Responsibility Activities Research Articles

Reforming Legal System and Education: The Indianization Approach

Education is a pivotal driver of societal change, acting as a transformative force that enhances an individual’s physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth. It provides individuals with the ability to understand and critically analyze knowledge and processes, enabling responsible action. Legal education, as a specialized field, centers on the study of law, equipping individuals with the necessary skills to apply, evaluate, and challenge legal principles within the legal community. Legal education fosters both personal autonomy and societal progress by promoting collective well-being and strengthening the rule of law. Ensuring the development of high-quality legal education is vital for producing skilled legal professionals. This paper examines the emerging challenges and opportunities in legal education within the Indian context.

Making Sense of Responsibility in Rural Sustainability Work

Abstract This study aims to deepen our knowledge of how employees make themselves into responsible subjects when involved in sustainability initiatives in rural welfare services. The analysis was guided by the question of how employees make sense of themselves as responsible actors, capable of addressing managerial aspirations for enhanced sustainability in the public services they deliver. Data were collected through ethnographic field studies following sustainability work in a public housing company in a rural municipality in southern Sweden. The analysis draws on sensemaking theory and a Foucault-inspired conceptualization of how actors define themselves as subjects. The results identify two main modes of responding to management aspirations, linking to the emergence of two types of subjects; the habitual selves and the struggling selves. In total, the results depict four different responses as the main modes contain varieties, illustrating a wide range to make sense of responsibility. Furthermore, the analysis depicts an interplay between rural practices and the relational dimensions of responsibility (relations to management), diverging from established rural discourses as well as from a conventional Foucauldian conceptualization of managerial power as urging discipline at a distance.

Catch them young! Inspiring climate action and activism through Ghana’s basic school curriculum

Climate change has gained considerable attention in the last two decades. While studies affirm that people are worried about it, not all of them are willing to take action to support climate activism. Since the UN’s adoption of Agenda 2030, quality education has been observed as crucial to empowering citizens to take responsible actions and advocacy for a sustainable future. As countries around the world incorporate climate change content in the school curriculum, this paper assesses how Ghana, through its educational curricula, is kindling learners’ interests to take action for climate change and its impacts. Concurrent mixed-methods approach is used to analyze 23 curriculum documents. The outcome is discussed in line with Wals et al. theorization of sustainability education to conclude that Ghanaian learners are positioned to learn about climate change for instrumental, emancipatory and civic engagement purposes. Further research is recommended to ascertain the curriculum’s coherence with classroom practices.

Companies adjust tax payments to offset changes in publicly perceived impact on environment, social, and governance factors

Corporate tax avoidance is a significant international issue, resulting in annual losses of USD 100–240 billion for governments globally. Understanding the relationship between firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) and tax avoidance activities is crucial to uncovering their motivations for tax avoidance. However, this relationship remains unclear. This study investigates firms’ tax payment motivations from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspectives by examining samples of firms with high, low, and no ESG-related reputational risk. We utilize the ESG index, which offers a broader scope than conventional CSR measures. Our empirical analysis includes 3981 firm-year observations from 31 OECD countries between 2017 and 2019. To determine the relationship between ESG and tax avoidance, we develop a reputation-based ESG risk dataset that addresses the endogeneity associated with managerial decisions and simultaneity bias. This study is among the few that explore the international relationship between ESG performance and tax avoidance, contributing to the shift from CSR to ESG in discussions of tax avoidance. Our findings reveal that companies’ tax payment behavior varies based on their ESG reputational risk. Specifically, firms with high ESG risk pay more taxes when their ESG risk is elevated, whereas firms with low ESG risk do not alter their tax payments based on ESG risk. Additionally, firms without any ESG risk tend to pay more taxes as their ESG scores increase.

Charity Experience of Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility: Global Evidence

ABSTRACTThis paper studies the role of directors with prior experience of working in the charity sector (here labelled ‘charity directors’) in determining the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity of firms on whose boards they sit. We predict that these charity directors shape the ethical climate of their boards and influence their CSR policies. The findings on firms across 50 countries show that the presence of such directors on a board is positively associated with the firm's environmental and social (E&S) performance. Such charity directors exert more influence following disasters that exogenously increase societal demand for CSR, suggesting a causal interpretation of their role. We further show that charity directors play a more active role in those countries where societal norms stress the importance of E&S issues. This does not seem to be a manifestation of organizational slack, as the link between charity directors and CSR is stronger in the presence of good corporate governance. Furthermore, the death of a charity director leads to a negative market reaction, suggesting that their efforts are in line with shareholder interests.

