scholarly journals Dynamic capabilities and environmental accounting for the circular economy in businesses

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1129-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabina Scarpellini ◽  
Luz María Marín-Vinuesa ◽  
Alfonso Aranda-Usón ◽  
Pilar Portillo-Tarragona
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper aims to define and measure the environmental capabilities that are applied when the circular economy (CE) is introduced in businesses. Founded on the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the study analyzes different environmental competences that firms apply during this process. Environmental management systems, corporate social responsibility, reporting and accountability and other environmental accounting practices are studied in the same analytical framework used to study the environmental capabilities that influence the circular scope (CS) of firms. This study contributes to bridging the gap between academic research focused on environmental accounting and that investigating the introduction of the CE in businesses. Design/methodology/approach The results were obtained by using partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between environmental capabilities for the CE and the CS achieved by a sample of Spanish firms with more than 50 employees that expressed interest in the CE, eco-design, eco-innovation and other environmental issues. Findings Based on an analysis using the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the results suggest a positive relationship between the CS of firms, their environmental accounting practices and their level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and accountability. Stakeholders’ pressure – which has a mediating effect on the CS of firms – is also analyzed, adding new insights to recent studies of this topic at the micro-level. The authors also explore whether the CS of businesses, which is related to the degree of their development of capabilities, influences environmental and financial performance. Practical implications The new insights obtained in this study can help overcome the limitations of conventional accounting approaches and incorporates a much broader scale of environmental information that can be applied to CE practices. These results also offer insights to practitioners regarding the internal measurement processes related to the CE and regarding CSR in particular for small and medium enterprises, because these metrics can be partially applied depending on the practices introduced in each firm. For policymakers, a better understanding of the CE’s introduction into businesses will contribute to the design of policies that can enhance its deployment, for example, by providing tools that set up regional priorities depending on the CE-related practices adopted by the firms located in the territory. Social implications A CE involves the transformation of a linear economic model into a circular one to reduce dependence on raw materials and energy and to reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption. Understanding how to manage the specific competences that integrate capabilities applied to the CE will allow firms to improve their social and environmental reporting. In addition, other social implications of this study relate to improving relationships with consumers and stakeholders and to the practice of social corporate sustainability. Originality/value This study goes beyond previous research on the CE to extend the authors’ knowledge about its adoption at the micro-level by taking a transversal approach, as its subject spans the fields of environmental accounting and the CE while addressing both in a framework of analysis. The analysis of the accounting concerns of the CE in businesses and the study of concerns related to endogenous environmental competences are quite original under the theoretical framework of dynamic capabilities, and this study is a first step in an incipient line of inquiry.

Is corporate governance relevant to the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure in large European companies?

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Adel ◽  
Mostaq M. Hussain ◽  
Ehab K.A. Mohamed ◽  
Mohamed A.K. Basuony
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Csr Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper aims to report on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in S&P Europe 350 companies. The paper also examines the impact of corporate governance structure and other firm-specific characteristics on the quality of CSR disclosure in European companies. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a disclosure index adopted from Jizi et al. (2014). Moreover, the paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects introduced by the Global Reporting Initiative version 4.The data of CSR reporting are manually collected from the firms’ reports. The population and sample of this study are related to 350 companies operating in 16 European countries. Tobit regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that directors’ ownership, the presence of a CSR committee and firm size positively affect the quality of CSR reporting. Further testing of the independent variables on each CSR sub-category is made. The CSR sub-categories used are, namely, community involvement, employees, environment, social product and service quality, supply chain sustainability and business ethics. The presence of a sustainability committee inside the company is the only factor that shows a strong positive effect on the disclosure of every CSR sub-category and the CSR inclusive index. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research are that it focuses exclusively on the effect of the internal corporate mechanisms on the quality of CSR reporting; disregarding the economic, institutional, political and cultural factors that can play a role in influencing sustainability reporting of the companies. Practical implications Better CSR disclosure leads to the firm having a better image in the society; this, in turn, has implications on firm performance, attracting funds, as well as recruiting and retaining high profile employees. Stakeholders are placing cumulative significance to corporate transparency particularly in the area of CSR. Managers should exert more efforts into not only improving the disclosure of the various facts of CSR but also into using the various media available for disclosure. Companies should take the initiative of establishing a CSR committee to ensure effective formation and implementation of CSR policies and disclosure of CSR activities. Social implications The CRS research itself bears the merit of social implications. Moreover, the findings of this research pave the way for future researches to examine the effect of the adoption of global CSR initiatives and frameworks on the quality of CSR reporting. Originality/value This paper contributes to the CSR disclosure literature by developing a new index that includes all the aspects of CSR and exploring the relation between the rarely explored “presence of sustainability committee” and CSR disclosure, as well as testing a vast number of CSR sub-categories that is not extensively covered in previous studies. Moreover, the paper covers a large sample of companies across 16 European countries, in terms of their stand-alone sustainability reports, dedicated chapters of CSR in annual reports, integrated reports, website CSR information and any attachments/links provided on the websites for further CSR documents, brochures or data sheets.

