Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports

Companies commonly issue sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. This study seeks to understand worldviews of corporate sustainability, or the corporate message conveyed regarding what sustainability or CSR is and how to enact it. Content analysis of corporate sustainability reports is used to position each company report within stages of corporate sustainability. Results reveal that there are multiple coexisting worldviews of corporate sustainability, but the most dominant worldview is focused on the business case for sustainability, a position anchored in the weak sustainability paradigm. We contend that the business case and weak sustainability advanced in corporate sustainability reports and by the Global Reporting Initiative are poor representations of sustainability. Ecological embeddedness, or a locally responsive strategy that is sensitive to local ecosystems, may hold the key to improved ecological sensemaking, which in turn could lead to more mature levels of corporate sustainability worldviews that support strong sustainability and are rooted in environmental science. This must be supported by government regulation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Symmetric and asymmetric committees

This paper studies the assignment of decision makers to two committees that make decisions by a simple majority rule. There is an even number of decision makers at each of the various skill levels and each committee has an odd number of members. Surprisingly, even with the symmetric assumptions in the spirit of Condorcet, a symmetric composition of committees is not always optimal. In other words, decision makers with different skill levels should not generally be evenly divided among the committees. However, in the special case of only two skill levels, it is optimal to compose the committees evenly.     

Measuring Serious Leisure in Chess: Model Confirmation and Method Bias

The serious leisure inventory and measure (SLIM) was tested with 348 chess players to confirm the factors, assess the effects of method bias, and propose a set of the best-performing items for the 18 factor SLIM. The 54-item SLIM demonstrated acceptable fit and reliability values. The effect of method bias was evidenced in the sample and explained one-third of the variance. Inspection of factor loadings, when controlling for method bias, yielded one best-performing item per factor. Findings indicate method bias continues to be problematic for self-report measures such as the SLIM.     

“国际金融中心”需要怎样的城市形象广告片?——上海城市形象广告片的受众认知和态度比较研究

上海立志建设成为国际金融中心,打造这一城市品牌形象是一个系统工程,营销传播工作是重要的组成。本研究从广告效果空间论角度,对上海现有的四部城市形象广告进行了受众认知和态度效果的比较,并引入中外受众所代表的不同涉入度作为调节变量。我们根据结果绘制了四支广告在认知-态度二维图上的位置,并发现不同涉入度对认知效果没有调节作用,而对态度效果上则有调节作用。基于这些发现,我们提出了如何创作有效的国际金融中心城市形象广告的建议。     

For the greater good: business networks and business social responsibility to communities

Business networks (co-operative arrangements between independent business organizations) may be the signature organizational form of the contemporary global economy. Many policy-makers and local leaders advocate business network membership as an alternative development strategy for regional economic vitality. The extant literature on business networks has focused on their association with business success. However, little is known about their impact on other aspects of community life. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the role of network membership on one non-economic dimension of the business community interface. We examined the relationship between business network membership and business social responsibility to communities, defined as the provision of leadership and support for community betterment projects. Data were gathered from telephone interviews with a random sample of 460 non-metro small business operators in the USA. Independent t-tests and ordinary least squares regression analyses controlling for theoretically important variables were conducted. Findings show that networked businesses provide more leadership and support for their communities than non-networked businesses. However, networked businesses were no more likely than non-networked businesses to use local suppliers of goods and services.     

Doctrine of relative purchasing power parity under fixed and flexible exchange rates reconsidered

The doctrine of relative purchasing power parity during periods of fixed and flexible exchange rates is investigated. Using cointegration techniques and data for the Group of Seven countries, a subset of the results suggests, that purchasing power parity held only between the United States and the United Kingdom over the period 1957 QI to 1973 QII. Different results are obtained for the 1973 QIII to 1990 QIV period. Based on the maximum likelihood approach of Johansen and Juselius and an error correction model, it is concluded that purchasing power parity held between the United States and Canada, the United States and France, the United States and Italy, and the United States and the United Kingdom.     

Corporate philanthropy: Insights from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China

We explore the equity market impact of board announcements of corporate donations made in response to the May 12th 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. Our event study uses a sample of board announcements of corporate donations from Chinese A-share listed companies. We find that donor companies providing products and/or services directly to end-consumers tend to enjoy higher abnormal stock returns, thereby documenting a link between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance at least for some corporate citizens. In light of the empirical results, the study suggests that corporate philanthropic involvement should be treated as a differentiated type of marketing tool to obtain social reputation and publicity, as well as a relationship cultivation mechanism with local government authorities.