterparts. This study draws on impression management theory, camouflage theory and corporate integrity theory to examine the gambling firms’ CSDs. We infer that the CSD strategies of gambling firms in Macao and the USA did not serve as vehicles for reflexivity about social responsibility or social responsiveness. Instead, the firms camouflaged legitimacy gaps about sensitive topics by adopting assertive or defensive facades, disclaiming ethical responsibility, curtailing disclosure, or offering zero disclosure. Differences between CSD strategies according to topic, location, time, and reporting channel appear to reflect four factors: pressure to report, availability of good news, whether a firm was assuming ethical responsibility for addressing the topic, and the prospective readership. This study extends our understanding of the contextual and topic-specific factors affecting the quantity and character of CSDs by firms in a contested industry.

Corporate social responsibility reporting within the Malaysian oil and gas industry: A questionable publicity stunt

This paper aims to challenge those involved in the CSR industry, non-governmental organizations (NGO) workers, CSR professionals and CSR consumers to question the real intentions by companies in their stance to move with the current trends and contribute towards a more sustainable and socially just society via their CSR activities. This paper used critically reviewed articles by using quantitative content analysis to analyse the High-Fit and Low-Fit CSR activities published within the Annual Reports, CSR Reports and company websites on firm performance over 5 years across the 30 oil and gas companies of Bursa Malaysia. This study finds that oil and gas companies should standardize their CSR reports based on the high-fit and low-fit CSR activities. By doing so, companies would be able to improve their reputation within the global community. This study could assist managers in oil and gas companies to review their CSR activities that indirectly give impacts towards social, economic and the environment.

Paradox and legitimacy in construction: how CSR reports restrict CSR practice

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) is a prominent topic of debate, and yet remains subject to multiple interpretations. Despite this ambiguity, organisations need to communicate their CSR activity effectively in order to meet varied stakeholder demands, increase financial performance and in order to achieve legitimacy in the eyes of clients and various stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to explore how CSR is communicated, and the impact such communication methods have on CSR practice. More specifically, it examines the disconnect between the rhetoric espoused in CSR reports and the actualities of the ways in which CSR is practiced.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative content analysis of 100 CSR reports published by nine construction contractors informed the design of qualitative interviews. In total, 17 interviews were then conducted with contractors and public body clients.FindingsStrategic ambiguity explains how contractors circumvent the problem of attending to conflicting stakeholder CSR needs. However, this results in a paradox where CSR is simultaneously sustained as a corporate metric and driver, whilst being simultaneously undermined in being seen as a rhetorical device. By examining this phenomenon through the lens of legitimacy, the study reveals how both the paradox and subsequent actions of clients that this provokes, act to restrict the development of CSR practice.Originality/valueThis is the first study to use the lens of legitimacy theory to analyse the relationship between CSR reporting and CSR practice in the construction industry. In revealing the CSR paradox and its ramifications the research provides a novel explanation of the lack of common understandings and manifestations of CSR within the construction sector.

Securing Human Rights Through Risk-Management Methods: Breakthrough or Misalignment?

This is a study of three authoritative instruments that promote a common idea: economic activities and development should be conducted with respect for human rights. The World Bank’s Framework, the International Financial Corporation’ Performance Standards and the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights are examined to get clarity on how human rights risk management differs from more conventional management approaches. The focus here is on prevention of human rights impacts. Do the three instruments employ approaches adequate for handling human rights risks? To understand prevention one needs to reflect on what makes human rights a particular type of impact and account for the regulatory context of protecting human rights transnationally. The analysis identifies four ‘offsets’ through which economic decision-makers can distort their human rights performance and place causal observers at a disadvantage. Prevention becomes an issue of how to relate to ‘residual impacts’ on human rights. This article finds that the ‘hierarchy or mitigation’ and even ‘human rights due diligence’ under illuminate the challenge. The proposal here is to add ‘reduction at source’ as a parameter of human rights risk management. The sources for this analysis are the three instruments, and the practice of implementing organizations, particularly IFC projects, CAO cases, impact assessments, and CSR reports. In conclusion, the potential for cross-fertilization among instruments is genuine. Increased clarity on prevention of human rights impacts should assist economic decision-makers in their risk management task and casual observers in assessing their performance.

Does integrated reporting information influence internal decision making? An experimental study of investment behavior

AbstractSustainable value creation has moved to the center of attention of many companies, leading to a shift in external corporate reporting. Sustainability information is provided within sustainability reports and CSR reports as well as integrated reports. Research has considered the motivations and different formats of integrated reports and how these reports provide a better information basis for investors. However, integrated reporting information may also affect internal decision making by providing decision makers with a more comprehensive picture of the impact of the firm's strategy. Here, we present the results of a scenario‐based experiment testing how financial, unlinked financial and nonfinancial, and integrated information affect the outcomes of investment decisions. We find that an integrated information basis leads to decisions with higher sustainable value creation. We thus show that information prepared for external reporting can also be used for internal purposes to help companies establish sustainable decision behavior.

