Turkish Companies Research Articles

Sustainability accounting and corporate social responsibility in Turkey and in its region

Research question: As a newly developing area, this paper aims investigate recent developments and applications of social responsibility practices in Turkey and in the neighboring regions in a comparative way. Motivation: The sustainability reporting is relatively a new subject in Turkey both in practice and in academic circles. The introduction of Corporate Social Responsibility as a concept in Turkey does not have a long history. The last five years witnessed a significant change in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) applications. Increasing number of companies started to implement sustainability accounting and corporate social responsibility practices. Companies began to adopt corporate social responsibility by considering it as a tool for medium- and long-term success. As a reflection of growing interest in sustainability and CSR, the number of NGO’s and consultancy firms operating in this field has also increased recently. In 2014, Sustainability Index was created within the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE). Idea: The understanding of the social responsibility applications and priority areas vary between different countries depending on their economic, social and political dynamics. In order to see the intra-regional variations, in this paper, we compare corporate social responsibility and sustainability applications in Turkey and in the neighboring regions by selecting Russia and Greece in the same region. Data: For the analysis, we collect recent sustainability reports of Turkish companies from GRI database and make a content analysis to evaluate practical applications of CSR and sustainability in Turkey. Then, we discuss corporate social responsibility applications in Russia and Greece. In the first part of our paper we examine corporate social responsibility and sustainability applications in Turkey by making an analysis of sustainability reports and CSR activities in Turkey. In the following part we discuss corporate social responsibility applications in the neighboring regions and make a comparison with Turkey. To this end, sustainability reports of Russian Federation and Greek companies in GRI database are analyzed for CSR activities. In the final part of our paper, we make a comparative analysis of CSR applications in Turkey and in the neighboring regions. Findings: The final analysis of CSR in Turkey and neighboring countries supports the idea that understanding of CSR varies in different countries depending on their social structure and economic development level.

Is board diversity an antecedent of corporate social responsibility performance in firms? A research on the 500 biggest Turkish companies

PurposeThis study aims to understand whether board diversity has a direct effect on “corporate social responsibility (CSR)” performance of companies or not. In addition, this study also aims to examine the moderation effect of age and education level of female board members on the relationship between board gender diversity and CSR performance.Design/methodology/approachA “corporate social performance (CSP)” measurement instrument was designed to conduct a content analysis that analyzes the CSR disclosure in the annual reports of Turkish companies listed on the “500 biggest Turkish companies” report of “Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO)” in 2015. The data coming from content analysis of 117 company reports were analyzed by using hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsDespite of supporting the increase in CSR performance when there is a greater presence of independent board members in an organization, evidence supports that ratios of female and foreign board members do not have any significant effect on CSR performance.Originality/valueThe study contributes to previous literature on board diversity and CSR performance as follows. First, this paper contributes to previous literature by examining and testing independent, female and foreign board members as a new antecedent of CSR performance in research on Turkey; second, by examining a sample of the “500 biggest Turkish companies” and providing some tips about both Turkey and other developing countries; third, by reopening the debate about the positive impact of a greater presence of independent directors on board on CSR performance and the non-effect of female and foreign board members. Finally, it also offers a partially new CSP measurement instrument based on content analysis.

Do Life Cycles Affect Financial Reporting Quality? Evidence from Emerging Market

This paper aims to present the effect of life-cycle on financial reporting quality (FRQ). I used Discretionary accruals, small profit, and audit aggressiveness to test the FRQ from different approaches for Borsa Istanbul-listed companies between 2008 and 2017. The sample comprises 1,645 observations, 217 companies, and nine years. I estimated the life stages with Dickinson’s (2011) cash flow patterns. Following Hansen et al. (2018), I assigned values of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 for introduction, growth, mature, shake-out, and decline, respectively. The findings for small profit and discretionary accruals are consistent with conjecture. Discretionary accruals and small profit decrease as the companies move forward in their life-cycles. On the other hand, audit aggressiveness increases when the firms grow further in their life-cycles. I observed a negative coefficient, but it was insignificant for the other dependent variables. The findings provide an insight into the effect of life-cycle stages on FRQ. My results showed that the introduction and decline stages negatively affect FRQ. My results also showed that audit aggressiveness of Turkish companies decreases with increased listing duration.

