Sourcing from a Self-Reporting Supplier: Strategic Communication of Social Responsibility in a Supply Chain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Lu ◽  
Brian Tomlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
High Type ◽  
Audit Failure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Self Assessments

Problem definition: To manage supplier social responsibility (SR), some firms have adopted a self-assessment strategy whereby they ask suppliers to self-report SR capabilities. Self-reported information is difficult to verify, and this leads to an important credibility question: can a buyer expect truthful reporting? We examine whether a supplier’s SR capability can be credibly communicated through free and unverifiable self-reporting. Academic/practical relevance: SR is a strategic focus for firms because consumers care about ethical production. Some firms rely on supplier self-assessment as part of their SR strategy. It is important to understand the value and challenges of this approach. Methodology: We develop a cheap talk model of a supplier and a buyer. The supplier is endowed with a given SR level (privately known to the supplier) that represents the probability of no violation. The buyer sells in a market that is sensitive to publicized SR violations. The supplier first communicates its SR level to the buyer, and then the buyer chooses between two audit stringency levels to conduct on the supplier and also chooses how much to order. Results: Influential truthful communication may emerge in equilibrium if (i) the buyer orders a larger quantity from the high-type supplier but imposes a more stringent audit than the buyer would for the low type and (ii) the high-type supplier opts for this larger order, whereas the low-type, fearing audit failure, does not. The buyer can benefit as the audit becomes more expensive. Managerial implications: Supplier SR self-assessments can be a valuable strategy for buyers but only if the buyer has access to auditing capabilities of different levels and does not precommit to a particular level. It is valuable for firms to engage in an up-front auditing step to ensure a minimum SR capability of approved suppliers because very low-performing suppliers never truthfully report. Implementing supplier self-assessments may or may not help reduce the social damage resulting from potential SR violations; we identify situations when it helps and when it does not.

scholarly journals RESEARCH OF APPROACHES TO THE ASSESSMENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (197) ◽  
pp. 63-69
Author(s):  
E.P. Troshina ◽  
◽  
T.A. Chizhova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
The Social ◽  
Corporate Social

With the increasing role assigned to the social mission of business in the formation of a positive image in front of the public, the problem of evaluating the activities in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by organizations focused on successful development is becoming increasingly relevant. The article discusses the various approaches currently used in practice (including standards, sustainability indices, self-assessment models) that allow evaluating the activities of organizations in the field of CSR. Such a variety of evaluation methods is due to the fact that each of them has a number of limitations in its application, which should be considered. As a result of systematization of the approaches to CSR assessment considered in the framework of the study, their comparative analysis was carried out in key areas of CSR. A significant result of the presented scientific work is the determination of the most appropriate method for assessing the activities of mediumsized businesses in all areas of CSR (environmental, social, economic, stakeholders, neighborliness).

scholarly journals Cooperative Approaches to Managing Social Responsibility in a Market with Externalities

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1215-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Fang ◽  
Soo-Haeng Cho
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
Cooperative Approach ◽  
Positive Externality ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Partition Function Form ◽  
Careful Assessment ◽  
Independent Audit ◽  
Number Of Firms

Problem definition: This paper studies two cooperative approaches of firms in managing social responsibility violations of their supplier: auditing a common supplier jointly (joint auditing) and sharing independent audit results with other firms (audit sharing). We study this problem in a market with externalities and a large number of firms. Academic/practical relevance: With numerous firms procuring their materials and parts worldwide, there are many cases in which overseas suppliers violate safety, labor, or environmental standards. Those violations have externalities in the sense that one firm’s violation affects other firms in the same market. It is not clear how such externalities affect competing firms’ incentives to cooperate and the effectiveness of such cooperation. Methodology: We develop a model based on a cooperative game in partition function form, which enables us to analyze the competitive and cooperative interactions of a large number of firms in a market. Results: Although there has been concern about cooperation for fear of compromising a competitive advantage, firms have incentives to cooperate in managing their suppliers when one firm can be hurt by others’ violations, that is, the negative externality is high. However, neither cooperative approach necessarily improves social responsibility, especially when one firm can benefit from others’ violations, that is, the positive externality is high. Finally, even if agreement is not reached for cooperation before conducting individual audits, social responsibility can still be improved by incentivizing firms to share their private audit results with others under a properly designed mechanism. Managerial implications: The careful assessment of the externalities associated with social responsibility violations is a key to the success of joint auditing and audit sharing. Although firms cooperate voluntarily in some cases, a government agency or an industry association should intervene in other cases to motivate cooperation if it is beneficial. In addition, caution must be taken to monitor manufacturers’ audit efforts, especially when cooperative approaches are implemented in the market where competition is fierce and consumers switch brands easily.

