Business Commons^™

Can Organizational Focus On Responsible Ai Lead To Improved Ai Adoption By Employees?, Seema Chokshi

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The duality inherent in Artificial Intelligence technology entails that while AI has the potential to bring about transformative benefits to organizations, unintended consequences of AI applications could lead to biased and discriminatory outcomes, which could have negative consequences for the organization and society in general. Concerns about such unintended consequences are an impediment to AI adoption where unwilling employees and practitioners often fear ethical breaches, thereby, negatively impacting their engagement with AI driven applications. In response to these concerns various organizations and regulatory bodies have developed governing frameworks broadly known as Responsible AI standards, that set guidelines to design, …

An Analysis Of Corporate Social Responsibility And Real Earnings Management, Rachel Brassine

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Real earnings management (REM) is costly in the form of intense loan restrictions, increased interest expense, and public scrutiny. Nevertheless, companies still practice REM. Based on agency and stakeholder theories, this research predicts that as a company’s CSR score increases, REM will decrease, and this association will become more negative when a critical mass of females on the board of directors exists and when a board-level CSR committee is present. This study also predicts that when a company offers an executive incentive plan based on CSR metrics, REM will decrease, and the relationship will become more negative with a critical …

Research On The Relationship Between Social Responsibility Fulfillment And Reputation Of Platform Enterprises, Hong Tao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In the rapidly evolving platform economy, platform enterprises have emerged as significant contributors to socio-economic development, integrating resources and optimizing service delivery through innovative business models. However, their rapid ascension has also spotlighted significant challenges, especially in fulfilling their social responsibilities (SR) and managing their reputations effectively. This doctoral thesis delves into the intricate relationship between the fulfillment of social responsibilities by platform enterprises and their subsequent reputation in the market. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study identifies a gap in understanding how platform enterprises’ approach to social responsibility impacts their reputation among stakeholders. Utilizing a mixed-method research design …

Exploring The Relationship Between Financial Transparency And Sustainability Transparency In The Fashion Industry, Sohaila Hussaini

Dissertations

The focus of this research is to investigate the relationship between the corporate sustainability attributes of financial transparency and sustainability transparency in the fashion industry. Many firms in the fashion industry disclose sustainability reports to communicate their efforts and activities for promoting sound environmental, social, and governance-related policies and practices. However, recent literature suggests that within the fashion industry, incomplete disclosures and a general lack of transparency diminish the usefulness and effectiveness of such reports. This study seeks to ascertain whether observed shortcomings associated with environmental, social, and/or governance-related disclosures are associated with similar shortcomings in corporate financial reporting completeness …

The Interaction Of Loyalty Status And Need For Status On Rewards Donations Through Perceived Social Exclusion, Clancy Slay

Honors Theses

Rewards programs are commonplace with companies seeking a competitive advantage and creating consumer loyalty. A newer development in rewards programs allows consumers to donate points rather than personally receiving these benefits. With more than $48 billion moving through these programs annually, understanding how to encourage consumers to donate rewards points has tremendous implications for reallocating funds to support worthy causes (Dorotic et al., 2017). Research on consumer donations within rewards programs is virtually absent, and many unique factors to these programs suggest prior findings on charitable giving may not generalize. One of these factors is the prevalence of hierarchical or …

Manage Your Money Wisely: How Consumers And Marketers Can Effectively Communicate Money Issues, Alexander Park

Olin Business School Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Consumers and marketers find it challenging to communicate money matters. For example, consumers experience discomfort and uneasiness when discussing financial issues with their social relationships. Firms often receive backlash when sharing their good financial deeds (e.g., charitable efforts) with consumers. Because financial matters can be a sensitive topic, in my research, I explore the difficulties consumers and marketers experience when communicating money issues and how they can better navigate these problems.In Chapter One, I investigate a particularly uneasy interaction that consumers often face with their friends and acquaintances: the need to ask for money back. Seven fully preregistered studies (N …

Sustainability In South Carolina: A Case Study Analysis Of Publicly-Traded South Carolina Companies Using Sustainability Reports And Esg Scores, Gwyneth K. Waddington

Senior Theses

Sustainability is one of the issues at the forefront of society. Sustainability reports and ESG scores are used to help understand the performance of companies in relation to sustainability issues. The current literature on sustainability reporting makes it clear that there is not a uniform framework for metrics to include in sustainability reports and how those reports should appear. My project uses a case study analysis of nine publicly-traded companies headquartered in South Carolina to examine how companies are portraying their sustainability efforts and asks if there are certain indicators in sustainability reports that are good predictors of the ESG …

Redefining The Boundaries Of Firms: Insights From The Corporate Social Responsibility Of The Digital Platform-Based Firms And Stock Returns, Moo Kung Kim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

By using a novel dataset, platform firms (those that operate on apps and the internet as their main vector of operations), this study explores the boundaries of the firm through the lens of corporate social responsibility. By examining the CSR scandals of platform-based firms, the paper aims to answer: ‘How do digital platform firms affect the society and capital market and understand the welfare of stakeholders?’. To disentangle the debates in the literature, the study articulates the new framework of the boundaries and scope of firms by proposing broader stakeholders of firms.

