Corporate social reporting, embracing the triple bottom line reporting concept, entails the reporting of economic, social and environmental performance as opposed to the more narrow focus on conventional financial reporting. Many corporations are now engaging in environmental and social reporting in an effort to communicate the social and environmental effects of organisations‟ operations to particular interest groups within society. The main objective of this thesis is to examine corporate motivations and hesitations to undertake social reporting in Malaysia. Most studies have so far applied quantitative method on themes identification to determine rationales for corporate social reporting. Little attention has been given to in-depth primary and secondary data to understand rationales for corporate social reporting in a national context. In addition to motivation, this study fills the gap in the literature by investigating corporate reluctance for social reporting. A qualitative approach was adopted for this study. A mixed method of data collection, consisting of both semi-structured interviews and corporate social reports, was used. A total of 20 interviews were conducted with representatives of six reporting and six non-reporting corporations, and eight non-corporate respondents representing the Malaysian political and social sectors. In addition to primary data, corporate social information in annual reports and corporate websites of six reporting corporations was also collected to support the interviews. Thematic analysis was applied to identify salient themes to explain both corporate motivation and hesitation for social reporting. The analysis was divided into two levels: corporation and society. At the corporate level, results identify public relations as the central motivation for social reporting. More specifically, the concepts of image and identity, issues management, two-way symmetrical and asymmetrical communication, autocommunication, and publicity are used to explain the adoption of social reporting. Image and identity and issues management were also among the concepts applied to explain corporate hesitation for social reporting. However, the results also support stockholder theory and reveal the lack of public relations understanding to be the cause of the low acceptance of social reporting. In-depth analysis revealed organisational legitimacy as the main reason to explain both motivation and hesitation for social reporting. Corporations require stakeholder support for their continual existence. At the societal level analysis, the concept of political economy was applied to explain the limited social reporting practice in the Malaysian context. Finally, the implications for both practising as well as neglecting social reporting are discussed using the concept of the risk society.

No / Our aim is to increase understanding of the potential effects of culture and corporate governance on social disclosures. The ethnic background of directors and shareholders is used as a proxy for culture. Corporate governance characteristics include board composition, multiple directorships and type of shareholders. The dependent variable, disclosure in annual reports of Malaysian corporations, is measured by an index score as well as in terms of number of words. Our results indicate a significant relationship between corporate social disclosure and boards dominated by Malay directors, boards dominated by executive directors, chair with multiple directorships and foreign share ownership. Four of the control variables (size, profitability, multiple listing and type of industry) were significantly related to corporate social disclosure with the exception of gearing. This study has public policy implications for Malaysia as well as a number of other countries in the Asia¿Pacific region.

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.

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.

