Effect of Stakeholders’ Pressure on Transparency of Sustainability Reports within the GRI Framework

Transparency is a quality of corporate social responsibility communication that enhances the relationship between the investors and the company. The objective of this paper is to analyze if the transparency of the sustainability reports is affected by the relationship of companies in different industries with their stakeholders. If this were the case, it would indicate that the pressure of significant stakeholders determines the required level of transparency of the reports. We find that the pressure of some groups of stakeholders (customers, clients, employees, and environment) improves the quality of transparency of the reports. We extend previous research by studying the effect of stakeholder group pressure on transparency when reporting sustainability. Our results show that transparency is affected by ownership, along with size and global region.     

The Evolution of Business Groups’ Corporate Social Responsibility

Although establishing gender equality in board and managerial positions has recently become more important for organizations, companies with low levels of gender diversity seem to perceive an ethical dilemma regarding the ways, in which they attempt to attain it. One way that organizations try to move toward gender equality is through the use of their corporate websites to manage potential applicants’ impressions of their current levels of, and actions to improve, gender diversity. The dilemma is whether to truthfully communicate their low level of gender diversity, conceal it, or exaggerate it. On the one hand, organizations that are truthful may find it difficult to achieve equality because women are less attracted to companies that lack diversity. On the other hand, organizations that are untruthful risk their moral legitimacy. The present work investigates gender diversity-related communication on the corporate websites of 99 major German companies. Based on theoretical work on minority attraction, we apply an organizational impression management taxonomy to guide our in-depth content analysis. With this approach, we hope to advance the understanding of how the issue of gender diversity is presented on corporate websites, which is useful for both organizational decision makers as well as diversity researchers. We found that although gender diversity-related communications on corporate websites contain both assertive and defensive organizational impression management tactics, as well as a third type of tactic we refer to as “acknowledgement,” assertive tactics were used more frequently. We argue the existence of a paradox whereby organizations use assertive impression management tactics to maintain pragmatic legitimacy but compromise their moral legitimacy by doing so. Furthermore, we argue that moral legitimacy can be maintained or restored through the sincere use of defensive impression management tactics and acknowledgement.     

Defining the Content of Sustainability Reports in Nonprofit Organizations: Do Stakeholders Really Matter?

The aim of the article is to investigate the role of stakeholder engagement and participation in nonprofit organizations’ sustainability reporting, according to the literature on third sector and stakeholder theory. To verify the levels of involvement, the authors conducted an empirical survey, using content analysis, on a sample of 54 sustainability reports of nonprofit organizations included in the Global Reporting Initiative database as of September 1, 2012. In order to strengthen the results obtained from the content analysis, the authors shared their findings with the organizations of the sample. The survey showed that there were some criticisms regarding stakeholder participation in the targeted research field. These are considered in the conclusions. Questions for the future included whether stakeholder engagement is moving from being simply a way to consult and influence stakeholders to being an effective instrument for involving them in nonprofit organizations’ reporting and decision-making processes, through mutual commitment.     

Assurance of learning: The impact of business core course reviews on students’ scores on the comprehensive business exam for both internal and external comparative purposes

This study is the first to explore how business core course review sessions impact standardized test results. A statistically significant improvement in students’ overall scores of 16.5% was identified when core course reviews were conducted between Comprehensive Business Exam pre- and posttest dates. As a result, institutional results moved from slightly above average to the upper 15th percentile among institutions employing this exam. Additionally, scores for the economics, finance, management, and marketing core-course subject matter areas significantly improved. A review did not significantly improve scores in the accounting concept area. Implications for assurance of learning analysis are presented.     

The ‘Biophilic Organization’: An Integrative Metaphor for Corporate Sustainability

This paper proposes a new organizational metaphor, the ‘Biophilic Organization’, which aims to counter the bio-cultural disconnection of many organizations despite their espoused commitment to sustainability. This conceptual research draws on multiple disciplines such as evolutionary psychology and architecture to not only develop a diverse bio-cultural connection but to show how this connection tackles sustainability, in a holistic and systemic sense. Moreover, the paper takes an integrative view of sustainability, which effectively means that it embraces the different emergent tensions. Three specific tensions are explored: efficiency versus resilience, organizational versus personal agendas and isomorphism versus institutional change. In order to illustrate how the Biophilic Organization could potentially provide a synthesis strategy for such tensions, healthcare examples are drawn from the emerging fields of Biophilic Design in Singapore and Generative Design in the U.S.A. Finally, an example is provided which highlights how a Taoist cultural context has impacted on a business leader in China, to illustrative the significance of a transcendent belief system to such a bio-cultural narrative.     

