Firm Engagement Research Articles

Climate clubs and firm environmental performance: A regional institutional perspective

This research focuses on informal club-based institutions to boost a firm's engagement in environmental practices. Specifically, we investigate the effect of a firm's climate club membership on its corporate environmental performance. Our empirical analyses rely on a sample of firms from 142 Western European regions during 2011-2019. Results show that stronger climate club engagement of firms within a same region of a focal firm may act as an informal institution, improving the latter's environmental performance. We also find that the impact of those informal club-based institutions outsizes the effect exerted by the quality of formal regional institutions, and that strong informal climate club-based institutions might be able to partly replace the role of regional formal institutions in that ESG domain. Finally, we delve into several mechanisms potentially driving the observed impacts of regional formal and informal institutions on firms’ environmental performance.

Embedding spatial planning in contemporary multi-level governance: The sustainability entanglement

The burgeoning unplanned urbanisation and growing environmental risks across global South cities pose core questions to urban sustainability, planning theory and practice. Who are the agents of, and what are the control mechanisms in spatial plan preparation? To what extent are economic, social, and environmental sustainability principles considered and embedded in spatial plans and frameworks? And what are the possibilities for attaining sustainable urban future via spatial planning practice in the context of multi-level governance? Using Ghana as a case study, and critical literature review, interviews, and policy analysis, we contribute to the spatial planning and sustainability narrative in global South cities by evaluating the extent to which sustainability principles are integrated in Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs) and Spatial plans (SPs) in Ghana. We show that whereas sustainability is entangled with spatial planning, integrating sustainability principles in contemporary multi-level governance continues to present a complex challenge in practice. The complexities necessitated the engagement of local and international planning firms to complement the efforts of street-level-bureaucrats (local planning officials) in the preparation of spatial development frameworks and plans. However, such collaborations did not result in comprehensive integration of sustainability principles in spatial plans in practice. Our study indicate that, the economic, social, and environmental principles of sustainability were marginally embedded in local spatial plans of the three-tier spatial planning system of Ghana. We argue that equitable prioritisation of the principles of sustainability are required to strengthen local based spatial planning practice.

Why Do Firms Engage in Corporate Sociopolitical Activity? An Empirical Test

Why Do Firms Engage in Corporate Sociopolitical Activity? An Empirical Test

When Do Firms Engage in Knowledge Recombination in Technology Development?

When Do Firms Engage in Knowledge Recombination in Technology Development?

Firm engagement: Scale development and verification

Stakeholder or actor (e.g., firms, employees, and customers) engagement is critical for value co-creation in the service ecosystem. As a provider of an engagement platform in a service ecosystem, the firm plays a critical role in employee and customer engagement. While customer and employee engagement have received much attention, firm engagement research remains unexplored, nonetheless, is critical for the business development and sustainability. There is no scale that has been developed to measure firm engagement. Development of this scale would provide a holistic picture of engagement from a multi-perspective. Following the conventional scale development process, this study developed and verified a scale to measure firm engagement. First, in-depth interviews with 23 managers of companies in different industries were conducted to establish initial items. Subsequently, item purification (N = 397) and validation (N = 398) were performed. The results show that firm engagement consists of eight dimensions from customer and employee perspectives. Specifically, customer engagement orientation includes empathy, employee participation, customer participation, and resource integration while employee engagement orientation includes management participation, corporate culture, interest alignment, and internal service quality. The scale contributes to the engagement literature and human resource management research and has practical implications for firms to improve employee performance and customer experience.

Acquisition deal characteristics and earnings management: New evidence from Gulf Cooperation Council countries

AbstractIn this study, we empirically investigate the association between acquisition deal characteristics and two forms of earnings management: accruals earnings management and real earnings management. Our focus is on acquiring firms listed in six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Employing a panel data approach to explore these interrelationships, our findings suggest that acquiring companies involved in cross‐border deals tend to resort to accruals earnings management before the acquisition rather than real earnings management. Conversely, acquiring firms engaged in unrelated industrial deals are inclined to employ real earnings management over accruals earnings management. Moreover, our analysis indicates that the extent of acquired ownership acts as an effective tool in mitigating both forms of earnings management. Similarly, cash payment acquisitions emerge as an efficient means of curtailing both accruals and real earnings management. These results underscore that the engagement of GCC acquiring firms in earnings management is influenced by the specific characteristics inherent in the acquisition deals.

