Better Achievement of SDGs Through Developing Better Firm Strategies for Efficient and Effective Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ping Ho ◽  
Chung-Yang You
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
International Firms ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Heavy Burden ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Financial Issues

<p>SDGs can be better achieved when more firms are willing to fulfill their CSR and disclose their CSR information. Stakeholder theory argues that corporate stakeholders are one of the most critical driving forces for corporations’ willingness to fulfill their CSR and disclose their performance in CSR. Due to the global trend of advocating sustainable development and green consumerism, more and more corporate stakeholders incorporate enterprises’ efforts in CSR into their investment/procurement decisions. For example, KPMG's survey (2017) indicated that stakeholders had started to view the environmental and social issues such as climate change, water scarcity, and human rights as financial issues rather than non-financial issues. Therefore, corporate stakeholders are incentivized by the global concerns of sustainable development to demand corporations’ disclosure of CSR information and, then, the corporations are incentivized by stakeholders to fulfill their CSR and report the results.</p><p>However, currently, CSR information is mainly reported by large or international firms. The key to the success of CSR disclosure scheme is for all firms, mostly small to medium enterprises (SMEs), to be willing to disclose. Nevertheless, many obstacles prevent SMEs from fulfilling CSR. The most concern for SMEs is the costs and efforts. SMEs do not know what to do and what to disclose and, thus, they imagine that CSR is a costly, heavy burden. Therefore, it is critical for firms to have better strategies for efficient and effective disclosure of CSR.</p><p>In this study, we argue that the content and extent of the disclosed information should be aligned with stakeholders’ desired information. Furthermore, we argue that the strategies for CSR reporting should be sector-specific because stakeholders in different sectors desire different sector-specific CSR information that is associated with sector-specific characteristics and impacts on sustainability.</p><p>In terms of methodology, we identify the “Topics” and Topic-specific “Disclosures” (according to GRI Standards) that are most disclosed in the CSR reports of the top corporations of that sector. Because the top corporations face the most attention from their stakeholders, the current CSR information disclosed by these top corporations can serve as the reference for forming “effective” CSR reporting strategies. Thus, the first step of the methodology is to obtain sector-specific statistics based on the top corporations of that sector.</p><p>For developing “efficient” CSR reporting strategies, we differentiate the “Topics” and Topic-specific “Disclosures” into three Groups based on their disclosing rates, which are calculated by how many firms among the referenced/sample corporations disclose each Topic and its associated Disclosures. The three groups provide different sizes of firms different minimum (i.e., efficient) numbers of Topics/Disclosures reported, which reflect mainly the sector-specific characteristics. Therefore, the second step of this methodology is to differentiate the relevant Topics/Disclosures into three Groups. The third and last step is to analyze the information in each Group and to form the sector-specific strategies for CSR reporting based on the insights obtained from the analyses. Strategies developed using this methodology will be proposed. We shall apply this methodology to the international construction sector.</p>

Barriers to corporate social responsibility: an Indian SME perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushil Kumar Dixit ◽  
Samant Shant Priya
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Csr Engagement

PurposeSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the world are generally found to have a limited interest in wider social issues. SMEs face many barriers in operating in a socially responsible and sustainable manner despite it making a good business sense. This paper explores the barriers and challenges faced by Indian SMEs for engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices.Design/methodology/approachThe research uses interpretive structural modelling (ISM) to explore the structural relationship among barriers faced by Indian SMEs in their CSR engagement which were identified from the past literature and validated by the experts.FindingsThe study identified thirteen variables as important barriers resulting in a lower CSR engagement by Indian SMEs. The ISM model indicates that Indian SMEs focus on tactical rather on strategic needs along with their limited information and knowledge about CSR are the main driving forces which keep them away from an active and meaningful CSR engagement. Their limited CSR engagement capabilities, limited need to engage with their workforce and lower CSR perceived benefits also constrain their CSR engagement. The Indian SMEs also do not see a need for CSR engagement because of lower community and governmental pressure.Originality/valueThe study provides a comprehensive listing of CSR engagement barriers faced by Indian SMEs along with the structural relationships among them. The model developed provides CSR professionals and policymakers an understanding of the important impediments in CSR engagement of Indian SMEs based on their driving power and dependence. This insight will help them in designing initiatives to influence identified barriers to promote CSR engagement by Indian SMEs.

