How does social trust affect corporate financial performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility

Prior studies assert that social trust may positively influence the economic performance of countries and firms (within those countries). This paper proposes a more nuanced mechanism whereby corporate social responsibility (CSR) mediates the relationship between country-level social trust and firm-level financial performance. Anchored in neo-institutional theory, we theorize that social trust instills norms of trustworthiness and willingness to trust others guiding individual and corporate behaviors. In order to comply with such norms and gain legitimacy, firms in high-trust society are more likely to commit to CSR activities that serve the interests of stakeholders. CSR activities, in turn, can positively influence financial performance by enabling firms to access stakeholders' resources and capabilities and to decrease transactions costs in the stakeholder relationships. We tested our theory by analyzing 9818 firm-year observations across 34 countries, during the 2006 to 2015 period. Our analysis shows the expected CSR mediation in the relationship between social trust and firm-level financial performance. Our findings are robust across different models addressing the concerns of endogeneity, alternative measures, and potential moderators.     

Connecting the Two Faces of CSR: Does Employee Volunteerism Improve Compliance?

In 2004, the United States Sentencing Commission amended the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to allow firms that create “effective compliance and ethics programs” to receive better treatment if prosecuted for fraud. Effective compliance and ethics, however, appear to be limited to activities focused on complying with the firms’ internal legal and ethical standards. We explored a potential connection between the firms’ external corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors and internal compliance: Is there an organizationally valid relationship between these two firm activities? That is, when organizations demonstrate CSR with behaviors external to the firm, such as employee volunteerism, are their employees more likely to demonstrate uncompromised legal and ethical compliance behavior internally? We collected data from 164 working professionals enrolled in a top-tier MBA program in the southeastern United States regarding their employer-sponsored volunteer activities and their intentions to comply in various organizational compliance vignettes. We found that employer-sponsored volunteerism is associated with uncompromised compliance choices in one of the three vignettes. This finding indicates preliminary support for further inquiry into the relationship within the firm between external CSR behaviors and policies regarding organizational compliance. Post hoc analyses suggest that employer-sponsored volunteerism is strongly associated with a positive organizational identity, but organizational identity is not associated with the significant compliance vignette. This evidence suggests that the underlying mechanism that connects external CSR behaviors and internal compliance intentions is complex and requires future study.     

Corporate Reputation and Philanthropy: An Empirical Analysis

This paper analyzes the determinants of corporate reputation within a sample of large UK companies drawn from a diverse range of industries. We pay particular attention to the role that philanthropic expenditures and policies may play in shaping the perceptions of companies among their stakeholders. Our findings highlight that companies which make higher levels of philanthropic expenditures have better reputations and that this effect varies significantly across industries. Given that reputational indices tend to reflect the financial performance of organizations above other factors (Fryxell, G. E. and J. Wang: 1994, Journal of Management 20, 1–14) and that elements of the literature emphasise that discretionary aspects of social responsibility, including corporate donations, may not be in the financial interests of organizations (e.g. Friedman, M.: 1970, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits”, New York Times Magazine, September 13), this is a significant finding. It suggests that philanthropic expenditures may play a significant role in stakeholder management and may, in particular, lead to stakeholders holding more positive impressions of philanthropic corporations.     

Corporate Community Involvement and Local Institutions: Two Case Studies From the Mining Industry in Tanzania

Corporate community involvement contributes capital or resources in various forms to a community. However, such involvement may also influence local institutions that determine how well these resources are used, that is, the extent to which they are used to promote the public good rather than being subject to private capture. For community involvement to have a beneficial effect on local development, corporations need to consider their impact on local institutions. Presented in this article are two case studies from Tanzania that illustrate how community involvement activities of two mining firms have resulted in misappropriation of and conflict over corporate community involvement funds. It is argued that corporations need an analytical approach that integrates a differentiated stakeholder approach with institutional theory to contribute to local development in poor communities.     

Are Corporate Career Development Activities Les Available to Female Than to Male Expatriates?

Despite the growing interest in female expatriates, few empirical studies have focussed on corporate career development activities available to women. Given the faltering corporate support for female business expatriates in general, one may presume that such organizational activities are less available to women than to men. To test this proposition, a large number of Western female and male business expatriates assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey. Controlling for differences between the two gender groups, three significant gender differences were found, all indicating a lower availability of these corporate activities to women than to men, partially supporting expectations. These corporate career development activities were fast track programs, individual career counseling and career planning workshops. Implications of these findings for globalizing firms as well as for their female employees are discussed in detail.     

