Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics (16)
- Corporate Finance (8)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (6)
- Strategic Management Policy (6)
- Organizational Behavior and Theory (5)
-
- Business and Corporate Communications (4)
- Asian Studies (3)
- Finance and Financial Management (3)
- International and Area Studies (3)
- Economics (2)
- Finance (2)
- Business Organizations Law (1)
- Education (1)
- Environmental Sciences (1)
- Higher Education (1)
- International Business (1)
- Law (1)
- Operations and Supply Chain Management (1)
- Physical Sciences and Mathematics (1)
Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Business
Purpose In The For-Profit Firm: A Review And Framework For Management Research, Gerard George, Martine R. Haas, Anita M. Mcgahan, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Paul Tracey
Purpose In The For-Profit Firm: A Review And Framework For Management Research, Gerard George, Martine R. Haas, Anita M. Mcgahan, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Paul Tracey
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Purpose is a concept often used in managerial communities to signal and define a firm’s benevolent and pluralistic approach to its stakeholders beyond its focus on shareholders. While some evidence has linked purpose to positive organizational outcomes such as growth, employee satisfaction, innovation, and superior stock market performance, the definition and application of purpose in management research has been varied and frequently ambiguous. We review literature streams that invoke purpose in the for-profit firm and propose a unifying definition. Next, we develop a framework to study purpose that decouples its framing and formalization within firms from its realization, thus helping …
Impacts Of Distributive Comparison Behavior On Corporate Social Responsibility In Supply Chains: The Role Of Small Firms, Mingzheng Wang, Xin Fang, Zizhuo Wang, Ying-Ju Chen
Impacts Of Distributive Comparison Behavior On Corporate Social Responsibility In Supply Chains: The Role Of Small Firms, Mingzheng Wang, Xin Fang, Zizhuo Wang, Ying-Ju Chen
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Problem definition: In this paper, we explore how a firm’s concern about profit distribution and the size of downstream firms in supply chains affect corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment strategy. Methodology/results: In a supply chain consisting of one supplier and one manufacturer, both players decide whether to invest to reduce CSR violations, and they negotiate over a wholesale price. Distributive comparison behavior makes the manufacturer compare the profit with his equitable payoff, which is determined by the supplier’s profit. Advantageous (resp. disadvantageous) inequality occurs when the manufacturer’s profit is higher (resp. lower) than the manufacturer’s equitable payoff. We compare this …
Social Performance Feedback And Firm Communication Strategy, Heli Wang, Ming Jia, Yi Xiang, Yang Lan
Social Performance Feedback And Firm Communication Strategy, Heli Wang, Ming Jia, Yi Xiang, Yang Lan
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Although corporate social performance has become an important measure of firm performance, there is little understanding about how firms respond to social performance feedback and how impression management may function as an important firm response to the feedback. Building upon and extending the literature on the behavioral theory of the firm and the strategic use of language, we examine how discrepancies between firms’ social performance and their aspiration levels affect how firms use visual expressions in their CSR reports. In addition, we argue that the relationship between social performance discrepancies and the use of visual expressions in CSR reports is …
Socially Responsible Corporate Customers, Rui Dai, Hao Liang, Lilian Ng
Socially Responsible Corporate Customers, Rui Dai, Hao Liang, Lilian Ng
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Corporate customers are an important stakeholder in global supply chains. We employ several unique international databases to test whether socially responsible corporate customers can infuse similar socially responsible business behavior in suppliers. Our findings suggest a unilateral effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR) only from customers to suppliers, an evidence further supported by exogenous variation in customers’ close-call CSR proposals and by product scandals. Customers exert influence on suppliers’ CSR through positive assortative matching and their decision-making process. Enhanced collaborative CSR efforts help improve operational efficiency and firm valuation of both customers and suppliers but increase only the customers’ future …
The Impacts Of Ethical Philosophy On The Corporate Hypocrisy Perception And Communication Intentions Toward Csr, Kyujin Shim, Jeong-Nam Kim
The Impacts Of Ethical Philosophy On The Corporate Hypocrisy Perception And Communication Intentions Toward Csr, Kyujin Shim, Jeong-Nam Kim
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This study investigates how perceptions of corporate hypocrisy from the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities connect the public’s ethical philosophy to subsequent positive/negative opinion-sharing intention. With special attention to deontology and consequentialism in normative ethics of philosophy, the current study empirically tests a theoretical model of perceived corporate hypocrisy with two causal antecedents (i.e., individual moral philosophy of deontology and consequentialism), and the mediating role of corporate hypocrisy between such antecedents and the publics’ subsequent communication intention (i.e., positive and negative opinion-sharing intentions) toward a firm. Results indicate significant mediation effects of corporate hypocrisy between personal ethical orientations and the …
