This thesis is an examination of the financial consequences of corporations engaging in socially responsible activities. It is motivated by the recognition that a socially responsible approach can fundamentally change the conduct and operation of business, which in turn may have a significant impact on financial outcomes both for individual companies as well as the wider economy. If social responsibility improves financial performance then managers, investors and society at large can have confidence that these activities increase prosperity as well as social welfare, making them unequivocally desirable. Four empirical studies were undertaken of different but related financial aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR), specifically; the determinants of social responsibility and the effect of social responsibility on profitability, market value and stock return. In chapter two corporate social responsibility was found to be consistently and positively related to company size and certain industry characteristics, in particular companies that deal directly with the public (rather than with other companies) and companies in extractive and regulated industries were associated with a greater engagement in CSR. Although in some instances a positive link was found between return on assets and subsequent levels of corporate social responsibility the results were not consistent suggesting that higher than average profitability is not a prerequisite or consistent spur to additional social responsibility. A new methodology was also deployed, system GMM as another way of assessing the corporate social responsibility / corporate financial performance relationship; this gave broadly similar results. Chapter three assessed the relationship between social responsibility and responsibility on profitability. There was a positive significant association with return on assets but generally insignificant results when return on sales was used as the measure of financial performance. This may indicate that social responsibility is materially associated with a better utilisation of the internal assets used by a business but that this does not extend to obtaining better margins from external customers. Alternatively it may indicate that CSR has no consistent unambiguous effect on financial results or finally that it is difficult to witness an effect by using a cross sectional approach. To more directly assess if social responsibility has an impact on financial performance a time series analysis was also carried out, no significant result was found. However given the degree of inertia in corporate social responsibility the five years of data available is unlikely to be a sufficiently long to detect any effect. Chapter four contains a study of the effect of corporate social responsibility on market value. This uses value relevance methodology which is a relatively new approach and has the advantage of both directly addressing the principal concern of critics of CSR, that it impairs shareholder wealth. On average corporate social responsibility was found to be associated with higher market value and by implication a better level of profit and/or lower levels of risk. The final empirical study in chapter five examined the role of corporate social responsibility and risk as a way of parsing the result in the previous chapter and assessing whether investor cash flow or risk was the cause of enhanced market valuations. This also has the advantage of directly looking at stock returns which is a prime concern of ethical investors. Three different methodologies were used; in each case the effect noted was small and generally not significant, suggesting that social responsibility has little discernible effect on risk and hence stock return in the UK. Overall it appears that corporate social responsibility is associated with greater market value but that no consistent unambiguous significant association between corporate social responsibility and profitability could be found using a cross sectional study. The methodologies used in the various chapters are quite different and there are also obvious differences between market value and profitability, however a more consistent result should be expected. When more extensive data sets become available a longer run time series analysis should provide additional information on the effect of corporate social responsibility on financial performance and provide a useful adjunct to this study.

In this thesis first, I investigate the link between firms’ environmental and social disclosures (ESD) and their profitability, as well as establish the direction of causality between the two. Second, I examine the association between ESD with firms’ market value, employee productivity and carbon eco-efficiency respectively. Finally, I examine the relations among firms’  CSR  related  board attributes, CSR strategy and their environmental and social performance (ESP). The first empirical chapter shows that firms with higher profitability tend to provide more ESD, which is consistent with the accounting- and economics- based arguments that ESD involve a real as well as an opportunity cost that more profitable firms with higher slack resources are better able to afford. The results regarding market value analysis show that overall ESD, in particular social disclosures matter to investors. Investors appear to be placing higher values on firms seen to be behaving in a socially responsible manner. Presumably, more responsible behaviour in the social arena reflected in higher disclosure helps to mitigate the information asymmetry, and hence the perceived social risk of the firm. Investors thus place higher values on such firms. The evidence on the link between  firms’  ESD  and  their  ESP measures supports this explanation. Specifically, I find that more social (environmental) disclosure in prior year reflects better social (environmental) performance as captured by higher employee productivity (more carbon eco-efficiency) in the current year. The results of the final empirical chapter show that boards having certain CSR- conducive attributes, particularly independent directors, women directors, and directors with financial expertise on the audit committee, are more likely to develop a multi-pronged CSR strategy which in turn translates into superior environmental and social performance. Furthermore, I find that firms with better ESP tend to further strengthen their board CSR orientation. In other words, the analysis suggests the presence of a positive and cyclical link between CSR orientation, firm CSR strategy, and firm environmental and social performance.