Sustainable Development Goals and Board Structure: Connecting the Dots in The Energy Sector

Purpose: Framed on the Resource-Based View, the objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the structure of the board of directors on the engagement of firms with the sustainable development goals (SDG). Theoretical framework: Resource-Based View (RBV) and Sustainable development goals. Method: 100 firms in the energy sector based in the main emerging economies of the world were analyzed. To test the proposed hypotheses, an analysis of panel data and logistic regression model was performed. Result and Conclusion: The board structure in emerging countries plays a key role for firms to achieve greater engagement with the SDGs. The board size has a negative effect on SDGs, while the presence of social responsibility and audit committees has a positive effect on firms’ engagement with the SDGs. Research implications: It is necessary to consider committees as key configurations of the board structure, even if these are not mandatory in terms of regulation. Establishing, strengthening and encouraging the maintenance of committees focused on sustainability practices is to contribute to promising organizational results and to the reduction of negative externalities. Originality: In addition to confirming the Resource-Based View approach, our study examines the energy sector, which is one of the main agendas for discussions on climate change at a global level. We address the understanding of SDG in business, a field of research still in an embryonic stage. Although several studies have analyzed a variety of contexts together, we focused on emerging economies, bringing specific evidence to the sample countries.

Families and Their Firms Behaving Badly: A Review of Dysfunctional Behavior in Family Businesses

Family business research across academic disciplines has increasingly considered the causes of “bad behavior” in family firms and its impact. A review of this literature is important because different emphases in different disciplines may obscure the nature of dysfunctional behaviors in family firms. After reviewing 160 studies from 64 journals, we propose family firm dysfunction is better understood by emphasizing the roles the family and the firm’s external environment play because negative behavior often traces to family interactions predating firm engagement and to external pressures. We also present research questions to guide future studies on family firm dysfunction across disciplines.

Artificial intelligence marketing and customer satisfaction: An employee job security threat review

Artificial Intelligence (AI), is one of the key innovations created by Information System (IS) in the 21st century. The technology operates on an interconnected network which facilitates marketing decisions. AI role in marketing is quite enormous, as customers’ needs and wants are efficiently met, with customers satisfied and employees sustainably engaged, towards future relationship with the firm. In-spite of its proficient value addition, there are outstanding issues which firms’ employee are dissatisfied with the deployment of AIM, in organizational operations, these includes; the skill gap, resistance to change, and job security threat. The study examines various studies form (journals, books and e-repositories) on AI adoption, firms’ operational activities, and perceived job threat by personnel, saddled with responsibilities of implementing AIM. studies selected was between 2012-2023, the theoretical framework attempts to fill existing gap in literature on customer satisfaction and job threat to personnel, due to AIM deployment. Qualitative research methodology was adopted using in in-depth interviews through focus groups (Management, employee, and AI Technicians), Systematic Literature Review (SLR) will also be adopted to analyze the variables of the construct. The study findings show that there is significant relationship between AI Marketing and customers satisfaction, based on effective engagement of firms’ personnel saddled with the responsibility of deploying AIM in the organization. The implication of the study will be increase labor turnover, for employee without required AI set skills, and apprehension if customers are not satisfied. Future research should examine employee reaction in other functional areas of business, where AI id deployed.

The financialization of healthcare

In contemporary capitalism, finance has extended its reach to encompass a growing array of economic sectors traditionally associated with public provisioning or social policy, with healthcare emerging as a prominent domain where fictitious capital has flourished. Financialization exerts a direct influence on the delivery of public health services while also reshaping the behavior and operations of private healthcare providers and health insurance firms. This paper aims to characterize the process of financialization of healthcare in Brazil by analyzing the behavior of firms in the private health insurance market from 2007 to 2019. These firms provide healthcare coverage alongside the functioning of the Unified Health System (SUS), constituting an avenue for the accumulation of capital. The paper analyzes how the strategies for managing assets, liabilities, and the equity of leader firms operating in the market of private healthcare plans firms, as expressed by the movements recorded in their balance sheets, inform us on their process of financialization. A set of financialization indexes is developed, addressing: (i) asset financialization; (ii) liability financialization; and (iii) the maximization of shareholder value. Economic-financial data and financial statements made available by the Brazilian Regulatory Agency for Private Health Insurance (ANS) are used to build such indexes. The results show a greater engagement of leader firms in the allocation of their resources in financial assets, but the weight of financial gains in total profits is small. Regarding indebtedness, results do not show an increase in leverage and financial burden, and does not confirm the hypothesis of increased susceptibility to creditor influence. Finally, changes in the equity structure and initial public offerings suggest a greater alignment of management practices with the standards of corporate governance established in capital markets. We conclude that those firms are increasingly serving as platforms for the financial accumulation of other economic agents and set a research agenda on this topic.