scholarly journals Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Responding to Investors’ Criticism on Social Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7396
Author(s):  
Yuming Zhang ◽  
Fan Yang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Media Criticism ◽  
Csr Communication ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Companies use corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures to communicate their social and environmental policies, practices, and performance to stakeholders. Although the determinants and outcomes of CSR activities are well understood, we know little about how companies use CSR communication to manage a crisis. The few relevant CSR studies have focused on the pressure on corporations exerted by governments, customers, the media, or the public. Although investors have a significant influence on firm value, this stakeholder group has been neglected in research on CSR disclosure. Grounded in legitimacy theory and agency theory, this study uses a sample of Chinese public companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to investigate CSR disclosure in response to social media criticism posted by investors. The empirical findings show that investors’ social media criticism not only motivates companies to disclose their CSR activities but also increases the substantiveness of their CSR reports, demonstrating that companies’ CSR communication in response to a crisis is substantive rather than merely symbolic. We also find that the impact of social media criticism on CSR disclosure is heterogeneous. Non-state-owned enterprises, companies in regions with high levels of environmental regulations, and companies in regions with local government concern about social issues are most likely to disclose CSR information and report substantive CSR activities. We provide an in-depth analysis of corporate CSR strategies for crisis management and show that crises initiated by investors on social media provide opportunities for corporations to improve their CSR engagement.

scholarly journals Technology and Corporate Social Responsibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8658
Author(s):  
Vojko Potocan
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Interdisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Sustainable Technologies ◽  
Corporate Social

This study examined the importance of technologies in advancing modern organizations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). Drawing upon environmentalist and technological theories, we analyzed the shift from the traditional development of technology to the development of sustainable technologies for the further sustainable advancement of organizations. Technology has decisively influenced the development of humankind, but its research has traditionally excluded sustainable development issues. Newer technological visions have addressed the incorporation of technologies in all industries more comprehensively to solve social issues related to environmental protection and sustainable economic development. Such an orientation is followed by several conceptual solutions, such as the sustainable use of traditional technologies, development of sustainable technologies, and interdisciplinary treatment of sustainable technology to extend the CSR model. The results of our study have theoretical implications, highlighting the effects of technological development and new technologies on the course of further societal sustainable development. Practical implications include extending CSR’s Triple Bottom model with a technological dimension to improve organizations’ further sustainable operating and behavior.

scholarly journals Board and corporate social responsibility disclosure of multinational corporations

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanh Thi Song Pham ◽  
Hien Thi Tran
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
The One ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effects of board model and board independence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of multinational corporations (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach The authors developed an empirical model in which CSR disclosure is the dependent variable and board model (two-tier vs one-tier), board independence (a proportion of independent directors on a board) and the interaction variable of board model and board independence together with several variables conventionally used as control variables are independent variables. The authors collated the panel dataset of 244 Fortune World’s Most Admired (FWMA) corporations from 2005 to 2011 of which 117 MNCs use the one-tier board model, and 127 MNCs use the two-tier board model from 20 countries. They used the random-effect regression method to estimate the empirical models with the data they collated and also ran regressions on the alternative models for robustness check. Findings The authors found a significantly positive effect of a board model on CSR disclosure by MNCs. Two-tier MNCs tend to reveal more CSR information than one-tier MNCs. The results also confirm the significant moderating impact of board model on the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure. The effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in the two-tier board MNCs tends to be higher than that in the one-tier board MNCs. The results do not support the effect of board independence on CSR disclosure in general for all types of firms (one-tier and two-tier board). The impact of board independence on CSR disclosure is only significant in two-tier board MNCs and insignificant in one-tier board MNCs. Practical implications The authors advise the MNCs who wish to improve CSR reporting and transparency to consider the usage of two-tier board model and use a higher number of outside directors on board. They note that once a firm uses one-tier model, number of IDs on a board does not matter to the level of CSR disclosure. They advise regulators to enforce an application of two-tier board model to improve CSR reporting and transparency in MNCs. The authors also recommend regulators to continue mandating publicly traded companies to include more external members on their boards, especially for the two-tier board MNCs. Originality/value This paper is the first that investigates the role of board model on CSR disclosure of MNCs.