The patients’ view

2020 ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Dollfus ◽  
Anais Vandevelde
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
The Self ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Observer Ratings ◽  
The One ◽  
Physical Anhedonia

The use and the choice of standardized assessment tools are necessary for improving identification of negative symptoms and for testing new efficient therapies. Most of the scales on negative symptoms are based on observer rating. Compared to these scales, self-assessments have been overlooked. Nevertheless, they are quite relevant since they are generally simple; they allow the patients to report their own symptoms and so are complementary to the evaluations based on observer ratings; they require the patient’s participation and so improve their involvement in the treatment; they are time-efficient and can be very useful for identification of negative symptoms at the onset of illness. Among the self-assessments, we can distinguish those designed and validated in patients with schizophrenia and others that can be used in schizophrenia while they have been validated in other populations. Among the first group, two recent scales have supplanted old scales, the Motivation and Pleasure Scale–Self-Report (MAP–SR) and the Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS). The last one presents all the psychometric properties required. Among the second group, the most used scales are focused on anhedonia and apathy which assess these dimensions in schizophrenia but also in various psychiatric and neurological disorders; the most well-known are the Social Anhedonia Scale (SAS), the Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS), and more recently are, on the one hand, the Self-reported Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-S) and on the other, the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS) and the Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale (ACIPS) which distinguish anticipation and consummatory pleasures.

scholarly journals Motivating Supplier Social Responsibility Under Incomplete Visibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1268-1286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Kraft ◽  
León Valdés ◽  
Yanchong Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Investment Decision ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Game Theoretic Model

Problem definition: We examine how a profit-driven firm (she) can motivate better social responsibility (SR) practices by a supplier (he) when these practices cannot be perfectly observed by the firm. We focus on the firm’s investment in the supplier’s SR capabilities. To capture the influence of consumer demands, we incorporate the potential for SR information to be disclosed by the firm or revealed by a third party. Academic/practical relevance: Most firms have limited visibility into the SR practices of their suppliers. However, there is little research on how a firm under incomplete visibility should (i) invest to improve a supplier’s SR practices and (ii) disclose SR information to consumers. We address this gap. Methodology: We develop a game-theoretic model with asymmetric information to study a supply chain with one supplier and one firm. The firm makes her investment decision given incomplete information about the supplier’s current SR practices. We analyze and compare two settings: the firm does not disclose versus she discloses SR information to the consumers. Results: The firm should invest a high (low) amount in the supplier’s capabilities if the information she observes suggests the supplier’s current SR practices are poor (good). She should always be more aggressive with her investment when disclosing (versus not disclosing). This more aggressive strategy ensures better supplier SR practices under disclosure. When choosing between disclosing and not disclosing, the firm most likely prefers not to disclose when the supplier’s current SR practices seem to be average. Managerial implications: (i) Greater visibility helps the firm to better tailor her investment to the level of support needed. (ii) Better visibility also makes the firm more “truthful” in her disclosure, whereas increased third-party scrutiny makes her more “cautious.” (iii) Mandating disclosure is most beneficial for SR when the suppliers’ current practices seem to be average.

Doing Less to Do More? Optimal Service Portfolio of Non-profits That Serve Distressed Individuals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyank Arora ◽  
Morvarid Rahmani ◽  
Karthik Ramachandran
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Domestic Abuse ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Optimal Service ◽  
Service Portfolio ◽  
The Social ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Service Offering ◽  
Allocation Decisions

Problem definition: Many nonprofit organizations (NPOs) serve distressed individuals who seek relief from hardships such as domestic abuse or homelessness. These NPOs aim to maximize social impact by allocating their limited amount of resources to various activities. Academic/practical relevance: NPOs that serve distressed individuals face a complex task because their clients are often unable to articulate their specific needs. As a result, NPOs are driven to not only offer a variety of services to fulfill different needs, but also engage in advisory activities to minimize mismatches between services clients receive and their true needs. Methodology: We develop a model to study an NPO’s service portfolio and effort allocation decisions under resource constraint. Clients’ progress from distress to resolution is stochastic and depends on the NPO’s efforts in different stages of the service offering. Results: We show that it is optimal for resource-constrained NPOs to offer fewer services and invest more in advisory activities when different types of clients are not evenly mixed in the population, when delays in achieving resolution can significantly blunt the social impact created, when the loss of impact due to not serving a fraction of clients is low, or when there is a limited amount of earmarked funds. Otherwise, it is optimal for NPOs to diversify their service offerings and invest less in advisory activities. Managerial implications: Many NPOs are drawn to maximize the number of clients they serve by increasing the number of services they offer. However, we show that, depending on the characteristics of clients and services, NPOs might be able to generate higher social impact by prioritizing the speed of resolution rather than focusing on the number of clients who achieve resolution. We also present a practical application of our model in the context of domestic abuse.

Psychometric Properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C)

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ogliari ◽  
Simona Scaini ◽  
Michael J. Kofler ◽  
Valentina Lampis ◽  
Annalisa Zanoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Social Phobia ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
The Social ◽  
General Populations

Reliable and valid self-report questionnaires could be useful as initial screening instruments for social phobia in both clinical settings and general populations. The present study investigates the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) in a sample of 228 children from the Italian general population aged 8 to 11. The children were asked to complete the Italian version of the SPAI-C and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that social phobia can be conceptualized as a unitary construct consisting of five distinct but interrelated symptom clusters named Assertiveness, General Conversation, Physical/Cognitive Symptoms, Avoidance, and Public Performance. Internal consistency of the SPAI-C total scores and two subscales was good; correlations between SPAI-C total scores and SCARED total scores/subscales ranged from moderate to high (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, for social phobia), with the SCARED Social Phobia subscale as the best predictor of SPAI-C total scores. The results indicate that the SPAI-C is a reliable and sensitive instrument suitable for identifying Social Phobia in the young Italian general population.

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