The dark triad and corporate sustainability: An empirical analysis of personality traits of sustainability managers

Middle managers responsible for sustainability operationalize top management decisions on the organization's social and environmental activities. With their focus on sustainability, they could be expected to consider ethical issues particularly well in their decisions and to possess ethical personality traits. While earlier research has focused on top management this paper examines the influence of personality traits of middle managers on their corporate sustainability preferences. Based on a primary survey sample of 204 professionals responsible for sustainability in their company, we study the relationship between dark triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) of sustainability managers and their environmental and social responsibility preferences. The analysis shows that managers who score higher on the dark triad personality scale are less concerned about environmental and social responsibility issues. The business environment, analyzed in a cross-cultural comparison between the United States and Europe, and the organizational context function as a moderator of the influence of personality traits on sustainability preferences. The results suggest that dark triad personality traits should be considered in recruitment and assessment processes of middle managers responsible for corporate sustainability.     

The CSR-Quality Trade-Off: When can Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Ability Compensate Each Other?

This paper investigates under what conditions a good corporate social responsibility (CSR) can compensate for a relatively poor corporate ability (CA) (quality), and vice versa. The authors conducted an experiment among business administration students, in which information about a financial services company’s CA and CSR was provided. Participants indicated their preferences for the company’s products, stocks, and jobs. The results show that for stock and job preferences, a poor CA can be compensated by a good CSR. For product preferences, a poor CA could not be compensated by a good CSR, at least when people thought that CA is personally relevant to them. Furthermore, a poor CSR could be compensated by a good CA for product, stocks, and job preferences. Guido Berens is Assistant Professor of Corporate Communication at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include corporate branding, corporate social responsibility, and reputation management. His research has been published in the Journal of Marketing and the Corporate Reputation Review, as well as in several international books. Cees B. M. van Riel is Professor of Corporate Communication at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research interests include organizational identity, reputation management, and corporate branding. He is the author of several books, and his research has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Marketing, among others. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Corporate Reputation Review, and has been working as a consultant for many large international companies in the last 15 years. Johan van Rekom is Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he also received his PhD. His research interests include organizational identity, the effects of organizational identity on the motivation of organization members, cognitive structures at the individual and at the organizational level, and the essence of brands. His research has appeared in the Journal of Management Studies and the European Journal of Marketing, among others.     

The Study of the Relations among Ethical Considerations, Family Management and Organizational Performance in Corporate Governance

Corporate governance is increasingly becoming an issue of global concern, not least because we are more and more living in a corporate world that transcends international boundaries. The main purpose and motivation of this study is to determine how the international community should motivate businesses in fostering exemplary corporate governance, therefore eliminating obstacles to ethically exemplary behavior. The empirical approach utilized here has been applied to 161 businesses, both listed and over-the-counter (OTC) companies, with the results indicating that ethical considerations, corporate governance and organizational performance are inextricably linked and, to an extent, demonstrably proportional. This study also indicates a major finding that family management is a significant mediating variable of the ethical considerations of corporate governance and organizational performance. Finally, this study has developed an operational model of ethical considerations of corporate governance as a consultancy aid for businesses that wish to implement and/or boost their performance in respect to corporate governance.     

Corporate Ethics Practices in the Mid-1990's: An Empirical Study of the Fortune 1000

This empirical study of Fortune 1000 firms assesses the degree to which those firms have adopted various practices associated with corporate ethics programs. The study examines the following aspects of formalized corporate ethics activity: ethics-oriented policy statements; formalization of management responsibilities for ethics; free-standing ethics offices; ethics and compliance telephone reporting/advice systems; top management and departmental involvement in ethics activities; usage of ethics training and other ethics awareness activities; investigatory functions; and evaluation of ethics program activities. Results show a high degree of corporate adoption of ethics policies, but wide variability in the extent to which these policies are implemented by various supporting structures and managerial activities. In effect, the vast majority of firms have committed to the low cost, possibly symbolic side of ethics management (e.g., adoption of ethics codes and policies, etc.). But firms differ substantially in their efforts to see that those policies or codes actually are put into practice.     

