Corporate social responsibility has become an increasingly important topic within the workplace. This subject continues to garner further attention and scrutiny, especially with regards to public relations firms and their CSR-related engagements because of how practical motivations for charitable giving may blend with the nature of their business. Public relations professionals were interviewed to uncover information regarding each firm's CSR programs and level of engagement, in addition to textual analysis that included the PR firms' websites, social media presence, and what the media has said about the firms' CSR efforts. Findings revealed five cross-company patterns with regard to CSR made by the following PR firms: Edelman, Weber Shandwick, and FleishmanHillard. These themes—Citizenship Initiatives, Corporate Engagement, Global Communities, Social Involvement, and Sustainable Investments—identify the concepts and ideas that form the foundation of these CSR programs, and shed light on the reasons why these firms participate in CSR, specifically as it relates to company image and employee relationships, and may suggest that these themes form both the reasoning for participating in CSR, and the aspects of CSR that attract employee attention

Corporate executives have a responsibility to stakeholders to justify expenses, including those devoted to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, and strengthen the organization's financial position. Due to a lack of consistent information, some food and beverage industry managers do not understand the relationship between social and environmental CSR initiatives and financial performance. Grounded in stakeholder and ethical theory, this quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between 2 variables: the independent variable of social and environmental CSR activities, for which the 2016 Best Corporate Citizens index of 'Corporate Responsibility Magazine' served as a proxy, and the dependent variable of financial performance, as measured by reviewing a 24-month return on assets. The significance test appears twice for a bivariate regression analysis: The F test reported as part of the ANOVA table and the t test associated with the independent variable in the coefficients table. The p value is the same as they are the same test. The yield was: F(1, 10) = .246, p = .633 and t(10) = .496, p = .633. The magnitude of the correlation coefficient was .173, which suggested that financial performance had no relationship with social and environmental CSR initiatives. When reviewing the overall financial rank of all 100 companies in the BCC index, a similar trend emerged. The yield was: F(1, 99) = .202, p = .654 and t(99) = -.449, p = .654. The extent of the correlation coefficient was -.045, which suggested that financial performance had no relationship with social and environmental CSR initiatives. This study has an implication for positive social change with management's decisions about social and environmental sustainability initiatives.

This research quantifies the mediating effects of consumer satisfaction on the social responsibility dimensions of philanthropy, economics, environmental, ethical, and legal regarding the behavioral outcomes of consumer loyalty while developing a new model (small business social responsibility, SBSR) to measure these effects. The purpose of current study is to provide a contemporary perspective of the influence of organizational social responsibility strategy on consumer behavior regarding three specific characteristics: enterprise size (small business), population demographic (Generation Z), and type of industry (restaurant industry). The questionnaire was developed, modified, and designed to measure the mediating effects of consumer satisfaction on SBSR initiatives and the behavioral outcomes of consumer loyalty. Data were collected from January 15 to March 15, 2022. The sample for this study consisted of 233 students from a large public university in the southwestern United States. The study found social responsibility initiatives do impact consumer behaviors, although not all the initiatives studied had a significant effect on consumer satisfaction and ultimately on consume loyalty. Environmental initiatives had the strongest significance levels on both consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty. Conversely, the initiatives of economics and legal had no significant influence of both consumer satisfaction and consumer loyalty. The study gave evidence that managers should expect higher consumer behavior levels if they invest in social responsibility intiatives, especially environmental initiatives. As well, the study developed a model for future research which can measure and identify the social responsibility initiatives which small businesses can utilize to influence consumer behaviors.

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of communication between assurors and assurance report users, and the role that assurance reports play in this process. It comprises two behavioural experiments undertaken in the context of: (i) wording changes to the audit report (developed product) using shareholders as participants; and (ii) the role of assurance and type of assurance provider for corporate social responsibility reporting (evolving product), using financial analysts as participants. In both studies effectiveness of communication is examined in terms of report users?? perceptions and investment decision-making. The theoretical framework used in these studies is adapted from a communications model developed by Shannon and Weaver (1949), and supplemented by psychology research focused on source credibility (Birnbaum and Stegner, 1979). Two key elements of the communication process are recognised; the: (i) message transmitted; and (ii) source of the message. The first element is considered in the first experiment; the second element in the second study. Useful feedback is provided to standard-setters. From the first study, report users?? perceptions are not impacted by changes to the wording of the audit report. However, in the second experiment they are affected by differences in the source of the message. In terms of trustworthiness, financial analysts perceive the credibility of the source of corporate social responsibility information to be significantly greater when assured. For a company in an industry with stronger incentives to report positive corporate social responsibility information, they perceive the credibility (trustworthiness, overall credibility) of the source of the information to be significantly greater when assured. They also discern differences between types of assuror whereby the credibility (trustworthiness, expertise, overall credibility) of the source of information is perceived to be greater when assured by a professional accountant than a sustainability expert. A contribution of these experiments is the analysis of report users?? investment decision-making, as well as their perceptions. Differences in the message and source of the message for assurance reporting have no impact on report users?? investment decisions. Differences in characteristics of report users (familiarity with reports, extent to which reports are understandable) appear to impact report users?? perceptions and merits further examination.