This research attempts to elucidate the boundaries of …

The Effect Of Csr Campaigns On The Consumer Behaviour Of Gen Zers, Aijalyn Gonzales

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

As consumers become increasingly attuned to the practices of companies and their impact on society and the environment at large, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gradually become a major consideration for marketers. While it is believed that a demographic cohort growing in purchasing power and prominence, Generation Z, is the most sensitive to the perceived-CSR of a brand, some data suggests that their pragmatism and economic considerations may ultimately outweigh their sustainability concerns in a purchase decision.

This research aims to clarify much of the conflicting information about Gen Z’s primary considerations when shopping for products, specifically those in image-related …

Comparing The Environmental And Social Factors Of Uk And Us Firms: A Case For Stringent Disclosure Regulation, Jasmine Pybas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Variation in “good” corporate behavior can be observed across countries. Corporate social re- sponsibility (CSR) can be measured with a quantifiable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score, which was developed in part from investor demand. ESG scores are popular among investors to make sound, responsible investment decisions and corporations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable business practices. In a comparison of environmental and social fac- tors of US and UK firms among three industries, the British outperform their American counter- parts. The degree of disclosure regulation by their respective financial authoritative bodies ac- counts for this discrepancy.

Essays On Supply Chain Optimization: Operational Decisions With Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation And Live-Streaming Channel Introduction, Haiying Yang

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation, we study a supplier's operational decisions for supply chain optimization considering corporate social responsibility implementation and live- streaming channel introduction. Both essays start from analytical models that are inspired by observations, and we explore how different parameters affect the supplier's decisions through extensive numerical studies. In the first essay, we notice that cost auditing is becoming an increasingly important tool to improve supply chain efficiency and mitigate the influence of information asymmetry. We study how cost auditing indirectly influences retailer and supplier's behavior in social responsibility. We also discuss the potential negative social responsibility externalities of conducting …

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

Investing Green To Become More Green: An Analysis Of Whether S&P 100 Companies Are Decreasing Their Carbon Footprint Proportional To Their Liquidity, Ashley Hendler, Ethan Hunter

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Global warming may have ignited the flame in corporations to invest in the changing business and environmental climate. The importance of a broader stakeholder value perspective has grown as firms have impacted the global environment. The S&P 100 firms are at the forefront of the public’s attention in maximizing shareholder and stakeholder value. With the worldwide expectation for corporate social responsibility, these top firms are not in question of whether they are investing in sustainability initiatives but to what extent. We seek to decipher if these top corporations are reducing their carbon footprint proportional to their excess available funds. Since …

Differences Between Brand Activism And Corporate Social Responsibility In Consumer Perception, Erika Marchiondo

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to determine if there is a perceived difference among consumers between brand activism and corporate social responsibility. Taking a stand in social and political causes has become an unspoken requirement for major brands. Consumers are selective about purchasing from brands that do not adhere to ethical practices. Consumers are also demanding increased brand transparency about the philanthropical causes brands support. I want to determine how aware consumers are of acts of corporate social responsibility and brand activism, and if consumers are able to identify a fundamental difference between behaviors associated with the two terms. …

Recipe For Good: Analyzing The Authenticity Of Csr Commitments Among The Leadership Of A Parent Company To Global Restaurant Brands., Lauren E. Reuss

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a form of private self-regulation conducted by businesses; CSR aims to contribute to societal goals of philanthropy, activism, and ethics by improving society, policy, and or the environment. Corporate social responsibility is becoming a greater aspect of modern business, but as it becomes part of the modern discourse, it is right to question whether its efforts are authentic to those driving these initiatives? This case study seeks to understand how the leadership within the parent company of a global foods brand depicts authenticity and communicates its social and environmental efforts to stakeholders. Building on existing …

Sustainability, A Competitive Advantage In The Corporate World, Samantha Kennelly

