Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Keeping Investors Onboard: A Corporate Social Responsibility Crisis Response Framework, Clarence Goh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

There is evidence to suggest that managers use CSR reporting as a means to manage their firms’ CSR reputations. In this study, I jointly examine CSR reputation and CSR crisis response in the context of CSR crises, and how they can influence investor judgments and decision making. In particular, in the context of CSR crises, I build on situational crisis communication theory to develop a CSR crisis response framework which managers can use to examine and understand how specific types of CSR crises can influence their firm’s CSR reputations, which can in turn influence investor judgments and decision making. Following …

Dealing With Un(Expected) Ethical Dilemma: Experience From The Field, Zaleha Othman 6762207, Fathilatul Zakimi Abdul Hamid

The Qualitative Report

Despite the growing interest in qualitative research and discussion of ethics, there has been little focus in the literature on the specific ethical dilemmas faced by researchers. In this paper, we share our fieldwork experiences regarding the ethical dilemmas that we encountered while doing research on a sensitive topic. Specifically, we share some of the ethical dilemmas, that is, concerning confidentiality, anonymity, legitimacy, controversial data, interpretation and off-the-record data, which emerged from the research. Most importantly, this paper shares ideas concerning how researchers might deal with ethical issues while preserving their integrity in the research process. Overall, this paper suggests …

Entire Fairness: A Call To Preserve Delaware Doctrine, Lisa Bei Li

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Appraisal arbitrage is on the rise. Institutional investors—namely, hedge funds—buy into target companies after their merger announcements and bet on the price. By purposely taking a minority position, these funds proceed to courts to obtain what they otherwise could not in the market: a “fair value.” Where there is no allegation of wrongdoing or injury, these plaintiffs nonetheless successfully divert deal value away from business combinations. Based on a misunderstood statute, appraisal arbitrage has exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry for large fund investors. In June 2016, amid growing concerns, the Delaware General Assembly amended section 262, Delaware’s appraisal statute. …

The Evolution Of A Christian Business School's Mission--Bringing "Business As Mission" To A Business School's Mission, Chuck Capps, Rob Touchstone, Ray Eldridge, Leanne Smith, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

Colleges of business typically seek accreditation to achieve legitimacy and raise their reputations. Major business school accreditors (AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE) all base their accreditation standards on college-created mission statements. This paper describes how one Christian business school developed a unique mission statement in response to both accreditation standards and as a spiritual transformation catalyst. This statement calls for the college to “develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus,” and it is now being inculcated through curricular and co-curricular activities. This paper details how three programs in particular: Business as Mission, Servant Leadership, and Service Learning—manifest …

Introduction, Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

America faces a reckoning, a crucible of what Reinhold Niebuhr observed more than eighty years ago. Our democratic principles and traditions are imperiled by the power of financial oligarchs and unfettered money flows, which have contributed to massive inequality that, in turn, has given rise to political unrest and a sense of cultural unmooring.

The articles presented here are both descriptive and normative, setting forth a complex social problem with seemingly bottomless proportions and then offering a design or set of remedial actions to alleviate them. Drawing on my professional experience going back to the mid-1970s, I wrote these pieces …

Money And Morality: Pathways Toward A Civic Stewardship Ethic (2012), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Based on a plenary presentation made at the Ninth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance, held at Harvard Law School in 2010, less than two years after the 2008 financial crisis, this article argues for the restoration of ethical values and civic commitments in capitalism and economic enterprise, drawing on traditional religious, theological, and philosophical principles regarding the civic moral obligations associated with building and managing wealth. The article is divided into three main parts. It begins with an overview of reform measures emanating from the financial debacle, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and an …

Improving Impact: Collaborative Multi-Party, Multi-Sector Engagement (2011), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Most people do not realize the full implications of the fact that we live now in an era marked more by networks than hierarchies. Nowadays, power is distributed across boundaries and borders, rather than concentrated in one place—be it a physical setting, demographic group, industrial sector, or professional discipline. Thanks to systems thinking and the ubiquity of digital tools and platforms, there are many more opportunities for lawmakers, policymakers, and economic institutions to collaborate with concerned citizens on critical public issues, thereby breaking the grip of lobbyists, third-party intermediaries, and the power elite. On top of that are recent breakthroughs …

Trusting Harvard: The Cost Of Unprincipled Investing (2014), Marcy Murninghan, Robert A.G. Monks

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article provides a framework for answering two questions: How can Harvard fulfill its fiduciary obligation as an investor in ways that advance its beliefs, values, and commitments? How can Harvard take the lead in creating a curriculum for students, professionals, and the general public about the civic moral obligations of wealth? While aimed at Harvard, the issues covered are relevant to other universities and tax-exempt institutional investors, because they have a special duty to advance the public interest. Commissioned and co-authored by the noted corporate governance and responsible ownership guru Robert A. G. Monks, it calls on Harvard to …