Dagens samhälle ställer allt högre krav på att företag ska agera utifrån etthållbarhetsperspektiv. I takt med detta väljer allt fler företag att vara transparenta genom att hållbarhetsrapportera sitt sociala ansvar, trots att hållbarhetsrapporteringen inte är ett lagstadgat krav. Tidigare studier av bankernas sociala rapportering har till stor del gjorts med stöd av legitimitetsteorin. Studierna har funnit att företagens rapportering av socialt ansvar påverkas av förklaringsvariabler som exempelvis närhet till kunder, medieexponering, storlek på företaget och intressenternas värderingar.Vår studie tar avstamp utifrån tidigare forskning och syftar till att beskriva och analysera om bankernas rapportering av socialt ansvar vad gäller arbetsförhållande och produktansvar bidrar till en ökad medieexponering. Studien analyserar också hur de bakomliggande faktorerna storlek, diversifiering och decentralisering påverkar bankernas rapportering avarbetsförhållande och produktansvar vad gäller socialt ansvar. Studien omfattar hållbarhetsrapporter från 110 banker som fanns upptagna i GRI:s databas. Den beroende variabeln var medieexponering som mättes genom antal nyhetsträffar på bankerna i Googles databas. De övriga variablerna var rapportering av arbetsförhållanden vad gäller socialt ansvar, produktrapportering av socialt ansvar, bankens storlek, bankens decentralisering och bankens diversifiering.Resultatet av studien visar att bankernas rapportering av arbetsförhållanden inte bidrar till en ökad medieexponering, däremot innebär en mer utförlig rapportering av produktansvar att bankerna uppmärksammas mer i media. Resultatet visar också att produktrapporteringen påverkas av bankens storlek och diversifiering. Vidare visar resultatet att banker som tillämpar ett decentraliserat beslutsfattande är mer benägna att rapportera om dess socialaansvar vad gäller bankens arbetsförhållande. / Today's society is increasing demands on companies to act from a sustainability perspective. In line with this, more and more companies choose to be transparent through sustainability reporting, although sustainability reporting is not a legal requirement. Previous studies of banks' social reporting has largely been supported by the legitimacy theory. The studies have found that corporate reporting of social responsibility is affected by the variables such as; proximity to customers, media exposure, size of company and stakeholder values.Our study is based on previous research and aims to describe and analyze whether the banks' reporting of social responsibility regarding their working conditions and product contributes to greater media exposure. Furthermore, this study aims to describe and analyze how the underlying factors of the bank size, diversification and decentralized decision-making affect the sustainability reports subcategories: product responsibility and labor practices and decent work.The study includes sustainability reports from 110 banks in the GRI database. Data for five variables was collected and compared with the variable media exposure, defined as the number of hits for the banks in Googles search engine for news. The variables used in the study of banks are: reporting of labor practices and decent work, product responsibility reporting, size, decentralization and diversification. The results of the study demonstrate thata more detailed reporting of product responsibility contributes to the bank gaining more media attention. Furthermore, the result shows that extent of the product reporting is influenced by the bank´s size and diversification. The results of the study also show that the bank's reporting of employment does not contribute to increased media exposure. However, the results reveal that if the organization applies more decentralized decision-making, it is more likely that the bank reports on the social responsibility for working conditions to a greater extent.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka den relation som finns mellan företagsmässiga faktorer, som enligt teori och tidigare litteratur kan påverka företags hållbarhetsredovisning, och deras ESG-betyg. Följaktligen är syftet även att undersöka om det finns skillnader i hållbarhetsredovisningen för medlemsländer i EU och övriga länder i regionen Europa, för att utröna om den Europeiska unionens lagar och regler har spridits över gränser och på så sätt institutionaliserats. Metod: Studien använder sig av en deduktiv ansats med en kvantitativ metod, för att undersöka data insamlad från årsredovisningar via databasen Refinitiv för perioden 2020–2023. ESG-betyg generareas av databasen och är inhämtat i samband med övriga data. Urvalet består av cirka 2 500 publika företag inom regionen Europa. De hypoteser som studien leder fram till testas stegvis genom multipel regressionsanalys. Den beroende variabeln är ESG-betyg och de oberoende är finansiell styrka, FoU, EU samt miljökänslig bransch. Studien använder sig även av två kontrollvariabler; företagsstorlek samt skuldsättningsgrad. Slutsats: Undersökningen kunde lokalisera ett negativt signifikant samband mellan ESG och finansiell styrka. Det styrker viss tidigare forskning som påvisat ett negativt samband mellan dessa variabler. Resultatet går i linje med intressentteorin, de företag som tar sitt sociala ansvar kan välja att avstå från lukrativa affärsmöjligheter och kan där med inneha en lägre finansiell styrka. Studien kunde även se signifikanta positiva samband mellan ESG och FoU samt EU tillhörighet. En slutsats som dras från detta resultat är att de företag som investerar i FoU även tenderar att ha en starkare hållbarhetsredovisning och tar sitt sociala ansvar. Studien styrker uppfattningen om att innovation är nyckeln till hållbarhet. Originalitet/värde: Tidigare studier som har undersökt sambandet mellan hållbarhetsredovisning och företagsmässiga faktorer har kontradiktoriska resultat. Därmed finns det utrymme för att vidare undersöka dessa samband och bekräfta eller dementera tidigare forskning. Denna studie bidrar till ökad kunskap för relationen mellan ESG och företagsmässiga faktorer för publika företag inom Europa. Studien belyser även skillnader som finns på detta område mellan företag med huvudkontor inom EU och de företag som är belägna i övriga Europa. / The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate factors, which according to theory and previous literature can influence their sustainability reporting, and their ESG score. Consequently, the aim is also to investigate if there are differences in sustainability reporting among EU member countries and other countries in the European region, in order to determine if the laws and regulations of EU have spread across borders and thereby institutionalized. Method: The study employs a deductive approach with a quantitative method to examine data collected from annual reports through the Refinitiv database for the period 2020-2023. ESG scores are generated by the database and are obtained alongside other data. The sample consists of approximately 2,500 public companies within the European region. The hypotheses generated by the study are assessed incrementally through multiple regression analysis. The dependent variable is the ESG score, and the independent variables are financial strength, R&D, EU membership, and environmentally sensitive industry. The study also includes two control variables: company size and leverage ratio. Conclusion: The study was able to identify a significant negative relationship between ESG and financial strength. This supports previous research that has demonstrated a negative association between these variables. The result aligns with stakeholder theory, as companies that prioritize social responsibility may choose to forgo lucrative business opportunities, potentially leading to lower financial strength. The study also found significant positive relationships between ESG and R&D as well as EU membership. A conclusion drawn from these findings is that companies investing in R&D also tend to have stronger sustainability reporting and demonstrate social responsibility. The study reinforces the belief that innovation is the key to sustainability. Originality/Value: Previous studies examining the relationship between sustainability reporting and corporate factors have yielded contradictory results. Therefore, there is room for further investigation to confirm or refute prior research. This study contributes to increased knowledge regarding the relationship between ESG and corporate factors for public companies within Europe. The study also highlights differences in this area between companies headquartered in the EU and tho

