Social Responsibility Commitment Research Articles

The impact of board and hotel characteristics on biodiversity reporting: market diversification as a moderator

PurposeThis study aims to explain how board and hotel characteristics affect biodiversity reporting and to test the moderating effect of market diversification.Design/methodology/approachThe annual reports of 105 hotels were examined for the period between 2016 and 2017 to analyse these hotels’ biodiversity reporting using content analysis. The partial least squares technique was used to test the proposed relationships.FindingsThe results show that the number of board members who are also on the corporate social responsibility committee, number of board members who are in environmental organizations, the star rating of the hotel, hotel size and hotel location have significant positive effects on the extent of biodiversity reporting. In addition, market diversification moderates positively the effects of number of board members with environmental experience and number of board members from environmental organizations on the extent of biodiversity reporting.Practical implicationsThe results of this study will be useful in enabling hotel manager and investors to become knowledgeable about these aspects of boards, which lead to higher biodiversity reporting. This study can also inform policymakers about the types of hotels that are less likely to disclose biodiversity reports and to develop effective enforcement of regulations.Originality/valueThese findings extend the literature on biodiversity reporting by exploring the importance of board and hotel characteristics on the extent of biodiversity reporting and testing the moderating effect of market diversification.

When the paper tiger bites: Evidence of compliance with unenforced regulation among employers in Sweden

AbstractLittle evidence exists on whether and why organizations comply with regulations that are not monitored or enforced. To address that shortage, this study evaluates the 2007 repeal of an essentially unenforced regulation mandating private and local government employers in Sweden to post their vacancies publicly at the Public Employment Service. Exploiting the fact that central government employers were not affected, difference‐in‐differences analyses identify a substantial negative effect of the repeal on local government employers' vacancy posting propensity – with similar results for the private sector. At odds with deterrence models of regulatory compliance, these findings hint at an important role for organizational factors related to cultures and norms. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that local governments with more law‐abiding organizational culture and stronger social responsibility commitment were more prone to comply with the unenforced regulation. The results thus simultaneously point to an untapped potential and to some possible preconditions for unenforced regulatory strategies.

The Factors of Integrated Reporting Quality: A Meta-Analysis

The research on integrated reporting (IR) grew exponentially during the last decade. The present meta-analysis was motivated by the need to systematize the results of previously published studies employing quantitative methodologies. Therefore, we fill a research gap by discovering significant meta-analytic relations between IR and various economic, organizational, institutional, and country-level variables. Three major areas of research were identified: IR adoption, IR quality, and integrated thinking. The final sample consisted of 91 articles published in top journals between 2013 and 2021. The meta-analytic procedures were applied on bivariate and partial correlations between the three major areas of IR and other constructs such as company attributes, financial performance, corporate governance, social and environmental responsibility, market performance, industry- and country-level characteristics. The results confirmed that corporate governance variables (i.e., director independence, board gender diversity, the existence of a social responsibility committee, and quality of the audit committee) were the most important predictors of IR quality, especially in a voluntary reporting setting. On the other hand, financial reporting quality, financial performance, and firm leverage are not significantly associated with integrated reporting quality. Several implications and recommendations were derived from these meta-analytic results.

Doing Well by Doing Good? Evidence From Luxury Brands’ Social Responsibility Disclosure and Their Financial Performance

Noting the sparse literature on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments of luxury brands, we focus on the constituents of the S&P Global Luxury Index and their non-luxury peers to examine the impact of CSR disclosure on firms’ financial performance. We find that both luxury and non-luxury firms’ accounting performance improves when their CSR disclosure is moderate but worsens if such CSR disclosure is in the extreme. On the other hand, the effect of CSR disclosure on firms’ market performance is either insignificant or negative. These patterns are more pronounced for non-luxury firms than for luxury firms. By highlighting the different impacts of CSR disclosure (reporting or not reporting) and the disclosure level (how much to report) on luxury brands’ performance, this study enriches the understanding on how luxury firms’ fundamental attributes impact their corporate decisions for CSR commitments and disclosure. The results shed new light on the interplay of CSR disclosure, responsible investing, and luxury brand management.

