The development mode of social enterprise in China has clear policy-driven characteristics. As an important social innovation center in China, Chengdu has formed a new type of social governance model under the support and guidance of its government policies since 2018, and social enterprises have played an essential role therein. Under the theoretic framework of social acceleration theory, this research aims to develop a better understanding of the inherent contradictions in the social enterprise ecosystem through the fieldwork and in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders, and further analyze the tension-filled process of contemporary China’s people-oriented subjectivity construction. / 博士(グローバル社会研究) / Doctor of Philosophy in Global Society Studies / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

Corporate finance reporting is based in rigorous, rules-based frameworks yet environmental and social reporting does not seem to have these normalised tools. The sustainable development of the business movement, in terms of increased environmental and social responsibility, will remain marginal as long as policy decisions maintain their direction towards old models of corporate governance that are not based on the key principles of the triple-bottom line, CSR and accountability. This thesis attempts to gauge to what extent Public-Private Partnership performs a transparent and independent source and appraisal of the standards of Governance for Sustainability for selected firms. This investigation is delimited to an Environmental Social Governance metric analysis and comparison of non-financial corporate data disclosure in sustainability reports from the mining and metals industry in the Nordic countries. It has been inferred from the analysis that an extrapolation can be made based on the financial predictions and trend prospecting of LKAB, Boliden Group, Lundin Mining Corporation, and the Swedish Association of Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers for the future growth of both the Nordic mining sector and sustainability reporting. As a result, ‘best-practice’ in reporting procedures could be exported to where demand is highest from pioneering firms with the ‘first-mover’ advantage, to SME’s and other interested firm’s outside of the Nordic countries. It has been identified that using the Global Reporting Initiative reporting framework enhances partnerships in businesses that adopt and use its index to the extent where it becomes integrated into their management chains and business strategies. The more comprehensively a firm discloses its non-financial performances with relation to the GRI framework, the more integrated reports appear to become. The standardisation of the accurate reporting and disclosure used from the GRI G3.1 varies greatly just between three firms in the same sector and region.

This study investigates the effectiveness of public sector roles in facilitating corporate social responsibility (CSR) in commercial banks in the United States and the United Kingdom and the role of national context in CSR activities of commercial banks. It examines CSR as measured by MSCI ESG (environmental, social and governance) Global Socrates ratings across five categories of ESG (environment, employee & supply chain, customers, corporate governance & ethics, and community & society) in six commercial banks. The study compared differences in ESG rankings to categorized CSR-related government bodies, legislation and policies according to four possible public sector roles as outlined by the World Bank: mandating, facilitating. endorsing or partnering for CSR. The principal conclusion is that national context seems to play a role in CSR activities of commercial banks and that certain CSR-related public policy tools appear to be more effective at supporting CSR than others. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy / MA / Thesis

Thesis advisor: Richard Spinello / This thesis studies the effects of greenwashing in the fashion industry on the Generation Z cohort. It aims to understand the behaviors, motivations, attitudes, and processes behind their clothing shopping habits, including external and internal factors. It seeks to broaden the discussion around greenwashing in the 21st century, especially in the current age where firms are being evaluated on their Environmental, Social, and Governance practices. Therefore, it includes an extensive research background, including a brief history of greenwashing as a marketing tactic, the fashion industry, a study of clothing supply chains, and finally background information on Generation Z and their generational characteristics.This, as well as the small research study conducted at Boston College, all inform the conclusions of this study. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Environmental Studies.

This thesis studies the effects of greenwashing in the fashion industry on the Generation Z cohort. It aims to understand the behaviors, motivations, attitudes, and processes behind their clothing shopping habits, including external and internal factors. It seeks to broaden the discussion around greenwashing in the 21st century, especially in the current age where firms are being evaluated on their Environmental, Social, and Governance practices. Therefore, it includes an extensive research background, including a brief history of greenwashing as a marketing tactic, the fashion industry, a study of clothing supply chains, and finally background information on Generation Z and their generational characteristics.This, as well as the small research study conducted at Boston College, all inform the conclusions of this study. / Thesis ( BA ) — Boston College, 2022 . / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences . / Discipline: Departmental Honors . / Discipline: Environmental Studies .

This thesis studies the effects of greenwashing in the fashion industry on the Generation Z cohort. It aims to understand the behaviors, motivations, attitudes, and processes behind their clothing shopping habits, including external and internal factors. It seeks to broaden the discussion around greenwashing in the 21st century, especially in the current age where firms are being evaluated on their Environmental, Social, and Governance practices. Therefore, it includes an extensive research background, including a brief history of greenwashing as a marketing tactic, the fashion industry, a study of clothing supply chains, and finally background information on Generation Z and their generational characteristics.This, as well as the small research study conducted at Boston College, all inform the conclusions of this study. / Thesis ( BA ) — Boston College, 2022 . / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences . / Discipline: Departmental Honors . / Discipline: Environmental Studies .