Research on the Influence of Political Correlation of Private Listed Companies on Corporate Social Responsibility Behavior

Based on the perspective of legitimacy, this paper uses the Logistic and OLS regression methods to analyze the relationship between the release of CSR reports issued by private companies from 2010 to 2016 and the relationship between report quality and executive political connections. The analysis shows that executive political relations can significantly affect the quality of private companies in the CSR report release and publication possibility of CSR report. According to the analysis results, the paper finally proposes how to promote corporate social responsibility by exerting the political correlation role of executives. Through theoretical and empirical research, it analyzes the influence of executive political association on corporate financial performance and social responsibility, and analyzes and verifies the role of regional marketization development process in private social responsibility behavior and political association formation motivation, thus making private enterprise politics rational use of related resources, standardizing and guiding the commitment of civil society’s social responsibility, and providing corresponding policy recommendations for promoting healthy and sustainable economic development. Secondly, this study analyzes the influence of executive political connections on corporate social responsibility behavior from a multi-theoretical perspective, and provides more analytical perspectives for future related research.

CSR and Sustainability Reporting in India, The Way Forward

CSR and Sustainability Reporting in India, The Way Forward

Analysis of Social Responsibility and Reporting Methods of Romanian Companies in the Countries of the European Union

In the context of the current economy, the concept of corporate social responsibility has gained momentum, and its significance derives from the attitude of companies that have understood the importance of the impact of their activity on the environment in which they conduct their operations. The present study emphasizes the fact that CSR has an equal importance for those companies of varying sizes that operate in developing countries, such as Romania. There are still a lot of challenges regarding their implementation. The study focuses on establishing the level of CSR report by the Romanian companies within the European Union framework by taking into account the extent to which they are familiar with the CSR reporting guidelines in order to identify the degree of applying the Global Reporting Guidelines (GRI) when designing the sustainability reports. The data regarding the acceptance of the voluntary report and its correlation to the sustainable development as a strategic focus of the management of entities, the usefulness, the necessity and the obstacles of voluntary reporting were gathered based on a questionnaire. Between 2015–2017, 61 Romanian companies of various sizes had to answer specific questions. The research is based on the descriptive statistics as well as the correlation analysis method. The findings of the research proved that the acceptance of the management in terms of the sustainable development is in a close relationship with implementing voluntary reporting and the willingness to develop a favorable image of the company within a competitive market. The study also identified the differences that exist between a company’s success on the market that is linked to their development and the economic factors that characterize each and every field of activity. The present study focuses on defining the term ‘social responsibility’ from the point of view of its concepts. It also aims at presenting the social responsibility reporting methods used by the companies from the European Union countries. These can be a starting point for those companies that have not had the chance of applying them yet.

Addressing Complexity of Migration Through Social Entrepreneurship:A Case Study of Tata Trusts Initiative in Uttar Pradesh

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility has been in vogue for quite some time in the business world, though its origin can be traced back to olden times. Its roots can be traced back to all the philanthropic activities of the corporate houses and individuals across the globe. The concept has evolved globally. It encompasses all related concepts such as triple bottom line, corporate citizenship, philanthropy, strategic philanthropy, shared value, corporate sustainability and business responsibility. The CSR campaign has been actively supported by the world organizations like World Bank, UNDP, OECD, European commission andMNCs. CSR has been top on the agenda of policy makers, managers and activists in India. A large number of companies now report the CSR activities which are reflected in their official website, annual reports and even CSR reports. J. R. D. Tata introduced several welfare schemes as father of CSR / modern philanthropist in India. The Indian Companies Act, 2013 has made mandatory provision of CSR in India. It would be quite interesting to observe and study how it translates into practice at ground level and also how the understanding of the CSR in India undergoes a change. The recent initiatives of the present Government at the Centre seems certainly encouraging. It has directed its public sector undertakings to earmark certain percentage of their annual budget for the furtherance of the CSR activities. A Panel of Expert has also been constituted recently to suggest the framework to assess CSR activities undertaken by the companies under the Indian Companies act, 2013. The role of Tata Trusts in empowerment of migrant workers has been significant. Present paper discusses about the CSR in India, the Social business concept and highlights the modal of social entrepreneurship modal ofUttar Pradesh, under the Migration initiative of Tata Trusts in India

Corporate social responsibility information disclosure objective or not

PurposeBased on the text mining tools, this paper aims to propose a new method to evaluate the subjectivity and objectivity of corporate social responsibility information disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThe authors build up a text subjectivity evaluation model of corporate social responsibility reports through meta-analysis; a text mining is conducted to all sample CSR reports released by Chinese listed companies untill March 2016[1]. Furthermore, the authors made an overall and quantitative analysis of the situation which contained changing state, characteristics and abnormal value on the subjectivity and objectivity of information disclosure.FindingsThe results show that the subjectivity scores of social responsibility reports of Chinese listed companies are generally in a normal distribution. The diagram turns out to be a rising trend over the years and increases linearly from 2011 to 2013. Also, the industry heterogeneity and policy control are the main reasons for the formation of the differences, which are significant between different industries and different years.Originality/valueThis paper provides not only an important empirical basis for the research of corporate social responsibility but also a new idea for the non-financial information disclosure as well as objective evaluation of normative text.