Corporate Social Responsibility Committee

While CSR and sustainability need to have an important place on the agenda for full board meetings, larger companies typically rely on one or more committees when it comes to allocating specific tasks and tapping into specialized resources and expertise. One approach that is growing in popularity is the creation of public policy/CSR, social and cultural responsibility committees composed of a sub-group of the entire board that is charged with focusing more time and effort on sustainability generally and important topics within sustainability. While other board committees focus on internal controls, financial disclosure and reporting, and the procedures of board and committee activities, CSR committees concentrate on strategies for ensuring that the company is seen as a good “corporate citizen.” A committee of this type is seen as important in light of the downturn in the public’s trust of corporations due to previous accounting scandals and this chapter discusses the scope of the committee’s duties and responsibilities relating to sustainability as well as key procedural details including composition of the committee, meeting procedures, scope of the committee’s duties and responsibilities and evaluation of committee performance.

Trustee professionalism transformed: Recruiting committed professionals

This article explores how employing organizations articulate the competencies, values and personal qualities that they expect professionals to possess, and how they envision and appeal to certain professional identities when recruiting new employees. The article is prompted by the influential view put forth by sociologist Steven Brint, i.e. that professional work both consists of and is legitimized as specialized expertise. With the rise of large organizations, professionals no longer identify as the social trustees that the classical sociology of professions posited. If we accept Brint’s and others’ claims that management and organizations increasingly shape professionalism and professional work, it is crucial to understand what professionalism looks like from the employers’ points of view, and, more specifically, whether employers are interested in only expertise. This article explores these implications by analysing Norwegian job advertisements for engineers, trained social workers and registered nurses within both public and private employing organizations, i.e. professional spaces that Brint associates with expert professionalism and social trustee professionalism, respectively. The analysis reveals that public service and private commercial organizations alike appeal to social responsibility and personal commitment, which indicates the presence of persistent, albeit transformed, versions of trustee professionalism.

Corporate social responsibility, facets of employee job satisfaction and commitment: the case in Ecuador

PurposeThis paper aims to show the relationships between corporate social responsibility, job satisfaction (in its different facets or aspects) and employee commitment. In addition, the paper aims to identify the mediating role that facets of job satisfaction in the relationship between CSR and worker commitment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a model of relations between the variables indicated and the use of a variance-based structural equation modelling technique to identify the relations in a sample of 318 workers from Ecuadorian companies who answered a questionnaire. Specifically, the partial least squares (PLS) methodology was employed using the Smart PLS software.FindingsThe results and findings of this work confirm the theoretical hypotheses specific to the influence of CSR on the five facets of job satisfaction. On the other hand, it should be stressed that only job satisfaction in itself has positive effects on employee engagement. Furthermore, our study shows that satisfaction with co-workers has a negative effect on commitment. However, this study's most relevant contribution is the consideration of the mediating nature of some aspects of job satisfaction in the relationship between CSR and organisational commitment: positive for job satisfaction itself and negative in the case of satisfaction with co-workers. Therefore, implementing CSR practices can be useful for organisations that wish to foster positive attitudes among their employees.Originality/valueThe work enriches specific knowledge about the relationships between CSR and some employee attitudes and behaviours: commitment and job satisfaction. Of particular relevance is the fact that CSR favourably conditions the commitment of employees through the satisfaction derived from the work itself. The presence of a negative impact of co-worker satisfaction on engagement highlights the need to examine CSR actions that generate adverse impacts on this facet of satisfaction.