Predicting employee engagement with micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the public accounting firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Peng Low ◽  
Heath Spong
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Predictive Performance ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This research aims to examines the impact of micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on employee engagement within the public accounting firm setting. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a quantitative approach with a survey instrument as the data collection tool. A total of 269 complete responses were collected from employees working in the public accounting firms. Micro-level CSR practices were analysed with a hierarchical component model (HCM) in partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the influence of such practices on employee engagement. A predictive performance metric was applied to assess the out-of-sample prediction. Findings This study uncovers a positive and significant relationship between micro-level CSR practices and employee engagement. Furthermore, the PLSpredict results indicate that the current model possesses high predictive power with all indicators in the PLS-SEM analysis demonstrating lower root mean squared error (RMSE) values compared to the naïve linear regression model benchmark. Research limitations/implications While the methods applied in this analysis are at the frontier of CSR research, the present study has not explored the heterogeneity amongst groups of respondents and size of accounting firms. Sampling weight adjustment for the purposes of representativeness was not used in the current research. These could be the subject of future work in this area. Practical implications These research findings shed light on the positive manifestation effect of micro-level CSR practices at firm level as well as individual level. Through micro-level CSR practices, firms can reap the benefits of enhanced employee engagement, which leads to productive workforce while also facilitating increased employees’ intrinsic job satisfaction. Social implications Micro-level CSR practices address the needs of the millennium workforce, whereby employees are no longer solely focussed on pay checks as their compensation. Employees are seeking out employers whose CSR practices appeal to their social conscience. Micro-level CSR practices meet the needs of the contemporary workforce yet enable companies to attract and retain skilled employees. Originality/value The originality of this research is attributed to the vigorous statistical analysis by the use of HCMs and PLSpredict in PLS-SEM context for the assessment of predictive performance. Also, micro-level CSR practices are conceptualised in HCM for parsimonious purpose.

An investigation of employee perception of micro-corporate social responsibility and societal behavior: a moderated-mediated model

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Appel Mahmud ◽  
Donghong Ding ◽  
Zulqurnain Ali
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Psychological Reactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeThe micro-level research investigating employees' attitudinal, behavioral and psychological reactions to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently been expanded within CSR literature. Based on two interrelated social psychological theories, such as the theory of social information processing and the theory of social learning, this study examines the impact of perceived CSR–community (PCSRc; a micro-CSR area) on societal behavior (SB; a micro-level social work) at the employee level of analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis study recruited 440 bank employees of Bangladesh through a survey method and ran structural equation modeling to test the proposed measurement model and structural relationships in AMOS.FindingsThe study's outcomes report that PCSRc is positively related to SB and CSR engagement (CSRe). CSRe is also positively related to SB, and CSRe mediates the association of PCSRc and SB. CSR positivity (CSRp) moderates the direct relationship between PCSRc and CSRe and the indirect connection between PCSRc and SB via CSRe such that these relationships are significant when CSRp is high as compared to low.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on highly educated employees' perception of micro-CSR initiative on micro-level social behavior in a newly emerging market context such as Bangladesh only.Practical implicationsThis study's outcomes guide policymakers to adopt CSR policy and its implementation strategies, accordingly, to employees' attitudinal, behavioral and psychological reactions to CSR.Social implicationsThis research can be used to steer the behavior of employees within society. It will eventually also have a positive influence on the perception of society toward the organization.Originality/valueThis study's originality is to find CSRe as a new intervening mechanism and CSRp as a new boundary condition of organizational CSR and employees' behavioral outcomes in the micro-CSR literature. The first study investigates the connections of three micro-constructs together, such as a micro (individual)-level analysis, a micro-CSR area and a micro-level social work setting.

