Search results

The paper aims to examine whether corporate investment in social responsibility takes away from expected dividends.

The article builds two hypotheses that are tested empirically through the analysis of 17,670 US firm‐year observations covering the period 1991‐2007. The tests are conducted in both univariate and multivariate settings.

The evidence supports the hypothesis that mature firms tend to invest more in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, firms investing highly in CSR tend to be larger, more profitable, and with greater earned (rather than contributed) equity. The evidence also supports the hypothesis that CSR investment does not subtract from dividends. Instead, CSR effort and dividend tend to increase together. Thus, CSR investment tends to be effected by companies who can afford it, and it does not lower value by lowering investors' expected payout.

These results imply that spending resources on CSR does not lower the cash flows paid out to investors. When combined with the finding that CSR lowers the cost of equity, they also mean that CSR increases the value of a company's stock.

This is the first study that explicitly links CSR to the dividend flow.

The purpose of this paper is to provide new aspects to corporate social responsibility (CSR) research, especially in a Finnish context. The aim is to compare personnels perceptions in three case companies (a forest company, a cooperative bank and a retail cooperative): how the contexts and aims of practising CSR are understood? Special focus is in the organizational form: to compare CSR in one exchange‐listed and in two cooperative companies (local vs. global CSR).

In Finnish companies CSR is taken into account quite well. Though, in this paper the personnel's perceptions are studied further by content analysis. The interview data consist of three different levels: the top management, the middle management and the employee level.

Provides information about each company, comparing the personnel's perceptions in different hierarchical levels. The organizational form is also an important factor in CSR, since two of the case companies are cooperative (the bank and the market) and the forest company is an exchange‐listed company. This brings new interesting aspects to the context of CSR.

The research context is Finnish, so there might be limitations when applying the results to countries very dissimilar to Finland.

A useful source of information about CSR “inside” the companies: getting the personnel perspective.

This paper brings more information about CSR seen by the personnel: very often CSR is studied through stakeholders/owners/customers etc., but this paper gives the insider picture about CSR in Finnish companies.

This paper aims to advance a critical analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within sport. First, the author locates CSR within the wider field of sport-related social activities. Second, the author identifies key issues that confront CSR in sport. Third, while referring to papers elsewhere in this issue of the journal, the author sets out future possibilities for the pursuit of CSR within sport with regards to its technical, dialogical and critical dimensions.

The approach taken here is a critical one, advocating CSR work and research which identifies strengths and limitations in, and explores future arrangements for, the CSR sector.

The paper finds that the CSR sector in sport should pursue a dialogical and critical practice within and through its work.

The originality and value of the paper lie in how the paper advances critical understanding of CSR in sport.

Reviews a case study of four Thai companies who have all won awards for CSR activity.

Outlines the approach to CSR of four companies, offering advice on best practice to other managers

Over the past five years Thailand has become increasingly interested in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The government and professional bodies have done much to promote growing CSR practice, including many CSR events and awards. The Stock Exchange of Thailand created awards for listed companies in 2006, and in 2007 the CSR Institute was created to further support CSR activity across the country. A couple of years on, business academics and journalists are beginning to offer studied reflections on best CSR practice in Thailand, in a bid to unite understandings and expectations and to prompt more comprehensive research in the future.

Forms the basis of potential future CSR research and practice.

Offers details of successful CSR practice in Thailand that has made a significant positive impact on local communities.

May be useful to CSR managers across the world in developing a successful model for philanthropy.

This paper aims to highlight how critical theory and political CSR might be applied to deepen our examination of the complexities associated with ‘sport CSR’. The debate on the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the sports industry is starting to move beyond “mapping the territory”, which characterized the initial examination of this new direction in CSR. This viewpoint suggests that it is time for “sport CSR” to turn to a range of CSR perspectives found in mainstream management debates as they are under-applied at the moment.

This paper examines the current state of research in sport CSR and offers a discussion on the possible ways to apply two under-utilised mainstream perspectives – political CSR and critical CSR – to sport CSR.

A review of literature highlights how sport CSR has tended to pay insufficient attention to the maladies, dilemmas and broader structural concerns and political ramifications associated with sport CSR. This means that other viewpoints noted and applied in this journal, such as “critical CSR” and political CSR are largely neglected.

The value of this article lies in highlighting how critical theory and political CSR might be applied to deepen our examination of the complexities associated with “sport CSR”.

Research findings indicate that there is positive relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and company's reputation but relationship between CSR and company's profitability has not been explored in the Indian context. CSR level of business firms in India is increasing in terms of both amount of the disclosure and the number of participating firms. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between good financial performance measure and other indicators of corporate responsibility. This paper also aims at studying the trend of disclosure of CSR reporting by Indian companies.

This study seeks to investigate the relationship between ethical commitment and financial performance over the four‐year period, through statistical regression and correlation analysis. Studies of few Indian companies who have successfully implemented CSR initiatives have also been analyzed to investigate the level and nature of engagement of Indian companies in social responsibility initiatives.

It has been reported that there is little evidence that companies with a code of ethics would generate significantly more economic value added (EVA) and market added value (MVA) than those without codes.

