This study adopts a comparative institutional approach to address the question of why corporate social performance (CSP) tends to vary cross-nationally. Using a sample of 1551 firms from 20 different countries, I test the relationships between key institutional variables suggested in the varieties of capitalism literature (see Hall & Soskice, 2001) and corporate social performance. Specifically, I test the relationships between coordination in corporate governance and labour relations and CSP. To provide a comprehensive measure of CSP, I separately measure different dimensions of CSP (social and environmental) and categories of CSP(processes and outcomes). The results indicated that the market economy firms are embedded within produces differences in how they perform on social and environmental dimensions. In particular, national level coordination in corporate governance was found to produce differences in both the processes firms adopt to address social and environmental issues and the outcomes and impacts of firm actions on social and environmental dimensions. These institutional factors were found to be stronger predictors of CSP than both cultural differences and differences in industry composition. The results of this study lend support to the argument that CSP is driven by institutions at the national-level. I discuss the implications of these findings and chart out a course for futureresearch in the area.

This study adopts a comparative institutional approach to address the question of why corporate social performance (CSP) tends to vary cross-nationally. Using a sample of 1551 firms from 20 different countries, I test the relationships between key institutional variables suggested in the varieties of capitalism literature (see Hall & Soskice, 2001) and corporate social performance. Specifically, I test the relationships between coordination in corporate governance and labour relations and CSP. To provide a comprehensive measure of CSP, I separately measure different dimensions of CSP (social and environmental) and categories of CSP(processes and outcomes). The results indicated that the market economy firms are embedded within produces differences in how they perform on social and environmental dimensions. In particular, national level coordination in corporate governance was found to produce differences in both the processes firms adopt to address social and environmental issues and the outcomes and impacts of firm actions on social and environmental dimensions. These institutional factors were found to be stronger predictors of CSP than both cultural differences and differences in industry composition. The results of this study lend support to the argument that CSP is driven by institutions at the national-level. I discuss the implications of these findings and chart out a course for futureresearch in the area.

Although organization design to bring about corporate social performance (CSP) is a critical issue in the business and society field, little research has been conducted. This study is an empirical test of the general model of the just organization presented by Stephens and colleagues (1991; Stephens, et al., 1997). The theoretical development describes organizational design principles from John Rawls' (1971) Theory of Justice, chosen for its emphasis on economic organizations and structure, its emphasis on efficiency as well as justice, and its affinity with Max Weber's wertrational (or value rationality) social action category from Economy and Society (1978/1910). From the general model of the just organization and characteristic organizational design features (structural and processual) consistent with the general model, an ideal type of just organization is developed. The primary hypothesis is that the more an organization emulates the ideal type of the just organization, the better its social performance will be as measured by higher CSP ratings. The degree of similarity of design with the ideal-type profile of the just organization is measured by the Euclidean distance, or summary distance metric, of the sample organization's profile to the ideal-type profile. The methodology utilizes surveys of corporations for organizational design features and the CSP ratings from the Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini, Inc., social ratings database. The results indicate that there is no correlation between organization design and social performance when CSP is taken as an aggregate of all the stakeholder-firm relationships. However, when the specific stakeholder relationship is analyzed, there is an association between the presence of stakeholder-specific design features and higher CSP ratings along the stakeholder-specific social rating dimension. / Ph. D.

Globally institutional investors are taking an increased interest in companies' environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Although the relationship between a company's Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and its institutional shareholding has been studied in a number of developed economies, this study fills a gap in the literature by investigating this link for JSE listed companies. Using Bloomberg's ESG and individual environmental, social, and governance disclosure scores as proxies for CSP, panel data regression methodologies are applied to a sample of 98 companies (254 company years) listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2016 to investigate the link between the different forms of CSP and institutional shareholding in South Africa. The study fails to establish a relationship between institutional shareholding and environmental and social based CSP, but finds a statistically significant positive relationship for governance based CSP. The results imply that, of the three CSP components, South African institutional shareholders in the studied sample mainly consider the governance component in their investment decisions, possibly because good corporate governance is associated with improved financial performance and the adoption of sustainability policies by the company.

