Showing papers in "Business & Society in 2006"
TL;DR: In this article, a classification of corporate social action underlying the Social Ratings Data compiled by Kinder Lydenburg Domini Analytics, Inc. is presented, comparing extant typologies of c...
Abstract: The contribution of this work is a classification of corporate social action underlying the Social Ratings Data compiled by Kinder Lydenburg Domini Analytics, Inc. We compare extant typologies of c...
659 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of MNEs in community development initiatives in developing countries, using the Nigeria oil industry and the South African mining industry as case study, is examined.
Abstract: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have long had a reputation of not doing enough for their host communities in developing countries. This study critically examines the role of MNEs in community development initiatives in developing countries, using the Nigeria oil industry and the South African mining industry as case study. Specifically, the study assessed the usefulness of MNE-supported community development projects as a means of demonstrating corporate social responsibility. The findings suggest that expectations for community development projects are greater in developing countries. This study introduced new information on MNEs'local development programs that were drawn from interviews with MNEs'managers, government officials, and local communities.
226 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework that explains why parent companies would mandate their operational units to certify to ISO 14001 was proposed, based on institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm.
Abstract: Thousands of facilities worldwide have certified to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, the international environmental management system standard, and previous research typically has studied these certification decisions at the facility level. However, significant anecdotal evidence indicates that firms may have a strong role, and if so, prior studies may be drawing inappropriate conclusions about the rationale for ISO 14001 certification. Drawing on institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm, this study offers a conceptual framework that explains why parent companies would mandate—rather than simply encourage—their operational units to certify to ISO 14001. The framework is tested using survey data of corporate environmental managers. The results show that firms have a central role in nearly half of all facility-level certifications and that firms that mandate ISO 14001 endure greater external pressures and have stronger complementary resources and capabilities ...
202 citations
TL;DR: In this article, one stakeholder group consists of undergraduate business students, who collectively constitute the future leadership of corporations, and they are the future leaders of the world's largest companies.
Abstract: Corporations have multiple stakeholder groups. One stakeholder group consists of undergraduate business students, who collectively constitute the future leadership of corporations. Given the so-cal...
169 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the influence of women in business using a sample of firms on Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list and found a significant increase in the number of female directors on Fortune 500 companies between 1977 and 2001.
Abstract: This study examines the influence of women in business using a sample of firms on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and is an extension of Bernardi et al.'s work. We use the data from Bernardi et al. to determine whether a higher representation of women on a board signals an increased commitment of a firm to a quality environment and employment characteristics necessary to establish the firm on Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Our findings include a significant increase in the number of female directors on Fortune 500 companies between 1977 and 2001. The initial analysis of the 27 firms appearing on both Fortune's “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and the Fortune 500 in 2001 indicates a positive correlation between the number of female directors and a company's appearance on the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.
161 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on identifying the factors that initially lead a stakeholder group to target a particular firm and use case studies of five environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to address the propositions.
Abstract: Although business and society scholars have sought to demonstrate that corporate social performance (CSP) leads to corporate financial performance (CFP), a complete model of the pathway from CSP to CFP has not been substantiated. One suggestion is that certain indicators of CSP are noticed by stakeholders, who then act in ways that ultimately affect the firm's CFP. The present study focused on the first step in this path: identifying the factors that initially lead a stakeholder group to target a particular firm. Existing theory from the literature on the environmental movement, stakeholder theory, and CSP fostered the development of eight propositions regarding corporate environmental performance. Case studies of five environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) are used to address the propositions. The case studies also supply additional insight into ENGO targeting of particular firms, unrelated to the propositions, thereby facilitating the development of a theoretical model.
133 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of nongovern-mental organizations (NGO) in MNCs' advocacy efforts and examine the impact of these efforts on the MNC's performance.
Abstract: Multinational corporations (MNCs) are the frequent target of nongovern-mental organizations (NGOs) in their advocacy efforts. In this article, the author examines NGO advocacy as it occurs in the N...
117 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the presence of spiritual ideologies in management theories and derive four organizational types of spirituality: the soulful organization, the holistic organization, ascetic organization, and the professional organization.