Corporate Codes of Conduct: The Effects of Code Content and Quality on Ethical Performance

Corporate codes of conduct are a practical corporate social responsibility (CSR) instrument commonly used to govern employee behavior and establish a socially responsible organizational culture. The effectiveness of these codes has been widely discussed on theoretical grounds and empirically tested in numerous previous reports that directly compare companies with and without codes of conduct. Empirical research has yielded inconsistent results that may be explained by multiple ancillary factors, including the quality of code content and implementation, which are excluded from analyses based solely on the presence or absence of codes. This study investigated the importance of code content in determining code effectiveness by examining the relationship between code of conduct quality and ethical performance. Companies maintaining high quality codes of conduct were significantly more represented among top CSR ranking systems for corporate citizenship, sustainability, ethical behavior, and public perception. Further, a significant relationship was observed between code quality and CSR performance, across a full range of ethical rankings. These findings suggest code quality may play a crucial role in the effectiveness of codes of conduct and their ability to transform organizational cultures. Future research efforts should transcend traditional comparisons based on the presence or absence of ethical codes and begin to examine the essential factors leading to the effective establishment of CSR policies and sustainable business practices in corporate culture.     

Examining Corporate Communications of Environmental Responsibility on Corporate Websites: Main Themes,Linguistic Features,and Text Reuse

Abstract

The present study intends to examine environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) disclosure on official corporate websites within and across a collection of companies. Through an automated content analysis, the findings suggest two broad themes underlying corporate disclosure, and significant associations between personal pronoun usage/lexical diversity and corporate CSR performance were found. In addition, text reuse analysis illuminated certain communication patterns across different industries. Overall, the present study implicates not only theoretical research on ECSR disclosure, but also practical ECSR reporting on corporate websites.     

Social Marketing and Privately Held Companies: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities on Romanian Consumers

The notion of corporate social responsibility has evolved into a fairly complex concept that can influence the very world we live in. Today's society is interested not only in companies' financial results but also in the way they conduct their businesses. Corporations everywhere try to respond to new environmental challenges by actively engaging in the life of the community and by developing relationships based on mutual trust with consumers. This article introduces the corporate social responsibility domain by underlining the importance of this concept to the later development of a company. The article denounces the results of research conducted on Romanian consumers regarding corporate social responsibility campaigns undergone by firms in Romania. Its purpose is to bring insight into Romanian consumers' perceptions of recent social campaigns, reviewing the extent to which these consumers are willing to become involved in society's well-being. The survey conducted here attempts to provide answers to issues that concern the companies' involvement type, their purview, the reasons for participating in society's welfare, as well as the social campaigns' most common action areas. The results gathered show that corporate social responsibility is not only a promotion method, but a method that implies the effective involvement in the life of the community and in its subsequent issues, therefore representing a real means of support for the economic development of the community in question. In conclusion, companies must put their social conscience into use when dealing with their clients and stakeholders, by offering solutions to environmental concerns, resource management, mutual aid, and welfare rising from corporate support.     

In search of the roots of corporate reputation management: Being a consistent corporate social performer

Corporate social performance (CSP) has received a particularly high share of attention as one of the main determinants of corporate reputation. However, few studies have tested the extent to which the relationship between CSP and corporate reputation may be affected by industry, country, or other context-related variables. Besides, some conceptual thinking suggests that the impact of CSP on corporate reputation may vary according to the level of consistency of a firm's behaviors. However, this view has not been empirically addressed. For this reason, the main objective of this study is to explore the impact of consistency in CSP management on corporate reputation. Specifically, we analyze both the effect of CSP internal consistency (or consistency between environmental and social performance) and CSP consistency over time on corporate reputation. The results based on data from an international sample of 133 companies for the period 2011 to 2016, support either CSP internal consistency or CSP consistency over time (positive increment of CSP over time) positively affecting corporate reputation. The results also confirm the moderation effect of CSP internal consistency on the relationship between CSP and corporate reputation. These results reveal that consistency in social responsibility management helps a firm to consolidate its corporate reputation.     