臺東孩子的書屋及水牛書店，分別代表非營利組織及社會企業，作為社會團結經濟組織中的兩種型態，組織當初如何做出型態選擇的決定，在決定後，對於社會問題治理的可行性有何不同，本文運用比較個案研究，發現兩個案選擇組織型態的過程受到組織的先決條件如財務能力、社群連結、歷史因素、領導人等的影響，本文也從組織服務項目如教育、社區服務及財務穩定性進行比較分析，發現非營利組織或社會企業，若擁有足夠的資金及人力，對其社會治理的可行性是肯定的，差別在於獲取資源的難易程度，非營利組織只是單純依賴政府補助，穩定性不高，因此必須取得個人、企業等的捐款，但募款活動宗旨、服務對象、總體形象等都會影響募款成果，因此非營利組織能利用特色回饋方式，如兩天一夜生活體驗活動，創造大眾募款誘因，也能利用企業化創造獨立的資金來源，以減少對於募款的依賴；社會企業雖然也能對外募款、運用政府補助款，但若要以偏向純企業的運作，就得在經營面下功夫，運用創新的營銷手法販售品質良好的產品，社會企業有穩定營收才能確保教育運作。不管組織型態為何，領導者若能建立社會網絡，降低獲取各種資源的成本，對於組織運作勢必有所幫助，針對組織型態的選擇並沒有誰好誰壞的問題，本文只是希望能透過臺東孩子的書屋及水牛書店，進一步比較及分析並提供一個作為特別經營模式策略的參考。 / The Children’s Book House in Taitung as a nonprofit organization and Buffalo Bookstore in Taoyuan as a social enterprise represent two organization forms of social and solidarity economy. Why they choose respective form in the first place and how they might fare as the consequence of their initial choice are something interesting to know. This research applies comparative case study to identify the factors that have contributed their organizational choice. The factors include financial capacity, personal networks, leader’s preference, and so on. This study also points out how different forms of choice might be able to keep sustainable. As more literature on social and solidarity economy has accumulated in recent years, this study provides two successful cases to illustrate their strategic reactions to problems they face respectively. It is expected that systematic surveys of such cases would contribute to effective theory building in this field.

Employer branding is becoming increasingly important, but the literature on the subject lacks vital elements. First, Country of Origin (COO) has been shown to affect employer branding, but this process is very poorly understood. Second, employee retention, although proven to have multiple benefits and to be impacted by employer branding, is underrepresented in employer branding research. Third, despite the importance of cultural context being well documented in literature, current employer branding research takes little consideration for this, especially in regards to Generation Z, who are becoming increasingly vital in the workforce. To mend these important research gaps, this thesis aims to examine how employer branding is affected by COO, and, in extension, how this impacts employee retention among Generation Z employees. This purpose is fulfilled by answering the following research question: “How is employer branding affected by COO when retaining Generation Z employees?” With this research question in mind, an abductive qualitative study was conducted using multiple- case studies in a Swedish MNE context. Semi-structured interviews with HR/employer branding managers and international Generation Z employees were conducted. This provided a dual perspective where both the views of employers and employees could be observed, analysed, and compared which was necessary to answer the research question. The results were then analysed using rigorous data-driven content-analysis. Using this approach, the study answered the research question by finding that employer branding is affected indirectly by COO through the process of other primary factors in retaining Generation Z. The research led to the introduction of a new model; The Employer Brand Compass, which illustrates how employer branding is affected by COO through three main factors in employee retention of Generation Z; ESG, development opportunities, and consumer branding.

This dissertation examines the impact and determinants of government enforcement action related to compliance and corruption. Study I assesses whether Health Care Compliance (HCC) related government enforcement actions are effective at improving firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores. In a study of 37 enforcement actions, I find that the corporate social responsibility (CSR) score significantly increases during the three years after the enforcement settlement, compared to the period before the enforcement action. In particular, I find that the Diversity and Community CSR sub-scores improve following the enforcement settlement. However, there is little evidence that firms with poorer CSR ratings are more likely subject to enforcement action. Study II expands the reach of enforcement actions beyond the healthcare industry to all firms subject to Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) enforcement actions. Based on 88 cases of such enforcement actions, I document increases of the overall CSR scores as well as several sub-scores post enforcement settlement, which is consistent with the results in Study I. I also find that firms start to improve their CSR ratings as soon as the identification of the misconduct occurs, which is on average four years prior to the settlement of the enforcement action. Furthermore, the improvement in CSR rating post misconduct year tends to be greater and more significant among firms that face larger monetary sanctions. This implies that the materiality of enforcement monetary penalties plays a significant role in shaping a firm’s timely response to government investigation of misconduct. Although I find that CSR ratings in Employee Relations and Product are significantly negatively related to the chance of being subject to enforcement action investigation, there is little evidence that firms with poor CSR ratings are more likely to subject to enforcement actions. This finding is consistent with the results from Study I. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

Date: 2023-05-31 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Institution:School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Josef Andehaymanot (01/03/03) Jonas Höggren (99/03/05) Nicholas Malki (00/11/13) Title: Assessing ESG Reporting Practices in Swedish Banks: Approaches, and Barriers. Supervisor: Edward Gillmore Keywords: Sustainability reporting, transparency, accountability, disclosure barriers, stakeholder theory, corporate social responsibility, environment social governance.  Research questions: 1. How do Swedish banks integrate ESG into reporting and disclosure? 2. What are the barriers to improving transparency and accountability into this process? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the challenges Swedish banks are faced with in their sustainability reporting practices, as well as to deduce solutions and add potential contributions to the development of standardized frameworks in reporting practices by conducting interviews with sustainability experts, both in banks, and a consultancy firm. Method: Non-standardized semi-structured interviews was the main method adopted for this thesis’ exploratory qualitative research, the data was then comparatively analyzed, bank by bank. Conclusion: The challenges and barriers identified in this study emphasize the need for standardized reporting frameworks, enhanced data collection process, stakeholder engagement, and employee education in sustainable initiatives. By addressing these issues banks can improve transparency and accountability in their ESG reporting process, contributing to a more sustainable future.