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract: Over the years, society has become more aware of the impact they leave on the environment. For this reason, many are wondering what can be done to curb their footprint, and research has shown that customers now more than ever are demanding more sustainable goods. The aim of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the relationship between corporate social responsibility, consumer desires, and sustainability as a competitive advantage. I will first discuss the history and present factors surrounding environmental problems, in particular marine plastic pollution, we face today. I will define microplastics and marine plastics and …

Three Essays On Ceo Traits, Corporate Investment Decisions, And Firm Value, Rongyao Zhang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

More and more research has shown that the characteristics of top executives, especially CEOs, affect organizational decisions and behaviors. This dissertation primarily focuses on the role of executives’ managerial ability played in firm investment decisions, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment, and firm value.

Essay 1 examines whether high-ability managers’ earnings smoothing is motivated by the need to mitigate the adverse effects of heightened information asymmetry triggered by M&As on managers’ reputation capital and firm value. I document that acquirers with high-ability managers engage in more pre-acquisition earnings smoothing and experience more significant announcement …

Two Essays On Antecedents And Effects Of Award-Winning Ceos, Veronika Ciarleglio

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

A vibrant stream of research in strategic management examines CEO reputation, status, media coverage, and awards on firm outcomes.

This dissertation examines antecedents that impact the likelihood of CEOs gaining higher visible status —such as winning awards — and the impact of such status on firm behavior. The dissertation addresses these issues in two essays.

In the first essay, we use signaling theory to frame the impact of industry characteristics, firm level strategic initiatives, and demographic factors on the likelihood of CEOs winning awards. Specifically, in this essay we examine how industry structure, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, business strategies, …

Corporate Activism Best Practices In The Age Of Social Media, Fransisco Flores

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate activism, or the act of corporations speaking out on sociopolitical issues, has become more common with technological advances and social media access. Corporations’ role in society has evolved to include non-economic functions that aim to improve societal conditions. Despite corporations fulfilling additional societal roles, they face increased scrutiny from shareholders and stakeholders alike. Speaking out on social issues or staying silent causes ripple effects amongst their internal and external networks. Speaking out on social media while working for a private or publicly traded corporation can be challenging as it entails weighing a wide array of conditions, stakeholder desires, and …

Three Essays On Corporate Sustainability Language, Nahyun Kim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

My dissertation explores how public firms employ language in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports to lengthen the horizons of their strategic decisions. The three essays included in my dissertation introduce and investigate the pursuit of temporal equilibrium in the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis. Specifically, I compare the emphasis placed on the short versus long- future in the annual sustainability reports of public firms and derive three explanations for the increased emphasis of long-termism.

In Essay 1 (Chapter 2), I describe how firms seek and find temporal equilibrium after the Financial Crisis. Using topic modeling, I linguistically and …

Corporate Social Responsibility Takes Flight: An Exploration Of Airline Industry Csr Reporting Practices, Anna Yowell

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

Corporate social responsibility reporting, or CSR, has become a way for companies to regain the trust of the public by disclosing how the firm is doing business while being mindful of the community where it operates. The value of responsibility reporting lies in the usefulness of its users; then, it is important for companies to understand how the consumers, often current or prospective shareholders, are understanding their reporting practices.

This thesis presents an overview of how corporate social responsibility disclosures to the public have evolved over a span of four years, 2016 to 2019, through a sample of commercial airlines. …

The Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Consumer Behavior And Buyer Attitudes, Bailey Dial

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

With the size and scope of Corporate Social Responsibility’s (CSR’s) presence in corporate America and beyond, this thesis dives into the history, composition, and application of a CSR framework within an organization. This thesis also reports the results of a survey of students to apprehend the framework’s external impacts on consumers, including brand perceptions and purchase decisions. Most individuals have experienced some degree of exposure to CSR in their professional lives. Levels of awareness and liking towards both the CSR framework and its application demonstrate a direct impact on consumers’ buying processes and company judgements.

A Tale Of Two Companies: The Importance Of Public Relations Amidst The Shift Towards Corporate Activism, Olivia Schwab

Honors Theses

By comparing the controversies that stemmed from Papa John’s John Schnatter and CrossFit’s Greg Glassman, some obvious public relations strategies stand out, including but not limited to understanding an audience, adapting to a changing environment, establishing a crisis communications plan, and taking controversial stands on issues close to the audience’s hearts. Most importantly though, if companies preach messages of social change, they must follow up on their stances with corrective action to do their best to help facilitate it in society.