The World Capital Markets’ Perception of Sustainability and the Impact of the Financial Crisis

Using a unique dataset provided by the international rating agency GES^®, we investigate the effects of corporate sustainability and industry-related exposure to environmental and social risks on the market value of MSCI World firms. The results show a negative relationship in the earlier years of our sample period. However, the analysis reveals that the capital market perception of sustainability has changed owing to the financial crisis. Looking at the height of the crisis in September 2008, the month in which Lehman Brothers shocked the world’s capital markets by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, we find that the previously negative perception of corporate sustainability across its various dimensions was positively affected and offset. In addition, as a moderated regression analysis shows, the crisis led to a positive perception of corporate sustainability in industries that are exposed to higher environmental and social risks. Our study has the practical implication that executives, in particular in industries with high environmental and social risks, should increase their commitment to corporate sustainability due to the changes in the institutional setting triggered by the financial crisis.     

The effect of attribute originality on consumers’ adoption intention of customization: The role of construal level

As consumers' preferences become increasingly diversified, many companies strive to satisfy individual needs by offering customization options for products or services. To enhance the effectiveness of customization strategies, managers need to decide what type of attributes to provide for consumers to customize and also take consumers' individual differences into consideration. The current research investigates the joint impacts of the originality of the attributes involved in a customization option and consumers' construal level on their intention to adopt customization. Findings from two experiments consistently demonstrate that, in comparison to customization options that include common customizable attributes, offering customization options that includes original customizable attributes undermine consumers’ adoption intention. However, such negative effects will be mitigated when consumers have a high construal level.     

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Use of Ethics-Related Terms in 10-K Reports

We examine the occurrence of ethics- related terms in 10-K annual reports over 1994–2006 and offer empirical observations on the conceptual framework of Erhard et al. (Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics, and Legality (Harvard Business School, Harvard) 2007). We use a pre-Sarbanes-Oxley sample subset to compare the occurrence of ethics-related terms in our 10-K data with samples from other studies that consider virtue-related phenomena. We find that firms using ethics-related terms are more likely to be “sin” stocks, are more likely to be the object of class action lawsuits, and are more likely to score poorly on measures of corporate governance. The consistency of our results across these alternative measures of ethical behavior suggests that managers who portray their firm as “ethical” in 10-K reports are more likely to be systematically misleading the public. These results are consistent with the integrity-performance paradox.     

Individuals’ Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Emerging Market Multinationals: Ethical Foundations and Construct Validation

Journal of Business Ethics - Entry of new organizations, including multinational enterprises from emerging markets (EMNEs), raises the ethical question of will they benefit society. The concept of...     

The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence

This paper seeks to investigate whether age is a fundamental characteristic of the relationships between determinants and growth. The empirical evidence obtained allows us to conclude that: (1) age and size are restrictive factors of the growth of young SMEs, but they are not important for the growth of old SMEs; (2) cash flow and debt are of greater relative importance for growth in young SMEs than for growth in old SMEs; (3) R&D intensity and labour productivity are of greater relative importance for growth in old SMEs than for growth in young SMEs; (4) interest on debt is of greater relative importance for diminished growth in young SMEs than for diminished growth in old SMEs; and (5) R&D intensity in situations of financial deficit is of greater relative importance for diminished growth in young SMEs than for diminished growth in old SMEs, but only in context of high-tech SMEs.     

The Mismeasure of Psychopathy: A Commentary on Boddy’s PM-MRV

Boddy and his colleagues have published several articles on “corporate psychopathy” using what they refer to as a Psychopathy Measure—Management Research Version (PM-MRV). They based this measure on the items that comprise the Interpersonal and Affective dimensions (Factor 1) of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a widely used copyrighted and controlled instrument. The PM-MRV not only misspecifies the construct of psychopathy, but also serves as an example of the problems associated with an attempt to form a “new” scale by adapting items from a proprietary scale. The PCL-R measures a superordinate construct underpinned by four correlated dimensions or first-order factors, not just the two in the PM-MRV. The other two dimensions are Lifestyle and Antisocial, which together form Factor 2 of the PCL-R. As defined by the PCL-R, psychopathy requires high scores on both Factor 1 and Factor 2. Lack of validity aside, even if the PM-MRV were to be a useful measure of Factor 1, it would not discriminate between psychopathy and other “dark personalities,” such as Machiavellianism and narcissism, which, along with psychopathy, form the Dark Triad. This lack of discrimination stems from the fact that each of these personalities shares features measured by Factor 1 and, by implication, by the PM-MRV. Research findings based on the PM-MRV may have some meaning with respect to dark personalities in general, but their relevance to psychopathy, as measured with the PCL-R, is tenuous at best.     