scholarly journals Corporate social responsibility: reviewed, rated, revised

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Farrington ◽  
Ross Curran ◽  
Keith Gori ◽  
Kevin D. O’Gorman ◽  
C. Jane Queenan
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Hospitality Management ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Content Type ◽  
General Management ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This paper is a critical literature review of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research in both general management and hospitality management literature. This paper aims to discuss trends, commonalities and inconsistencies to better understand the state of contemporary scholarship, and it calls for a context-specific conceptual engagement with the phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach Systematic literature review, noting and critiquing a general tendency towards measurement of financial and other internal benefit impacts. Findings Hospitality management is well-positioned to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of CSR; yet, research has uncritically adopted the instrumental emphasis on assessing processes, perceptions and private profitability from the general management literature, without engaging on a contextually specific and/or theoretical level. Research limitations/implications CSR research is abundant and therefore difficult to summarise in one paper. The primarily Anglo-American and Asian contextual bias is reflected in this review. Practical implications Consistently inconsistent results challenge the portability of financial impact studies. Studies are needed to re-evaluate the concept of CSR, as it pertains to hospitality and measure the effectiveness of CSR activities relative to context and resource availability. Social implications Further research into the scope of CSR in hospitality management, with an emphasis on recuperating social value, would lead to widespread positive social implications. Originality/value This critical review offers a new perspective on CSR in the hospitality literature and industry, calling for a reconsideration of the concept in context, and formulates a working definition.

Corporate social responsibility perceptions and employee engagement: role of psychological meaningfulness, safety and availability

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richa Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Psychological Meaningfulness ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The primary research question addressed through this paper is whether and how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can create business value for organizations as measured through employee attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, this study aims to examine the impact of CSR on employee engagement through its influence on psychological meaningfulness, safety and availability. Design/methodology/approach In total, 187 business professionals working for a wide variety of organizations in India constituted the study sample. Regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings CSR positively predicted employee engagement. Psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability fully mediated the relationship of CSR with employee engagement. Practical implications The study establishes CSR as an important talent management tool in the hands of management to cultivate an engaged workforce. The results provide corporate managers with the necessary evidence to justify their investment in CSR initiatives. Originality/value The study by establishing CSR as a determinant of employee engagement addresses the need for micro-level CSR research, and, hence, bridges the macro-micro gap in the CSR literature. In addition, the application of micro-level theories helped to establish the psychological processes defining CSR and employee engagement relationship. In doing so, the study empirically tests Khan’s theory of engagement and the underlying mechanisms of engagement.

scholarly journals Going beyond western dualism: towards corporate nature responsibility reporting

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 2110-2134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Gallhofer
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting ◽  
Emancipatory Praxis ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline an ecofeminist lens for the analysis of accounting, which is applied to: first, the critique of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR); second, the elaboration of elements of a framework for a new accounting – corporate nature responsibility reporting (CNRR) – as a response to the critique of CSRR; and, third, the consideration of elements of an enabling and emancipatory praxis in the context of CNRR, including a sketch of a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a critical application of aspects of the ecofeminist critique of Western dualism and its emphasis on wholeness, interconnectedness and relatedness, including its particular delineation of nature, to the critique and design of accounting. Findings Insights from the application of an ecofeminist lens to the critique of CSRR raise questions about the suitability of the western notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its associated accounting currently in use. In order to go beyond critique, the paper introduces the notions of corporate nature responsibility (CNR) and CNRR and offers an outline of key elements of CNRR and an emancipatory praxis in the context of CNRR, including a sketch of a research agenda. The author’s elaborations suggest that in order to overcome the limitations of CSR and CSRR, a corporation ought to be concerned about its broader and holistic CNR. And, it should provide a CNR report, as part of a holistic CNRR concerned with the performance of the company in the context of CNR. Social implications Through creating new visibilities, CNRR has the potential to enhance the well-being of people and nature more generally. Originality/value Ecofeminism’s critique of western dichotomous thinking has been given little consideration in prior studies of accounting. The paper thus draws attention to the relevance of an ecofeminist theoretical lens for the critique and design of accounting by focussing on CSRR. The paper introduces the concepts of CNR and CNRR to address the limitations of CSRR as currently practiced.

