SMEs and the fallacy of formalising CSR

There exists increasing pressure for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, including social reporting. Curiously in this promotional programme of CSR reporting, the only group whose ideas are not sought in this debate are the SME leaders themselves. The present ethnographic field analysis, based on discussions within entrepreneurs' circles, tends to suggest that the argument for expanding formalisation of CSR to SMEs rests upon several fallacies. It implicitly assumes that an apparent solution for large multinationals can be transposed to SMEs, and it underestimates the drawbacks of bureaucracy. Moreover, many SMEs experience inconsistency between the idealistic CSR communication of some large companies and their actions, especially in the supply chain. The author concludes that reports do not constitute the validation for real CSR, nor the proof of superior ethical behaviour. Formalisation can even be counterproductive. Conversely, the absence of social reporting does not imply that SMEs do not behave responsible. CSR in SMEs needs a specific approach, adapted to the informal nature and entrepreneurial character of the small business. The essence of CSR lies in the implementation of responsible business practices. It lies in the right attitudes, in the corporate culture, not in formalisation.     

Ownership concentration and corporate governance practices: substitution or expropriation effects?

The objective of this study is to analyze the relation between ownership concentration and corporate governance practices of a group of Canadian companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. We rely on the corporate governance index developed by the Report on Business (ROB) in 2002. Our empirical results are consistent with the expropriation effect argument that predicts a negative relation between deviation from the one share‐one vote rule and corporate governance best practices. In this context, the dominant shareholder has incentives to maintain weak internal controls in order to facilitate expropriation. In addition, consistent with prior research, our results give partial support to the substitution effect argument by showing a negative impact of ownership concentration on the board composition subindex. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘An Examination of the Ethical Commitment of Professional Accountants to Auditor Independence’

This research explores the relationship between work context and professional ethics. Specifically, we analyze through an online survey of professional accountants the degree to which changing work conditions have altered individual accountants’ commitment to the core professional value of auditor independence. We argue that certain changes in the condition of work have made some categories of accountants more susceptible to the logic of commercialism rather than the logic of professionalism. We find general support for this argument. We observe that accountants working outside of public accounting have a higher commitment to independence than do accountants working in the context of public accounting firms. We further observe that accountants in large international accounting firms (i.e. the “Big Four”) report lower commitment to auditor independence than do others in public accounting. And we observe that older accountants report stronger commitment to auditor independence. One finding, however, contradicts our general thesis. We find that commitment to one’s client does not necessarily result in a loss of commitment to the core professional value of independence. We conclude that changes in the context of work have contributed to the demise of ethics among professional accountants and suggest that further research be done to elaborate the relationship between client commitment and independence commitment.     

共同领导新模式

正对很多企业来说,成长的机会跨越不同的市场疆域,而且挑战组织内部的界限。要做到这一点,需要跨部门来制定整合的策略和行动。这意味着,企业迫切需要针对高层,引进全新的领导模式当企业改变商业模式,高管团队最好也跟着改变彼此的互动模式。灵活应变的企业里,各部门的主管应建立相互依赖的关系,激励相互扶持,并谨慎处理这些关系,以促进协同合作。成功企业的高管,通常     

Traders' Bidding Strategies on European Grain Export Refunds: An Analysis with Affiliated Signals

Using a multivariate distribution of traders' information with correlations, we specify the traders' bidding strategies on tenders of European soft wheat intervention stocks. We show that correlations may have opposing effects on the traders' bidding strategy, depending on their valuation of the grain. This structural approach allows us to estimate the traders' strategies using generalized method of moments procedures.     

THE CEO: A VISIBLE HAND IN WEALTH CREATION?

Commensurate with the growth of their pay packages and public visibility, the role of the CEO in the corporate value creation process has increased significantly in recent years. This article argues that sustained wealth creation in a corporation has three distinct elements. The first and most basic is the selection of the lines of business in which to operate; this element is probably the most visible manifestation of CEO action in large corporations today. The second element is the value creation model, which answers the question: How is this particular set of businesses expected to add value over and above the sum of the values of each business or asset category standing alone? The third element is the internal governance system, which establishes the corporate structure and administrative processes of the firm and, perhaps even more important, defines the corporate values that drive the strategic and operational priorities of the different business units. The authors suggest that the essence of the work of the CEO is to develop and maintain a balanced relationship among these three elements of wealth creation and to ensure that the relationship evolves in the face of changing circumstances. CEOs are inevitably faced with dilemmas in managing this process—in particular, the need to balance continuity and change and to maintain the integrity of short‐term performance disciplines while encouraging not only investment in growth opportunities (which can hurt near term performance), but also experimentation and collaboration among business units (which are difficult to measure and reward with most performance measurement and incentive schemes). Adding to the difficulties of managing such dilemmas, visibility and a strong public image are often thrust upon (if not sought by) CEOs, who must then determine how they can use that image to strengthen the commitment of their employees and investors.     

The geometry of finite equilibrium datasets

We investigate the geometry of finite datasets defined by equilibrium prices, income distributions, and total resources. We show that the equilibrium condition imposes no restrictions if total resources are collinear, a property that is robust to small perturbations. We also show that the set of equilibrium datasets is pathconnected when the equilibrium condition does impose restrictions on datasets, as for example when total resources are widely noncollinear.     

Exchange rate regimes and import pricing

To what extent exchange rate variations are passed through into import prices has been on the research agenda over the past decade. Research efforts have focused on the very existence of pricing to market and on differences in pass-through behaviour between industries. Much less research has been devoted to the factors behind variations in pass-through behaviour within industries, and to changes in this behaviour over time. The change of exchange rate regime in Sweden in 1992 is used here to illustrate how the interaction between alternative exchange rate regimes, fixed and floating, and pricing behaviour affects pass-through behaviour. The study concentrates on the passenger car industry.