Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Currently, some microfinance institutions in Bolivia are adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and publish the results. CSR is applied mostly by big companies in the North and in sectors more in the eye of the public, such as oil production or textile and apparel. Bolivia has been the pioneer in the commercialization of microfinance through microfinance NGO transformations. The objectives of this investigation was to asses and compare the reasons why the selected Bolivian commercial MFI's were engaged, or not engaged, in CSR. Secondly, to determine which stakeholders are more relevant for each MFI analysed, assessing how they influenced the decision to adopt or not adopt CSR and thirdly, to compare the current social performance of the selected MFI's within the framework of corporate social responsibility. / South Africa

The 2002 publication of “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” by Prahalad and Hart posed a proposition to multinational companies (MNCs) stating that huge profits can be made whilst simultaneously eradicating poverty by selling to the poor at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) which is an untapped market consisting of more than four billion potential customers that earn less than $2 per day. Although very few researchers and authors actually dispute the reality of the opportunity presented by the BOP proposition, most are quick to point out discrepancies in some of the arguments, discussions, assumptions and conclusions made from the early publications. Most of these differences of opinion can be clarified by refining the definition of the BOP proposition. This study reviews previous literature to identify key attributes of BOP before utilising a meta-analysis of 43 cited BOP case studies to identify and describe two distinctly different market segments within BOP. BOP1 was defined as the bottom part of the BOP with a total population 2.8 billion customers earning less than $2 per day while BOP2 would be the reminder of the BOP market segment. Finally the BOP1 and the BOP2 segments of BOP are compared and contrasted with a South African case to draw conclusions on BOP in SA and Africa. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this exploratory research is to explore the nature of socially responsible investment (SRI) activity in South Africa. More especially, and on the back of the reported success of private equity in South Africa, the study seeks to establish the potential of a social private equity investment model as a subset of SRI? The study interviewed twelve investment professionals using in-depth semi¬structured interviews. The study found that, contrary to what the literature had revealed about trends in the UK and the US,. the respondents had a more cohesive understanding of what characterised SRI activities. The study also confirmed developed market trends that scepticism about the commercial value offered by SRI activities still prevailed among investors. The study further revealed that a great deal of effort was being channelled towards the development of best-in-class measurement tools to measure and report on social value added, even by those who did not view themselves as being active in the SRI arena. Although still in its embryonic stage, respondents were found to be very positive about the potential for social private equity within the SRI arena. The research makes recommendations that speak to the urgent need for improved and increased industry engagement on ways to develop the sector, as well as ways to market and increase the profile of the efforts and successes already achieved on both financial and social aspects. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Companies spend substantial funds on CSI initiatives. Expenditure of such large amounts could hold benefits for companies that go beyond their regulatory compliance. This study focused specifically on how CSI impacted on consumer loyalty at the bottom of the pyramid. The research found that CSI has no direct impact on loyalty and that consumers value the quality of service received more highly than CSI activities by companies. Even in instances where CSI awareness was low, consumers were still willing to recommend the company to others. Some of the research espoused the view that this may be because consumers experienced no direct benefit from the CSI activity. The findings also suggested that at the bottom of the pyramid consumers place a substantial emphasis on building relationships of trust and just because companies invest in CSI activities, this does not on its own lead to consumers trusting the organisation more. The implications of these findings are that when companies try to develop a competitive advantage through CSI, they need to re-examine their CSI spend as well as re-evaluate whether individuals or communities benefit as this has implications for individuals’ loyalty to the company. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study explores the role engagement in a school-based music ensemble plays in the development of social responsibility in middle school students. The study involved 9 music students, 18 non-music students, and 5 teachers at a suburban middle school in Coquitlam, B.C. Students were compared using three measures – office referral data, a Social Responsibility Quick Scale, and a moral dilemma writing activity – and were subsequently interviewed to determine their thoughts on how musical engagement in music classes might impact their development of social responsibility. Interviews with teachers focused on activities that they believe foster social responsibility as well as their perspectives on this area of child development. Students are referred to the office for misbehaviour at school, and office referral data for the entire school population revealed that students in music classes are referred significantly less often than students not engaged in music (males p = .001; females p = .005). Musically engaged students achieved higher assessed scores on the Social Responsibility Quick Scale and the moral dilemma activity, but the statistical significance of these relationships is questionable owing to the small sample size. Interviews with students and teachers suggested that public performance, music teacher mentorship, and shared in-group responsibilities contribute to fostering development of social responsibility in music students. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that perceived responsibility is a major determinant of compulsive checking. Thirty participants recruited from the community through the local media, who met criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, received four conditions. In the low responsibility condition, perceived responsibility for an anticipated negative eventt was transferred to the experimenter. In contrast, in the high responsibility condition, perceived responsibility for an anticipated negative event was given to the participant. The remaining two conditions served as control conditions. Subjects were assessed before and after each experimental manipulation. Results suggest a causal connection between decreases in perceived responsibility and compulsive checking. Decreases in perceived responsibility produced decreases in several measures critical to compulsive checking. Results from increases in perceived responsibility were less clear. However, increases in perceived responsibility lead to increases in panic and likelihood of anticipated criticism. There were trends for increases in perceived responsibility to lead to increases in perceptions of discomfort experienced, urge to check, and severity of anticipated criticism. There was no relationship between variations in perceived responsibility and perceived extent of controllability over an anticipated negative event. Theoretical implications of the results and, in particular, the value of a cognitive analysis of compulsive checking, are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This thesis shows the ways in which the concepts of freedom and responsibility are related, and how indeed they illuminate each other. In Part One, it is shown that both are based on a concept of action, and it is thus with an analysis of action that a theory of freedom and responsibility must begin. Actions are first differentiated from events, so that conditions which must obtain from an event to be an action are specified. The concept of responsibility may then be used to illuminate action by showing how excuses indicate ways in which actions can fail. From this analysis, an analysis of action in the full sense emerges, namely, that an action in the full or unqualified sense is that to which no excuses are applicable. Action in the full sense is thus linked to responsibility in the full sense. The analysis of action shows that the breakdown of an action is the loss of control over its effects, and action in the full sense thus obtains where no breakdown occurs. Conscious control over an action is the control of an action's effects, which is the realization of intentions, and the control of intentions, which is what may be analyzed as rationality. Conscious control over an action, or agency, constitutes freedom on the plane of individual action. Thus, from the concept of responsibility emerges a concept of action and of agency which indicates what freedom is. Yet, it is the actual structure of action upon which the action of responsibility rests. The theory of freedom is defined in Part Two against the incompatibilist position that if determinism is true, neither freedom nor responsibility exist. It is shown that causal determinism does not rule out actions being free in the sense required for an individual to be responsible; for them as a theory of action shows that it is not an action's being caused but the nature of its causes which makes it free or unfree. If the action is caused so that it is in the conscious control of the agent, it is free. The rest of Part Two examines moral practices such as praise and blame in light of the limits determinism places on them. It is necessary to show what rational or justifiable grounds there could be for practices such as praising and blaming in any theory of freedom and responsibility. Part Three shows that agency, or control over an action, is extendable over the values upon which actions are based. Control over values is achieved by the individual consciously choosing values in awareness of being responsible for those choices and values. What the Existentialists call "Authenticity" is thus a fuller degree of freedom and of agency. This analysis of authenticity does not focus on how authenticity is a response to a value question posed by nihilism; but on how authenticity is an extension of our regular concepts of freedom and responsibility. It is shown that authenticity, when it is accompanied by full agency (as that notion is developed in Part One) is freedom and responsibility in the highest degree. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