Corporate Civic Responsibility And The Ownership Agenda: Investing In The Public Good (1994), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article seeks to provoke broader public discussion about ways in which human and ecologic dignity, prosperity, and the civic ideal can be advanced through a revitalized and principled ownership agenda that features greater levels of corporate accountability and civic virtue. It draws from portions of what then was called an “Occasional Paper,” part of a series emanating from the early days of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. Written in 1994, it introduces a new paradigm for corporate governance called the “corporate covenant,” which casts ownership within the framework of citizenship. These …

A Framework For Good Ownership And Good Governance (1999), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article encapsulates a more extensive analysis that was commissioned by The Boston Foundation’s board of trustees in December 1998 to investigate its investment practices and identify ways in which its asset management decisions might be brought into fuller alignment with its charitable purpose—without conceding earnings or undermining its philanthropic fiduciary responsibility. The undertaking was spurred by the leadership of Robert A. Glassman, co-founder and co-chair of Wainwright Bank and a trustee of The Boston Foundation (TBF) since 1985, who took the reins from David Rockefeller Jr. in 1995 as chair of TBF’s investment committee. The research project built on …

Equity Culture And Decent Work: The Case Of Amazon (2017), Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Every year, publicly traded companies hold annual meetings at which management presents a summary of the year’s accomplishments and shareholders vote on a slate of ballot issues, referred to as “proxy resolutions,” that are placed there by either management or shareholders. As in public life, in theory this form of corporate governance relies on a division of authority and checks and balances among shareholders, the board of directors, and company management. In theory, shareholders function much like registered voters, boards serve as their elected representatives, and management operates much like the executive branch to carry out the mandates accorded to …

Using The Five Domains Model To Assess The Adverse Impacts Of Husbandry, Veterinary, And Equitation Interventions On Horse Welfare, Paul Mcgreevy, Jeannine Berger, Nic De Brauwere, Orla Doherty, Anna Harrison, Julie Fiedler, Claudia Jones, Sue Mcdonnell, Andrew Mclean, Lindsay Nakonechny, Christine Nichol, Liane Preshaw, Peter Thomson, Vicky Tzioumis, John Webster, Sarah Wolfensohn, James Yeates, Bidda Jones

Equine Husbandry and Welfare Collection

The aim of this study was to conduct a series of paper-based exercises in order to assess the negative (adverse) welfare impacts, if any, of common interventions on domestic horses across a

broad range of different contexts of equine care and training. An international panel (with professional expertise in psychology, equitation science, veterinary science, education, welfare, equestrian coaching, advocacy, and community engagement; n = 16) met over a four-day period to define and assess these interventions, using an adaptation of the domain-based assessment model. The interventions were considered within 14 contexts: C1Weaning; C2 Diet; C3 Housing; C4 Foundation training; C5 …

The Early Eight And The Future Of Consumer Legal Activism To Fight Modern-Day Slavery In Corporate Supply Chains, Andrew G. Barna

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Services Llc, Et Al. Order On Pending Motions And Requests, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Entrepreneurship Education Empowers Youth To Change Their Lives, Marianna Brashear, Jason Riddle

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) aims at equipping Title 1 schools with free, hands-on, engaging materials that any teacher can facilitate either individually or in a classroom setting with no background in entrepreneurship necessary. These versatile lessons, courses, and workshops teach the entrepreneurial mindset optimizing opportunities for grades 8-12 students no matter which life/career path they choose.

Water System Unreliability And Diarrhea Incidence Among Children In Guatemala, Jennifer Trudeau, Anna-Maria Aksan, Wiliam F. Vásquez

WCBT Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES:

This article examines the effect of water system unreliability on diarrhea incidence among children aged 0-5 in Guatemala.

METHODS:

We use secondary data from a nationally representative sample of 7579 children to estimate the effects of uninterrupted and interrupted water services on diarrhea incidence. The national scope of this study imposes some methodological challenges due to unobserved geographical heterogeneity. To address this issue, we estimate mixed-effects logit models that control for unobserved heterogeneity by estimating random effects of selected covariates that can vary across geographical areas (i.e. water system reliability).

RESULTS:

Compared to children without access to piped water, …

Are Corporate Codes Of Ethics And Risk Assessment By Internal Auditors Associated With Sustainability Audits By Internal Auditors?, Steven M. Desimone, Mohammad Abdolmohammadi

Economics Department Working Papers

An increasing number of organizations engage in sustainability reporting to the public. However, assurance of this disclosure is relatively new. In this study we investigate corporate codes of ethics and risk assessment by internal auditors as correlates of organizations’ engaging their internal audit functions (IAFs) in sustainability audits. Using data from a large sample of chief audit executives (CAEs) we find significant and positive associations between code of conduct and risk assessment and sustainability audits by IAFs. Also, we find positive and significant association between industry (environmentally sensitive vs. others), CAE experience, and CAE major (accounting vs. others) and sustainability …

Maximizing Shareholder Wealth And Stakeholder Value Through Benefit Corporations: Doing Good And Doing Well, Arlene J. Nicholas, Samuel A. Sacco

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Benefit Corporations must create a "general public benefit," and answer to shareholders while decisions based on society or environment, rather than solely on profit, are legally protected (Alpern, 2015). The Benefit Corporation's legal and performance standards help ensure market growth, valuation, impact, and integrity (Neubauer, 2016). This paper examines the evolution of Benefit Corporations and some of the legal differences between traditional for-profit corporations including related court cases. The authors provide a business rationale in support of conscientious for-profit organizations. How a company can become a Benefit Corporation and the value added will be discussed.

