Customers’ perspectives regarding e-banking in an emerging economy

Determining factors affecting customer perception and attitude towards and satisfaction with e-banking is an essential part of a bank's strategy formulation process in an emerging economy like India. To gain this understanding in respect of Indian customers, the study was conducted on respondents taken from the northern part of India. The major findings depict that customers are influenced in their usage of e-banking services by the kind of account they hold, their age and profession, attach highest degree of usefulness to balance enquiry service among e-banking services, consider security & trust most important in affecting their satisfaction level and find slow transaction speed the most frequently faced problem while using e-banking.     

Communicating about Ethics with Small Firms: Experiences from the U.K. and Spain

This article introduces the important issue of communicating with small firms about ethical issues. Evidence from two research projects from the U.K. and Spain are used to indicate some of the important issues and how small firms may differ from large firms in this area. The importance of informal mechanisms such as the influence of friends, family and employees are highlighted, and the likely ineffectiveness of formal tools such as Codes and Social and Ethical Standards suggested. Further resarch in the area of small firms and ethics is essential.     

Analysis of Social Performance in the Spanish Financial Industry Through Public Data. A Proposal

Banking firms are becoming increasingly aware that their clients’ management of environmental and social risks may in term threaten their own business as lenders and investors. In addition, stakeholders are requiring banks to improve their social performance. As a result, some banks are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and management systems to reduce potential risks and improve their performance. In the Spanish financial system, half of the banking firms are savings banks, most of which have always used some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria in their management. Private Banks have only recently started to integrate social aspects in their performance. However, no formal analysis has been carried out on the impact of CSR strategies. Various initiatives have been launched nationally and internationally to include the social dimension in management systems. The purpose of this research is to analyse the social performance of the main Spanish financial companies through public data such as social or sustainability reports and media sources. In order to do this, we need to determine which CSR criteria most greatly affect banking firms and to choose the most accurate quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure social performance.     

企业社会责任与企业绩效：基于顾客信任与认同的研究

本文基于营销回报模型,通过二手数据与调查数据的结合,分析顾客信任和顾客认同在企业社会责任与企业绩效关系中的中介作用,从顾客关系的角度讨论企业社会责任与企业绩效之间的关系,发现顾客信任与认同在企业社会责任与企业绩效的关系中起到了部分中介作用。     

How insiders traded before rules

UK company insiders, such as directors, were legally allowed to trade in the shares of their own companies up until the Companies Act of 1980. This article investigates the trading behaviour of directors over the period 1890 to 1909 in the UK. It finds relatively few instances of directors who exploited their informational advantage. However when they did sell their own shares, it tended to be before a period of poor profitability and poor stock market performance.     

The role of corporate identity management in the higher education sector: an exploratory case study

This paper examines the corporate identity concept and presents an empirical test of a corporate identity model in the context of the higher education sector. The various components of corporate identity are investigated and the results are presented in diagrammatic form in the proposed and updated corporate identity taxonomy. A qualitative exploratory approach was taken, comprising in-depth interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of corporate identity at a major UK university. The taxonomy illustrates communication, design, culture, behaviour, structure, industry and strategy as the main components of corporate identity. The study also demonstrates how and where issues of corporate identity are discussed within an organisation and how the results of these discussions are fed into management structure. As with any such exploratory case study, there are limits to the generalisability of the findings. Further research is required to ascertain whether the findings of this study also apply in other settings. The results will be helpful to communication professionals who deal with an organisation’s corporate identity, branding and communication and who aim to enhance the consistency of messages both written and visual within their organisation.     

Assessing Social Capital: Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Germany and the U.K.

"Social capital" can be considered to be the product of co-operationbetween various institutions, networks and business partners. It haspotential as a useful tool for business ethics. In this article weidentify categories pertinent to the measurement of social capital insmall and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). By drawing on three differentsectors, one business-to-business service, one business-to-customerservice, and one manufacturing, we have enabled the consideration ofsectoral differences. We find sector to play an important part inrelation to business practices and social capital. Our inclusion of SMEsfrom Germany and the United Kingdom has called attention to cultural,institutional and economic aspects of two regions of Europe and how theycan influence SME social capital. Social capital is found to beinfluenced by context and, in particular, institutional arrangements. Inanalysing the data we note particular areas of interest from the pointof view of SMEs and social capital as being: formal engagement,networking within sectors, networking across sectors, volunteerism andgiving to charity, and finally a focus on why people engage. We concludethat there is a considerable amount of further research needed on socialcapital, SME's and business ethics.     

社会责任活动、社会责任沟通与企业价值

企业履行适当的社会责任是大势所趋,但目前理论与实务界对社会责任经济后果的认识存在困惑,难以指导企业的社会责任实践。企业社会责任对企业价值的影响因不同社会责任类型的收益、成本特征而异,并且社会责任价值实现受制于社会责任沟通的影响,企业应该在整体战略规划的视野里树立社会责任管理理念,对企业社会责任进行事前决策和实时的过程管理。     

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.     