企业文化刚性对战略调整影响的内在作用机理分析

企业文化具有一种难以改变的刚性特征,企业在进行战略调整的过程中,企业文化的这一特征将从组织成员的认知刚性、组织的资源依赖性、企业文化的组织记忆特征和企业组织的社会化过程等四个方面,对企业的战略调整行为产生深刻的影响。因此,企业战略的实施与调整必须将这种影响因素及其内在作用机理考虑在内。     

Global Business Citizenship and Voluntary Codes of Ethical Conduct

This article describes the theory and process of global business citizenship (GBC) and applies it in an analysis of characteristics of company codes of business conduct. GBC is distinguished from a commonly used term, “corporate citizenship,” which often denotes corporate community involvement and philanthropy. The GBC process requires (1) a set of fundamental values embedded in the corporate code of conduct and in corporate policies that reflect universal ethical standards; (2) implementation throughout the organization with thoughtful awareness of where the code and policies fit well and where they might not fit with stakeholder expectations; (3) analysis and experimentation to deal with problem cases; and (4) systematic learning processes to communicate the results of implementation and experiments internally and externally. We then identify and illustrate the three attributes of a code of conduct that would reflect a GBC approach. The three attributes are orientation, implementation, and accountability. The various components of these attributes are specified and illustrated, using website examples from six global petroleum companies.     

商业银行基层网点企业文化建设研究

本文从阐述企业文化与商业银行及其网点层面的内涵入手,主要分析了国内银行基层网点在当前企业文化建设中存在的困难和问题,并重点落脚于网点企业文化的基础环境、资金投入、负责人轮换、思想误区四个方面的探讨。最后尝试从组织保障、意识宣导、特色文化、员工价值等方面提出可行建议。     

The Corporate Ethical Virtues Scale: Factorial Invariance Across Organizational Samples

This study investigated the factorial validity of the 58-item Corporate Ethical Virtues scale (CEV; Kaptein, J Organ Behav 29(7):923–947, 2008). The major aim was to test the invariance of the factor structure across different organizational samples. The CEV scale was designed to measure eight corporate virtues: clarity, congruency of supervisors, congruency of senior management, feasibility, supportability, transparency, discussability, and sanctionability. The data (total N = 3,702) consisted of four organizational samples that are operated in the private and public sector. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized eight-factor structure, as well as its alternative second-order factor structure, where high correlations between the first-order factors (virtues) were explained by a general CEV factor. These factor structures (including factor loadings) remained the same across samples, lending strong support for the group invariance assumption of the scale. Thus, the 58-item CEV scale was found to be a valid tool for measuring the aspect of ethical organizational culture in different organizations, and its use can be recommended for future research.     

Corporate image,loyalty, and commitment in the consumer travel industry

Abstract

This article examines the impact and interrelationship of corporate image, satisfaction, and commitment on customer loyalty in the travel industry. A corporate image–commitment–loyalty model was developed and tested. Partial least squares (PLS) was used to test the direct and indirect linkages between the four variables, and an alternative model was proposed. The tourism and travel industry is highly price sensitive and competitive with low levels of customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is a valuable asset in highly competitive markets, and understanding factors affecting customer loyalty is important to travel agencies who are seeking ways to maintain a strong customer base. The results of a mail survey conducted in New Zealand indicate that corporate image has a positive significant influence on customer commitment and customer satisfaction. Affective commitment is the focal point in the relationship and contributed most in predicting customer loyalty. The influence of customer satisfaction, on the other hand, contributed a much smaller effect. The key implications for travel agencies are build strong emotional bonds with customers and improve corporate image through trust and service delivery.     

Corporate association strategies and consumer responses: The relative effectiveness of CA versus CSR communication strategy by industry type

Given the importance of communication in the realm of corporate associations, this study analyzes the roles that communication strategies play in the formation of corporate associations. The study examines (1) whether particular types of associations (corporate ability or corporate social responsibility associations) can be developed through CA- or CSR-based communication strategies, and (2) the relative effectiveness of these two association types at amplifying favorable consumer responses across three different industries (consumable goods, durable goods, and stigmatized goods). An experiment was conducted to test the proposed model with six Fortune 500 companies. The results demonstrate that communication strategies can effectively facilitate a particular type of association. Differing levels of association effectiveness were found within each industry. For the consumable goods industry, CA associations are found to be more effective than CSR associations. For the durable goods industry, CSR associations are more influential at enhancing consumer attitudes and purchase intent than CA associations, while CA associations have a larger impact on supportive communication intent. In the case of the stigmatized industry, CSR associations play a determinant role in fostering positive consumer responses. This study provides managers and communication specialists with more concrete guidance for choosing a particular corporate positioning and communication strategy.