The effect of online scheduling on employees’ quality of life

Online employee scheduling has increased in popularity in recent years, especially among hourly workers who have grown up in the information age and the flexibility it provides increases their sense of job autonomy. This article reports on two studies that investigated the impact of work scheduling flexibility on employees’ personal well-being. One study collected data from current users of an online scheduling product and the other study collected information from hospitality management students who are potential future users of online scheduling software. The studies found that online scheduling helps to enhance employees’ personal well-being through satisfaction with schedule flexibility and job autonomy.     

The impact of retail out-of-stock options on preferences: The role of consumers’ desire for assimilation versus differentiation

This study tested the hypothesis that retail customers’ drive to assimilation or differentiation moderates the effect on their initial preference for a particular product of their discovery in the store of a previously unconsidered comparable alternative, which happens to be presently out of stock. The results revealed that new awareness of alternative options has an impact on customers’ preferences, even if they are unavailable when the choice is being made. Participants who were more concerned with differentiation exhibited a stronger preference for the option originally under consideration if they were told that the alternative was out of stock due to heavy demand rather than short supply. By comparison, those more concerned with assimilation had a weaker preference for the initial product when they learnt that its unavailability was said to be due to heavy demand, not supply shortfall. The article concludes with theoretical implications and areas for future research.     

Governance Structure and the Credibility Gap: Experimental Evidence on Family Businesses’ Sustainability Reporting

This paper examines the success of corporate communication in voluntary sustainability reporting. Existing studies have focused on the perspective of the communicators but lack an understanding of the perspective of information recipients to clearly evaluate this interactive communication process. This paper looks at the issue of a credibility gap perceived by external stakeholders when they doubt the authenticity of communicated information due to the reporting company’s governance structure. The paper uses family businesses to exemplify the emergence of such a gap when outsiders become concerned about the potential agency problem of the integrated ownership and management controlled by a few members of the same family. Following source credibility theory, these concerns raise a credibility gap associated with a family firm’s trustworthiness and goodwill, even if the family has the expertise to carry out sustainability reporting. The findings of two experimental studies indicate that family businesses suffer a greater credibility gap than non-family businesses. An external and independent assurance service can mitigate such gaps, especially when the service is comprehensive and targets family businesses. The paper provides a complete view evaluating corporate communication by looking at the interaction between the communicating company and the information recipients.     

Victim and Culprit? The Effects of Entitlement and Felt Accountability on Perceptions of Abusive Supervision and Perpetration of Workplace Bullying

Although workplace bullying is common and has universally harmful effects on employees’ outcomes, little is known about workplace bullies. To address this gap in knowledge, we draw from the tenets of social exchange and displaced aggression theories in order to develop and test a model of workplace bullying that incorporates the effects of employees’ individual differences (i.e., entitlement), perceptions of their work environments (i.e., felt accountability), and perceptions of supervisory treatment (i.e., perceptions of abusive supervision) on their tendencies to bully coworkers. The results of mediated moderation analyses that examine responses from two samples of working adults (n _{Sample 1} = 396; n _{Sample 2} = 123) support our hypotheses. Specifically, we find evidence of an indirect relationship between entitlement and coworker bullying through perceptions of abusive supervision that is stronger for employees who report lower levels of felt accountability than employees who report higher levels of felt accountability. This study makes important theoretical and practical contributions to abusive supervision research, bullying research, and organizational efforts to promote ethical work environments devoid of interpersonal mistreatment by providing novel insight into how employees’ entitlement and felt accountability combine to influence their tendencies to perceive themselves as victims of abusive supervision and culprits of coworker bullying.     