ВКЛАД ПРОМЫШЛЕННОГО СЕКТОРА ТУРЦИИ В РЕАЛИЗАЦИЮ КОНЦЕПЦИИ УСТОЙЧИВОГО РАЗВИТИЯ

In the Article is discussed how the activities of companies in the industrial sector of the Turkish economy relate to the principles of Sustainable Development. The article provides an analysis of a data base compiled from non-financial reports of Turkish companies covering the years 2007–2019 that contain data concerning the economic, environmental and social components of their activities. On the basis of quantitative and qualitative evaluations and calculations a conclusion is drawn that Turkey’s progress has been limited and uneven within the period under review.

The Protection of Minority Shareholders within the Legal Framework: Conceptual Evidence from Turkey

As the equity capital has begun to surface as an essential corporate finance mechanism in emerging markets, regulations providing adequate protection for the interests of minority shareholders and investors will enable companies to access global equity capital. Turkey. as an official candidate for European Union (EU) membership, must introduce a code of corporate governance ensuring the protection of investors, particularly minority shareholders to encourage them to partake in capital markets. Consequently, this code will ease the access of Turkish companies to equity capital. Turkey has made substantial improvements in promoting the interests of shareholders and investors by focusing on the absence of an equity culture in Turkey. The application of provisions of EU capital market and company laws in Turkish law will assist in creating a legal framework for protecting minority interests. The purpose of this study is to make a contribution to the attempts to develop a corporate governance structure to protect the interests of minority shareholders and investors, which is a main requirement for developing a Turkish equity culture.

Generating Factors of Success and Failure of Companies: Empirical Research on Turkish Companies

In the economic field, business development is crucial for the socioeconomic development. On the one hand, the creation of companies can be an effective solution of the unemployment. On the other hand, business development is an essential factor of economic growth. Thus, the development of a country is correlated with its business development. However, business results are not always guaranteed. For this reason, controlling a number of factors related to results is an absolute necessity. Our research aims at studying a set of elements contributing to the results of the success and failure of Turkish companies. For this purpose, we considered a sample of 46 companies, which is subdivided into two sub-samples, the first represents the "Successful companies "; this category represents 74% of the total sample. The second represents the remaining 26% formed the "Failure companies". Empirical results highlight the importance of factors related to; the Business plan, the innovation, the marketing strategy, and the human resources. However, ignoring these factors lead to the business failure. Therefore, the prediction of success or failure factors will deliver key information to decision-makers on the mistakes to be avoided and the precautions to be taken

Changing Trends in Outward Foreign Direct Investment of Turkish Companies

The phase of globalization has helped many developing economies in framing the path towards achieving a higher level of development and economic growth. One of the major instruments used in framing this path of economic growth is foreign direct investment. The economy of Turkey had also witnessed several economic crises and hence the liberalization reforms were introduced in early 2000, which have provided the Turkish economy a strong framework to expand in terms of foreign direct investment. In this context, the present study examines the impact of internationalization and foreign direct investment of Turkish companies. The researcher has collected the data for inward and outward FDI flows during the period 1990-2015. The researcher analyzed the trend of the FDI flows and explored the different reasons behind the rise in the amount of outward FDI. Further, the study explores the convergence of EU integration and how the internalization of Turkish companies changed the investment patterns among the multi-national enterprises in Turkey.

How the network properties of shareholders vary with investor type and country.

We construct two examples of shareholder networks in which shareholders are connected if they have shares in the same company. We do this for the shareholders in Turkish companies and we compare this against the network formed from the shareholdings in Dutch companies. We analyse the properties of these two networks in terms of the different types of shareholder. We create a suitable randomised version of these networks to enable us to find significant features in our networks. For that we find the roles played by different types of shareholder in these networks, and also show how these roles differ in the two countries we study.