Financial Literacy And Accountability Within Black Baptist Churches, Joanne Suttington

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study explored the lack of financial literacy and accountability of church leaders within black Baptist Church in fulfilling their financial stewardship responsibilities in overseeing the church’s resources. In order for churches to grow both spiritually and financially, the church leaders are critical to the overall success and sustainability of the organization. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the stewardship theory, which implied that church leaders would perform as responsible stewards in managing the church’s resources. In this study, the researcher used a qualitative method with a case study design to explore the education and experiences of …

Property And Business, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This chapter gives an overview of the main foundational theories of property. As I will show, there are two major families of justification for property (with each family, of course, having many different members). After laying out those two families and their potential problems, I will then consider some of the issues that reside in intellectual property, turning subsequently to explore one way in which a theory of business ethics may either be in tension or fit with such a justification of property. In particular, I will look at the tensions that stakeholder theory, on at least one version of …

Big Data In Finance: Highlights From The Big Data In Finance Conference Hosted At The University Of Michigan October 27-28, 2016, Michael S. Barr, Brian Koziara, Mark D. Flood, Alfred Hero, H. V. Jagadish

Law & Economics Working Papers

How can financial data be made more accessible and more secure, as well as more useful to regulators, market participants, and the public? As new data sets are created, opportunities emerge. Vast quantities of financial data may help identify emerging risks, enable market participants and regulators to see and better understand financial networks and interconnections, enhance financial stability, bolster consumer protection, and increase access to the underserved. Data can also increase transparency in the financial system for market participants, regulators and the public. These data sets, however, can raise significant questions about security and privacy; ensuring data quality; protecting against …

Differences In Work Values By Gender And Generation: Evidence From Egypt, Dr. Maha Ahmed Zaki Dajani

Business Administration

This research was built on the previous research titled “The Mediating Role of Work Values in the Relationship between Islamic Religiosity and Job Performance: Empirical Evidence from Egyptian Public Health Sector” (2017) and continued to examine work values differences based on gender and generation. A quota sampling procedure was used to survey (400) participants in (10) public Egyptian hospitals. The positive response rate of the target population was (83.75%). Work values were measured using Lyon Work Values Survey (LWVS) revised 25-item scale to assess four types of work values, namely, instrumental values, cognitive values, social/altruistic values, and prestige values. It …

Carol Lynn Eden, As Trustee Caroll Ynn Eden, As Trustee Of The 2005 Schinazi Gst Grantor Trust Order Denying Respondents’ Motion To Compel Arbitration And Denying As Moot Petitioner’S Application To Stay Arbitration, Alice D. Bonner

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

The Flint Food Store Survey: Combining Spatial Analysis With A Modified Nutrition Environment Measures Survey In Stores (Nems-S) To Measure The Community And Consumer Nutrition Environments, Erika R. Shaver, Richard C. Sadler, Alex B. Hill, Kendall Bell, Myah Ray, Jennifer Choy-Shin, Joy Lerner, Teresa Soldner, Andrew D. Jones

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

Objective
The goal of the present study was to use a methodology that accurately and reliably describes the availability, price and quality of healthy foods at both the store and community levels using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S), to propose a spatial methodology for integrating these store and community data into measures for defining objective food access.

Setting
Two hundred and sixty-five retail food stores in and within 2 miles (3·2 km) of Flint, Michigan, USA, were mapped using ArcGIS mapping software.

Design
A survey based on the validated NEMS-S was conducted at each retail food store. …

Frances B. Bunzl Order Denying William C. Lankford's Motion To Dismiss Third Party, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Freedom For The Wolf, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Freedom for the Wolf (2018), directed by Rupert Russell.

The Impact Of Sustainability Reporting On Firm Profitability, Lancee L. Whetman

Undergraduate Economic Review

Using a hand-collected representative sample of 95 publicly traded American firms from various sectors in 2015-2016, I examine how corporate sustainability reporting affects the financial performance of firms. I find a positive and significant effect of sustainability reporting on a firm’s return on equity, return on assets, and profit margin in the subsequent year. However, this relationship is found only for firms with low institutional ownership. These results suggest that sustainability reporting would be a worthwhile use of corporate resources for this subset of firms. Further, corporate sustainability reporting is shown to be an effective substitute for monitoring by institutional …

Omar Abdel-Aleem Et Al., Order On Third-Party Defendants' Motion To Dismiss The Third-Party Complaint, Melvin K. Westmoreland

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Llc Et Al., Order On Certain Pending Motions, Alice D. Bonner

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Bsl Holdings, Llc Et Al., Order Granting In Part And Denying In Part Defendants' Second Renewed Partial Motion To Dismiss, Elizabeth E. Long

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.