Corporate social responsibility disclosure in small and medium-sized entities and large companies

PurposeCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has focused mainly on larger firms. Only recently has discussion of the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in CSR emerged in research studies. Here we contribute to that growing discussion of CSR in SMEs by analyzing the disclosure practices of 57 Portuguese companies of different sizes (small, medium, large).Design/methodology/approachWe use stakeholder theory to identify the stakeholders that SMEs and large firms prioritize. By means of thematic content analysis and an index of disclosure (calculated according to company type and stakeholder type) we analyze whether business characteristics influence CSR disclose strategies.FindingsCompanies give priority to CSR activities that are directly related to maintaining business and achieving economic results. CSR disclosure practices of SMEs and large companies do not differ significantly. However, larger companies disclose more information on Environment and Society. Companies who are closer to consumers disclose more information on Customers, Community and Society. The act of assuring a CSR report drives system improvements and extended CSR disclosure.Research limitations/implicationsWe recognize that it is difficult to compare CSR in Small and large enterprises. For this reason, we have developed a methodology based on the most basic aspects of the CSRD, and therefore applicable without distinction to large and small companies.Practical implicationsA framework to evaluate the CSRD of SMEs was developed. We identify CSR indicators divided in five dimensions (customers, employees, environment, community and society) that are applicable to firms of all sizes.Originality/valueThis study extends knowledge of CSR by comparing the disclosure practices of SMEs and large (listed and un-listed) Portuguese companies. This study takes account of the particularities of SMEs and other fundamental business characteristics using a replicable assessment framework.

A Comparative Study on Engagement Resources in American and Chinese CSR Reports

Based on Martin and White’s (2005) heteroglossic engagement system of Appraisal Theory, adopting UAM Corpus Tool and Chi-Square test, this study aims to explore authorial stance and distinctive rhetorical strategies that have been employed to realize interpersonal meaning by the application of engagement resources in American and Chinese CSR reports. It can be concluded that all types of engagement resources are widely employed in both American and Chinese corpus, with contraction resources significantly different in two corpora. It also finds that American CSR reports employ each type of engagement markers equally, while Chinese CSR reports tend to highly use expansion resources to enhance authorial voice. Besides, American CSR reports employ contraction resources in a more diversified and flexible way than Chinese CSR reports writers do. Lastly, they are also different in acknowledging what kinds of external propositions as expansion resources. This study confirms that engagement system is an important tool to help CSR reports writers to align authorial voices with readers, thereby accomplishing promotional and persuasive purposes. It may give some implications to CSR report addressers, addressees, business English teaching and reading.

When Does a Stock Boycott Work? Evidence from a Clinical Study of the Sudan Divestment Campaign

A stock divestment campaign is a common strategy used by social activists to pressure corporations to abandon undesirable practices. However, evidence on the effectiveness of the strategy remains mixed. In this paper, we examine the effectiveness of an international stock boycott by studying a large sample of institutional investor transactions in four emerging market stocks targeted by the Sudan divestment campaign from 2001 to 2012. We find evidence of a negative relationship between the intensity of the campaign and the ownership breadth of the stocks, suggesting the effectiveness of the campaign in encouraging investors to divest from targeted companies. Additional analysis indicates that investors in countries that are sympathetic towards CSR activities are more responsive to the divestment campaign. Further, we find evidence consistent with higher campaign intensity being associated with more depressed stock prices. Finally, when performing qualitative content analyses of the annual reports and CSR reports, we find evidence about the effects of the campaign on the targeted companies’ corporate policies and activities in Sudan. In sum, our results support the effectiveness of the stock boycott.

Environmental performance and analyst information processing costs

This study tests whether the information processing costs of analysts vary positively with the environmental performance information available on the firms they follow. Consistent with this conjecture, we find that these costs increase when analysts process a wider array of environmental performance ratings. Specifically we find that as the number of environmental performance ratings increases, analysts cover fewer firms in their portfolio, provide fewer earnings-per-share (EPS) forecast revisions, and make less timely forecast revisions. Two additional tests confirm that our results relate to environmental performance information and not to confounding factors. First, the “shock” of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 implemented for California firms in 2012 increases analyst information processing costs incremental to the main effect of environmental performance ratings. Second, analyst information processing costs increase further in the year a firm covered by an analyst provides a CSR report for the first time. Our results have implications for firm managers considering voluntary environmental disclosure and investors deciding on what stocks to include in their socially responsible portfolios because when processing costs are high, analysts will provide less information or less timely information, resulting in more gradual price discovery in capital markets.