Traditional or behavioural? A combined decision making trial and evaluation laboratory and analytic network process approach for capital structure determinants of Turkish companies

AbstractThe aim of this study, following a new approach under the irrationality of managers, is to investigate the most effective determinants of capital structure decisions by combining traditional capital structure determinants with managerial‐behavioural biases. In line with this objective, considering the capital structure decision as one that employs multicriteria decision making, two of the multicriteria decision‐making methods—namely, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytic Network Process (ANP)—are integrated into a hybrid method to analyse the interdependent relationships among traditional capital structure determinants and managerial‐behavioural biases and to prioritize them by making dual comparisons. Our findings show that managerial‐behavioural biases, not traditional capital structure determinants, are more effective in the capital structure decision and that anchoring is the most influential among managerial‐behavioural biases.

The moderator effect of resistance to change on relationship between innovation culture and innovation potential: an implementation in Turkish companies in the context of multiculturalism

Amac- Bu arastirmayla, cokkulturlu firmalar ve bu firmalarin Turk calisanlarinin yenilikcilik kulturune olan adaptasyon ve tepkisi gozlenmek istenmistir. Yontem- Arastirmamizda oncelikle literatur taramasi yapilarak teorik temel olusturulmus sonrasinda nicel arastirma yontemiyle desteklenmistir. Farkli sektorlerde bulunan ve cokkulturlu yapida bulunan firmalardan 234 Turk calisan, arastirmanin orneklemini olusturmustur. Bu arastirmada SPSS 20 ve PROCESS 3.2 programlari kullanilmistir. Bulgular- Analiz sonuclarina gore, yenilikcilik kulturu yenilikcilik potansiyelini olumlu yonde etkilemektedir. Bununla birlikte, degisime direnc faktorunun bu etkiyi zayiflattigi bulgulara gore ortaya konmustur. Degisime direnc faktoru arttikca, bu iliskiler olumsuz yonde etkilenmektedir . Sonuc- Yenilikcilik kulturunun yenilikcilik potansiyeline etkisinde degisime direncin duzenleyici (moderator) etkisi bulunmaktadir.

Who dictates corporate governance practices in Turkey? The role of ownership structure for XKURY companies

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the influence of ownership structure on corporate governance practices of Turkish companies listed in Borsa Istanbul Corporate Governance Index (XKURY). It proposes a context-specific ownership structure (founding families, state ownership, foreign ownership from both developed and emerging markets, and institutional investors), and publicly available corporate governance scores as indicators for corporate governance practices. The results of fixed effects panel regression analyses show that state ownership has a negative influence on weighted and non-weighted average corporate governance scores, as mainly determined by shareholder protection and board of directors-related practices during 2010–2017. The evidence regarding the other ownership categories is not sufficient over alternative estimations. Overall, the study provides a critical assessment of the role of ownership in shaping the corporate governance practices of XKURY companies.

An Investigation of the Dialogical Communication Capacities of Turkish GSM Companies Websites

This article investigates the practice of dialogue through the websites of Turkish GSM companies. This study is theoretically derived from the relationship management perspective and is methodologically based on the dialogic communication principles of Kent and Taylor. The study examines the official websites of 3 Turkish GSM companies: Turkcell, Vodafone Turkiye and Turk Telekom. A preliminary content analysis was conducted in a pilot study to determine if there were distinctive features of Turkish GSM companies' websites that should be evaluated in the respective dialogic categories. Based on the results of the preliminary content analysis, a more comprehensive content analysis was performed to determine public relations practices offered via the internet.