Online corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the banking industry: evidence from Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1191-1214
Author(s):  
Łukasz Matuszak ◽  
Ewa Różańska
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Parametric Statistics ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose Based on a set of complementary theories, namely, the legitimacy, stakeholder and signaling theories, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the visibility of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures on bank websites. In particular, we explored the accessibility, placement, reporting format, extent and content of online CSR information. This paper also examined the effect of size, being listed, ownership structure and the internationalization of banks on online CSR reporting. Design/methodology/approach A sample consisting of 20 banks was used where the data were manually collected from the websites of various banks during the fourth quarter of 2017. Three reporting formats were explored: information posted directly on the website, information contained in a separate CSR report and information within a management commentary or annual report or integrated report. Content analysis was used to measure the level of online CSR disclosures in four sub-dimensions: environment, human resources, products and customers and community involvement. The sample was grouped according to the criteria of size, being listed, ownership structure and internationality. Non-parametric statistics were used to analyze some factors that influence CSR disclosure, namely, size, public ownership, internationalization and foreign ownership. Findings The results indicate that accessibility to CSR information is relatively good. The placement of CSR information on websites varies among banks. Moreover, community involvement was the most disclosed dimension on the banks’ websites. There was a lack of disclosure on items regarding the environment. Furthermore, the findings of this paper showed that significant determinants for explaining online CSR disclosure level were size and being listed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by examining the online CSR disclosure practices of banks from an emerging market with a different socio-economic context and regulations compared to the developed market.

scholarly journals The Role of Gender Diversity on Tax Aggressiveness and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Vacca ◽  
Antonio Iazzi ◽  
Demetris Vrontis ◽  
Monica Fait
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

The paper aims to examine the moderating role of gender diversity within a corporate board on the relationship between tax aggressiveness and a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach. This analysis was conducted using a set of indicators of financial statements of 168 Italian listed firms between 2011 and 2018. In addition, the sustainability reports of the same companies were observed. To perform the analysis a logit regression model is used. This paper shows different empirical results. First, this study notes that there is not a direct relationship between tax aggressiveness and CSR reporting. Second, gender diversity in a board of directors increases the orientation of companies to CSR disclosure, but does not have an impact on the relationship between tax aggressiveness and CSR disclosure. Instead, CEO gender has a positive influence on the relationship between corporate tax planning and CSR reporting in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. This study emphasizes the key role of gender diversity in the growth of the CSR approach and the reputation of companies. Therefore, governments and policymakers of major countries should promote gender diversity in corporate decision-making bodies, which contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Is corporate governance relevant to the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure in large European companies?

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Adel ◽  
Mostaq M. Hussain ◽  
Ehab K.A. Mohamed ◽  
Mohamed A.K. Basuony
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper aims to report on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in S&P Europe 350 companies. The paper also examines the impact of corporate governance structure and other firm-specific characteristics on the quality of CSR disclosure in European companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a disclosure index adopted from Jizi et al. (2014). Moreover, the paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects introduced by the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.The data of CSR reporting are manually collected from the firms’ reports. The population and sample of this study are related to 350 companies operating in 16 European countries. Tobit regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that directors’ ownership, the presence of a CSR committee and firm size positively affect the quality of CSR reporting. Further testing of the independent variables on each CSR sub-category is made. The CSR sub-categories used are, namely, community involvement, employees, environment, social product and service quality, supply chain sustainability and business ethics. The presence of a sustainability committee inside the company is the only factor that shows a strong positive effect on the disclosure of every CSR sub-category and the CSR inclusive index. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research are that it focuses exclusively on the effect of the internal corporate mechanisms on the quality of CSR reporting; disregarding the economic, institutional, political and cultural factors that can play a role in influencing sustainability reporting of the companies. Practical implications Better CSR disclosure leads to the firm having a better image in the society; this, in turn, has implications on firm performance, attracting funds, as well as recruiting and retaining high profile employees. Stakeholders are placing cumulative significance to corporate transparency particularly in the area of CSR. Managers should exert more efforts into not only improving the disclosure of the various facts of CSR but also into using the various media available for disclosure. Companies should take the initiative of establishing a CSR committee to ensure effective formation and implementation of CSR policies and disclosure of CSR activities. Social implications The CRS research itself bears the merit of social implications. Moreover, the findings of this research pave the way for future researches to examine the effect of the adoption of global CSR initiatives and frameworks on the quality of CSR reporting. Originality/value This paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects of CSR and exploring the relation between the rarely explored “presence of sustainability committee” and CSR disclosure, as well as testing a vast number of CSR sub-categories that is not extensively covered in previous studies. Moreover, the paper covers a large sample of companies across 16 European countries, in terms of their stand-alone sustainability reports, dedicated chapters of CSR in annual reports, integrated reports, website CSR information and any attachments/links provided on the websites for further CSR documents, brochures or data sheets.