Cette thèse examine la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) par les entreprises de secteurs controverses. Dans le premier chapitre, on évalue les stratégies en RSE pour 565 entreprises de secteurs controverses de 1991 à 2013 en estimant la relation compensatoire entre Irresponsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (ISE) et RSE. On montre que ces entreprises tendent à compenser pour leur ISE en s'engageant dans des domaines stratégiques de RSE tels que la protection de l'environnement et le respect des communautés locales avec un manque d'engagement dans d'autres activités telles la gouvernance d'entreprise. Dans le deuxième chapitre, on examine si l'engagement RSE de 499 entreprises de secteurs controverses est susceptible de diminuer leur risque financier. Nos résultats montrent qu'un engagement RSE stratégique réduit le risque idiosyncratique et total pour certaines industries controversées et que le manque d'engagement dans les activités de gouvernance augmente leur risque. Le troisième chapitre examine la divulgation sociétale en tant que mécanisme de reddition de comptes dans le contexte d'un incident environnemental majeur. L'étude de cas des stratégies RSE utilisées par l'entreprise Canadienne En bridge, durant sa réponse a l'incident de déversement de parole en 2010 révèle que ses rapports RSE sont souvent optimistes et ne réussissent pas a décrire son incapacité à faire face aux problèmes de sécurité ayant entrainé l'incident; et ont aussi sous-estime le volume du déversement et la difficulté du nettoyage, ainsi mettant en question l'effet des activités RSE compare à l'effet de facteurs contextuels dans la protection de l'entreprise durant la crise. / This thesis is composed of three chapters that examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) within firms in controversial sectors. In the first chapter, we evaluate patterns of investment in CSR for 565 US publicly traded companies in eight controversial sectors between 1991 and 2013 by assessing the relationship between CSR and Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI). We show that firms in controversial sectors compensate for their CSI by engaging in strategic CSR areas such as environmental protection and community development with a lack of engagement towards other areas, such as corporate governance. In the second chapter, we determine whether engagement in specific CSR activities for 499 US companies in controversial sectors decreases their financial risk. We show that engaging in specific CSR activities considered as strategic reduces idiosyncratic and total risk for some controversial industries; and that poor engagement in corporate governance activities increases firm risk. In the third chapter, we investigate CSR reporting as an important mechanism for stakeholder accountability in the context of an environmental crisis. We perform a case study analysis of the CSR strategies used by the Canadian oil company Enbridge in its response to the July 2010 Kalamazoo spill and revealed that Enbridge's CSR reports were frequently optimistic and failed to describe the company's inability to deal with known safety problems that led to spill; and underestimated both the volume of the spill and the difficulty of the cleanup, thus making it difficult to distinguish the effects of the CSR efforts from the effects of other contextual and external factors.