The influence of corporate governance on corporate sustainability: new evidence using panel data in the Iberian macroeconomic environment

PurposeIn the macroeconomic environment of the Iberian Peninsula, this paper aims to examine the influence of corporate governance characteristics on corporate sustainability performance. The purpose of this paper is to address corporate practices while determining which corporate governance characteristics can improve corporate sustainability, considering, for this purpose, three dimensions of sustainability: economic, environmental and social.Design/methodology/approachThis sample comprises 99 non-financial companies of the Iberian Peninsula, during the 2013–2017 period. The authors have used the panel data methodology, specifically the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation method proposed by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998) to test the hypotheses formulated.FindingsThe results obtained have shown that corporate sustainability performance is affected differently depending on the sustainability dimension that is considered. Specifically, the economic dimension is determined by public debt, the board size, board diversity and the existence of an audit committee. Regarding the environmental dimension, the board size and the presence of the audit committee, as well the corporate social responsibility committee, are the most important determinants. Finally, the social dimension was influenced by the board size, audit committee and the control variable of capital structure, which means that in this dimension, the sources of financing used by the company also help in determining its levels of social concern.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that a study has been carried out in the Iberian Peninsula on the corporate sustainability using GMM-system model for three dimensions of sustainability. Corporate sustainability depends on external and internal factors of companies. Therefore, regulators and managers should realize that they will have to be more effective in their statements.

Poisoned chalice or opportunity for positive impact? an analysis of the impact of ‘inherited’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments in Kenya's titanium mining industry✰

This paper critically examines the issue of ‘inherited Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) in the mining industry, specifically in the mining of ‘solid’ minerals. It focuses on the case of titanium mining in Kwale County (Kenya), a region plagued with agonising poverty, weak mining policies and laws, issues of historical land injustices, corruption, combined with weak governance. It examines the case of Base Titanium and its CSR activities in Kwale and provides an in-depth analysis of the fate of CSR programmes when mining concerns change hands. This paper follows up on the call for more research into the matter of ‘inherited CSR’ in the mining of ‘solid’ minerals in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper faults the lack of community participation in the choice, prioritisation, design and implementation of the various CSR programmes as the critical missing element that would have otherwise minimised conflict over CSR projects in Kwale.

Drivers and value-relevance of CSR performance in the logistics sector: A cross-country firm-level investigation

The purpose of this study is to explore the drivers and value-relevance of corporate social responsibility performance in the logistics sector by particularly focusing on board characteristics and ownership structure. Corporate social responsibility performance is measured with a composite ESG (environmental, social, and governance) score and with its three sub-dimensions between 2011 and 2018. Fixed Effects regression analysis was run to test the hypotheses, and subsequently, Ordinary Least Squares regression was run to test the robustness of the results. The results suggest that board gender diversity is positively associated with overall corporate social responsibility performance and governance performance. Moreover, the firms which have a sustainability committee are more likely to have greater corporate social responsibility performance (both overall and social) than those do not. Furthermore, firms with diffused ownership structures are more likely to show greater performance in the Social Pillar of corporate social responsibility. Board independence has a weak association with only governance performance. Contrary to expectations, the results regarding the value-relevance of corporate social responsibility performance did not produce significant positive outcomes. These findings confirm that women on boards and corporate social responsibility committees are an essential factor to achieve corporate social responsibility goals. However, the insignificant relationship between board characteristics and the Environmental Pillar of corporate social responsibility performance is quite surprising, and the discovery sparks various queries. Finally, logistics firms need to reconsider the competency or role of independent directors in corporate social responsibility issues as currently they are weakly influential.

Communicating philanthropic CSR versus ethical and legal CSR to employees: empirical evidence in Turkey

PurposeThis study investigates the mechanism through which banks employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment to engage in employees. The values of different types of CSR engagement (i.e. philanthropic CSR vs ethical and legal CSR) are distinguished and their influences on employee identification are analyzed. The moderation effect of CSR communication through corporate social media is examined in this context.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 254 respondents was collected through surveying the employees of one of the largest banks in Turkey.FindingsFindings suggest that ethical and legal CSR is perceived more importantly than philanthropic CSR by employees in the banking industry. In addition, the level of transparency and frequency of CSR communication through corporate social media moderates the CSR types–employee identification relationship distinctively.Practical implicationsSpecial attention should be paid to the conditions under which CSR communication takes place effectively, as skeptics toward certain types of CSR initiatives may occur along with the disclosure of information about them.Social implicationsIf organizations use social media communication in a way that would bring the CSR interests of their employees to light, it is likely that CSR initiatives will become more meaningful and have a greater societal impact.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the CSR literature through identifying the value of different types of CSR initiative and confirming the importance of transparent and proactive CSR communication on employee identification in the banking sector.