Apparel firms’ corporate social responsibility communications

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjoo Woo ◽  
Byoungho Jin
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Communication ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication is a strategy to address companies’ goodwill to the society. Based on the institutional theory suggesting the influence of environmental factors of companies’ country-of-origins on their marketing practices, the purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the CSR communication practices of apparel firms from different countries. Design/methodology/approach – As a case study approach, this study investigates six apparel firms’ CSR communication disclosures on the official websites using a content analysis method and the Global Reporting Initiative’s categorial CSR reporting guidelines. Findings – Findings revealed that the six firms’ CSR communication adoption levels and focusses varied; the USA firms largely focussed on labor issues, while the European firms focussed on environmental issues and the Asian firms centered on social issues. Research limitations/implications – Although this study has limitations that pertain to case studies in general, this study provides academic contributions to the literature and managerial implications about different CSR focusses and communication activities across countries. Originality/value – CSR is especially important for the apparel business that highly involves social issues such as labor-intensive production. However, limited research showed how apparel firms are actually communicating CSR. This study was one of the early attempts on this topic.

scholarly journals CSR Disclosure: The IPO Case

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4390
Author(s):  
Mar Arenas-Parra ◽  
Susana Álvarez-Otero
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Initial Public Offerings ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Public Offerings ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the pillars of sustainable development. It is the key to operationalizing the strategic role of business in contributing towards the sustainability process. The fact that firms communicate their activities about economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social equity shows their commitment to society and their stakeholders. This paper analyzes the influence exerted by the composition of boards of directors on corporate social responsibility disclosure with reference to those companies that undertook an initial public offerings (IPO) in the Spanish capital market during the period 1998–2013. The empirical evidence provided by this study shows that ownership structure and board characteristics are relevant in the context of a firm’s CSR disclosure. The independent directors, non-executive directors, and large shareholder representatives affect the way in which their companies voluntarily disclose information regarding CSR. Our results lend support for a non-linear relationship between the proportion of shares in the IPO belonging to the members of the board of directors and the level of CSR reporting. We also find that the underwriter’s reputation has a positive and statistically significant influence on CSR disclosure for Spanish IPOs.

scholarly journals Corporate Social Reporting By Mauritian Banks

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dineshwar Ramdhony
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Corporate Social Reporting ◽  
Narrow View ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Code Of Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Social

The paper examines CSR disclosures by commercial banks operating in Mauritius. Annual reports for the year 2011 were scrutinized using content analysis. Five categories of disclosure were chosen in line with the Code of corporate governance and prior studies. Due to the small number (20) of banks operating in the country all banks were selected. Findings show that banks with higher visibility disclose more CSR information thus confirming that the legitimacy theory is an explanation for CSR disclosure by Mauritian banks. CSR reporting is prevalent among all banks but forty percent of banks disclose CSR information relating to one category only showing a narrow view of CSR. The primary area of disclosure is ‘Human resources’ which is at odds with previous studies. The paper contributes to the scarce literature on CSR disclosures by banks in a developing country.

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