The Impact of Acculturation on Immigrants’ Business Ethics Attitudes

This study explores to what extent immigrants adopt the business ethical attitudes of their host country and/or maintain those of their country of origin. For countries that have significant immigration, acculturation is an important social issue. An immigrant’s acculturation is influenced through the ability to adapt his/her “ethical culture of origin” by integrating it with the host country’s ethical culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the role of acculturation on immigrant’s ethical attitudes. What happens to individuals, who have developed in one cultural context, when they attempt to live in a new cultural context? Three groups were the object of this study: (1) native students of business administration in Israel, (2) students of business administration in the Ukraine and (3) business students in Israel who had emigrated from the Ukraine. Samples of these student populations allowed the study of acculturation effects on the immigrants as they acclimated to Israeli society. Results showed that students living in the Ukraine had the lowest ethical attitudes, followed by Ukraine immigrants in Israel. Israeli-born students had significantly higher ethical attitudes than either of the two Ukrainian groups. Accordingly, the ethical perceptions of immigrant students showed that they were influenced by both their home and host cultures. According to Berry’s (Appl Psychol Int Rev 46(1): 5–68, 1997) model of acculturation strategies, integration was their preferred strategy. The implications of these results and guidelines for further research are suggested.     

The Impact of Cross-Channel Integration on Retailers’ Sales Growth

The authors propose a conceptual framework to explain whether and under what firm-level conditions cross-channel integration impacts firm sales growth. To test the theory, the authors conduct a qualitative grounded-theory study to build a measurement tool for cross-channel integration at four levels and analyze longitudinal data on 71 publicly traded U.S. retail firms from 2008 to 2011, gathered from multiple secondary sources. The findings reveal that cross-channel integration stimulates sales growth, but that firm online experience and physical-store presence weaken this effect.     

The impact of social cues on passengers’ travel experience

Despite the importance of social cues in service experience environments, little is known about the role of other customer perceptions (OCP) in the formation of passengers’ travel experience (PTE) and loyalty in public transportation. This study examines the impact of OCP on PTE and loyalty in public transportation and also investigates the moderating role of face-consciousness between OCP and PTE. Results revealed that all three dimensions of OCP have a positive effect on PTE, which consequently influences loyalty. More importantly, face-consciousness moderated the relationship between suitable behavior and PTE. Transport managers can benefit from these findings by considering the social environment as they design their services.     

The Effects of Management’s Preannouncement Strategies on Investors’ Judgments of the Trustworthiness of Management

This paper examines the role of management’s earnings preannouncements on judgments about its trustworthiness by nonprofessional investors. We predict that management’s preannouncement decision and the resulting direction (e.g., favorable vs. unfavorable) of the earnings surprise influence investors’ ethical judgments about management’s trustworthiness; these judgments, in turn, are associated with investors’ other investment related judgments. We test our predictions in an experiment in which MBA students make investment-related judgments under four different preannouncement strategies. Consistent with our predictions, the results of our study show that managers’ preannouncement decisions are significantly associated with investors’ evaluations of management’s trustworthiness. Specifically, holding the size of the earnings surprise constant, we find that judgments of management’s trustworthiness are damaged more following (a) a negative as opposed to a positive earnings surprise, and (b) the release of a preannouncement compared to when management does not issue a preannouncement. Also consistent with our predictions, we find that evaluations of management’s trustworthiness are significantly and positively associated with judgments of the attractiveness of the firm’s equity as an investment. Based on our findings, we encourage further research to explore whether managers understand the trust implications associated with their preannouncement decisions and the extent to which this understanding influences their disclosure decisions. Anna M. Cianci is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department at Drexel University. She received her Ph.D. from Duke University in Accounting. Her primary research interests are judgement and decision making issues in financial accounting and auditing. Steve Kaplan is a Professor of Accounting at Arizona State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1981. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He␣has published widely in journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Business Ethics Quarterly and Journal of Business Ethics. He is the Previous editor of Behavioral Research in Accounting, a section journal of the American Accounting Association. His primary research interests are behavioral issues, judgment and decision making, and ethics     

Effect of generational status on immigrants’ intentions to start new ventures: The role of cognitions

Immigrants contribute to the economic development of their host nation by starting business ventures. However, knowledge of whether or not their intentions to do so changes from generation to generation is not complete. We contribute to filling this gap by analyzing the role of generational status on immigrants’ entrepreneurial intentions. In order to explain the mechanism underlying this effect, we focused on the role of cultural intelligence and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Empirical analyses based on a sample of 289 respondents support our hypothesized arguments. We discuss the findings, advance theoretical contributions and draw implications for social and public policy.