Does corporate philanthropy exist?: business giving to the arts in the U.K.

This paper addresses the question of the existence of corporate philanthropy. It proposes a framework for analysing corporate philanthropy along the dimensions of business/society interest and primary/secondary stakeholder focus. The framework is then applied in order to understand business involvement with the arts in the U.K. A unique dataset of 60 texts which describe different firms' involvement with the Arts is analysed using formal content analysis to uncover the motivations for business involvement. Cluster analysis is then used in order to identify motivational groupings. Two broad types of involvement are identified – advertisers and legitimators. Only in one case of the 60 is there the potential to observe pure altruism. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a clear framework to understand the motivations for corporate giving and applies this using empirical data. Secondly, this research finds little evidence, if at all, of corporate philanthropy in the context of firms giving to the Arts in the U.K.     

Supplier Partnerships and the Small, High-Growth Firm: Selecting for Success

Strategic partnerships are commonplace in today's global economy. Effective use of partnerships are viewed increasingly as an important issue facing small, growth-oriented firms. A key debate is how small firms should manage supplier partnerships. Contrasting the debate about the extent to which small firms are inertial versus adaptive, the impact of growth on value chain partnerships with suppliers was investigated. Data collected from 91 pharmaceutical-related firms is used to test the proposition that firm growth is related positively to maintaining or to expanding relationships with suppliers, not to terminating partnerships. The paper further posits that this relationship between firm growth and the amount purchased from a supplier is moderated by the perceived effectiveness of the value-chain partnerships such that when effectiveness is higher, the relationship between sales growth and the amount purchased from a value-chain partner is stronger. The propositions, which are tested with regression analysis, are supported partially.     

Institutional industry herding

We examine whether institutional investors follow each other into and out of the same industries. Our empirical results reveal strong evidence of institutional industry herding. The cross-sectional correlation between the fraction of institutional traders buying an industry this quarter and the fraction buying last quarter, for example, averages 40%. Additional tests suggest that correlated signals primarily drive institutional industry herding. Our results also provide empirical support for “style investing” models.     

Export Performance,Invoice Currency and Heterogeneous Exchange Rate Pass‐through

Using comprehensive, shipment‐level merchandise trade data for a small, open economy, we examine heterogeneity in exporters' exchange rate pass‐through (ERPT) behaviour. We draw together two recent studies of ERPT, linking invoice currency decisions and firm performance to heterogeneity in ERPT. Like these studies, we find that the short‐run reaction of export unit values to exchange rate fluctuations is significantly related to both invoice currency choice and exporter characteristics when these are analysed separately. However, we then show that when the two factors are jointly accounted for, the role of exporter characteristics largely disappears. That is, some firm types are more inclined to invoice in the producer currency, while others use either the local or a vehicle currency. In the short run, this translates into differences in exchange rate pass‐through because of price rigidity in the invoice currency. Firm characteristics do not have an independent impact on pass‐through beyond their effect on currency composition. Differences across invoice currencies diminish over time, but do not disappear, as prices adjust to reflect bilateral exchange rate movements.     

Corporate ethical consulting: Developing management strategies for corporate ethics

The increase of scandals in the business sector is forcing many companies to examine their corporate ethical behavior with a view toward rebuilding their corporate value system. This article describes how value-system reconstruction must proceed in a company and demonstrates that corporate ethics can only become plausible if based on a corporate ethical ethos. It outlines a five-step development plan of management strategies toward rebuilding a company's value system on this corporate ethos through: corporate policy and strategy reformulation; corporate ethical code promulgation and value-statement formulation; management ethical training and corporate ethical education; and corporate ethical performance evaluation. The role of the corporate ethical consultant is also outlined to illustrate how corporate ethical consulting can provide the specialized services designed to insure an enduring management ethical upgrading and to improve a company's corporate ethical performance record. The discussion indicates how corporate ethical consulting promotes good business through its capacity to deliver industry credibility and company security. Richard Guerrette is a Research Fellow at Yale University Divinity School, where he is conducting a research study in organization management process and corporate ethics. He is also a Lecturer in sociology at the University of Connecticut at Hartford and is an author of two books on ecumenical ministry and social movement organization in the church. He has published extensively in theological journals and has recently contributed an article on Environmental Integrity and Corporate Responsibility for the Journal of Business Ethics 5 (1986). He is the Director of Equipax, an organization/management consulting service in Farmington, Connecticut.