Abstract: The topic of spirituality is gaining an increasing visibility in organizational studies. It is the authors contention that every theory of organization has explicit or implicit views of spirituality in the workplace. To analyze the presence of spiritual ideologies in management theories, they depart from Barley and Kunda's Administrative Science Quarterly article and analyze management theories as spirituality theories with regard to representations of people and the organization. From this analysis, we extract two major dimensions of people (as dependent or independent workers) and the organization (as spiritually informed or spiritually uninformed) that, in combination, result in a typology that advances four organizational types of spirituality: the soulful organization, the holistic organization, the ascetic organization, and the professional organization. The expression of spirituality in each of these forms is discussed with the aim of contributing to a critically informed analysis of organizational...
60 citations
TL;DR: For a number of years, there has been a trend toward ever-increasing salary differentials in business organizations as mentioned in this paper, which may not be warranted by companies' performance records (Colvin, Harrington & Hjelt, 2001; Craig, 2003; Loomis, 2001, Useem & Florian, 2003); and some corporate governance structures have apparently allowed executives to receive extremely large pay packages in the form of stock options even while investors suffered losses.
Abstract: For a number of years, there has been a trend toward ever-increasing salary differentials in business organizations. While pay for the lowest-earning workers decreased between 1960 and 1990, compensation for top managers increased greatly (Feenstra & Hanson, 1996; Juhn, Murphy & Pierce, 1993; Mishel, Bernstein & Schmitt, 1996). However, these pay disparities may not be warranted by companies’ performance records (Colvin, Harrington & Hjelt, 2001; Craig, 2003; Loomis, 2001; Useem & Florian, 2003). Moreover, some corporate governance structures have apparently allowed executives to receive extremely large pay packages in the form of stock options even while investors suffered losses (Fox, 2002). This has prompted Fortune, a pro-business magazine, to call current executive pay practices ‘over-the-top CEO piggishness’(Fox, 2002, p. 70) and ‘outrageous,’ ‘madness,’ or ‘grossly high — astronomical’ (Colvin, Harrington & Hjelt, 2001, p. 64). Even Professor Michael Jensen, an advocate of high executive pay, has professed: ‘I’ve generally worried these guys weren’t getting paid enough […]. But now even I’m troubled’ (Colvin, Harrington & Hjelt, 2001, p. 64).
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the impact of human rights conditions on foreign direct investment (FDI) and find that human rights are a significant determinant of the amount of FDI inflows.
Abstract: The authors analyze the impact of human rights conditions on foreign direct investment (FDI). Extant literature in this area raises conflicting expectations. Although the “conventional wisdom” posits that repression creates a stable, compliant, and relatively inexpensive host for FDI, there are contending arguments that the protection of human rights reduces risk and contributes toward economic efficiency and effectiveness. Moreover, the burgeoning “spotlight” regime may also punish firms who locate in repressive regimes. Conceptualizing FDI as a two-part process—the initial decision to invest and the subsequent decision of investment amount—the authors assess human rights as a determinant of FDI. Using a two-stage model, they test their hypotheses across developing countries for the years 1980 to 2003. They find that human rights are a significant determinant of the amount of FDI inflows.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a conceptual framework for understanding the effectiveness of regimes, with seven propositions, including the difficulty of the problem being addressed is a key factor in limiting regime effectiveness and this problem can be addressed in part by careful development of formal regime policies.
Abstract: An increasing number of global policy regimes are intended to influence international business practices, but their effectiveness is uncertain. This article presents a conceptual framework for understanding the effectiveness of regimes, with seven propositions. The case of the evolving global anticorruption regime is described and used to test the propositions. Two key conclusions are (a) the difficulty of the problem being addressed is a key factor in limiting regime effectiveness and (b) this problem, as well as others, can be addressed in part by careful development of formal regime policies. Implications for scholarship and practice are presented.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented a bibliometric analysis of research and theory on corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance, which included a list of frequently cited articles in these fields.
Abstract: Recently, the authors presented a bibliometric analysis of research and theory on corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance, which included a list of frequently cited articles in these fields. This list caused some questions, and therefore this research note aims to supplement and discuss the findings presented in the original study to (a) explain the composition of the dataset used, (b) highlight some problems pertaining to bibliometric research, and (c) underline why such studies nevertheless are useful, also in business and society research.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used qualitative methods and discourse analysis to explore how the Canadian forest sector exhibits a hybrid mix of substantive and symbolic management of legitimacy and of procedural and symbolic processes of legitimation.
