Social Investing: Mainstream or Backwater?

Social investing, though not yet fully mainstream, has the potential to obtain such status. Questions relating to the future of social investing include the following. (1) What properly falls within the ambit of social investing? Assuming that no single definition of social responsibility is feasible, what then are the limits? (2) What do we need to know about investor psychology concerning social investing? What motivates people to buy socially screened investments and why do they sometimes act inconsistently? (3) How can we improve the measures of social performance? Is it possible to develop GAAP and GAAS equivalents for social reporting? (4) Should social reports by firms be audited? If so, how? (5) What sorts of public policies are necessary to support the social screening of investments?     

基于审计全覆盖的政府审计购买社会服务研究

审计机关的资源不足严重制约着审计全覆盖的实现,政府审计利用社会审计的资源成为实现审计全覆盖的重要路径。文章对政府审计购买社会服务的必要性、可行性、存在的问题及原因进行分析,并为促进审计机关向社会购买审计服务提出相应对策。     

人口老龄化对老年社会保障及社会服务提出的挑战

根据最新统计资料,就某些发达国家和中国的人口老龄化对社会保障的影响问题作了研究。人口老龄化的社会经济影响主要体现在社会保障的问题上,由于人口老龄化,特别是正规职业人口的老龄化导致退休金、医疗保障和老年人的服务问题成为普遍性的社会问题,解决这些问题成为我国社会保障制度建设重点所在。     

Knowledge Protection Challenges of Social Media Encountered by Organizations

Although social media (SM) represents a new means of creating and sharing knowledge, it also presents new challenges for protecting confidential information and other data that companies do not want to share. However, knowledge protection and security-oriented knowledge management processes related to SM have received little attention in previous studies. This research attempts to close that gap by examining which information and knowledge protection challenges arise from employees' use of SM, why they arise, and how organizations can address them. The main contribution of this study is a framework that integrates three types of knowledge protection challenges (information security challenges; reputation challenge; management challenges) with five special characteristics of SM (information distribution speed; blurry audience; merging of private and professional identity; easily collectible information; generation transition), which explain why these challenges arise. In addition, the framework presents eight questions that organizations should answer to help them address the three types of knowledge protection challenges. Our findings have practical implications: by answering the eight questions proposed in this study, companies can create knowledge management and protection policies for SM. Furthermore, the findings in this study open up several future research questions.     

黑龙江省社会保障基金电子政务管理网络审计监督系统研究

网络经济对审计理论与审计实务产生了深远影响,在很大程度上促使了审计的创新。我国电子政务管理网络正在全方位建设,“金字工程”建设中的“金审工程”正在设想中.运用计算机技术、数据库技术、计算机网络互联技术和现代通信技术的方法和手段,实施对社会保障基金管理运营的审计监督,正是为我国“金审工程”中对社会保障基金管理运营网络实施审计监督构建平台,以便充分发挥审计机关的职能。因此,开展计算机网络审计对社会保障基金进行审计监督是刻不容缓的。     

A Corporate Social Responsibility Audit within a Quality Management Framework

In this paper a corporate social responsibility audit is developed following the underlying methodology of the quality award/excellence models. Firstly the extent to which the quality awards already incorporate the development of social responsibility is examined by looking at the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award. It will be shown that the quality awards do not yet include ethical aspects in relation to social responsibility. Both a clear definition of social responsibility and an improved audit instrument are required. A definition and an audit instrument are developed which stimulate movement in that direction and help organisations to reflect on their position in relation to social responsibility.     