Targeted poverty alleviation and corporate financial performance: The CSR strategy perspective

As an emerging way for firms to fulfil social responsibility in China, targeted poverty alleviation (TPA) helps the Chinese government to achieve its sustainable development goals. Although the effect of TPA on poor areas has been deeply explored, the influence of firms’ participation in TPA on themselves and its mechanism is unclear. We analyse the performance of listed firms which engaged in TPA from 2016 to 2021 by adopting a causal steps approach model, which indicate that firm engagement in TPA has a significant positive effect on corporate finance performance (CFP), and the mediating effect of financing constraints and media attention is verified. Our findings contribute to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices from the new strategy perspective of TPA. JEL Classification: G18, M14, M41

Stakeholder Engagement and Operational Performance of Construction Firms in Rivers State, Nigeria

This paper investigates the impact of stakeholder engagement and operational performance of construction firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. To further understand operational performance, three measures including on-time delivery, project quality and cost minimization where used. This study was conducted in a non-contrived setting and the quasi-experimental research design method was adopted. A questionnaire was distributed to 121 study elements made up of managers and supervisors of eight selected construction firms with operational/regional offices in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The retrieved and valid copies of the questionnaire were analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings indicated that operational performance of construction companies in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria as measured by on-time delivery, project quality and cost minimization is highly dependent on how engaged stakeholders of such a project are. Such engagement leads to high project quality, timely delivery of projects as well as cost reduction as stakeholders would have better understanding of the firm’s operations. It is then concluded that stakeholder engagement is key to project success for construction companies operating in the Niger Delta, specifically Rivers State. Hence, managers and supervisors must deliberately ensure that project stakeholders properly engaged all through the various stages of the project.

Modernity and consumer culture in Visconti's early films

AbstractLuchino Visconti is widely recognised as a high-culture director. However, in his films of the period 1943–63 there was a firm engagement with consumer culture and modernity in terms of themes, characters and references. This article explores this often overlooked dimension in Visconti's films by analysing a number of key sequences and moments that relate directly to consumption, consumer culture, leisure, modernity, Americanisation and youth culture. The analysis shows how these representations related to the ongoing changes in Italian postwar society and to incoming Americanisation in particular. My research is informed by the work of Gary Cross, Victoria De Grazia and Emanuela Scarpellini on consumer culture and contextualises how Visconti's referencing of consumer culture and modernity was received by the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano or Italian Communist Party).

Sustainability committee and environmental decoupling: International evidence

AbstractThis paper examines whether sustainability committees curb environmental decoupling. Using a global sample, we document a negatively significant association between sustainability committee and environmental decoupling. These results support the notion that sustainability committees lower the gap between firms actual and reported environmental performance. With regard to the composition of such a committee, we show that size and tenure are positively associated with the level of environmental decoupling. However, more independent and gender‐diverse committees lower the level of environmental decoupling. Further analysis shows that documented relationship is not subject to the firms' corporate governance quality or industry nature. We also document that less engagement of firms with sustainability committee in decoupling practices tend to enhance their financial performance. The results are robust to endogeneity concerns, and several robustness tests. Our findings offer important implications for academic researchers, consultants, stakeholders, and policymakers.

Does corporate social responsibility mediate the relationship between board diversity and financial distress: evidence from an emerging economy?

PurposeThe study hypothesized that the impact of board diversity on financial distress (FD) is not direct but rather mediated by the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of CSR as a mediator in the board diversity–FD relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study examined six board diversity dimensions – age, gender, nationality, education and tenure in 81 nonfinancial Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)-listed firms from 2010 to 2021. The CSR engagement of the sample firms is evaluated using a multidimensional financial approach and the likelihood of FD is computed using Altman’s Z-score. The system-generalized method of moments estimator is used to meet the study objectives. In addition, several tests are run to determine the robustness of the study’s findings.FindingsBased on the procedure for mediation analysis outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986), the authors found that CSR is significantly inversely associated with the likelihood of FD. Second, board diversity variables age, gender and national diversity were positively associated with CSR. Third, board age, gender and national diversity are significantly inversely related to FD. Finally, it was found that there is partial mediation between board age diversity and FD, whereas full mediation is shown between board age diversity and FD and between board nationality diversity and FD.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical insights into PSX’s board diversity for companies, regulators and policymakers.Originality/valueThis research studies the connection between board diversity and FD. In addition, the current study extended the analysis by testing for the first time the mediating role of CSR in the diversity–distress relationship, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

