Social Responsibility Theory Research Articles

Корпоративная социальная ответственность во время кризиса: исторический аспект и российская арктическая практика в период пандемии COVID-19

The outbreak of a new coronavirus infection and the need to combat it everywhere contributed to the more active implementation by companies of their policies in the field of corporate social responsibility, the growth of social investments in healthcare and education, and the development of corporate volunteering. Such an increase in activity was also observed earlier — during periods of other crises and disasters, when companies significantly expanded their social orientation, moved to a new level of interaction with employees, consumers and communities to solve acute problems of a critical period, retaining these new elements in the future already in its current activities. The aim of the work was to study the practice of implementing corporate social responsibility during periods of various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In the process of work, scientific methods of content analysis, logical and comparative analysis were used. The study contributes to the scientific discourse on the problem of the relationship between the theory and practice of corporate social responsibility, its implementation during periods of various crises. The practical significance lies in the possibility of applying the results obtained in the practice of initiating and implementing by business structures, including Russian Arctic companies, their policies in this area (including now, during the Ukrainian crisis, in conditions of geopolitical and geo-economic uncertainty). It is obvious that the still existing uncertainty in the manifestation of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of new unprecedented changes in geopolitical and geo-economic conditions caused by the Ukrainian crisis, suggests continuation of the study of these issues and requires additional research on corporate social responsibility, as well as its practical implementation by companies, carrying out their economic activities in the Russian Arctic.

A Forward-Looking Study of ESG System Development from The Perspective of Economic and Commercial Theory

With the gradual deepening of ethical investment and socially responsible investment and the proposal of sustainable development theory in the new era, ESG investment is developing increasingly. The research found that ESG evaluation is of great significance for the sustainable development of enterprises, and in 2019, 2020, 2021, the ESG information disclosure rate of Chinese listed companies were 25.54%, 25.69% and 30.19%, respectively. The letter rate increased year by year, indicating that China's attention to ESG is gradually increasing. This paper holds that while paying attention to the development and influence of ESG, it is necessary to sort out its theoretical basis and core ideas, and holds that the theory of sustainable development, the theory of economic externality, the theory of corporate social responsibility and the theory of stakeholders are the theoretical basis for the development of ESG.

An empirical research of corporate social responsibility on creating the green brand equity: An exploratory of Vietnamese consumers' perception in the bank industry

AbstractThis article examined and measured corporate social responsibility's (CSR) affection for green brand equity in the banking sector based on customer perception in the emerging market. The findings showed the importance of CSR in creating overall green brand equity through green brand association, green brand satisfaction, and green brand trust. The research results contribute significantly to expanding the corporate social responsibility theory. Moreover, managers can consider the research findings to develop strong green brand equity in customers' perception by promoting positive social responsibility activities and programs to increase interaction, satisfaction, and trust of customers towards green product brands. However, the research has several limitations, especially in geographical sampling size and sampling techniques.

The impact of ESG and personal environmental concern on performance of Russian companies

The article aims to empirically test the hypothesis on the impact of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices and employees’ personal environmental concerns on the performance of Russian companies. The methodological basis is the theory of corporate social and environmental responsibility embodied in the ESG concept. Exploratory factor analysis and linear regression are used to assess individual factors of corporate responsibility and personal environmental concerns on the ability of companies to perform better, i.e. to achieve their long-term goals. The empirical basis is the survey data of 339 employees of Russian companies. The research results show that strategic aspects of environmental responsibility and corporate governance are strongly connected within a single theoretical framework, while social responsibility of companies and environmental concern can be identified as a separate area of managerial efforts. Originality of the chosen approach is related to the proposed structured questionnaire that reveals various aspects of personal environmental concern and contributes to ESG practices assessment. The conducted regression analysis has demonstrated a positive impact of ESG strategies on the performance of the Russian companies in question, showing that social responsibility plays a decisive role in the ESG formula. Environmental concerns of employees do not have a significant effect on their personal assessment of organizational performance. The authors propose that managers should implement the most relevant ESG practices discussed in this article to sustain high levels of organizational performance.