While examining the history of corporate activism, it is clear why and how some corporations become the victims of …

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Standards Utilization And Influences On Their Adoption, Julie Beckel Nelsen

Dissertations (1934 -)

Many organizations disclose non-financial operations through a formal corporate social responsibility (CSR) or sustainability report assessing how the firm’s actions impact the environment, humanity, society, and economy. These publicly available reports offer detailed data to stakeholders, and they can guide companies to improve operations, reduce costs, and advance sustainability. Yet, no required disclosure or disclosure method exists for U.S.-based firms, and comparison and evaluation of impact without a standard are problematic. Using Minnesota’s Fortune 500 firms as the sample, this study determined the state of reporting CSR using a standard and determine the influences to adopting CSR reporting standards within …

Financial Impact Of Social Responsibility On Publicly Traded Insurers, Alaina Josette Winman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite significant annual spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, automobile insurance company stakeholders are not aware if there is a relationship between CSR spending and earnings per share (EPS). Leaders of publicly traded automobile insurance companies will benefit from understanding if CSR affects EPS and value creation so they can plan CSR spending and stakeholder management strategies. Grounded in the theoretical framework of stakeholder management theory and signaling theory, the purpose of this quantitative ex-post facto study was to determine if there was a relationship between charitable donations, community development spending, environmental spending, and EPS. Data were collected from …

Corporate Social Responsibility In The United States And Nigeria, Olatokunbo Ahmed Wilfred Tijani

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A recent spate of violations uncovered by international regulators has suggested an emerging social problem that the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) credibility paradigm could be decoupling between theory and practice. This development has left most stakeholders deliberating if CSR in practice is aligned with CSR in theory. This correlational research study empirically tested the CSR theory, positing improved corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP); and stakeholder theory, positing quid pro quo correlation between multinational corporations (MNCs) and their stakeholders. The purpose of this study was to identify if there is a positive association between the corporate …

A Cultural Political Economy Of Corporate Social Responsibility : The Case Of C.I. Uniban S.A. And The Colombian Banana Industry, 1987-2017, David H. Uzzell Jr

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation concentrates on the banana sector in Urabá, Colombia from 1987 to 2017, paying particular attention to C.I. Uniban S.A., the largest and oldest banana marketing and export company in the country, its social foundation, Fundauniban, its marketing subsidiary Turbana Corporation, Agricola Sara Palma S.A. banana producers, and local communities in the region. Through an in-depth, qualitative case-study supported with insights from cultural political economy (CPE), it documents the local and global pressures that forced these actors to adopt and deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) to upgrade to compete in the global banana market. It makes the case that …

The Future Of Fashion: Corporate Social Responsibility And Essential Marketing Strategies, Taite Jorgensen

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes how fast fashion has impacted future trends of the fashion industry. Due to globalization, the fast fashion industry has been able to create new norms of over-consumerism and international labor. Because of this, the fast fashion industry is able to mass produce in a way consumers have never seen before, in addition to making it all at extremely low prices. However, fast fashion brands are only able to mass produce cheap goods through unethical methodologies; these methodologies include unsustainable materials and practices, inhuman labor conditions and wages, and by making sizes that exclude bigger bodies. Consumers are …

Strategic Organizational Sustainability Climate: Scale Development And Validation, Petra Brnova

Theses and Dissertations

The Strategic Organizational Sustainability (SOS) Climate encompasses the employee perceptions of the policies, practices, and procedures that promote long term organizational success in the era of pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. In order to promote such workplace climate, organizations must be able to measure it. To this end, the SOS Climate scale was developed and validated using first a phenomenological approach in interviews with sustainability professionals working in organizations across economic sectors. After this, scale items were generated and judged, followed by a pilot study. Principal component analysis was conducted for preliminary dimensionality and item reduction. Lastly, confirmatory factor …

Thomas Kent's Paralogic Rhetoric As A Framework For Analyzing Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse, Donald E. Penner

English Department Theses

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) scholarship increasingly uses rhetorical theory as a method for analyzing contested meaning between communicants. However, the classical and social constructivist rhetorical theories typically used for analysis do not address the primary cause of contested meaning – relativism. Conversely, such theories often contribute to a dualistic worldview by utilizing internally imagined conceptual schemes for analyzing texts. This thesis proposes Thomas Kent’s paralogic rhetorical theory as an alternative method of analyzing CSR texts, and focuses on three common areas typically utilized in rhetorical analyses of CSR texts: text reception, the rhetorical situation, and genre. Where paradigmatic rhetorical theories …