Indian corporations need to develop a proper strategy to integrate CSR goals with stockholders' goals. Top management should create a dedicated CSR team, which should identify the core areas of CSR and strengthen internal practices such as corporate governance, transparency and disclosure issues.

In the Indian context very few studies have analyzed the linkages between CSR and Organizational profitability. This article presents a new approach to correlate the relationship between CSR and Organizational profitability in terms of EVA and MVA.

The purpose of this paper is to outline how CSR can be effectively implemented and driven through the organisation. The emphasis of the paper is not on CSR definition but on the skills and capabilities needed by individuals and organizations to fully implement CSR application.

As a qualitative study, interview, data feedback, and participant observation were the particular methodologies adopted.

Three stages of CSR implementation and, within those stages, ten leadership skills and capabilities are identified. The nature of their inter‐relationship and how that impacts on application, is discussed and explored. The ten skills and capabilities form a portfolio for individual leaders to consider and indeed develop in their management of CSR. These capabilities are called forth in three logical stages from those required for early decision making to those required for full enactment of CSR, forming a clear model. This model provides a road‐map for leaders to increase their consciousness and their effectiveness in the implementation of true rather than token CSR.

A limitation is the qualitative case‐based method. The learning arising from the study can be pursued and further tested through quantitative survey methods in order to provide for balanced, comparative analysis.

A road‐map to effective CSR application for leaders of organisations is offered. This road‐map can be used to guide current leaders and as a guide to developing future leaders.

Originality is high as no such model of CSR application exists. The value of the paper is to offer a research‐based practical guide to CSR implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance.

This paper performs an empirical test on the association between CSR and financial performance of a firm.

The regression analysis reveals a significant and positive association between CSR and financial performance. In addition, it finds that the age of long‐term assets is highly correlated with CSR.

This paper extends Cochran and Wood by using a larger and more recent sample to examine the association between CSR and financial performance of a firm. It contributes to the CSR literature.

This paper aims to clarify the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and aims to identify the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government. In talking about social responsibility, major attention has been drawn to CSR, yet little has been mentioned on how university stakeholders such as students can contribute to developing social responsibility. It can be said that the society of tomorrow begins today, and to make up this society, universities need to have drive, patience, and persistence to help them achieve the related goals. It is crucial for learning institutions to develop ways in which to cope with the present context demands, not only in terms of returns to the community in the form of community engagement involvement through student projects, but also in the sense of replenishing their own actions and enlarging their sources or references, so as to become institutions that help with and are partially involved in shaping a new society that is more ethical and is engaged with its community and surroundings.

This paper examines the university social responsibility (USR) initiative of 14 public and private higher learning institutions in Malaysia. Data were collected from 150 respondents using the quantitative method through survey questionnaires. Samples were selected based on the purposive sampling method, where the respondents were majoring in communication or had taken media studies. Questions took the form of open and closed‐ended questions. The data gathered were then analyzed quantitatively by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 15).

The results show that, overall, respondents are aware of the need to preserve the environment and the function and role that CSR plays in developing a more responsive public. However, the discovered lack of exposure to activities that the respondents can participate in on their own needs to be addressed. Knowledge on environmental conservation or CSR contribution may not be indicative of high levels of practice. There are many other factors that can contribute to better practices or to a lifestyle that better favors environmental conservation.

Because of the chosen research approach and limitations in terms of time, this study does not analyze and verify the links that exist between CSR and the environment with relation to government policy.

Most existing research in CSR fails to take into account how universities cope with the development of CSR. Therefore, efforts to understand CSR within the university setting are significant for the development of CSR practices and conduct.

Value from this paper is derived in three ways: first, it outlines why universities in Malaysia should move forward in determining the most relevant paths for social responsibility engagement and initiatives; second, it provides an understanding of the setting of CSR, making it easier for graduates to implement CSR at the organization they work for in the future; and finally, the data and implications drawn from Malaysia add a necessary international insight into the benefits of CSR at university level.

The authors felt there was a lack of prior evidence about the antecedents of internal CSR and its relationship with employees’ happiness. The study considered the role of organizational culture as a determinant of internal CSR actions.

The authors questioned 921 employees of companies from various sectors in Spain. The respondents mainly worked for service and industrial companies with fewer than 50 employees and an annual turnover above 250,000 euros. They were mostly men, mainly well-educated and the average age was 38.5. They were surveyed using a questionnaire with 59 questions assessing internal CSR processes (20 items), organizational culture (24 items) and employee happiness (15 items).

The results showed that clan and adhocracy cultures are positively and significantly associated with internal CSR practices. In the case of hierarchy culture, it is positively related to adaptability to change and occupational health and safety. But the results did not support the hypotheses related to market culture as only its relationship with adaptability to change was positive. The data also indicated the significant and positive effect of internal CSR on employee happiness.

The authors believe their study has implications for practitioners and policymakers. They argue that organizations should try to develop cultures that help to promote internal CSR, which means adhocracy and clan. Meanwhile, there are also practical implications for researchers. First, the model integrates happiness, which is rare in CSR studies. Second, the study addresses a gap in the research about how company culture acts as an antecedent to internal CSR. Third, the study generates knowledge about internal CSR from the perspective of employees.