Foreign Subsidiary Csr As A Buffer Against Parent Firm Reputation Risk, Nan Zhou, Heli Wang
Foreign Subsidiary Csr As A Buffer Against Parent Firm Reputation Risk, Nan Zhou, Heli Wang
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This study examines the influence of parent firm reputation risk on the level of corporate social responsibility activities of foreign subsidiaries. We first argue that a strong reputation risk spillover occurs from parent firms to their foreign subsidiaries due to the high visibility of multinationals, the control of parent firms over their subsidiaries, and the liability of foreignness associated with foreign firms in host countries. Then, we argue that subsidiaries may resort to CSR in their host country to reduce the spillover effect. Thus, we hypothesize a positive relationship between parent firm reputation risk and foreign subsidiary CSR activities. Moreover, …
The Global Sustainability Footprint Of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
The Global Sustainability Footprint Of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
With the emergence of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) around the world managing equity of over $8 trillion, their impact on the corporate landscape and social welfare is being scrutinized. This study investigates whether and how SWFs incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in their investment decisions in publicly listed corporations, as well as the subsequent evolution of target firms' ESG performance. We find that SWF funds do consider the level of past ESG performance as well as recent ESG score improvement when taking ownership stakes in listed companies. These results are driven by the SWF funds that do have …
Editors' Comments: Is Corporate Social Responsibility Research Undertheorized?, Heli Wang, Cristina Gibson, Udo Zander
Editors' Comments: Is Corporate Social Responsibility Research Undertheorized?, Heli Wang, Cristina Gibson, Udo Zander
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has brought about both progress and controversy. Under the banner of CSR, we have made progress in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges, yet corporations still struggle to figure out where, how, and when to devote their social efforts, and doubts abound as to whether corporate efforts are truly in the public’s best interest. Scholarly interest in CSR research has also flourished. As a pervasive topic in the business literature, CSR is being addressed not only in the management field but also in the domains of economics, finance, marketing, operations, …
Peer Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Jie Cao, Hao Liang, Xintong Zhan
Peer Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Jie Cao, Hao Liang, Xintong Zhan
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We investigate how firms react to their product-market peers' commitment to and adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) using a regression discontinuity design approach. Relying on the passage or failure of CSR proposals by a narrow margin of votes during shareholder meetings, we find the passage of a close-call CSR proposal and its implementation are followed by the adoption of similar CSR practices by peer firms. In addition, peers that have greater difficulty in catching up with the voting firm in CSR experience significantly lower stock returns around the passage, consistent with the notion that the spillover effect of the …
Dare To Be Different? Conformity Versus Differentiation In Corporate Social Activities Of Chinese Firms And Market Responses, Yanlong Zhang, Heli Wang, Xiaoyu Zhou
Dare To Be Different? Conformity Versus Differentiation In Corporate Social Activities Of Chinese Firms And Market Responses, Yanlong Zhang, Heli Wang, Xiaoyu Zhou
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Building on the literature on optimal distinctiveness, this study explores the effects of conformity and differentiation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on the evaluations by security analysts and the responses of the financial market in general. We develop the argument that while conformity in CSR scope enhances analyst coverage, differentiation in CSR emphasis leads to more-favorable analyst recommendations and higher market value. This suggests that firms may be able to simultaneously conform in CSR scope and differentiate in CSR emphasis to achieve optimal distinctiveness. To further enhance our understanding of the variation in the relationship between conformity/differentiation and the …
Reading Between The Lines: Not All Csr Is Good Csr, David K. Ding, Christo Ferreira, Udomsak Wongchoti
Reading Between The Lines: Not All Csr Is Good Csr, David K. Ding, Christo Ferreira, Udomsak Wongchoti
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR), as evidenced in annual financial reports, is associated with a firm’s financial performance in New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach: A word count approach of several key CSR indicators found in the audited financial reports of NZX50 constituent firms is used. Several variables are constructed that measure the presence of CSR within the annual report such as sustainability, responsibility, social, environment, diversity, employee and community, and eight other variables within the annual report that measure the penetration of stakeholder engagement. Control variables and alternative measures of CSR are also included. Descriptive statistics …