Assessing Buyer Power in Syndicated Loans

Bu yazinin Turkce versiyonu surada bulunabilir: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3366192. The main purpose of this study is to examine the buyer power of the borrowers at the multilateral loan market including the syndicated and club loans. Although there has not been a formal definition yet for the buyer power concept in the antitrust economics literature, it may be described as the power that is exercised by the buyers on market transactions. In some markets, it is observed that not the sellers but the buyers may exercise their power on market prices and/or quantities. Corporate multilateral loan market is one of those markets, mostly because of the characteristics of the borrowers which are large and financially sound companies. In this study, the analysis done for the multilateral loan market are based on the assessment of the borrowers’ buyer power and the lenders’ market power. While on one side the competitive conditions in the market and market power of lenders have been elaborated, on the other side factors that determine the buyer power of borrowers have been assessed. The study also provides a specific analysis for Turkish companies in multilateral loan market and their buyer power. Through reviewing the relevant scientific literature and based on the data, the study put the following findings concerning the buyer power of borrowers in multilateral (syndicated/club) loans: • Company characteristics -such as, company size, publicly available information and domestic/foreign ownership- are the most important determinants for the choice of debt instruments. Companies and financial institutions may reach alternative borrowing tools based on their characteristics. • Credit quality of some large companies -called blue-chips- enable them to directly access to the international capital markets and gives them bargaining power over lenders in multilateral loan market. This proves the significance buyer power of such companies in multilateral loan market. • Our analysis for the Turkish borrowers in multilateral loan market shows that Turkish companies have considerable buyer power because of the following reasons: (1) In Turkey the demand side of the multilateral loan market is shallow and concentrated, (2) the number of potential buyers for multilateral loans have been stable, (3) Turkish companies may switch to other debt instruments in case of cost increases. Based on the above findings and facts, we argue that a proper competition analysis which assesses the multilateral loan market -including syndicated and club loans- should consider the buyer power of borrowers as a significant factor.

A Survey on the Use of Information Systems Applications: A Case Study of Turkish Companies

İşletmeler bilişim sistemlerini (BS) uzunca bir süre sabit kaynaklar olarak değerlendirmiştir. Bu yaklaşım yakın zamanda değişerek BS uygulamalarının değer yaratan bir ekosistem oluşturduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Genellikle araştırmalar işletmelerdeki BS uygulamalarının göreli kullanımları ile performans değerlendirmesi arasındaki ilişki üzerine yapılmaktadır. Firmaya özgü durumların - sahiplik örüntüsü, firma büyüklüğü, sektör, firma yaşı - ise literatürde değişmeyen unsurlar olarak görüldüğünden yeteri kadar üzerinde durulmadığı saptanmıştır. Bu yüzden, firmaya özgü bu olası durumlar temel unsurlar olarak kabul edilerek, Türkiye’de çeşitli sektörlerde faaliyet gösteren 204 firma ile saha araştırması yapılmıştır. Toplanan veriler t-testi ve ANOVA metodları ile analiz edilerek BS uygulamalarının göreli kullanımı ile firmaya özgü durumlar arasındaki etkileşim incelenmiştir. Araştırmamızın sonucunda, farklı BS uygulamalarının göreli kullanımının firmaya özgü olası durumlarda değişim gösterdiği tespit edilmiştir. Aynı zamanda çalışmamız, BS uygulamalarının göreli kullanımı sonucunda oluşan firmaya özgü durumlardaki değişimin etkileri hakkında çıkarımlar yapmamıza katkı sağlamaktadır.

A Cross-cultural Analysis of Management Approaches in Comparison to Turkish and Swiss Companies

This research investigates management approaches though a cross-cultural analysis of both Turkish and Swiss companies. A qualitative and exploratory research method was employed. Organizational culture, leadership and motivation have been investigated separately in the research. This approach provided a better understanding for highlighting different parts of both subjects and showed how they were related to each other. While the human oriented leadership types and management approach are beginning to gain popularity in Turkish companies, democratic and participatory types of leadership are more common in Swiss companies. Likewise, McClelland’s need of achievement and Maslow’s need of esteem are the most popular motivational preferences in Turkish companies. On the other hand, Swiss managers prefer McClelland’s human motivation theory in praxis. In addition, the findings of the research indicate that managerial awareness about different nationalities should be increased in both Turkish and Swiss companies. Managers who have high cultural intelligence should be employed and cultural sensitivity should be embedded into corporate culture of the companies. The findings of this research do not present different management systems or develop scientific road maps for dealing with various cultures, however, it emphasizes the importance of showing managerial awareness about different nationalities in the work environment.