Wheat and chaff: the degree to which strategic management principles are integrated within corporate social responsibility reporting among large Canadian firms

This empirical study examines the degree to which strategic principles are reflected in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices among Canada’s largest corporations. In a two-phased approach, three time periods of corporate disclosure from 2016 to 2020 were studied. Using an organizational flowchart derived from the literature, CSR disclosures were organized according to six degrees of strategic integration. Analysis reveals a bimodal distribution of firms, with one mode representing firms with a fully integrated reporting framework, and another mode representing firms with the partial integration of strategic management principles. Inconsistent patterns of progress in reporting practices were discovered, with some firms demonstrating improved reporting practices while others stagnated or declined. Overall, a generalized improvement in strategic integration during our multi-year examination was observed. While this work has implications for corporate social responsibility theory, recommendations for CSR practitioners are also discussed.

Elsinta radio’s social message to build the value of communication wisdom and citizens cultural identity

As an interactive media, a radio has social responsibility to the community on the understanding the policy of multicultural education from language diversity point of view. This study was to analyze the existence of radio as a type of electronic media that has a role and function as a medium of information, education, and entertainment for the community. We approached the study focus by using theory of multicultural education value, and supported by the theory of social media responsibility. The results of the study showed that Elsinta as one of the private radio stations in Indonesia through the broadcast content of RBI which had become a radio characteristic in presenting broadcast material that need to be used as a capital and model to develop multicultural communication education innovations. Therefore, to build a community perspective, it was necessary to be based on the value of the wisdom of the diversity of languages in Indonesia, packaged into learning materials for the community. This study contributes academically to the community as an effort to strengthen the value of the wisdom of language diversity.

Chronology of Electoral Violence in Nigeria from 1960-2015

Journalism as the fourth estate of the realm in the society plays crucial roles in the development of a nation through its numerous functions of information dissemination, education, entertainment and enlightenment of the masses on issues, events and trends within the environment. This unique impact of journalism encompasses all strata of the society such as economic, political, social and cultural systems. To this end, this study investigates press coverage of electoral violence in Nigeria during electioneering process vis-à-vis press role in forestalling negative conducts such as rigging, manipulations and electoral or political violence considered to be a norm in most African countries. The study adopts the Punch and the Nation newspapers as the sole press going by their active participation before, during and after the election in 2012. Going further, the study employs the instrument of Social Responsibility Theory of the Press. Keywords: Election, Democracy, Bribery, Corruption, Government, Policies, Reform, Violence, Journalism and Security DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-7-03 Publication date: October 31 st 2022

A theory of firm opacity and corporate social responsibility

We investigate theoretically the effect of firm opacity, the degree of information asymmetry between firms and outside investors, on whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities signal firm value. In our model, a profit-maximizing firm chooses whether to conduct costly CSR activities observable to potential investors and whether to undertake internal corporate and managerial actions that improve its value, which is unobservable to potential investors. We show that the firm is more likely to perform CSR when it undertakes the value-enhancing internal actions in equilibrium, and hence, CSR signals the firm’s value and increases investors’ expected valuation of the shares, only when the firm is moderately opaque. Empirical implications regarding the effect of firm opacity on the correlation between CSR and firm value are discussed.

Understanding Employees’ Responses to Psychological Contract Breach During a Crisis

Despite considerable research on the psychological contract (PC) breach, there exists limited research explicating how employees react to instances of PC breach in times of crisis and what organizations can do to mitigate the detrimental effects of PC breach on the employee-organization relationship during a crisis. Drawing on the risk management theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR, Godfrey, 2005), we argue that CSR effort enacted by an organization provides creates an effect much like insurance and tempers negative employee reactions to PC breach during a crisis. We manipulated CSR and PC breach during an organizational crisis in a scenario-based experiment of 108 working adults (Study 1). Findings suggest subjects in the high CSR conditions are more likely to make external attributions for PC breach, thus placing responsibility for the broken promises outside the company’s control. Then, we surveyed 394 employees from diverse industries in the context of COVID-19 crisis (Study 2). Results suggest perceived CSR moderated the indirect effect of PC breach on employees’ reconciliation with organization via external attributions, such that the effect was stronger when employees perceived a high level of CSR.