Denna studies syfte är att undersöka vilka aspekter av ett företags arbetsgivarvarumärke som värderas högst av arbetssökande och därför är viktigast för företag att kommunicera till målgruppen genom employer branding-arbete. Uppsatsen bygger på fyra frågeställningar: Vilka av aspekterna i ett arbetsgivarvarumärke är viktigast att kommunicera till arbetssökande för att bli en arbetsgivare som arbetssökande dras till? Vidare: Vilka aspekter av ett arbetsgivarvarumärke värderar studenter högst när de väljer arbetsgivare? Finns det en skillnad mellan män och kvinnor i vad man värderar högst respektive lägst? Finns det en skillnad mellan vad man värderar högst respektive lägst beroende på studietid? Undersökningen baseras på en kvantitativ studie och genomfördes med hjälp av en enkätstudie. Enkätstudien baseras på en modell för corporate social performance som kommer från ett offentligt index av Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co. (KLD). Samtliga respondenter var studenter vid samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten vid Uppsala universitet. Undersökningens huvudsakliga resultat visade på att ingen stor skillnad föreligger i hur de olika dimensionerna värderas, men att alla dimensionerna verkar vara ganska viktiga för arbetssökande när de värderar ett företag i syfte att söka jobb där. Vidare kan vi konstatera att det verkar extra viktigt att fokusera på att skapa en arbetsplats som har ett öppet klimat för olika sexuella läggningar, och att sedan kommunicera ut det till arbetssökande, då detta var den aspekt som värderades allra högst, högre än någon annan jämställdhetsaspekt. Eftersom värderingarna av de olika dimensionerna var ganska lika bör man som rekryterare ha detta i åtanke när man kommunicerar ut till arbetssökande. Man bör som företag fundera över om man behöver justera eller anpassa sitt employer branding- arbete efter detta, så att det verkligen återspeglar vad arbetssökande verkligen tycker är viktigt och man som företag är bra på av dessa aspekter. / Title: Corporate social performance - How to become a employer of choice? Author: Siri Westerberg & Björn Viktor Ängerfors Tutor: Josef Pallas Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to study which aspects of an Employer brand that job seekers value the highest, and are therefore the most important to communicate to this group. Key questions to be answered are Which aspects of an employer brand are rated highest by students when it comes to choosing an employer? Is there a difference between men and women in what they value highest and lowest? Is there a difference in how job seekers rate the highest and lowest rated dimensions depending on how long they have studied? Method/Material: The material used in this article consists of a survey filled out by 49 respondents who were all students at Uppsala University, Sweden. The survey was based on a model of corporate social performance (CSP), taken from the Kinder, Lydenberg and Domini company profiles index. Main results: The main results demonstrate that the aspect that was rated highest by respondents was that the company has an accepting attitude toward its gay and lesbian employees. There was however no great difference between the four CSP dimensions. The main results further show that the companys’ treatment of its employees is something jobseekers value when considering seeking employment at a company. The survey did not find that there was any notable difference between male and female respondents. The survey found that for three of four CSP dimensions, respondents tended to rate lower the further along in their educations they were. Number of pages: 70 Course: Media and Communication studies C University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Period: Fall 2012

Cette recherche vise à analyser les liens entre la performance financière (PF) et le niveau de développement durable (NDD) dans le contexte canadien et adapté à la conjoncture actuelle. Le premier objectif est de déterminer si les mesures de PF peuvent être expliquées par les mesures du NDD, tout en contrôlant pour la taille, le risque et l’industrie des entreprises. Le deuxième objectif est de vérifier s’il existe un lien entre les mesures de risque d’une entreprise et les mesures du NDD, tout en contrôlant pour la taille et l’industrie des entreprises. Le troisième objectif est de déterminer si les mesures du NDD peuvent être expliquées par les mesures de PF, tout en contrôlant pour la taille et le risque.

