scholarly journals Main Factors for Understanding High Impacts on CSR Dimensions in the Finance Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belen Lopez ◽  
Alfonso Torres ◽  
Alberto Ruozzi ◽  
Jose Antonio Vicente

The objective of this study is to explore empirically the dimensions that generate high impact in the finance industry to better understand its contribution from a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perspective. We analyze data concerning impacts of finance sector firms certified by B Corp in order to identify the combinations that are necessary and/or sufficient to obtain a recognition of their high impact generation. The methodology followed to identify the impact dimensions is fsQCA, (fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis), a qualitative comparative analysis method applied to a sample of finance firms (n-181). The results indicate that financial sector firms exhibited four combinations focusing on different impact dimensions. Specifically, the first route indicates that a high degree of focus on customers and communities is sufficient to obtain a high impact score. The second path signals that the combination of the impacts on customers and corporate governance could lead to the same result, while in the third pathway the focus would be on the employees. Finally, the fourth route indicates that some financial firms focus strongly on their communities, corporate governance and their employees, but very weakly on the environmental dimension. Consequently, diverse combinations of CSR dimensions characterize financial sector contributions to impact generation and sustainable development.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Matias López ◽  
Juan Pablo Luna

ABSTRACT By replying to Kurt Weyland’s (2020) comparative study of populism, we revisit optimistic perspectives on the health of American democracy in light of existing evidence. Relying on a set-theoretical approach, Weyland concludes that populists succeed in subverting democracy only when institutional weakness and conjunctural misfortune are observed jointly in a polity, thereby conferring on the United States immunity to democratic reversal. We challenge this conclusion on two grounds. First, we argue that the focus on institutional dynamics neglects the impact of the structural conditions in which institutions are embedded, such as inequality, racial cleavages, and changing political attitudes among the public. Second, we claim that endogeneity, coding errors, and the (mis)use of Boolean algebra raise questions about the accuracy of the analysis and its conclusions. Although we are skeptical of crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis as an adequate modeling choice, we replicate the original analysis and find that the paths toward democratic backsliding and continuity are both potentially compatible with the United States.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5445
Author(s):  
Muyun Sun ◽  
Jigan Wang ◽  
Ting Wen

Creativity is the key to obtaining and maintaining competitiveness of modern organizations, and it has attracted much attention from academic circles and management practices. Shared leadership is believed to effectively influence team output. However, research on the impact of individual creativity is still in its infancy. This study adopts the qualitative comparative analysis method, taking 1584 individuals as the research objects, underpinned by a questionnaire-based survey. It investigates the influence of the team’s shared leadership network elements and organizational environmental factors on the individual creativity. We have found that there are six combination of conditions of shared leadership and organizational environmental factors constituting sufficient combination of conditions to increase or decrease individual creativity. Moreover, we have noticed that the low network density of shared leadership is a sufficient and necessary condition of reducing individual creativity. Our results also provide management suggestions for practical activities during the team management.


Author(s):  
Begüm Aylin Önder

Corporate social responsibility is one of the activities that goes beyond philanthropy, based on volunteerism in line with the responsibilities of enterprises towards society. This concept, which offers businesses the opportunity to look after and develop their brand image in the eyes of society, has become a necessity, not a choice, especially in today's world. In order to meet social expectations, the effectiveness of static and dynamic advertising messages implemented in all social benefit-based studies for human development such as environment, health and education is very important in terms of ensuring audience communication. In the second half of 2019, people were confined to homes and life came to a standstill all over the world in order to reduce and prevent the impact of the pandemic within the scope of the “New Type Corona Virus” (COVID-19) measures, which are from the sars-cov-2 coronavirus family, which is spreading rapidly globally starting from Wohan, Hubei Province, China. As a basic protection module for humanity against corona virus, it has incorporated the concept of social distancing into their lives in order to reduce the contact of staying at home and increasing hygiene, except in mandatory situations. During this extraordinary period, many brands on a global scale have included the concept of “social distance” in their advertising messages with the awareness of corporate social responsibility and have started to inform and educate the community about this issue by emphasizing the importance of the process. Within the scope of this research, advertising designs prepared by brands acting with corporate social responsibility awareness through the concept of social distancing during the Pandemic period were discussed and how the meaning structures behind the messages were created and transmitted. The research is limited to 3 (three) advertising designs determined by the 'judicial sampling' method (selective method). In the sample of the study, advertising narratives of brands in different sectors were explained in general framework and similar and different aspects of messages were uncovered by performing comparative analysis between messages in line with the findings obtained from the narratives. In this context, it was determined that the contrasts of “pessimism and optimism, hope and despair, happiness and unhappiness, death and life, strong and powerless, youth and old age, unity/togetherness and separation, struggle and defeat, nature and culture” were constructed as the main discourse.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (157) ◽  
pp. 20190203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. A. Taylor ◽  
Nina I. Scott ◽  
Greg W. Rouse

Mantis shrimp possess both formidable weapons and impact-resistant armour that clash during ritualized combat. The telson is one of few biological structures known to withstand the repeated high impact forces of smashing mantis shrimp strikes, and it is hypothesized that this pairing of armour and weapon is associated with the evolution of telson sparring. We carried out a comparative analysis of telson impact mechanics across 15 mantis shrimp species to assess if the telsons of sparring species (i) are consistently specialized for impact-resistance, (ii) are more impact-resistant than those of non-sparring species, and (iii) have impact parameters that correlate with body size, and thereby useful for assessment. Our data from ball drop tests show that the telsons of all species function like a stiff spring that dissipates most of the impact energy, but none of the measured impact parameters are correlated with the occurrence of sparring behaviour. Impact parameters were correlated with body mass for only some species, suggesting that it is not broadly useful for size assessment during ritualized fighting. Contrary to expectation, sparring mantis shrimp do not appear to have coevolved telson armour that is more robust to impact than non-sparring species. Rather, telson structure is inherently impact-resistant.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1412-1431
Author(s):  
Nejia Nekaa ◽  
Sami Boudabbous