Corporate Accountability Reporting: ‘Greenwashing’ or Monitoring Systems?

I investigate corporate accountability (“CSR”) reporting behaviors and I document the different roles that this reporting system may play across organizations. Specifically, I demonstrate that the effect on CSR performance of a firm’s issuance of a CSR report is a function of the type of investments the firm is willing to take and the joint use of complementary governance systems. Using a panel linear regression analysis with a fixed-effect estimator to control for omitted variable concerns, I find that CSR reporting is associated with the occurrence of future positive events. By contrast, the issuance of a CSR report does not seen to affect a reduction of future concerns. This result is consistent with the documented tendency of certain firms to use CSR reports as ‘greenwashing’ systems. Additionally, I show that a firm’s cumulated experience in CSR reporting enhances the occurrence of even more future environmental and social strengths. Finally, I document that a firm’s tendency to ‘greenwash’ is reduced when senior executives’ compensation contracts tied to CSR targets are implemented, supporting the argument of CSR reporting working as an effective monitoring system. Collectively, the findings help understand firms’ reporting behaviors in the field of CSR.

CSR Reporting in Locally Owned Hotel Chains in Malaysia

This study explores the corporate social responsibility or CSR reporting of the top 8 Malaysian owned and operated hotel chains. Using content analysis this report examines what and how do the local hotel chains report their CSR activities. This study finds CSR reporting to be limited and primarily focused on community based initiatives. And despite its growth and popularity especially among the young, CSR reporting on websites remain minimal. As such, several recommendations have been made to encourage more reporting and more reporting on websites.

Komunikowanie działań CSR w procesie społecznie odpowiedzialnego inwestowania

Efektywność bieżącej działalności przedsiębiorstwa oraz realizacja jego celów rozwojowych wiąże się nierozerwalnie z pozyskiwaniem odpowiednich zasobów kapitału. Znalezienie inwestorów w coraz większym stopniu uwarunkowane jest nie tylko budowaniem wizerunku firmy wiarygodnej finansowo. Wielu inwestorów w procesie wyboru portfela tradycyjne kryteria finansowe uzupełnia również zasadami społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. Rozwój koncepcji społecznie odpowiedzialnego inwestowania wywołuje zainteresowanie zwiększoną aktywnością przedsiębiorstw w zakresie dostarczania informacji nie tylko w perspektywie finansowej, ale też społecznej i środowiskowej. Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie znaczenia komunikacji działań CSR w procesie społecznie odpowiedzialnego inwestowania. Punktem wyjścia do realizacji tak sformułowanego celu było przedstawienie teoretycznych podstaw koncepcji społecznie odpowiedzialnego inwestowania, jak i zagadnień związanych z komunikowaniem informacji z zakresu CSR, mogących w istotny sposób wspierać ten proces. W dalszej części artykułu skoncentrowano się na analizie podejścia do komunikowania działań społecznie odpowiedzialnych przez spółki wchodzące w skład indeksu RESPECT . Badania wykazały, że spółki Indeksu RESPECT są świadome znaczenia ujawniania informacji z obszaru społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. Większość z nich nie ogranicza się do komunikowania kwestii ekonomicznych, społecznych i środowiskowych w sprawozdaniach z działalności, ale publikuje dodatkowo odrębne raporty CSR, bądź też raporty zintegrowane, które za pomocą jednego dokumentu prezentują zarówno finansowe, jak i niefinansowe aspekty prowadzonej działalności gospodarczej.

České CSR reporty: témata a kvalita jejich zpracování

From the long-term perspective, Europe as a whole has been described as the leader in reporting on socially responsible behaviour. European enterprises consider a compilation of CSR reports standard. Also, the quality of information provided is, compared to the surrounding regions, relatively high. However, several studies show that regional differences exist. In the Czech Republic, this type of reporting is still at the initial stage of development. Therefore, the first objective of the research is to find out whether Czech companies provide information about their social activities and what specific topics they prefer. The second objective is to determine what the quality of provided information is. To carry out this research, annual reports of 69 companies were assessed. The paper uses the method of conceptual content analysis. The results indicate that in their annual reports, companies tend to disclose issues beyond what is legally required. The most common reported topics concern the company's direction, information that promote the credibility of information provided and the confidence in the good corporate governance. However, the results also show that the quality of information provided is not too high.