企业社会责任对员工角色外行为的影响机制

文章旨在揭示企业社会责任对内部利益相关者的行为的影响效果及影响机制,为此,把员工角色外行为作为结果变量,把员工关于企业社会责任的共享知觉(企业社会责任)作为自变量,把员工对组织的信任(组织信任)作为中介变量,探讨企业社会责任对员工角色外行为的直接影响,以及组织信任在两者之间的中介效应。通过对80家企业的696名在职员工进行问卷调查,采用多层线性模型技术对样本数据进行统计分析,文章研究发现,员工关于企业自发责任(针对社会和非社会组织、消费者和员工的责任)的共享知觉对员工角色外行为有显著的影响,而且组织信任在两者关系中起部分中介作用,相反,员工关于企业基本责任(对政府的责任)的共享知觉对员工角色外行为的影响不显著,对组织信任的影响也不显著。基于研究结论,文章提出了相应的管理建议和未来的研究方向。     

“Watch that Space! The County Hierarchy in Firm Births and Deaths in the UK, 1980–1999”

The paper investigates the relationships between registrations, de-registrations and population density at county level in the UK using VAT data for 20 years over the period 1980–1999. The rationale for this is based on the need to understand how the extent to which, in different parts of the UK, differences in the relationship between birth rates and death rates combine to produce an interpretable pattern in net birth rates. The analysis of the net birth rate shows that a strategy aimed at the net birth rate might, in principle, just as well aim at reducing business failure, rather than raising the birth rate. Indeed this might be more efficient, since it implies that less start-ups are “wasted^” as it would avoid the necessity, if targets are to be reached, of encouraging those individuals who are patently unsuited to running their own business into business ownership.     

The risk effects of combining banking, securities, and insurance activities

We create synthetic universal banks to examine the impact of securities and insurance activities on the banking firms’ risk. We find that these nonbank activities reduce the overall risk to the firm but increase systematic market risk—thus reducing the firm’s ability to diversify. Moreover, the unit price of risk does not appear to contain a risk premium to price the enhanced systemic risk exposure that might be engendered by greater convergence across financial firms. Our finding suggests that if there are net gains to universal banking, potential gains from synergies and demand effects must be powerful enough to overcome the disadvantages of increased systemic risk exposure. The results suggest that diversification benefits, when considered in isolation from the other implications of expanded bank powers, are not sufficiently large to justify expanding bank powers into nonbank securities and insurance underwriting activities.     

Hoping to Enhance a Local Funding Relationship: Exploring Private Sector Business Preferences When Contributing to Nonprofit Organizations

ABSTRACT

Nonprofit organizations want relationships with private sector businesses because nonprofits rely on fundraising to generate income, a portion of which is provided through the charitable giving of the private sector. Who the private sector contributes to, why they give, and what variables positively influence more giving, are all questions nonprofit organizations continuously want answers to. The answers though are often arbitrary, reflecting subjective criteria based on individual business preferences, the economic status of the marketplace, the community context, and the credibility of the nonprofit program. Because the relationship is dynamic and the answers may continue to change, nonprofits must continue to ask.

This article discusses an exploratory effort to identify the funding attitudes and behaviors of private sector businesses who contribute to their local nonprofit organizations.

The results showed the majority of private sector businesses who responded said they support their local nonprofits primarily with cash contributions, and identified altruism as a key motivation for giving. Results also revealed that their funding choices are somewhat arbitrary with little formalized process for decision-making. Dollars are contributed primarily by direction of individual managers or owners who prefer informal relationships with their local nonprofit organizations, but expect funding requests to clearly explain how the dollars will be used. The findings, although limited, provide results that further examine this complex relationship, and perhaps provide insight into how the relationship could be enhanced for the ultimate benefit of both organizations' needs.     

论公司法与反垄断法的良性互动

公司是《中华人民共和国公司法》《中华人民共和国反垄断法》共同保护和规范的重要市场主体。但在法学研究和执法实践中仍存在碎片化和孤岛化的现象。在两法双双迎来修改之际,立法者应推动两法的无缝对接、有机衔接、同频共振、相辅相成。两法和而不同,都致力于提升公司活力,促进市场经济健康发展,都遵循民法基本原则。公司并购反垄断执法应秉持包容审慎、处罚谦抑、服务能动的理念,充分尊重并有效保障公司的生存权和发展权;公司并购反垄断审查应采取“原则放行、例外禁止”的政策。建议反垄断执法机构继续保持法治定力,坚持反垄断执法的常态化、法治化与专业化;新《反垄断法》基于“谁主张、谁举证”的理念,确立由反垄断执法机构就公司并购具有排除、限制竞争效果的事实承担举证责任的一般原则。从公司并购限制性条件的适用范围而言,应确立“可限可不限的,坚决不限”的立场。反垄断处罚措施的选择和使用应体现过罚相当的公平原则和比例原则。建议《反垄断法》专章规定“垄断行为的预防”,增加执法机构事先预防和事中监管的法定职责。落实《反垄断法》的治本之策是激活公司治理机制。公司并购反垄断中的控制权认定规则应尽量对标对表《公司法》。自我预防垄断应成为大型公司的核心社会责任。