L’objet de ce travail de recherche est de contribuer à l’étude du concept de Performance Sociétale de l’Entreprise (PSE), dont les problématisations jusqu’à présent fournies demeurent largement controversées. En effet, l’examen du corpus de connaissances révèle l’existence d’anomalies de nature théorique, conceptuelle et empirique. Ces insuffisances renvoient aux modes d’opérationnalisation de la PSE, à la manière dont le concept a été relié à la notion de performance, ainsi qu’à l’absence de contextualisation de la PSE en rapport avec son environnement institutionnel. Il importe donc de réorganiser le concept au sein d’un cadre d’analyse consensuel qui reconnaît le caractère dynamique et contingent de la démarche sociétale de l’entreprise. Ainsi, ce travail se propose d’explorer le concept de PSE et d’analyser ses antécédents institutionnels et ses effets sur le niveau de performance organisationnelle.Sur le plan théorique, l’architecture globale de la thèse obéit à un raisonnement à triple phase : déconstruction/reconstruction/validation. La phase de déconstruction (première partie) se traduit par une mise en perspective critique (théorique, conceptuelle et empirique) de la PSE. La phase de reconstruction (deuxième partie) consiste en le développement d’un cadre d’analyse systémique qui se veut être fédérateur et englobant des différentes orientations théoriques. Et enfin, la phase de validation (troisième partie) est destinée à statuer sur les dépendances étudiées et la recevabilité des hypothèses, de manière à tirer un certain nombre de conclusions et d’enseignements.Sur le plan conceptuel, notre cadre d’analyse mobilise l’approche systémique pour décliner les différents niveaux d’analyse, à savoir, les pressions institutionnelles en tant qu’entrée du système, la PSE en tant que processus, et la performance organisationnelle en tant que résultat du système. Le modèle de recherche est articulé par un corps d’hypothèses multi-niveaux (hypothèse générale, hypothèses partielles, hypothèses adjacentes, hypothèses de modération).Sur le plan méthodologique, notre démarche se décline en deux phases qui reprennent les moments forts de notre travail de recherche. Une première phase exploratoire visant à explorer la PSE, à adapter et à reconfigurer notre modèle de recherche. Une deuxième phase déductive qui cherche à tester les hypothèses de la recherche et à établir les apports en termes de connaissances. L’investigation empirique conduite sur 132 entreprises tunisiennes issues de différents secteurs d’activité a permis d’entériner la systématicité de la PSE. En effet, la démarche sociétale de l’entreprise s’apparente à un processus contingent (fortement conditionné par les pressions institutionnelles), finalisé (produit des résultats en termes de performance), piloté (guidé par des principes et des convictions managériales), et soutenu (appuyé par des instruments et des mesures sociétaux). L’originalité de ce travail se justifie essentiellement par une logique multi-nivaux du modèle de recherche ainsi que par une démarche méthodologique adaptée à la complexité de l’objet de la recherche. De surcroît, cette problématique a été largement discutée dans le contexte occidental et essentiellement américain, elle reste encore peu explorée dans le monde Arabe et en particulier le Maghreb / The purpose of this research is to contribute to the study of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) concept, which provided theorizations remain highly controversial. Indeed, examination of the body of knowledge reveals theoretical, conceptual and empirical anomalies. These shortcomings relate on the operationalization of the CSP, the manner in which the concept has been linked to the notion of performance, and the lack of contextualization of PSE in relation to its institutional environment. It is therefore important to reorganize the concept within a framework that recognizes the dynamic and contingent character of CSP. Thus, this research aims to explore the concept of CSP and analyze its institutional dimension and its effects on organizational performance.On a theoretical level, the overall architecture of the thesis follows triple phase reasoning: deconstruction / reconstruction / validation. Deconstruction phase (first part) consists in highlighting theoretical, conceptual and empirical perspectives of the CSP. The reconstruction phase (second part) consists on developing a framework with systemic approach, which aims to unify different theoretical orientations. And finally, the validation phase (third party) consists on testing our conceptual framework. On the conceptual level, our framework mobilizes systemic approach. It declines institutional pressures as input to the system, PSE as a process, and organizational performance as a result of the system. The research model is articulated by multi-level hypotheses (general hypothesis, partial hypothesis, adjacent hypothesis and moderation hypothesis).On the methodological level, our approach is divided in two phases. An exploratory phase that aims to explore CSP, to adapt and to reconfigure our research model. A second phase seeks to test the research hypotheses and establish contributions in terms of knowledge.The empirical investigation conducted on 132 Tunisian companies endorses the systematicity of the CSP. In fact, the process of CSP is influenced by institutional pressures, piloted by the principles and managerial beliefs. Therefore, this process produces results in terms of performance, and it is supported by societal tools and measures.The originality of this work is essentially justified by multi-level research model as well as a methodological approach which is adapted to the complexity of the research object. In addition, this issue has been widely discussed in the American and European context, but it remains unexplored in the Arab world, particularly in the Maghreb