Future-Time Framing: The Effect Of Language On Corporate Future Orientation, Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis, Luc Renneboog, Sunny Li Sun
Future-Time Framing: The Effect Of Language On Corporate Future Orientation, Hao Liang, Christopher Marquis, Luc Renneboog, Sunny Li Sun
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We examine how international variation in corporate future-oriented behavior, such as corporate social responsibility and research and development investment, could partially stem from characteristics of the languages spoken at firms. We develop a future-time framing perspective rooted in the literatures on organizational categorization and framing. Our theory and hypotheses focus on how companies with working languages that obligatorily separate the future tense and the present tense engage less in future-oriented behaviors, and this effect is attenuated by exposure to multilingual environments. The results based on a large global sample of firms from 39 countries support our theory, highlighting the importance …
When Corporate Social Responsibility Motivates Employee Citizenship Behavior: The Sensitizing Role Of Task Significance, Madeline Ong, David M. Mayer, P. Tost Leigh, Ned Wellman
When Corporate Social Responsibility Motivates Employee Citizenship Behavior: The Sensitizing Role Of Task Significance, Madeline Ong, David M. Mayer, P. Tost Leigh, Ned Wellman
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Scholars have proposed that organizations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts are often positively associated with employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and have invoked identity-based mechanisms to explain this relationship. Complementing these perspectives, we develop a CSR sensitivity framework that explains how task significance, a micro-level job characteristic, can sensitize employees to their organizations’ macro-level CSR efforts, thereby strengthening the association between CSR and OCB. Across three field studies, we find that CSR and task significance interact to predict OCB, such that an organization’s CSR is more positively associated with OCB among employees who report higher task significance than among those …
Peer Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Hao Liang, Hao Liang, Xintong Zhan
Peer Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Hao Liang, Hao Liang, Xintong Zhan
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We investigate how firms react to their peers' adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by using a regression discontinuity design that relies on "locally" exogenous variations of CSR generated by shareholder proposals that pass or fail by a small margin of votes. Specifically, we find that peers of a voting firm who passed a close-call CSR proposal experience lower announcement returns and higher following-year CSR scores compared to those of a voting firm that marginally failed a CSR proposal. Such effects are stronger in peer firms with higher competitive pressure, better CSR performance relative to the voting firm, and a …
On The Foundations Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
On The Foundations Of Corporate Social Responsibility, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
A firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice and its country’s legal origin are strongly correlated. This relation is valid for various CSR ratings coming from several large datasets that comprise more than 23,000 large companies from 114 countries. We find that CSR is more strongly and consistently related to legal origins than to “doing good by doing well”-factors, and most firm and country characteristics such as ownership concentration, political institutions, and degree of globalization. In particular, companies from common law countries have lower level of CSR than companies from civil law countries, and Scandinavian civil law firms assume highest level …
Corporate Donations And Shareholder Value, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Corporate Donations And Shareholder Value, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Do corporate donations enhance shareholder wealth or reflect agency problems? We address this question for a global sample of firms whereby we distinguish between charitable and political donations, as well as between donations in cash and in kind. We find that charitable donations are positively related to financial performance and firm value, which is consistent with the value-enhancement hypothesis. This positive effect on firm value is stronger for cash than in-kind donations. In contrast, political donations do not appear to enhance shareholder value, but rather tend to reflect agency problems, as they are higher for firms with poor internal corporate …
Socially Responsible Firms, Allen Ferrell, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Socially Responsible Firms, Allen Ferrell, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In the corporate finance tradition, starting with Berle and Means (1932), corporations should generally be run to maximize shareholder value. The agency view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) considers CSR an agency problem and a waste of corporate resources. Given our identification strategy by means of an instrumental variable approach, we find that well-governed firms that suffer less from agency concerns (less cash abundance, positive pay-for-performance, small control wedge, strong minority protection) engage more in CSR. We also find that a positive relation exists between CSR and value and that CSR attenuates the negative relation between managerial entrenchment and value.