This study attempts to achieve two things. Firstly it contextualizes corporate citizenship drawing on scholarly, government, media, legal and business discourses which when viewed as a whole, reveals the importance of exchange as a central determinant in how all the major themes or subfields of corporate citizenship function and subsequently become valued within public discourse. Secondly, it reports on exploratory action research where I as a researcher occupied a central role in understanding and contributing towards how organizational settings socially construct and evolve corporate citizenship in real time through various exchange behaviour, drawing from four years field research within BP and its interactions with the external world. This research contributes to new knowledge by building a rare contextual understanding into how cultural change evolves over time within an organization, from its public face, through policy, down into employee and stakeholder reactions, including identifying the crucial role played by Cultural bridges’ in shifting entrenched organizational culture towards embracing new, more sustainable ways of doing business, and additionally how practitioners can legitimately act as a researcher in facilitating this process by assisting an organization to move from simple, transactional relationships to more sustainable integrated social, financial and environmental exchange between business and its broader context. Importantly, this research develops entirely new theoretical models for understanding the social application and commercial value of corporate citizenship to both business and society.

This thesis looks at the interdependencies between corporate citizenship, social capital and tacit knowledge in the present epoch of global capitalism. External local communities and society at large are a very significant reservoir of social capital for any organisation and, in a global era of constant change, relations between organisations and these wider communities need constant replenishment and repair. The business literature gives insufficient attention to this vital connection between social and the other forms of capital that have traditionally been given regarded as the mainstay of business enterprise. Through a combination of theoretical debate and field research, this thesis asserts that tacit knowledge is embedded in social capital which is itself acknowledged as the principal source of all human and information capital within organisations. Corporate citizenship programs have a pivotal role to ensure and sustain the flow of social capital and knowledge between organisations and the communities in which they are embedded. Drawing on the prior established connection between social capital and tacit knowledge, the thesis establishes that corporate community involvement by employees has the potential to develop or enhance the propensity to trust, leading to greater effectiveness in teams. Multinational Banks are widely viewed as the agents of transnational capital. The Australian banking sector has also been under constant community pressure in Australia because of rising fees and charges and a few prominent scandals. Using secondary data, practices in one Canadian bank are compared to corresponding programs at two major Australian banks to gauge relative investment strategies in social capital generation. This thesis then proceeds to present primary research data on corporate citizenship practices in two Australian banking institutions, one an Australian multinational bank and the other a self-styled 'community' bank. Literature surveyed on corporate citizenship and community involvement has not revealed awareness by corporations of the possibilities of community involvement by employees as being sources of new knowledge, skills, creativity and innovation. This is further confirmed by the field research which showed communication as being a major hurdle internally and externally. This thesis shows that in the knowledge era where learning organizations will have a definite competitive advantage, structured employee involvement in corporate community initiatives can yield long lasting dividends and sustainable competitive advantage in terms of knowledge acquisition. This can be made possible by investment in social capital of local communities and societies through employee involvement. In turn this can aid recruitment, morale and retention of staff. However, a new approach, perhaps a new 'state of mind' needs to be cultivated in business enterprises and in the business education programs of business schools worldwide.

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of communication between assurors and assurance report users, and the role that assurance reports play in this process. It comprises two behavioural experiments undertaken in the context of: (i) wording changes to the audit report (developed product) using shareholders as participants; and (ii) the role of assurance and type of assurance provider for corporate social responsibility reporting (evolving product), using financial analysts as participants. In both studies effectiveness of communication is examined in terms of report users?? perceptions and investment decision-making. The theoretical framework used in these studies is adapted from a communications model developed by Shannon and Weaver (1949), and supplemented by psychology research focused on source credibility (Birnbaum and Stegner, 1979). Two key elements of the communication process are recognised; the: (i) message transmitted; and (ii) source of the message. The first element is considered in the first experiment; the second element in the second study. Useful feedback is provided to standard-setters. From the first study, report users?? perceptions are not impacted by changes to the wording of the audit report. However, in the second experiment they are affected by differences in the source of the message. In terms of trustworthiness, financial analysts perceive the credibility of the source of corporate social responsibility information to be significantly greater when assured. For a company in an industry with stronger incentives to report positive corporate social responsibility information, they perceive the credibility (trustworthiness, overall credibility) of the source of the information to be significantly greater when assured. They also discern differences between types of assuror whereby the credibility (trustworthiness, expertise, overall credibility) of the source of information is perceived to be greater when assured by a professional accountant than a sustainability expert. A contribution of these experiments is the analysis of report users?? investment decision-making, as well as their perceptions. Differences in the message and source of the message for assurance reporting have no impact on report users?? investment decisions. Differences in characteristics of report users (familiarity with reports, extent to which reports are understandable) appear to impact report users?? perceptions and merits further examination.