The Role of the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in the Social Screening of Investments

Social screening of investments calls not only for investment policy and criteria, but also for information about companies, their policies, practices and performance. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and its June 2000 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines have the potential to significantly improve the usefulness and quality of information reported by companies about their environmental, social and economic impacts and performance. The GRI aims to develop a voluntary reporting framework that will elevate sustainability reporting practices to a level equivalent to that of financial reporting in rigour, comparability, auditability and general acceptance. This will be a welcome and efficient supplement to the questionnaires, interviews, press releases, media reports and other sources of information traditionally used for screening in investment decision making – social/ethical and mainstream. The Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index, the Jantzi Social Index and the Innovest EcoValue'21 analytical platform, together with the SRI community, are all likely to benefit from GRI-style sustainability reports. One of the GRI's key challenges is to accommodate the broad variety of disclosure needs and expectations of a wide range of report users and company stakeholders. To maximize the usefulness of the GRI Guidelines, report users, including the SRI community, need to be engaged in the process of developing and refining the Guidelines over time. The GRI Guidelines are emerging as an important instrument in enabling companies to communicate with their stakeholders about performance and accountability beyond just the financial bottom line.     

Exploring the Challenges of Incorporating Social Media Marketing Strategies in the Restaurant Business

The purpose of this study is to explore the adoption, challenges, and current uses of social media in small restaurants. Past research in this area is scarce, and most focuses on larger establishments. To address the research objectives, 20 small restaurants in Northeastern United States were interviewed. Literature identifies a variety of goals that social media can play in fostering interactions, engagement, relationships, and building communities online, but this study shows that few restaurants attempt to do this. Even though in most small restaurants social media significantly contributes to their marketing strategy, the majority of small restaurants use it as a low-cost advertising tool to gain exposure, generate interest, inform, and spread word of mouth. The study suggests ways in which social media could be embraced by small restaurants to help them address the challenges they face, so they can go beyond using social media as merely an advertising tool.     

Corporate Social Responsibility Audit: From Theory to Practice

This research examines the possibility of developing a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) auditing system based on the analysis of current CSR literature and interviews conducted with a number of interested and knowledgeable stakeholders. This work attempts to create a framework for social responsibility auditing compatible with an existing commercially successful environmental audit system. The project is unusual in that it tackles the complex issue of CSR auditing with a scientific approach using Grounded Theory. On the evidence discovered to date in the literature review and the interviews, CSR seems to be perceived by many as the social strand of sustainable development. However, there is far less agreement regarding its measurement. Both the literature review and the interview analysis indicate that developing an applied CSR auditing procedure will be a challenging task. This is principally due to the lack of formal study of this complex subject, which, despite the widespread debate it has engendered, still lacks a single and broadly accepted definition. The concepts developed from the findings of this research, together with the key factors identified in a literature review of CSR, were developed into a prospective CSR audit protocol.     

The Social Identity Approach to Effective Leadership: An Overview and Some Ideas on Cross-Cultural Generalizability

When employees identify with the groups and organizations they work for, this typically has positive implications for work-related attitudes and behaviors. The present paper provides a focused overview of the social identity approach to leadership and some ideas on its cross-cultural generalizability. To this end, we will first outline the basic tenets of the social identity approach and summarize the relations of organizational identification with work-related variables. Then, we will discuss the role of social identity-related concepts for effective leadership. In particular, we will present empirical studies on the following three aspects: (1) the transfer of leader identification onto their followers, (2) the role of leader prototypicality, and (3) the ways for leaders to actively manage the identities of the groups they lead. Finally, we will provide some suggestions on how to implement the principles of identity management into practice and offer suggestions for future research, with a special focus on China.     

振动应力筛选

本文介绍了振动应力筛选技术,讨论了建立振动应力筛选的益处,应考虑的主要问题以及应牢记的关键因素。     

Socially Responsible Investing: A Critical Appraisal

This paper makes three important points regarding socially responsible investing. First, the current methodology involving SRI fund divestiture of the securities of firms that engage in socially irresponsible activity often results in unacceptable unintended consequences. Second, in many cases the proper methodolgy for SRI funds may be purposely to include the securities of such firms in the portfolio in an effort to internalize socially irresponsible interfirm spillovers. Finally, that SRI fund managers may be able to bond their performance by organizing as closed-end funds subject to takeover and liquidation if the stated socially responsible objectives are not met.     