Socially Responsible Firms, Allen Ferrell, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Socially Responsible Firms, Allen Ferrell, Hao Liang, Luc Renneboog
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In the corporate finance tradition starting with Berle & Means (1923), corporations should generally be run so as to maximize shareholder value. The agency view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) considers CSR as an agency problem and a waste of corporate resources. Given our identification strategy by means of an IV approach, we find that well-governed firms who suffer less from agency concerns (less cash abundance, positive pay-for-performance, small control wedge, strong minority protection) engage more in CSR. We also find a positive relation between CSR and value and that CSR attenuates the negative relation between managerial entrenchment and value.
The Effect Of Bad Reputation: The Occurrence Of Crisis, Corporate Social Responsibility, And Perceptions Of Hypocrisy And Attitudes Toward A Company, Kyujin Shim, Sung-Un Yang
The Effect Of Bad Reputation: The Occurrence Of Crisis, Corporate Social Responsibility, And Perceptions Of Hypocrisy And Attitudes Toward A Company, Kyujin Shim, Sung-Un Yang
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Based on attribution theory, this study examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and media coverage of corporate reputation, crisis, and CSR history affect the attribution of corporate hypocrisy and subsequently shape attitudes toward a company. The study found that perceptions of corporate hypocrisy mediated corporate reputation and attitudes toward a company during a crisis. The study suggested that CSR might be utilized best when a company has a good reputation with no crisis, whereas corporate hypocrisy is perceived most when a bad reputation and/or a company crisis lead the public to infer ulterior motives in CSR. Theoretical and practical implications …
Firm Litigation Risk And The Insurance Value Of Corporate Social Performance, Ping-Sheng Koh, Cuili Qian, Heli Wang
Firm Litigation Risk And The Insurance Value Of Corporate Social Performance, Ping-Sheng Koh, Cuili Qian, Heli Wang
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This paper advances the risk management perspective that superior social performance enhances firm value by serving as an ex ante valuable insurance mechanism. We posit that good social performance is more valuable as an insurance mechanism for firms with higher litigation risks. Moreover, value generation of corporate social performance (CSP) depends on whether a firm has gained pragmatic legitimacy (i.e., a firm's financial health) and moral legitimacy (i.e., whether or not a firm operates in a socially contested industry) among its stakeholders. We find that the value of CSP as insurance against litigation risk is practically significant, adding 2 to …
Examining The Chinese Approach To Crisis Management: Cover-Ups, Saving Face, And Taking The “Upper Level Line”, Lan Ye, Augustine Pang
Examining The Chinese Approach To Crisis Management: Cover-Ups, Saving Face, And Taking The “Upper Level Line”, Lan Ye, Augustine Pang
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In 2008, the Sanlu Group, a former giant in the Chinese dairy industry and a quintessential Chinese organization, was confronted with the melamine-contaminated milk crisis. Its products were blamed for causing at least six babies' deaths and damaging the kidneys of about 294,000 babies. Sanlu was criticized for its crisis handling, which resulted in its collapse several months later. Using the contingency theory of strategic conflict management and Coombs' typology of crisis communication strategies, this study explored Sanlu's crisis management as a mirror to understanding the Chinese approach to crisis management. Findings showed that influenced by political, social, and cultural …
Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation Effects On Mba Job Choice: Controlling For Region Of Origin, David B. Montgomery, Catherine A. Ramus
Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation Effects On Mba Job Choice: Controlling For Region Of Origin, David B. Montgomery, Catherine A. Ramus
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In a preliminary study with 279 MBA’s from two European and three North American business schools we find that reputation-related attributes of caring about employees, environmental sustainability, community/stakeholder relations, and ethical products and services are important in job choice decisions. We use an adaptive conjoint analysis survey tool to discover the relative weighting of a new set of social responsibility job search criteria, including these attributes with traditional job search criteria like financial package, geographical location, etc. In addition, our results show that more than ninety percent of the MBAs in the sample were willing to forgo financial benefits in …
Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation Effects On Mba Job Choice, David B. Montgomery, Catherine A. Ramus
Corporate Social Responsibility Reputation Effects On Mba Job Choice, David B. Montgomery, Catherine A. Ramus
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In a preliminary study with 279 MBA’s from two European and three North American business schools we find that reputation-related attributes of caring about employees, environmental sustainability, community/ stakeholder relations, and ethical products and services are important in job choice decisions. We use an adaptive conjoint analysis survey tool to discover the relative weighting of a new set of social responsibility job search criteria, including these attributes with traditional job search criteria like financial package, geographical location, etc. In addition, our results show that more than ninety percent of the MBAs in the sample were willing to forgo financial benefits …