<p>Den rekordartade tekniska utvecklingen som världen har utsatts för under de senaste 100 åren har lett till att vi nu får se dess negativa biverkningar, förstörelsen på vår natur. Detta har i sin tur lett till att organisationer fått upp ögonen för fördelarna som uppstår med att arbeta mot miljöförstörelsen. Nya organisationer och företag gör entré på marknaden hela tiden och alla, nya som gamla, spelar en stor roll för vår miljö. Genom att arbeta för en minskad miljöpåverkan kan en organisation inte endast skaffa sig konkurrensfördelar utan även skapa ett bättre samarbete med intressenter och sina anställda.</p><p>Denna framväxt av miljömedvetna organisationer gjorde det intressant för oss som författare att titta närmare på hur dessa organisationer använder sig av grön marknadsföring. Vi valde att applicera det på en kommun, nämligen Halmstad kommun. En kommun har, precis som ett företag, mål med sin verksamhet, och detta är oftast att skapa vinst och tillväxt. Vidare har samtliga marknadsföringsmässiga mål som skall ligga i linje med organisationens övergripande mål. Det var därför intressant för oss att se vad kommunen hade för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och om grön marknadsföring användes för att uppnå dessa. Vårt huvudproblem lyder enligt följande: ” Vad har Halmstad kommun för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och används grön marknadsföring för att nå dessa?” </p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen blir således att förklara, beskriva och undersöka vad Halmstad kommun har för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och om grön marknadsföring används för att uppnå dessa. Halmstad kommun är en ekokommun och vi vill även se om de kan dra någon nytta av det i sin marknadsföring. Metodkapitlet ger en närmare beskrivning kring hur vi rent praktiskt har gått tillväga med våra undersökningar. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ ansats där vi har intervjuat åtta olika respondenter.</p><p>I den teoretiska referensramen behandlar vi relevanta teorier som vi anser oss behöva för att besvara vårt problem. Vi presenterar teorier kring begreppet Corporate Social Responsibility, grön marknadsföring, varumärke och ekokommun. I empiriavsnittet redogör vi för resultatet av intervjuerna som vi gjort med personer anställda på Halmstad kommun. Vidare i analyskapitlet ställs den insamlade teorin mot vår insamlade empiri. I det avslutande kapitlet, slutsats, görs en djupare analys där vi konstaterar att Halmstad kommun i allra högsta grad använder sig medvetet eller omedvetet av grön marknadsföring för att uppnå sina marknadsföringsmässiga mål. Vi lämnar även rekommendationer på hur kommunen kan öka sin grad av grön marknadsföring.</p>

Den rekordartade tekniska utvecklingen som världen har utsatts för under de senaste 100 åren har lett till att vi nu får se dess negativa biverkningar, förstörelsen på vår natur. Detta har i sin tur lett till att organisationer fått upp ögonen för fördelarna som uppstår med att arbeta mot miljöförstörelsen. Nya organisationer och företag gör entré på marknaden hela tiden och alla, nya som gamla, spelar en stor roll för vår miljö. Genom att arbeta för en minskad miljöpåverkan kan en organisation inte endast skaffa sig konkurrensfördelar utan även skapa ett bättre samarbete med intressenter och sina anställda. Denna framväxt av miljömedvetna organisationer gjorde det intressant för oss som författare att titta närmare på hur dessa organisationer använder sig av grön marknadsföring. Vi valde att applicera det på en kommun, nämligen Halmstad kommun. En kommun har, precis som ett företag, mål med sin verksamhet, och detta är oftast att skapa vinst och tillväxt. Vidare har samtliga marknadsföringsmässiga mål som skall ligga i linje med organisationens övergripande mål. Det var därför intressant för oss att se vad kommunen hade för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och om grön marknadsföring användes för att uppnå dessa. Vårt huvudproblem lyder enligt följande: ” Vad har Halmstad kommun för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och används grön marknadsföring för att nå dessa?” Syftet med uppsatsen blir således att förklara, beskriva och undersöka vad Halmstad kommun har för marknadsföringsmässiga mål och om grön marknadsföring används för att uppnå dessa. Halmstad kommun är en ekokommun och vi vill även se om de kan dra någon nytta av det i sin marknadsföring. Metodkapitlet ger en närmare beskrivning kring hur vi rent praktiskt har gått tillväga med våra undersökningar. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ ansats där vi har intervjuat åtta olika respondenter. I den teoretiska referensramen behandlar vi relevanta teorier som vi anser oss behöva för att besvara vårt problem. Vi presenterar teorier kring begreppet Corporate Social Responsibility, grön marknadsföring, varumärke och ekokommun. I empiriavsnittet redogör vi för resultatet av intervjuerna som vi gjort med personer anställda på Halmstad kommun. Vidare i analyskapitlet ställs den insamlade teorin mot vår insamlade empiri. I det avslutande kapitlet, slutsats, görs en djupare analys där vi konstaterar att Halmstad kommun i allra högsta grad använder sig medvetet eller omedvetet av grön marknadsföring för att uppnå sina marknadsföringsmässiga mål. Vi lämnar även rekommendationer på hur kommunen kan öka sin grad av grön marknadsföring.