Analysing JAKIM’S Crisis Communication Strategies Using Image Repair Theory

The halal industry is successful and in demand, offering numerous economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and organisations. Despite its enormous potential, particularly its vast market, which included domestic and international markets, the Malaysian government, regulators, and businesses were concerned about managing the halal crisis. As a country with a substantial Muslim population, Malaysia has a responsibility to provide halal goods and services that align with Islamic principles. Recent controversies have posed challenges to the industry's reputation and public trust, highlighting a critical gap in research regarding crisis communication strategies in this context. This study evaluated the crisis communication response strategies employed by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia ("Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia,” JAKIM) during halal crises using Image Repair Theory as the theoretical framework. Through qualitative content analysis of JAKIM's press statements, the research identified key strategies, including denial, evasion of responsibility, reducing offensiveness, and corrective action. The findings offer valuable insights for halal businesses and public relations practitioners, emphasising the need for effective crisis response strategies to safeguard organisational integrity and reputation. Meanwhile, the study contributes to the ongoing growth and sustainability of the halal industry.

Pivoting to Avoid Pitfalls: Trade Policy Uncertainty and Corporate ESG Performance

ABSTRACTIn the context of the U.S.‐China trade war, this study constructed a corporate trade policy uncertainty index through text analysis and found that rising trade policy uncertainty significantly improves corporate ESG performance. Mechanism analyses show that trade policy uncertainty promotes corporate ESG performance through a risk‐reducing channel, which has increased operational risks and dampened managers' optimistic expectations. Heterogeneity analyses find that the positive effect is more pronounced in target industries subject to tariff escalations of trade wars, non‐state‐owned enterprises and firms with lower foreign shareholdings. Tests of economic consequences show that better ESG performance positively affects market value during periods of high trade policy uncertainty while having little impact on financial performance. We further find that the promoting effect of trade policy uncertainty on ESG performance only persisted for 2 years, indicating that social responsibility activities compelled by export pressures manifest more as a short‐term strategy with insurance value. Our findings support the view that ESG acts as a nonmarket strategy to mitigate negative external shocks.

Knowledge and awareness of corporate social responsibility in water projects in Narok, Kenya

This paper explored awareness and knowledge of CSR water initiatives in Narok, Kenya. It assessed stakeholder awareness and knowledge and aimed to identify gaps in CSR communication in water issues. A descriptive design was used, and data was collected from purposively selected key informants and focus group discussions (FGDs) across the vast county. The findings revealed limited awareness by individuals and beneficiary groups on corporate social responsibility activities through local community leaders, local media, interactions, and friends and acquaintances. Community members were not informed about CSR water project efforts and their impact, limited awareness of CSR in water issues, engagement, awareness and misconceptions about CSR goals, benefits, and stakeholder roles. The study concluded that there was low knowledge and awareness of community water projects in Narok. It recommended targeted awareness campaigns through social media, radio, and print media, educational programs, regular feedback for transparency and trust, sharing impact reports and success stories for project value and local partnerships for awareness, training and empowerment. Recognising active members, conducting thorough monitoring and evaluation, respecting customs and cultural values, and involving minority groups will enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of CSR community water projects.

The impacts of website information disclosure on organizational attractiveness: the moderating effect of corporate social responsibility performance

With the increasing emphasis on sustainability, green recruitment has become an emerging issue. When job seekers gain an understanding of a company through its website, the information presented will affect their perception of the company. This study focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) website disclosure and examines whether the multidimensional construct of CSR information disclosed on a company’s website affects organizational attractiveness. It also investigates the moderating effect of actual CSR performance on the relationship between CSR website disclosure and organizational attractiveness. There are two levels in this study: organizational and individual. At the organizational level, 30 listed companies (in the semiconductor, electronics, and optoelectronics fields) from the Digital Times’ Top 100 Favorite Companies were selected as a sample. At the individual level, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire for data collection after viewing the target organization’s CSR website. A total of 245 students participated in this study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used for data analysis. The results show that environmental protection and energy practice disclosure is positively related to organizational attractiveness, including intention to pursue and Reputation. Employee rights and benefits on websites are also found to be positively related to organizational attractiveness, that is, intention to pursue. Inappropriate disclosure of product and service information on the CSR website can lead to suspicion among job seekers, which is detrimental to the intention to pursue. There is also a moderating effect between the organization’s actual corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, website disclosure of CSR practices and organizational attractiveness. Previous research has predominantly focused on social responsibility activities. The findings of this study highlight the importance of web page disclosure, providing valuable insights for managerial practice and contributing to the enrichment of related theoretical literature.

Společenská odpovědnost podniku na příkladu advokátní kanceláře

The integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities within the overall strategy and value network of the firm demonstrates the responsibility felt by the firm for the state and running of society. This responsibility is owed to firm's people, marketplace, community and environment. This paper deals with different types of CSR activities, their importance and approaches to measuring CSR in Allen & Overy. It also shows concrete CSR activities used in Allen & Overy in the four pillars of CSR, i.e., people, marketplace, community and environment. The stress is put on Pro Bono and Community Work.