Does corporate social responsibility commitment and participation predict environmental and social performance?

AbstractThis study aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment and CSR participation on both social performance and environmental performance. The current study examines the influence of CSR commitment on CSR participation. This study also tested the mediating effect of CSR participation in the connection between CSR commitment and social performance as well as between CSR commitment and environmental performance. Data were collected from 324 managers of hotels and tourism units. Statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and AMOS 7.0 software were used for data analysis. Results reveal that CSR commitment positively predicts CSR participation. CSR participation significantly predicts the social performance and environmental performance. The direct link of CSR commitment with social performance and environmental performance is positive and significant. The findings also reveal that CSR participation mediates the relationship between both CSR commitment and social performance and CSR commitment and environmental performance links.

Effect of Corporate Governance on Sustainability Disclosures: Evidence from Turkey

This study aims to examine the relationship between the corporate governance structure and sustainability disclosure in Turkish business. To measure the impact of the board of directors on sustainability disclosure, companies on the Istanbul Stock Exchange that prepared sustainability reports per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) were selected as the working sample. In this study, 68 fiscal year data sets of 17 businesses that published regular sustainability reports during 2013–2016 were used. All were audited by the GRI. During the analysis, it was observed that the presence of influential community board members and the profitability of the enterprises are factors that bear positive effects on sustainability disclosures. Board size, the presence of independent board members, and the existence of corporate social responsibility committees were negative factors that, in fact, reduced sustainability disclosures of the companies. To increase sustainability disclosures, this study suggests that boards of directors should consist of influential community leaders.

What drives social responsibility commitment? An empirical analysis of public enterprises in South Korea

This study examines factors affecting the social responsibility commitment of public enterprises in South Korea. A panel regression analysis of 70 public enterprises found that the social responsibility commitment appears to increase when organizations are financially healthy and strategically oriented. However, the relationship between ethical behavior and social responsibility was negligible. These results have three management implications: first, the conventional social responsibility assumption that economic efficiency neutralizes societal goals is not necessarily true; second, public enterprises with commitments to strategic social responsibility appear to be more socially responsible than those without commitments to strategic social responsibility; and, third, ethical behavior may not be a reliable indicator of the social responsibility commitment, especially if it is mandated by the government. Points for practitioners Public enterprises have increasingly been under pressure to share the burden of social and economic problems in society. However, many practitioners still have little knowledge about under what conditions they can do good and benefit society. The results of this article suggest that profit making embodied in ethical rules and a dedicated governance structure to communicate with stakeholders create conditions that are more conducive to doing socially responsible activity.

Sustainable reverse supply chains and circular economy in multichannel retail returns

AbstractThe percentage of products being returned in multichannel retail are high and further increasing, yet many retailers and manufacturers are unaware of the importance and scale of this issue. They consider dealing with returns as a cost of doing business and are oblivious of the potential for conflicts between their corporate social responsibility commitments and their returns practices. This article investigates how far sustainable practices and circular economy concepts have been implemented in retail returns systems; it identifies vulnerabilities, barriers, and challenges to the implementation of sustainable, circular practices and suggests ways to overcome them, as sustainability, loss prevention, and profit optimisation can go hand in hand with the right approach to the organisation of the reverse supply chain. Implications of this research on strategic management are outlined. The research was conducted using in‐depth interviews and observations with four major retailers in the United Kingdom, 17 structured interviews, 100 retailer website reviews, and three retail community workshops, all with British and other European retailers.