Risk management of digital transformation under pandemic

Introduction. The defining feature of the normal functioning of social relations and the condition of sustainable dynamics of the country’s development is socially responsible behavior of the individual, business, state. In times of crisis, socio-economic processes become unstable, social risks increase and deepen. It is important to ensure the balance of social processes by reconciling the interests of economic entities and society, balancing social proportions and achieving certain priorities in order to prevent the accumulation of social distortions. In this aspect, the problem of social responsibility of economic entities through the formation of a favorable business environment is of particular importance. As a result, today it is important to study the process of corporate social responsibility as a tool of international corporate management in a crisis. Methods. The methodological basis of the research is a set of basic principles of management theory, crisis theory, as well as modern concepts of corporate governance. The solution of certain tasks was carried out using a set of general scientific research methods: analysis of scientific literature, logical-theoretical method (in establishing stages and approaches to social responsibility of business), method of analogy and comparison (in determining the scope and benefits of social responsibility), theoretical synthesis, classification, methodological generalization, systems analysis and synthesis (in the study of threats to sustainable business development in a crisis), expert assessments and scientific abstraction.The purpose of research is substantiation of approaches and stages of formation of social responsibility of business, assessment of business development in crisis conditions of fulfillment of goals of sustainable development, definition of macroeconomic problems and obstacles of international corporate governance and development of measures of systemic improvement of social responsibility of business entities.Results. It has been established that the theory of corporate social responsibility has gone through several stages: formation, business ethics and volunteering, enhanced links with sustainable development, motivational stage (environmental protection, environmental diversity and stakeholders), national institutionalization and the emergence of international standards. The approaches to the formation of social responsibility of business are singled out, in particular: the approach of corporate egoism, corporate altruism, social requirements, stakeholder approach and the approach of ethical duty. The development of business in crisis conditions of fulfillment of the goals of sustainable development, in particular in the conditions of pandemic and war, is estimated. Macroeconomic problems and obstacles to international corporate governance have been identified and measures to systematically improve the social responsibility of economic entities have been developed.Prospects. The prospect of further research is to focus on the problems of sustainable business development in the war and on the results of the implementation of social responsibility of business in the postwar period.

Media and endemic corruption in Nigeria: A scrutiny of the role of the print media in the war against corruption

The media are the bedrock of any democratic system acting as a connection between the government and the people via its publications. This study thus examined the role of the press, especially newspapers, in covering endemic corruption as well as the challenges faced along the way, using Nigeria as a microcosm for Africa. Social Responsibility Theory (SRT) and media content analysis were used to analyse data collated from 200 corruption and anti-corruption related reports from Premium Times and Vanguard Newspapers published in six months, January to June 2017 and isolated cases in 2019, 2018, 2020, and 2021. The newspapers were identified via purposive sampling and have received awards for investigative reporting. Their headlines and content were reviewed to determine whether the reports were investigative or interpretative journalism within the months and years under review. Findings revealed that print media in Nigeria have been reporting on corruption and government fraud, however, their reportage has been more interpretative than investigative. The press tried exposing corrupt practices in government but was also confronted with challenges such as the curtailment of free speech, intimidation, assassination, and weak laws, hampering the war against corruption. The study recommended that media houses focus on investigative reporting, which is imperative for a democratic state. The press must alsoadvocate autonomy, security, strengthening of current legislation for open access to information, implementation of punitive measures against uncovered corrupt officials and other government support in the fight against corruption. Media and the government must collaborate in the interest of societal growth.

Mass Media and Democratic Stability in Nasarawa State a Study of Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (1999-2006)

The research investigated the relationship between the mass media and democratic stability in Nasarawa State using Nasarawa Broadcasting Service as a case in point. The research thus examined the impact of the mass media on democratic stability in Nasarawa State. Methodologically, survey research design was adopted where the study utilized both primary and secondary sources of data collections. Under the primary sources of data collection, the study utilized both questionnaires and oral interviews while the secondary sources of data was the review of textbooks, periodicals, internet sources, monographs and other unpublished materials relevant to the study. The study was anchored on social responsibility theory as a framework of analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the role of mass media in the stability of democracy in Nasarawa State has not been as desired arising largely as a result of the constraints to it. It is evident from the study that so many factors and forces have militated against its operations such as inadequate budgeting allocation or poor funding, victimization of journalists, poor remuneration, serious censorship of NBS programme by the government, bias nature of station, inadequate professionals and many others problems. The study therefore on the basis of the above recommends amongst other things required funding that will address the operational challenges of the Nasarawa Broadcasting Service for effective promotion of democracy.