Socioformation and Empathy for Life. Training Proposal Towards Sustainable Development Goals

Objective: The objective of the study is to understand and interpret the contributions and experiences of experts in Socioformation and Empathy for life, to generate a training proposal that contributes to the training of educators and makes their responsibility with the Sustainable Development Goals viable. Theoretical Framework: It is framed in the principles that sustain Socioformation and Empathy for Life as axes to guide pedagogical training towards responsible action for the good of ourselves and the world in which we live. Méthod: The methodology adopted is a phenomenological-hermeneutical qualitative approach to understand and interpret the contributions of six experts, two teachers and appraisals of 24 students. Interview and focus group techniques were applied. After data analysis, the contributions and appreciations were triangulated to develop the proposal. Results and Discussion: The results revealed that the theoretical constructs of socioformation and empathy for life provide articulating elements for pedagogical training and the intelligence of nature emerges as an emerging category, which contributes to generating commitment to the SDGs. Research Implications: The training proposal takes as its starting point the problems of the environment to develop the ability to think, feel and act for the benefit of oneself, others and the environment as fundamental aspects in vocational training. Originality/Value: This study contributes with innovative theoretical constructs that strengthen Higher Education and promotes the use of strategies such as training projects and the Living Spaces methodology to respond to the current context.

The Potential Goods of Moral Failure

This article surveys recent literature in philosophy and Christian ethics to consider how Christian ethics might benefit from attending more robustly to the potential goods of moral failure. Dominant approaches tend to treat moral failure primarily as a problem, analyzing intentions, actions, and consequences to adjudicate moral responsibility and issue action guidance. What, if any, tasks of Christian ethics might such methods neglect? This article brackets concerns about moral judgement to explore this question across four major categories of moral failure: that produced by impossible situations; that produced by structural injustice; that produced because problems overwhelm our capacities for solving them; and that which results from prioritizing ‘morality’ over other moral pursuits or any one moral project at the expense of others. The article highlights goods relevant to each type, identifying the ways moral failure can foster—rather than frustrate—the aims of Christian ethics.

GR management as an ESG transformation driver: Evidence from Russian companies

Forging government-business relationships is an important prerequisite for a country’s economic system to function efficiently. In sustainable development, such cooperation is especially relevant as the state is one of the key stakeholders for business survival and responsible corporate activities contribute to the achievement of national sustainability goals. The study identifies government relations (GR) management tools that are instrumental in successful implementation of ESG practices and investigates the relationship between GR management as a formalized function and the effectiveness of sustainable develop ment practices in Russian companies. Stakeholder theory constitutes the methodological basis of the study. The key research methods are correlation analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The data set of the study is represented by data from 86 largest Russian companies from the RAEX TOP-100 ESG Ranking as of December, 2023. The top tier companies demonstrate better financial performance and tend to single out GR as a separate function (division). System relationships between big busi ness and the state produce an overall positive effect in society and allow achieving financial stability. The larger the business and the scale of a company’s ESG projects, the greater the need for coordinated actions to reduce potential risks and losses. At the same time, cross-functional interaction between GR and other divisions of the firm enhances the effectiveness of its ESG practices. The findings prove that implementing the GR function is important for both private businesses and companies partially owned by the state.

Environmentally responsible behaviors in hospitality and tourism service employees: an application of complexity theory

PurposeHospitality and tourism businesses often face environmental criticism as they rely heavily on natural resources to operate. Therefore, as a recent trend, hospitality companies are trying to adopt an environmentally friendly approach. Thus, this study sought to investigate the determinants of employee intention to engage in environmentally responsible actions in the workplace, drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the value-belief norm (VBN) theory.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to discover sufficient configurations for predicting employees’ intentions.FindingsThe result has provided recipes with an efficient combination of factors that can influence employees’ intention to undertake environmentally responsible behaviors.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding sustainable behavior among employees and sustainability in the travel and hospitality sector. The findings of this research also provide managers and operators of sustainable hospitality businesses with guidance on how to enhance their staff members' environmentally friendly behaviors at work.

Factors Affecting Sustainable Consumption in the Era of Consumerism: An Empirical Study in the Context of Circular Economy

Sustainable consumption is one of the best ways to address global environmental challenges in an era dominated by consumerism. The circular economy model emphasizes reducing waste, maximizing resource use, and promoting environmentally friendly production and consumption patterns. At the same time, consumers play an equally important role in this change by making responsible choices that prioritize durability, repairability, and recyclability. But despite growing awareness, challenges such as the intention-behaviour gap and infrastructural barriers still exist, limiting the widespread adoption of sustainable practices. Bridging these gaps requires collaborative efforts across sectors and a cultural shift toward mindful consumption. This paper explores the importance of consumer behaviour, business strategies, and policy interventions in promoting sustainable consumption within the circular economy framework. Greater awareness and encouragement of responsible actions can help society transition towards a more sustainable future, ensuring both environmental preservation and economic resilience. A sample of 209 consumers were surveyed to know the factors that affects sustainable consumption in the era of consumerism and found that Consumer Environmental Awareness, Economic factors, Corporate Practices and Policy Implementation are the factors that affects the sustainable consumption.