Sectoral Corporate Social Responsibility Commitments

Certain sectors face particular challenges when it comes to corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) due to the specific nature of the operational activities and the locations of those activities since local governments often are unwilling and/or unable to exercise legal and regulatory responsibility for the environmental and social impacts of the activities. The response to these challenges, often driven by criticisms from a wide range of stakeholders, has been sectoral CSR commitments, which often take the form of a framework of principles with respect to environmental and social issues and emerge from collective CSR initiatives among companies and other stakeholders (e.g., trade unions) involved in particular business sectors and/or with a common interest in a specific social or environmental responsibility issue. Sectoral frameworks usually include targets for compliance with minimum social standards and fundamental environmental protection measures taking into account sector-specific criteria and requirements as decisions are being made.

Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment and Environmental Disclosures Quality: Study of the French Context

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of firms’ corporate social responsibility commitment (CSR) on the quality of their environmental reporting. The proactive approach of the legitimacy theory is retained to formulate our expectations. We develop a multidimensional content analysis index used to apprehend environmental disclosure faithfulness dimensions. The variance analysis is applied to these indicators classified according to the variables of CSR commitment for a sample of French industrial firms listed in the SBF120 index. The study confirms the proactive approach of legitimacy. It provides empirical evidence in the French context that firms use environmental reporting for accountability with a substantial legitimation strategy. Indeed, most CSR committed sampled firms disclose in their annual reports more comprehensive mandatory environmental information and more abundant and precise voluntary information than others. They also tend to introduce more statements to justify the credibility of their disclosures than less committed firms.

Determinants of corporate compliance with modern slavery reporting

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the determinants of corporate compliance with the transparency in supply chains provision of the UK Modern Slavery Act. While recent scholarship has described what firms are doing to comply with this Act, no attempt has been made to explain their behaviour.Design/methodology/approachA predictive model of corporate compliance with modern slavery reporting is tested using secondary data from Financial Times Stock Exchange 350 firms. The model is informed by institutional theory and, in particular, by Oliver’s (1991) insights into the conditions under, which firms respond to institutional pressures.FindingsCompliance with modern slavery reporting is found to be significantly related to firm size, prior social responsibility commitment, network involvement, industry and headquarter base (UK versus non-UK). Other predictors such as media exposure, shareholder concentration and profitability are found to be non-significant.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus is on the 350 largest publicly listed companies in the UK. The stances that firms outside of this cohort are taking on modern slavery reporting still need to be investigated.Practical implicationsCompliance with the UK Modern Slavery Act varies by industry. Regulators should consider this as a part of risk profiling strategies and follow-up inspection of firms.Originality/valueThis paper provides the first theoretically grounded examination of the organisational and environmental factors that determine corporate compliance with modern slavery reporting.

The Potential Value-Added of a Multilateral Framework on Investment Facilitation for Development

This article argues that investment facilitation needs to be seen in the context of the principal FDI determinants and, in particular, the all-important economic determinants. Beyond that, when negotiating a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development, it is crucial to (1) give full attention to the development dimension of investment facilitation, by promoting sustainable FDI for sustainable development; (2) establish an inventory and benchmark of good practices regarding investment facilitation, with ground-level input by practitioners;(3)keep in mind that the framework can help domestic reforms; (4) require transparency for home country measures and investors’ corporate social responsibility commitments; and (5) ensure that the framework provides for technical assistance to developing countries (and especially the least developed among them) for negotiating and implementing such a framework. Developing countries in particular need to seek to advance these issues. If substantial progress toward an explicit development dimension can be made (or, at a minimum, some of these issues can become part of a firm built-in agenda for future negotiations), a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development would create a value-adding instrument in the FDI tool-box that is currently available in the international investment area.

Do board characteristics affect environmental performance? A study of EU firms

AbstractThis paper explores the relationship between board characteristics and environmental performance. We adopt a triple perspective of environmental performance, focussing on emissions (waste and CO2), resource consumption (water and energy), and the implementation of environmental initiatives. The sample comprises 644 nonfinancial European Union–based companies. The data cover the period 2002 to 2017. The results confirm that gender diversity and the existence of a corporate social responsibility committee are positively associated with the firms' environmental performance. This finding is consistent with the view that the educational background, talent, and experience of women help promote sustainable environmental initiatives. The existence of a corporate social responsibility committee reflects a company's commitment to sustainable development.