How does organizational learning contribute to corporate social responsibility and innovation performance? The dynamic capability view

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peivand Ghasemzadeh ◽  
Seyed Mahdi Rezayat Sorkhabadi ◽  
Abbas Kebriaeezadeh ◽  
Jamal Aldin Nazari ◽  
Mandana Farzaneh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Innovative organizations are increasingly facing challenges in a dynamic market to address corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues; however, research on how organizational learning (OL) contributes to organizations’ social responsibility and innovation remains sparse. This study aims to bridge the gap in previous research and examines how OL and dynamic capabilities (DCs) act as drivers of CSR performance (CSRP) and innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach This study is survey-based and uses time-lagged, multisource data from 151 pharmaceutical industry-related companies in Iran. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the validity of the measurement model and hierarchical regression was used to test the key hypotheses. Findings DCs mediate the relationship between OL and CSRP. Moreover, CSRP significantly mediates the relationship between OL and innovation. Originality/value Drawing on the perspective of DCs, this research is among the first to offer new insights in a new context on what antecedent conditions lead to the successful implementation of organizational CSRP and how CSRP would, in turn, lead to subsequent innovation performance improvement.

CSR into (new) perspective

foresight ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémi Bazillier ◽  
Julien Vauday
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Behaviour ◽  
The World ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a theoretical approach of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to assess whether CSR will develop as a concept pushing efficiently for more de facto social responsibility or will become a pure marketing artefact. The trade-off between the development of CSR behaviour and lobbying over regulations is a key element that will influence the evolution of CSR. The result is that if the world consolidates or if it tends towards multilateralism to a large extent, then CSR is less likely to have an efficient impact. Design/methodology/approach – Theoretical approach based on three fields: credence goods, greenwashing and political economy. Findings – The coordination is harder for lobbies in the more multilateral scenario. The more politically powerful group would lose its influence on the decision body in the multipolar scenario. If lobbies keep influencing their state governments, the efficiency would also be reduced in the regionalization or multipolar scenarios. The easiness of the greenwashing strategy is also crucial in order to determine the possible evolution of the CSR as a real commitment that benefits environment and society. Research limitations/implications – Countries may take advantage of CSR by offering an advantage to firms willing to develop CSR thanks to public regulations if greenwashing is easy and if the evolution of the world that prevails is similar to the tripolar or regionalization scenarios. This may also occur under the multipolar scenario but it would necessitate an effective international coordination. Originality/value – This is the first work that brings together the strategic behaviour of firms with respect to Corporate Social Responsibility and political economy determinants. The predicted evolutions of these two features according to the degree of multilateralism as well as how they are intertwined are also novelties of this paper.

scholarly journals The Performance Implication of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Role of Employee’s Prosocial Motivation

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3128
Author(s):  
Min-Jik Kim ◽  
Byung-Jik Kim
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Prosocial Motivation ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

Although there has been extensive research on the corporate social responsibility (CSR)–performance link, full understanding is still elusive. A possible reason for this is the limited understanding of the underlying processes that affect the relationship. Grounded in institutional theory, which emphasizes the importance of micro-level intermediating processes (e.g., employees’ perceptions and attitudes) to explain a macro-level association (i.e., CSR to organizational performance), we built a moderated mediation model where: (i) organization commitment mediated the influence of CSR on organizational performance, and (ii) an employee’s prosocial motivation moderated the relationship between CSR and organizational commitment. Using three-wave time-lagged survey data obtained from 302 Korean workers, we found that organizational commitment is an important micro-level process in the CSR–performance link, and that the level of an employee’s prosocial motivation can positively moderate that link. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, along with limitations and future research directions.

Corporate social responsibility and earnings management in the EU: a panel data analysis approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis E. Dimitropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Eu

Purpose Over the past decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been considered as a significant corporate strategy and also has been documented as a main information dissemination mechanism of corporations to shareholders, creditors and other external stakeholders. This fact makes the CSR activities and CSR performance interconnected with the quality of firms’ financial reporting. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of CSR performance on the earnings management (EM) behaviour using a sample from 24 European Union (EU) countries summing up to 121,154 firm-year observations over the period 2003–2018. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a multi-country data set with various dimensions of CSR performance including indexes regarding workforce, community relations, product responsibility and human rights protection. The empirical analysis is conducted with panel data regressions. Findings Evidence supports the negative association between CSR and EM indicating that high CSR performing firms are associated with less income smoothing and discretionary accruals, thus with higher financial reporting quality. Practical implications Regulatory agencies in the EU could use the findings of the study for the improvement of the accounting framework via enhancing the use and publications of social and environmental responsibility information and reports. Social implications Also, the current paper could be of interest not only to academic researchers but also to potential and existing investors in European corporations. The negative association between CSR performance and EM could be used by investors in assessing the risk of firms and the quality and reliability of their financial information. Originality/value This is the first study within the EU, which considers the multi-facet characteristics of CSR on the quality of accounting earnings and offers useful policy implications for regulators and investors.

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