Background: Most organizations rely on their information system on a daily basis to generate opportunities and advantages. Meanwhile, with the increasing emphasize on corporate social responsibility (CSR), more directors and CEOs are shifting their sights to CSR by developing business models that underline responsible and ethical disciplines for running businesses. However, studies that combine the analysis of IS and CSR are few. Therefore, the potential benefits of utilizing IS from a more intan-gible view, which means CSR in our case, are less likely be discovered. Besides, sen-ior managers have a hard time on shifting perceptions on CSR from being an add-on activity to be integrated in core operations of the organizations. Aim &amp; Purpose: The aim of our research is to investigate the functions that IS has in CSR management from managers' perspectives. As mentioned above, the main reason for con-duction this research is the existing knowledge gap through the subjects being investigated. The overall purpose for this study is to adopt EFQM Excellence Model and Work System Model to contribute to CSR value creation of the organization. Method: The current research approach is qualitative and a case study is applied as re-search strategy. Data collection is carried out by means of documents and interviews. Doc-uments include company annual reports and website information. Semi-structured inter-views are conducted with managers from Lasfosaringar Jokoping and PwC. Conclusions: The functions of IS in the management of CSR can be concluded into four aspects, which are information management, customer relationship management, monitor-ing daily affairs and corporate governance. Information system have changed the way data is being sorted, spread, disseminated and have accelerated the information exchange fre-quency in business operation. Those changes in turn reflect on the performance of cus-tomer, employee and corporate governance of the organization.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), originated from the West, has undergone significant changes along with time and context. Under the wave of globalization, it is imperative that corporate fulfill their social responsibilities worldwide. As various scholars hold different viewpoints, debates on the role of CRS and whether it is a positive or negative force continue to thrive. Based on the bipolarity, this paper analyzes the CSR in China, as well as its development and future perspectives. Mainland China (People's Republic of China) has become a focal point of global economic development in recent years, and this 'world factory' has a crucial role to play in the world's finance and industry chains. Corporate in China, therefore, cannot avoid being evolved in responsibilities in addition to making profits. The paper also made further observation on the change of corporate-social relations and drew conclusion of how Chinese corporate carry their social responsibilities. The paper began by analyzing the CSR of state-owned enterprises in the context of Chinese traditional planed economy; it then further looked into how the westernized concept evolved and developed during the economic reform in 1978 with the open policy for foreign direct investment (FDI), and how CSR in China was adapted in accordance with the ideology of socialism. The paper, through both domestic and international literature reviews, aimed to examine the course of evolution of CSR in China. Major case studies were utilized to describe the diversity of CSR development in China, and for comparison between CSR in China and that in the West.