The dissertation consists of three essays: 1) Productivity growth in the transportation industries in the United States: An application of the DEA Malmquist productivity index; 2) how does a carbon dioxide emissions change affect transportation productivity? A case study of the U.S. transportation sector from 2002 to 2011; and 3) forecast of CO2 emissions from the U.S. transportation sector: Estimation from a double exponential smoothing model. The first essay reviews productivity growth in the five major transportation industries in the United States (airline, truck, rail, pipeline, and water) and the pooled transportation industry from 2004 to 2011. The major findings are that the U.S. transportation industry shows strong and positive productivity growth except in the years of the global financial crisis in 2007, 2008, and 2010, and among the five transportation industries, the rail and water sectors show the highest productivity growth in 2011. The second essay examines the effects of a carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions change on actual productivity in the U.S. transportation sector. This study finds that a CO2 emissions increase from 2002 to 2007 had a negative effect on actual productivity in the U.S. transportation sector, but the CO2 emissions reduction for 2008–2011 increases actual productivity. States mainly showing sustainable growth patterns (decrease in CO2 emissions concurrent with increasing actual productivity) experience higher technological innovation increase than an efficiency decrease. This finding suggests that fuel-efficient and carbon reduction technologies as well as alternative transportation energy sources may be essential factors to both grow transportation and slow global warming. The third essay reviews whether the decreasing trend in U.S. CO2 emissions from the transportation sector since the end of the 2000s is consistent across all states in the nation for 2012‒2021. A double exponential smoothing model is used to forecast CO2 emissions for the transportation sector in the 50 states and the U.S., and its findings are supported by pseudo out-of-sample forecasts validity testing. This study concludes that the decreasing trend in transportation CO2 emissions in the U.S. will continue in most states in the future. / Mountain Plains Consortium (MPC) / U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)

No description available.

Thesis advisor: M. Cathleen Kaveny / Thesis advisor: Daniel J. Daly / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.