Business Commons^™

Investigating Student Engagement In Technology-Enhanced Learning At The Intersection Of Business And Law, Werner H. Keller

Office of Open Learning Publications

This project investigated student engagement in technology-enhanced learning. The main research question of this mixed-method study is: “How can instructors use flipped classroom pedagogy in blended and online courses in business law to foster engagement and participation among diverse, non-law students in an upper year B.Comm course?” The study explored the effects of redesigning a traditional lecture course to a flipped class.

The Living Wage As A Means To Address Social Inequality, Kent Walker Dr., Curtis Labutte

Odette School of Business Publications

The living wage is a call to private and public sector employers to pay wages to both direct and contract employees sufficient to provide the basics to individuals. This wage reflects the belief that every individual has the right to enjoy good health, recreation, culture and entertainment, to raise children, and to fully partake in social and civic activities, as opposed to minimally surviving. This movement is growing across Canada and the world.

Broadly, the case discusses social inequality, and more narrowly, it examines the Living Wage in Canada, then Ontario, then within one Ontario city, Windsor. The case describes …

New Belgium Brewing Company And B Corporation Certification, Kent Walker Dr., Taylor Laporte

Odette School of Business Publications

This case discusses the American craft-brewing company New Belgium Brewing (NBB), where the director of sustainability, Katie Wallace, must decide whether to invest significant company resources into becoming a B Corp certified company. More specifically, she must present her recommendation to the board of directors and to employees who are also shareholders. B Corporation is part of a non-profit organization encouraging sustainable business similar to LEED certification for construction or Fair Trade certification for coffee and chocolate. The idea behind B Corp certification is to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

New Belgium Brewing has …

The Angel-Halo Effect: How Increases In Corporate Social Responsibility And Irresponsibility Relate To Firm Performance, Kent Walker Dr., Zhou Zhang, Bing Yu

Odette School of Business Publications

Purpose – To examine how increases in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) relate to firm performance. Further, we investigate how increases in CSR (CSiR) while CSiR (CSR) is present relate to three measures of firm performance: profitability, management efficiency, and market valuation.

Design/methodology/approach - Using over 10,000 observations from 2009-2013 and combined data from Sustainalytics and Compustat we examine how increases in either CSR or CSiR relate to firm performance.

Findings - We find that increased CSR significantly relates to increased firm performance in all three measures, and that increased CSiR significantly relates to decreased …

The Angel-Halo Effect: How Increases In Corporate Social Responsibility And Irresponsibility Relate To Firm Performance, Kent Walker Dr., Zhou Zhang, Bing Yu

Odette School of Business Publications

Purpose – To examine how increases in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) relate to firm performance. Further, we investigate how increases in CSR (CSiR) while CSiR (CSR) is present relate to three measures of firm performance: profitability, management efficiency, and market valuation.

Design/methodology/approach - Using over 10,000 observations from 2009-2013 and combined data from Sustainalytics and Compustat we examine how increases in either CSR or CSiR relate to firm performance.

Findings - We find that increased CSR significantly relates to increased firm performance in all three measures, and that increased CSiR significantly relates to decreased …

Is The Red Dragon Green? An Examination Of The Antecedents And Consequences Of Environmental Proactivity In China, Kent Walker Dr., Na Ni Dr., Weidong Huo

Odette School of Business Publications

China is the world’s second largest economy and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide, yet we know little about environmental proactivity in the most populated country in the world. We address this gap through a survey of 161 Chinese companies with two respondents per firm (N = 322) where we seek to identify the antecedents and consequences of environmental proactivity. We identify two categorizations of environmental proactivity: Environmental operational improvements and environmental reporting. We find that ecological motivations and regulatory stakeholder pressure are positively related to both types of environmental proactivity, and external stakeholder pressure is negatively related to environmental …

Shortcomings Of Investior-Based Ratings Of Corporate Reputation: An Exploratory Empirical Study That Shows A Variety Of Stakeholder Groups Place Greater Emphasis On Corporate Ethics Than Profits., Kent Walker Dr., Bruno Dyck Dr.

Odette School of Business Publications

We examine three assumptions commonly held in the corporate reputation literature: i) reputation ratings of owners and investors are generally representative of all stakeholders; ii) stakeholders will generally provide a higher reputation rating to firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility versus firms that do not; and iii) profitability is the primary criterion of importance to all stakeholders when rating a firm’s reputation. Using an exploratory in-class exercise our findings suggest that: i) there are significant differences among stakeholder groups in their reputation ratings; ii) firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility are not rated more highly across all stakeholder groups, and …

Empirical Archetypes For Strong Corporate Environmental Performance, Kent Walker Dr., Na Ni, Bruno Dyck Dr.

Odette School of Business Publications

We examine 45 existing case studies of firms with strong corporate environmental performance (CEP) to empirically identify four organizational configurations for successful sustainability. These four configurations represent different combinations of variables describing a firm’s external environment, organizational structure, and its strategy-related activities. More specifically, these configurations vary in having a benign or challenging external environment, a mechanistic or organic structure, a low-cost or differentiation strategy, hands-on or hands-off participation by the top-management-team, high or low consideration given to stakeholders, and a short or long-term time orientation. Taken together the four organizational configurations introduce an understanding of equifinality for achieving CEP. …

Sustainability Fellowships: The Potential For Collective Stakeholder Influence, Kent Walker Dr., Andre Laplume

Odette School of Business Publications

Purpose –Given the current ecological state of the planet organizations now need to develop their sustainability to a significantly greater extent and at a faster pace. This paper proposes stakeholder collectives as a means for rapid and comprehensive sustainability, while also examining the moderating influence of firm size and change potential.

Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical analysis leads to the development of multiple propositions. The work concentrates on one research question: How can we bring about rapid and comprehensive organizational sustainability?

Findings – Arguments for the inability of individual stakeholders to drive the level of sustainability now required are presented. Propositions …

Sex Stereotyping Managerial Positions, Abdel Moneim Elsaid, Eahab Elsaid

Odette School of Business Publications

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how men and women sex stereotype managerial positions and how they view women in managerial roles in Egypt and the USA, in order to provide meaningful cross-cultural comparisons.

Design/methodology/approach - The study uses surveys that utilize the Schein descriptive index and the women as managers scale (WAMS) to compare perceptions on women in managerial positions in Egypt and the USA. The sample consists of 553 Egyptian and 324 American management students.

Findings - The results show that in the Egyptian sample both males and females held negative views of women …

The Harm Of Symbolic Actions And Green-Washing: Corporate Actions And Communications On Environmental Performance And Their Financial Implications, Kent Walker, Fang Wan

Odette School of Business Publications

We examine over 100 top performing Canadian firms in visibly polluting industries as we seek to answer four research questions: What specific environmental issues are firms addressing? How do these issues differ between industries? Are both symbolic and substantive actions financially beneficial? Does green-washing, measured as the difference between symbolic and substantive action, and/or green-highlighting, measured as the combined effect of symbolic and substantive actions, pay? We find that substantive actions of environmental issues (green walk) neither harm nor benefit firms financially, but symbolic actions (green talk) are negatively related to financial performance. We also find that green-washing (discrepancy between …