Element Matching and Configuration Path of Corporate Social Responsibility Performance

With rapid progress in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories and the up-gradation of the global market information disclosure system, enterprises have increased their attention toward relevant stakeholders and social responsibility. CSR exerts a substantial impact on the sustainable development of enterprises and markets in the economic and social fields. On the one hand, the increasingly perfect supporting facilities promote the financial growth of the entire society. While on the other hand, the profit-seeking trend of capital is also on the rise. The incongruity between the rapid progress of enterprises and the lack of social responsibility limits the benign development of the market. This study discusses the antecedents of CSR from the variable combination perspective using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. It also investigates which combination of characteristics has better CSR performance. After the configuration analysis, it is identified that four paths lead to high CSR performance. These include the market-developed type, political link type, financial performance type, and state-owned enterprise subsidy type, and the level of each type is explained in-depth. Finally, this study provides management inspiration for the government and enterprises to formulate a sound social responsibility strategy and improve CSR performance by optimizing the matching of CSR activities and business objectives.

Crowdsourcing labor regulation

The relevance of the study is due to the spread of atypical forms of staff involvement in the work and the need to rethink the content of social and labor relations, implemented in cyberspace, the need to develop adequate to modern realities regulations of labor organization. The purpose of the study is to develop best practices in the organization of labor activities of employees engaged in crowdsourcing and to develop recommendations for regulating such work in accordance with Ukrainian legislation. The methodological basis of the study is formed by theories of self-organization of socio-economic systems, modern concepts of management and project management, the concept of decent work, the theory of social responsibility. Analysis of the achievements of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of labor organization, development of social and labor relations showed that despite the positive aspects of crowdsourcing remains many unresolved issues, including high risks of fraud, low liability, lack of social protection and more. The results of the study are aimed at overcoming these barriers by implementing the author’s regulations on the organization of work under crowdsourcing, which, in contrast to the existing ones, distinguishes three main employment clusters on the platforms; Crowdsourcing is analyzed in two planes (the grouping was based on the criterion of transaction costs (contract theory), namely as a specific form of organization and conduct of business and as a form of social contract between the state and community, business and society. immanent to the needs of today and take into account the variability of the ecosystem of the modern labor market, filled with qualitatively new content that meets the criterion of adaptability and takes into account modern best practices in organizing the work of crowdworkers.

Normative Role Orientations of Yugoslav Journalists

The goal of this study was to investigate normative role orientations of journalists in SFRY, as stated or implied in five Yugoslav journalism ethics codes. By applying the method of document analysis and the comparative historical method, we established the reasons for adopting the first code, analysed the codes’ conceptualisations of (the relation between) freedom and responsibility, and determined how the codes addressed truthfulness and professional norms. The normative foundations of journalism, as outlined in ethics codes, have been transforming over time and along changes in the socio-political-legal-economic environment. Media /journalistic freedom had only been permitted within the limits of the socialist orientation and contribution to the building and development of the self-managing society, at least until 1988, when values of Marxism and Leninism and defining a journalist as a socio-political worker were deleted. A journalist was obliged to follow his socialist conscience and was responsible to the working people, to the socialist public, but the codes in the 1980s stressed his responsibility to the public. While displaying several characteristics of the Soviet-totalitarian theory of the press, normative foundations also bear some resemblance to the social responsibility theory. Professional norms related to truthfulness, professional integrity, and respect for human personality and dignity have been evolving over time, gaining more space, elaboration and emphasis. The fact that some professional norms have been recognized by the journalistic community as sufficiently significant to be codified indicates that the foundations of the professionalization of Slovenian journalism were laid in the socialist Yugoslavia already.

Infaq during movement lockdown: the perspective from social responsibility theory

PurposeWithin a few days, the National Disaster Management Agency’s COVID-19 Fund (NADMA) has collected RM 5.5 m in donations from individuals and companies. These data shows that voluminous Malaysians are willing to help although they are in a difficult situation. Grounded in the Social Responsibility theory, this paper aims to examine the factors that motivate infaq (donation) behaviour in Malaysia during Movement Control Order (MCO).Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative questionnaire survey method was used to obtain the data. This research’s unit analysis was of individuals who had done any help during COVID-19 MCO in Malaysia. The respondents were from all states in Malaysia, 20 years old and above and constituted of all races.FindingsAlthough the religiosity factor did not play a significant role as a moderator, the results of the study found that all factors from the social responsibility theory had a significant positive relationship to Infaq behaviour during an emergency.Practical implicationsIdentifying the vital driving factors that determine the infaq offer makes it possible for fundraisers to entirely focus on developing better approaches that can increase the role that these driving factors can play and possibly improve the impact on those previously unaffected factors.Originality/valueFrom the authors’ knowledge, the research paper on helping effort during an emergency is minimal, let alone the research on infaq behaviour. This paper’s originality lies in the relationship between infaq behaviour, emergency and social responsibility theory which has never been explored before by other researchers.