This paper examines the effect of executive board-level national culture and board nationality diversity on corporate social performance (CSP). The sample constitutes of 130 executive boards of non-financial firms from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK over the time period 2010-2014. Based on the upper echelon theory and the notion of national culture, board-level national culture is determined across Hofstede’s dimensions of power distance, individualism, masculinity and power distance. In this paper, no evidence is provided of a significant relationship between board-level national culture and the corporate social performance of the firm. In addition, nationality diversity as a double-edged sword could both enhance and hamper CSP. In this research, no significant relationship between board nationality diversity and CSP is found. In conclusion, alterations of the board composition in terms of nationality in order to foster CSP seem unjustified based on the results of this paper.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree in Master of Commerce (50% course work) / A growing number of institutional investors that are adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR) philosophy are playing a crucial role in influencing listed companies to adopt and address CSR issues. CSR is defined as “…a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations…” (European Commission, 2010). CSR is now widely accepted as a way of doing business in the contemporary environment. It is evident in companies that are spending large sums of money, time and effort on satisfying various stakeholders’ requirements for responsible behaviour. Despite the growing pressure on companies to become socially responsible, the direct benefits of CSR contribution to firm performance remain questionable. From existing literature the relationship between CSR and firm performance have pointed to mixed results (Gladysek & Chipeta, 2012; Aggarwal, 2013). This study examines the relationship between CSR performance and firm performance using the CSRHub sustainability indexes as proxy for CSR performance. The firm performance measures of firm value (Tobin’s Q) and financial accounting performance (return on assets) were used. Annual data of firms from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from year 2009 to 2012 was analysed using the Multiple Regression Analysis techniques. The study revealed that significant and positive relationship exists between CSR/environmental performance and firm value of listed South African companies. The study concluded that there is no significant relationship between firm performance and the other components of CSR such as community relations, employment relations, and governance. The relatively small sample size of the listed companies, some missing values on the sample data and the shorter time period on the study are the main limitations acknowledged in this report. In the overall, the study provides important insights for understanding the contribution of CSR and its disaggregated components to firm performance.

Die Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit der Definition von Corporate Social Performance im ersten Teil. Hierbei wird zuerst geklärt, weshalb eine Definition notwendig ist und ob in empirischen Studien verwendete Maße die verwendeten Definitionen abbilden. Nachfolgend wird ein Definitionsvorschlag aus bekannten Definitionen entwickelt. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wird geklärt, welche Faktoren dazu führen, dass Unternehmen eine soziale Berichterstattung haben und ob diese Art der Berichterstattung auch zur finanziellen Leistung von Unternehmen beitragen kann.