Purpose The purpose of this study is to show the specificities of the corporate governance of Tunisian financial institutions and the impact of the internal mechanisms of corporate governance of these institutions on their social performance. It is therefore interesting to establish the existing relationship between these mechanisms of corporate governance and the performance of a financial firm. Design/methodology/approach This study aims to study the financial sector, generally characterized by its opacity, its regulation, its evolution and its obscurity. Therefore, a study based on the questionnaire method was recommended. The questionnaire is intended for managers. Therefore, the authors interviewed 138 managers of Tunisian financial institutions dispersed between agencies and headquarters in different regions (Gabes, Tozeur, Gafsa, Sfax, Sousse and Tunisia). Findings As a result, an impact on performance was observed according to the empirical study. Therefore, the authors can conclude an essential role of internal mechanisms for improving the social performance of a financial institution. The empirical findings in this paper lead to important conclusions. Indeed, the variables measuring the governance mechanisms have divergent effects on the social performance of the financial institutions subject to the sample. For the variables board of directors, confidence, culture, auditing, they have a positive effect. While, the incentive remuneration effect negatively the social performance. Originality/value This study will be based essentially on the financial sector in Tunisia: the credit institutions (22 banks), the establishments of leasing (eight companies of leasing), two factoring companies and two banks of cases which are listed on the Stock Exchange of Tunis (BVMT).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Amna Noor

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the likelihood of financial distress for a sample of 139 Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) listed firms throughout 2008–2019. Design/methodology/approach The dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator is used to examine the impact of CSR on financial distress. The investment in CSR is measured through a multidimensional financial approach which comprises the sum of the contribution made by the company in the form of charitable donation, employees’ welfare and research and development, while the Altman Z-score is used as an indicator of financial distress. The higher the Z-score, the lower will be the probability of financial distress. Findings The authors find a significant positive impact of CSR on financial distress in GMM model. This finding is consistent with the shareholder view and over-investment hypothesis of CSR as management makes an investment in CSR to get personal benefits, which resultantly leads the firm toward financial distress state. Further, this positive relationship remains present for firms having strong involvement in foreign business through exports. Research limitations/implications Like other studies, the present study is not free from limitations. First, financial firms are skipped from the sample, although literature witnesses a lot of studies highlight the financial firms’ commitment to achieving CSR goals. Second, financial distress occurs in different stages, and this study fails to establish a linkage between CSR engagement at different stages of financial distress. In the future, researchers can make valuable addition by covering these missing links in present studies. Practical implications Findings suggest several practical implications. For policymakers, they should encourage firms to adopt more socially responsible behavior as it not only prevents them from distress but also comes with better investment behavior, minimize bankruptcies and make economies more strong and stable. Second, results suggest corporate managers emphasize socially responsible behavior as its benefits are beyond the “societal benefits” as it lessens financial distress through lower cost of debt, lesser financial constraints and reduced cost of information asymmetry, and it minimizes the cost of capital. Lastly, investors make risk premium assessments related to future earnings by determining the likelihood of financial distress in the future. Originality/value The study extends the body of existing literature on CSR and the likelihood of financial distress in Pakistan, which is according to the best knowledge of the authors, not yet studied before. The results suggest that policymakers may pay special attention to the quality of CSR while predicting corporate financial distress.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmi A. Boshnak

Purpose This paper aims to examine firm characteristics and ownership structure determinants of corporate social and environmental voluntary disclosure (CSEVD) practices in Saudi Arabia to address the paucity of research in this field for Saudi listed firms. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses manual content and regression analyses for online annual report data for Saudi non-financial listed firms over the period 2016–2018 using CSEVD items drawing on global reporting initiative-G4 guidelines. Findings Models show that Saudi firm CSEVD has increased over time compared to previous studies to an average of 68% disclosure due to new corporate governance regulations and IFRS implementation. The models show that firm size, leverage, manufacturing industry type and government ownership are positive determinants of CSEVD, while family ownership is the negative driver of CSEVD. However, firm profitability, audit firm size, firm age and institutional ownership have no impact on the level of CSEVD. Originality/value Using legitimacy and stakeholder theories, the paper determines the influence of firm characteristics and ownership structure on CSEVD, identifying implications for firm stakeholders and providing some evidence on the impact of corporate governance regulation and IFRS implementation on such disclosure. The paper provides additional evidence on progress towards Saudi’s Vision 2030.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cucari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide comprehensive mapping of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) applications in business and management research and to examine the sub-fields of corporate governance research in this context. Design/methodology/approach Through a systematic literature review of 22 articles, the paper describes and analyses how QCA is used in the corporate governance field, what can be learned from the methodology’s implementation in corporate governance studies and why authors justify its use. Findings The findings highlight that QCA in corporate governance is still at an early stage of development. The paper encourages governance scholars to use this method to transform QCA from a niche into a mainstream method because it is appropriate for understanding both complex phenomena of social reality and issues of corporate governance that require an approach able to capture configurations of conditions, asymmetric patterns and equifinal explanations. Originality/value This is the first complete overview of the existing literature concerning QCA’s application in corporate governance research and reveals implications for its future use. In this way, it extends the previous work on QCA’s benefits to management researchers and other critical reviews of applications in QCA. This study encourages scholars to renew their understanding of corporate governance issues through a new analysis method that can help to discover conceptual and empirical relations among case-oriented and variable-oriented analyses in terms of interrelations to examine corporate governance practices holistically.


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