A strategy tripod perspective on digitalization for sustainable development: a case of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam

In the ever-changing global environment, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) face unique and formidable challenges, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. With their dependence on personal interactions and limited resources, along with a lack of digitalization, technology adoption, and online presence, MSMEs are at a high risk of survival. To overcome these operational and supply chain obstacles, MSMEs must embrace digitalization. However, weak institutional foundations, industry-specific issues, and resource-based costs in developing countries, particularly Vietnam, have hindered their adoption. This research study aims to examine the intricate relationship between strategy tripods, digitalization, and firm performance in the context of Vietnamese MSMEs. This study employs structural equation modeling to rigorously test the proposed hypotheses, drawing upon a researcher-designed survey administered to 382 MSMEs. The findings provide valuable insights into the barriers that hinder digitalization adoption in developing countries, emphasizing the crucial roles of government support, knowledge creation and absorption, and competitive intensity. Moreover, the study uncovers the positive impact of firm engagement in digitalization on post-digitalization performance. By contributing to a deeper understanding of the implications of strategy tripods and digitalization for MSME performance in Vietnam, this research offers actionable insights for policymakers and facilitates the development of effective training programs tailored towards digitalization, ultimately fostering sustainable outcomes.

Religiosity and corporate social responsibility: A study of firm‐level adherence to Christian values in the United States

AbstractThis paper examines the hypothesis that religious firms are more socially responsible. By utilizing a novel measure of religiosity that reflects firm‐level adherence to Christian values, we find that religiousness is positively associated with the CSR engagement of large US firms after controlling for county‐level religiosity and various firm characteristics. The results indicate that religious firms have higher social and environmental responsibility scores. The positive relationship is particularly strong with respect to product responsibility, emissions reduction, and responsible use of resources. While county‐level religiosity does not have any incremental effect on CSR above the influence of firm‐level religiousness, we document that the positive linkage between firm‐level religiosity and CSR engagement is strengthened by local religiousness. Overall, our empirical findings suggest that faith‐driven corporate values may encourage socially responsible behavior.

Sustainable Transportation for the Climate: How Do Transportation Firms Engage in Cooperative Public-Private Partnerships?

This research examines the effectiveness of transportation-sector public-private partnerships (PPPs). Coordination across sectors is needed to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. PPPs are of interest to transportation firms, but they may prefer private-sector opportunities given that working with the public sector can present challenges. However, the challenges are not clear and, therefore, this needs research investigation to develop understandings for policy to make PPPs work better for firms. Moreover, this research informs firms so that they may better comprehend and manage the risks of PPPs or choose other opportunities. This empirical research uses a sample of 300 transportation firms across 28 countries. The findings suggest that, although government contracts may be lucrative, the institutional environment of the PPP context is not preferable to other business-oriented private-sector opportunities. If more sustainable transportation is to be constructed to address climate change and other public interests, policymakers may need to rethink PPPs to adapt to the needs of transportation firms.

Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia

This paper analyses wage differences between Chinese and non-Chinese firms in Angola and Ethiopia. The growing engagement of Chinese firms in sub-Saharan Africa has generated debates about the working conditions offered to African workers. However, the evidence for many of the claims made about wages in Chinese firms operating in sub-Saharan Africa is unconvincing. In this paper the authors identify problems with the existing literature and provide new comparative evidence on wages in Chinese, other foreign and domestic firms in Angola and Ethiopia. Drawing on over 1,400 worker-level interviews the authors find that Chinese firms do not consistently pay less than comparable firms. Using a multi-scalar labour regime framework the authors show that a combination individual worker characteristics, sector specificities, and firm attributes are necessary to explain variations in wages in both countries. The national origin of firms by itself cannot explain the observed differences in wages.

Building a social media community around your brand: the moderating role of firm engagement tactics

ABSTRACT Firms can leverage social media brand communities (SMBCs) to manage consumer relationships. This study investigated firm engagement tactics using a mixed-methods approach with qualitative (Study one) and quantitative (Study two) analyses. Building on uses and gratifications theory and the qualitative results, we identify brand-specific consumer education, reputation enhancement, incentives provision, interaction support, and entertainment support as firm engagement tactics. Next, we explore the moderating effect of firm engagement tactics on the SMBC identification/SMBC engagement and SMBC engagement/brand loyalty relationships using the partial least squares method. The results confirm that consumer engagement mediates the link between SMBC identification and brand loyalty. In addition, firm engagement tactics positively moderate the aforementioned relationships. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.