Deriving Meaning for Social Franchising From Commercial Franchising and Social Enterprise

Auntie Anne's Pretzels, the American Red Cross, and IKEA are franchises for a social benefit, but are they social franchises? There is a diversity of perceptions of what is meant by the term social franchising but no consensus on the precise meaning. Given that social franchising is a relatively new area of research and that a crucial first step in research on any topic is to define its parameters, this article derives a set of indicators for the phenomenon of social franchising by bringing together three strands of scholarship: social franchising, commercial franchising, and social enterprise.     

社会信息化水平评价体系模型:基于社会福利角度的构建

在界定社会信息化内涵的基础上,提出了社会信息化的福利目标,并从社会福利最大化的角度来评价社会信息化的基本水平。同时从社会信息化客观水平、信息化观念、信息化制度安排三个方面弄清社会信息化政策与社会信息化的互动效应,进而提出了社会信息化的福利函数。     

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.     

The Social Entrepreneurship Zone

Social entrepreneurship is still in the developmental stage as a field of inquiry. In this article we introduce the concept of the social entrepreneurship zone. This new construct positions social entrepreneurship relative to the ways organizations plan to implement social change and the degrees to which they apply business practices to do so. Two new categories of organizations, social transformation entrepreneurial ventures and social improvement entrepreneurial ventures, reside in the social entrepreneurship zone. This categorization separates social entrepreneurial ventures into 2 distinct groups with their own unique set of characteristics. The social entrepreneurship zone construct should help researchers and other stakeholders better understand this emerging field so it can be further studied and developed.     

中国社会保险法制建设述评

中国社会保险法经历了初创与调整、破坏、重建、全面建设和发展等阶段。社会保险法制建设取得了巨大成就:社会保险概念的界定达成共识,制度框架已经明确;制度转型的任务基本完成,国家立法具备了较好的基础;社会保险立法有了宪法依据;社会保险法的研究逐渐受到重视,立法开始提速。但社会保险立法存在理念落后,基本法律缺失,法律规范不统一甚至混乱,法律实施机制偏弱,缺乏法律救济制度等问题。加快和完善社会保险立法必须树立科学的立法理念,制定高位阶的社会保险法律,强化社会保险法律的实施机制,健全社会保险权利救济制度。     

Loyalty to Social Ventures in Social Media: The Role of Social Cause Involvement,Identification, and Commitment

Recently, more social organizations are engaging in market transactions to achieve financial self-reliance. In today’s highly competitive market, it is imperative for such social ventures to bolster long-term support from their consumers through every possible point of access, such as social media. Given the importance of social media in enhancing customer relationships, this study examines factors that promote consumers’ loyalty toward social ventures, focusing on intentions to participate in cause-related activities and opinion-sharing behavior via social media. Data obtained from 304 US consumers confirmed that consumer involvement, identification, and commitment were key determinants of consumer loyalty in social media. The results also showed that the effect of involvement was mediated by identification and commitment. The findings suggest that social ventures should not only attract interested segments through social media, but also engage and enhance their sense of belonging and commitment.     

基于社会资本的企业家群体研究

本文基于社会网络理论,通过研究温州和宁波两地企业家集群产生的过程,分析社会资本如何促进大规模的企业家集群产生。研究表明:企业家个人的社会资本在区域文化、共同价值观和群体信任的发酵下结成社会网络,并促使更多企业家产生且形成企业家集群;温州企业家社会网络具有强联系、同质性和自组织的特点,创业倾向集体行动,依赖本地资源,产业升级代际锁定;宁波企业家社会网络具有弱联系、异质性和他组织的特点,外部资源掌控力强,容易引发产业升级。     

Social Media Index Valuation: Impact of Technological,Social, Economic,and Ethical Dimensions

Marketing practitioners have recognized a growing need to measure consumer-generated social media in a standard way since there are numerous social media indicators in use, making intra- and inter-company comparisons difficult. This paper identifies four social media dimensions for measurement and evaluation: technological, social, economic, and ethical; and, subsequently, measures social media. The study makes a contribution to social media literature by using analytic hierarchy process of developing a mathematical model for social media index valuation. The “social media composite index number” will serve as an industry benchmark signifying the organization's share and commitment to social media.