Enhancing Auditor Reputation Through CSR Activities and Their Impact on Audit Firms Client Base Growth

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between audit firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and their reputations, as well as the impact of this on the audit firms’ abilities to gain and keep clients. The article examines the need for corporates to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to enhance their reputations, potentially extending the same rationale to audit firms, as CSR engagement for corporates and audit firms are likely to have different implications on their client base.Method: Using a quantitative approach, a sample of audit firms was analyzed for a three years’ period. Using regression analysis, the study examined whether CSR involvement and intensity influence client acquisition and whether firm size and profitability moderate this relationship.Findings: Audit firms with higher CSR engagement are shown to have a significant increase in their client base. CSR activities build firm reputation, wherein the stakeholders are able to trust the company and also manage to stand out in the competitive market. Furthermore, this relationship is positively moderated by both firm size and profitability.Novelty: CSR impacts on marketing have been studied for other industries, but its importance within the audit industry is unique.Implications: The results indicate that audit firms may strategically allocate their resources towards CSR activities to align themselves with the competitive advantage and gain client advantage in the market. In addition, it underlines the need for alignment between CSR strategies and firm resources for the long-term growth and sustainability of the competitive advantage

Institutional Investors with Disciplinary History and CSR Behavior of Investee Firms

AbstractThis study explores how the prior unethical behavior of institutional investors impacts the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the companies in which they invest. To identify such behavior, we focus on violations of laws and regulations by Registered Investment Advisers as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our findings reveal that these investors discourage firms’ engagement in CSR activities within their investee firms, which we attribute to institutions’ disregard for social norms. Our inferences remain unchanged with alternative identification strategies and more stringent definitions of unethical behavior, suggesting that endogeneity bias and construct validity issues do not explain our baseline results. Additionally, we find that statements by these investors in support of CSR initiatives appear hypocritical, as they fail to mitigate the negative consequences of their ownership on CSR activities. Overall, our study suggests that institutional investors’ prior unethical behavior influences their governance activities, generating negative social externalities.

Institutional Unaccountability: American Megachurch Web Sites and the (Re)constitution of Neoliberal Values

ABSTRACT Drawing on the literature of American megachurches and neoliberalism, I show how the megachurch is a crucial site for understanding the identification regime of neoliberalism. Most Christians now attend a megachurch (Chaves & Anderson, 2014), so the discursive and material identification resources being offered on their Web sites are language and practices with which many Christians identify. By performing a discursive analysis of four megachurch Web sites in a small geographic area, I found that the identification resources they had in common reproduce neoliberal ideology through institutional unaccountability. Institutional unaccountability is the communicatively constructed expectation that organizations are not responsible actors toward individual members or broader society. Each megachurch Web sites also discursively displaced systemic social justice issues as taking place outside of organized Christianity and promoted individual hyper-responsibility to work on the self as an enterprise (McNay, 2009). Thus, megachurches are shaping the conditions of Christian identification around institutional unaccountability and individual hyper-responsibility.

Responsible AI and action learning

ABSTRACT This paper proposes action learning has a role to play in advancing responsible AI. Despite the recent surge in attention towards artificial intelligence, predominantly focusing on its technological and commercial aspects, the social dimensions have often been overlooked. Action learning, known for fostering interdisciplinary discourse, is proposed as a collaborative learning approach to foster responsible AI. The paper explores three potential avenues: facilitating multidisciplinary dialogue, reshaping the workforce, and promoting ethical AI practices. Emphasising the importance of cultivating critical questioning skills, we suggest an action learning approach can cultivate the innovative potential of AI, whilst mitigating its potential risks.

The Science and Ethics of Compost

Organic decomposition is the natural process by which organic matter breaks down into simpler materials through the actions of decomposers such as fungi, microorganisms, and other decomposers that ultimately recycle nutrients back into an ecosystem. Despite having experiences with mold and decay, many students would benefit from developing a deep understanding of the biological science ideas that underpin decomposition. Moreover, with explicit attention, the ideas of organic decomposition can be used to engage students in thoughtful consideration of personal and community environmental habits, particularly with littering, disposing of waste, and avoiding unnecessary plastics. However, these connections are rarely intuitive and require concrete learning experiences with deliberate scaffolding to make connections between scientific ideas and environmental mindfulness. This composting inquiry activity with scaffolding promotes students’ deep understanding of matter cycling and environmentally responsible mindfulness and action. While knowledge is not likely to result in environmental behaviors, it is a crucial predecessor to responsible action.