<p>This thesis aims to develop a stakeholder analysis method for the upcoming standard on social  responsibility  (SR)  ISO  26000. The  goal  is  a method  that,  by  adhering  to  three criteria regarding comprehensibility, flexibility and ease of use, can be used and applied by organizations regardless of type (corporation, NGO, municipality etc.) and value chain size. The method consists of  six different  steps which, when completed, will produce a situation map of the organization’s key SR issues and stakeholders for those issues.   The  method  is  practically  applied  and  perfected  through  two  case  studies  on  the respective Swedish  branches  of  the Nordic  corporations  ICA  (grocery  store  chain)  and Eniro  (online and printed  information  services. Although  sharing  similar characteristics in organization size, there are big differences in value chain size and services provided.  The study contributes to providing practical experience with stakeholder analysis for ISO 26000 and as a point of departure  for  further  studies on how  to  identify key  issues and stakeholders;  the  generalizability  of  the  results  suggests  applicability  not  just  for  ISO 26000 but for other preconditions as well.  The results of  the case studies suggest  that  the model developed fulfils  the  three criteria set up for  it,  thus having great practical value for all kinds of organizations  that want  to work with ISO 26000. It is suggested that the model could be improved by applying it on organizations dissimilar to the ones used in the case studies in this thesis, and fine tuning it to those organization’s specific resources and needs.</p>

<p>Den senaste tidens debatt kring klimatfrågan har lett till en ökad medvetenhet och ett ökat intresse bland gemene man av miljöfrågor. Det tilltagna samhällsintresset har även bidragit till att högre krav ställs på företagen i dess arbete med miljö- och samhällsansvarsfrågor. För att visa sitt ansvarstagande har det blivit allt vanligare att företag upprättar hållbarhetsredovisningar och uppförandekoder för att visa att de tar sitt miljöansvar och sociala ansvar. Det finns lite forskning i dagsläget inom området som återger om företags arbete med dessa frågor har någon påverkan på företags trovärdighet. Huruvida det finns någon koppling mellan företags miljö- och samhällsansvarstagande och företags trovärdighet är något vi ansett vara intressant att undersöka, varför detta kom att bli vår avsikt med denna uppsats.</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats var att öka förståelsen för hur arbete med miljö- och samhällsansvar kan ske samt att belysa hur trovärdighet kan ta sig uttryck. Därefter ämnade vi göra en bedömning av hur miljö- och samhällsansvarstagande påverkar företags trovärdighet.</p><p>En kvalitativ metod har tillämpats och fyra intervjuer har genomförts med signifikanta aktörer i Västerbotten beträffande miljö- och samhällsansvarsfrågor. Till grund för de genomförda intervjuerna ligger den teoretiska inläsning vi gjort på området av företags arbete med miljö- och samhällsansvarsfrågor, varmed den deduktiva ansatsen blev uppsatsens angreppssätt. Den teoretiska referensramen har en bred ansats och grundar sig på den indelning Garriga och Melé (2004) gjort av centrala aspekter inom företags miljö- och samhällsansvar. Dessa aspekter är den instrumentella, politiska, integrerade samt etiska aspekten. I den teoretiska referensramen återges även teorier om legitimitet, vilka i de fortsatta avsnitten behandlas synonymt med begreppet trovärdighet.</p><p>Den empiriska insamlingen har återgetts under samma kapitel där vår analys och diskussion presenteras. Till följd av att det inte är av intresse att redogöra för hur det enskilda företaget arbetar med miljö- och samhällsansvarstagande har samtliga företags uppfattningar redogjorts utan att återge vilket företag som anser vad. Detta tillvägagångssätt grundar sig på den allmänna förståelse som eftersträvas om hur företags arbete med miljö- och samhällsansvarsfrågor sker. Genom att väva samman empiri, analys och diskussion i ett kapitel undviks upprepningar.</p><p>Vår övergripande slutsats är att företags miljö- och samhällsansvarstagande påverkar företags trovärdighet. Den bedömning vi gör är att om företag agerar i likhet med vad som förväntas av dem bidrar det till att den trovärdighet företagen redan innehar underhålls. För att trovärdighet ska vinnas krävs det att företag tar miljö- och samhällsansvar utöver vad som förväntas av dem eller tar ansvar på nya områden. De företag som ej tar miljö- och samhällsansvar riskerar att tappa trovärdighet och kan då återuppbygga den genom att ta miljö- och samhällsansvar.</p>

<p>Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsibility, socialt ansvarstagande, hållbarhet</p>