Turkey-Azerbaijan Economical and Political Relations

This study investigates mainly economic, political and social relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey. The study covers the economic improvements in the period between 1990-2005. In the study, data relating to the general economic development after the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan after 1990 are examined. Azerbaijan was one of the Republics of the former Soviet Union. After 1990 following the collapse of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, the State of Azerbaijan declared its independence. As a newly independent State, Azerbaijan had a great potential for economic relations with Turkey. Even today, this is still the case. From education to tourism, from construction sector to trade, there are Turkish companies all over Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a member state of The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union and led by the Russian Federation. This makes it easier for Turkey to reach the CIS market via Azerbaijan, and provides a port to Europe for Azerbaijan via Turkey.

The mediating effect of the innovation process on the relationships among innovation components: an empirical study on Turkish companies

Firms must develop and improve their innovation capabilities to gain competitive advantage. There are many innovation models including components and their relationships in the literature. This study evaluates, based on a system approach, an innovation model with three basic components: innovation input, innovation process, and innovation output. The main objective of this study is to show the relationships among the innovation components. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the relationships by employing data from 309 companies in Turkey. Results show the innovation input components affect positively the innovation process. Moreover, the innovation process has a positive influence on the innovation output. It also mediates the relationship between the innovation input components and the innovation output. This model can be evaluated by innovation leaders to gain an overview of their firm's innovation path and used by researchers to compare it with other innovation models.

The mediating effect of the innovation process on the relationships among innovation components: an empirical study on Turkish companies

Firms must develop and improve their innovation capabilities to gain competitive advantage. There are many innovation models including components and their relationships in the literature. This study evaluates, based on a system approach, an innovation model with three basic components: innovation input, innovation process, and innovation output. The main objective of this study is to show the relationships among the innovation components. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the relationships by employing data from 309 companies in Turkey. Results show the innovation input components affect positively the innovation process. Moreover, the innovation process has a positive influence on the innovation output. It also mediates the relationship between the innovation input components and the innovation output. This model can be evaluated by innovation leaders to gain an overview of their firm's innovation path and used by researchers to compare it with other innovation models.

What are the outcomes of emerging markets mergers and acquisitions Evidence from Turkey

Emerging markets have become home to an increasing amount of acquisition activity. However, we do not know much about how domestic and international acquisitions differ in terms of their outcomes. The objective of this study is to compare these acquisitions in the context of an emerging country. To do so, we analysed all acquisitions that occurred in Turkey between 1989 and 2017. We found that domestic acquirers significantly outperformed foreign acquirers of Turkish companies. Our analysis of financial indicators suggests that foreign acquirers are larger in size, have greater leverage and intangibles, and engage in bigger deals. However, growth in leverage, capital expenditures, and administrative and staff expenses are greater in domestic acquirers. Overall, our findings suggest that domestic acquirers are affected more significantly by acquisitions compared to foreign acquirers and based on the financial outcomes of acquisitions there are several differences between these two groups of acquirers.

Determinants of Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure: An Empirical Investigation on Turkish Firms

Firms worldwide have been facing an increasing pressure to disclose their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions since GHG emissions are seen as the main source of global warming which is one of the most challenging problems that the world is faced with. For this reason, voluntary GHG disclosure represents a growing area of research interest. However, the existing research generally focuses on developed countries. In this sense, the present paper aims to contribute to the existing GHG disclosure literature by analyzing the determinants of voluntary disclosure of firms operating in a developing country, Turkey. The effects of both financial characteristics and board structures of firms on voluntary disclosure decisions are analyzed as the possible determinants of GHG disclosures of Turkish firms. We use two proxies for assessing the firms’ GHG disclosures. The first proxy, “sensitiveness tendency”, indicates the response behavior of firms to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) survey. The second proxy, namely, “transparence tendency”, represents the disclosure behavior of firms. Using logistic regression models with a sample of 84 listed Turkish companies which were included in the Carbon Disclosure Project survey in 2014, 2015 and 2016, we find that firm size, institutional ownership and market value are positively related to the sensitivity of sampled firms, while board size is negatively related. On the other hand, our results indicate that firm size, profitability and institutional ownership have positive impacts on the transparency of Turkish listed firms.