Theoretical approaches to the development of corporate social responsibility of business

Subject. This article discusses the problematic aspects associated with theoretical approaches to the formation of corporate social responsibility of organizations of various forms of management. Objectives. The article aims to study the theoretical foundations of the formation and development of corporate social responsibility of business. Methods. For the study, we used the methods of comparison, systematization, and data generalization. Results. The article reveals problematic aspects of formation and presentation of corporate responsibility of business in modern economic conditions. The article offers a classification of indicators of corporate social responsibility, indicators for assessing the effectiveness of socially important business, and it presents principles according to the International Standard ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on Social Responsibility. Conclusions and Relevance. The role and significance of corporate social responsibility of business should be evaluated not only from the point of view of contribution to socially significant and environmental projects, but from the point of view of economic efficiency for the business itself as well. The results of the study can be applied in the development of the theory of corporate social responsibility and in the practice of socio-economic activities of an economic entity in the context of sustainable business development.

The use of the Twitter network in raising awareness of the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) through analyzing the tweets of the UAE Ministry of Health and Community

This study aimed to determine the use of the Twitter network in raising awareness of the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) through analyzing the tweets of the UAE Ministry of Health and Community Protection that were published from 7/1/2020 - 31/7/2020, to reveal the communication role of health institutions in raising awareness of the disease. This study is a descriptive study that uses the analytical approach. It relied on the sample survey method using the content analysis tool. The tweet was considered as a unit of analysis using both social responsibility theory and information seeking. The number of tweets reached 513 tweets. The findings have shown that the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the UAE allocated 62% of its tweets in July to raise awareness of the emerging Corona virus and the majority of these tweets were supported by images and info graphics. Additionally, the tweets focused on all segments of the society. The interest of those in charge of the site appeared through answering all inquiries, The study recommends conducting specialized research in the field of communication networks and their role in health awareness.

From the philosophy of corporate social responsibility to the market and political realities of ESG

The theory of corporate social responsibility, ideologically formed in the USA in the second half of the twentieth century, significantly influenced both the practice of international business and the views of scientists in the field of economics and sociology. The moral obligation of corporations to participate in solving social problems, in charity, educational and cultural projects began to be perceived as something ordinary, as a kind of voluntary social tax. At the same time, representatives of a number of economic schools have long criticized this approach, believing, firstly, that the principal goal of big business is the growth of shareholders’ capital, and secondly, such a social obligation looks very amorphous, assuming only reputational costs for an entrepreneur in case of his evasion from the implementation of CSR programs. In our opinion, the situation is currently changing dramatically. This approach is being radically transformed under the influence of ESG ideas and practices, whose standards become structured and mandatory for companies in case of their access to premium markets.

A Study on Cybersecurity News Coverage in Bangladeshi Newspapers

At the present world, people are more connected with cyber issues, with the emergence of the cyber world, cybersecurity has also become more important in its users’ life either in personal or official cases. Media has a great role in establishing cybersecurity by providing accurate and responsible information. This paper analyzed the presentation of cybersecurity-related news items and photos in Bangladeshi newspapers. All copies published during the time frame of October to December 2019 were selected for this study and a total 59 number of news items were collected and analyzed. This paper analyzed the news items under different issues, like hacking and tracking, stealing and passing information, information leaking, security of cyberspace users, etc. This study explored the news types, photograph presentation, placement of news, and using news sources. This study followed Gatekeeping and Social Responsibility theories and found that most of the news is event-driven, news items have just been translated from foreign newspapers, especially Kaler Kantho published lots of foreign news without mentioning exact sources, and the number of investigative and awareness-raising news is very poor which also means that these newspapers played very little social responsibility role.