No description available.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming more central to the success of corporations, and its importance within South Africa is pertinent given that the transition from apartheid has yet to be followed by an equalling of society, with social and economic divisions persisting. As one of the most emotive basic human rights, health care provision remains unequal, with the private sector still serving an historically advantaged minority and the public sector carrying the burden of the populist majority. This study explored the role the of the private health care sector in light of the growing importance of CSR, against the backdrop of the national health insurance debate and the understanding of the role the private sector can play in achieving the national health care objectives. Exploratory research and qualitative analysis methodology were carried out for this research, utilising in-depth semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with ten private health care sector executives. Whilst the private sector executives intellectually understood their specific context and a growing expectation of society from business, in practice the actions of CSR were still grounded in philanthropic activities. Most respondents acknowledged that more should and could be done, with the primarily obstacle being identified as a lack of teamwork and coordination across businesses in the private sector. The public sector is seen as failing, and the private sector sees itself playing a more active role in service delivery and aiding government with the training of the much needed skills within the public sector. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Corporate social responsibility has become part of the economic terminology since the seventh decade of the 20th century. From the beginning of the 21st century this context extended and multidimensional with several economic, social and legal connections. Corporate social responsibility focuses not just on the companies’ revenues, but also on the ways, companies achieve these profits. Social responsibility means satisfying stakeholders’ expectations, and the managing of economic, environmental and social aspects in relations with stakeholders in every area of influence: the workplace, market and community. The organizations should address these issues from a strategic point of view. Necessity to strengthen the quality strategy and technology is increasingly seen as a way to sustain competitive advantage of organisations and also a way to overcome disappointments with quality standards and programs in order to survive in today’s global competitive marketing. [S1]    The aim of the quality movement is to enable organizations to deliver high quality services in the shortest possible time to market, at minimum cost, and in a manner that emphasizes human dignity, work satisfaction, and mutual and long-term loyalty between the organization and its stakeholders. As such, TQM has a strong ethical dimension, advocating the importance of considering the interests of stakeholders. Quality management models and methodologies established on the extensive principles of quality are seen as a basis and catalyst for effective CSR in companies. There is not much research done on the influences and effects of TQM on CSR development[S2] . The primary aim of the research is to review corporate social responsibility within a total quality management framework.[S3]    Therefore the research question for this study has been identified as, how quality management can act as a basis and key catalyst for developing CSR in companies?[S4]    Keeping this question in mind, a quantitative content analysis through annual reports of the 28 companies was chosen and various reliable Scientifics scientifics reports were extensively reviewed and analysed. This study aims to find if there is any connection between companies' characteristics and the amount of integrated information of the TQM &amp;andCSR appearance in their annual reports.[S5]    As a result, tThe author tries to analyse developments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in terms of standardization. Different graphs are generated in order to demonstrate the role of TQM on CSR development. As a result, we understood that most of the companies try to be certified by different ISO standards in order to improve their business quality and better satisfy stakeholders and customers’ expectations. In such a way, theyrealized that they should pay more attention to the environment,economic and social aspect of their business performance.[S6]    Keywords   Total Quality Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, International Organization for Standardization, Stakeholder Theory  [S1]Background  [S2]Problem  [S3]Aim  [S4]Research question  [S5]Method  [S6]Result

Människan och företagens negativa påverkan på miljön har varit i fokus de senaste årtiondena. De blir mer medvetna om sin negativa miljöpåverkan. Det har resulterat i en ökad grad av hållbarhetsarbete. Enskilda individer och företag tar ett ökat ansvar för samhällets hållbara utveckling vilket på många sätt kan vara fördelaktigt.   Uppmärksamheten kring konceptet har mynnat ut i att företagsledningar, myndigheter och enskilda individer riktar sitt fokus på hållbarhetsfrågor. Detta har lagt grund för konceptet Corporate Social Responsibility – CSR – som innebär att företag frivilligt tar ansvar för samhället utöver lagens stadgar. Det finns tre huvudområden för CSR vilka är ekonomiskt, socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande. CSR kan dessutom delas in i strategisk och altruistisk. CSR bygger i grund och botten på att företag självmant och aktivt engagerar sig i samhällsutvecklingen.      Under uppsatsens gång kommer författarna beröra hur företag, ur en nationalekonomisk synvinkel, jobbar med CSR. Dessutom redogör författarna för vilka för- och nackdelar de tillfrågade företagen uppmärksammat med detta koncept. Syftet omfattas av de fyra frågorna; får de, kan de, bör de samt gör de. Med hjälp av dessa frågor kommer författarna försöka skapa sig en uppfattning om CSR är lönsamt eller inte.   Uppsatsen bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer där primärdata samlats in från genomförda intervjuer. Sekundärdata omfattas huvudsakligen utav tidigare forskning, vetenskapliga artiklar samt facklitteratur.   Resultatet i undersökningen visar att CSR inte kan påvisa några konkreta bevis på att det genererar lönsamhet. Författarna kommer att redogöra för de olika anledningar till varför detta resultat förefallit.    I slutsatsen skall problemformulering och syfte besvaras utifrån teori kopplat till den empiriska delen i avhandlingen. Dessutom kommer förslag till fortsatta studier redovisas.