Abstract: The Canadian forest sector provides a rich contextual basis for examining organizational legitimacy and legitimating mechanisms. The author used qualitative methods and discourse analysis to explore how the Canadian forest sector exhibits a hybrid mix of substantive and symbolic management of legitimacy and of procedural and symbolic processes of legitimation. Findings support the mystifying nature of “green” legitimation and the superficial and mystifying nature of some of the discourse that is being used in this sector. In some cases, language is being used to attempt to change definitions of social legitimacy to enhance a record of sustainable forest management practice.
TL;DR: This article examined six firms' corporate social responsibility activities within the beer industry in an effort to identify and compare these firms' stakeholder relations, and the results have implications in understanding and assessment of corporate responsibility practices both within and across business industry groups.
Abstract: Scholars and practitioners have wondered and debated over the participation of business organizations in the corporate social environment as well as argued over the successes or limitations of such participation. The authors examined six firms' corporate social responsibility activities within the beer industry in an effort to identify and compare these firms' stakeholder relations. The results have implications in our understanding and assessment of corporate social responsibility practices both within and across business industry groups.
TL;DR: In this paper, a research instrument is developed and preliminarily validated to formally measure the level of national business ethics activity for any country in the world, including academia, business, social or ethical investment, business ethics organizations, government activity, social activist groups, and media coverage.
Abstract: A research instrument is developed and preliminarily validated to formally measure the level of national business ethics activity for any country in the world. The seven dimensions measured include (a) academia, (b) business, (c) social or ethical investment, (d) business ethics organizations, (e) government activity, (f) social activist groups, and (g) media coverage. Results from the validation survey and examples are provided for each of the dimensions. The article concludes with future research directions for the instrument.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied how seven pharmaceutical companies reacted over the years to accusations of being socially irresponsible in dealing with the HIV virus in Africa, and they found that institutional and task environmental factors interact to precipitate pharmaceutical companies' reactions.
Abstract: This study shows that firms respond in strategic ways to institutional pressures that stem from social scandals. Through the formal analysis of the historical narrative of events, the authors studied how seven pharmaceutical companies reacted over the years to accusations of being socially irresponsible in dealing with the HIV virus in Africa. The analysis shows that institutional and task environmental factors interact to precipitate pharmaceutical companies' reactions. Although firms' behaviors were indeed affected by institutional pressures exerted by activist groups and the media, they did not passively adapt to these pressures. Instead, they decoupled their core technical activities from their policy announcements (by delaying the implementation of promised concessions) and used institutional pressure in the organizational field as a way of pursuing their own economic interests.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on structuration theory and social identity theory to isolate firm-internal institutionalization processes as antecedents and drivers of corporate political strategizing, arguing that institutional features of competitive environments precipitate in processes of identity building and preference formation and are reproduced through organizational routines and practices within the firm.
Abstract: This conceptual article draws on structuration theory and social identity theory to isolate firm-internal institutionalization processes as antecedents and drivers of corporate political strategizing. Path dependencies in corporate routines and actors' knowledgeability about these path dependencies are singled out as primary factors structuring strategic decision making within the firm. The concepts of path dependency and knowledgeability, respectively, refer to the institutional and cognitive dimension of corporate political strategizing. These two dimensions come together in actors' identities. Identities on their turn shape managers' recognition of policy issues and the interpretation of issue salience relative to corporate interests. Thus, the article argues that institutional features of competitive environments precipitate in processes of identity building and preference formation and are reproduced through organizational routines and practices within the firm.
TL;DR: In this paper, signal detection theory is used to model the individual and situational effects on assessments that someone has lied, and examples of how it can be applied to model other moral judgments are provided.
Abstract: Recognizing dishonesty is difficult. It involves both cognitive and moral judgments in situations where it is often costly to gather information. Some individuals are better at it than others; some situations make information gathering less costly. This article uses signal detection theory to model the individual and situational effects on assessments that someone has lied. Signal detection theory is explained, and examples of how it can be used to model other moral judgments are provided.