Corporate Social Responsibility in a Dynamic Global Environment

This chapter aims to underline the contribution of women in developing social consciousness, responsibility, and preserving the social and cultural framework of the society, through their direct involvement in managing activities aimed to solve and prevent economic and social plagues. Adopting a historical perspective, the research design is based on the analysis of an Italian organization—devoted to maternal help and infant care—that since the beginning of the nineteenth century was aimed at protecting illegitimate motherhood and children. The empirical study—based on an institution tackling social plagues over a century—helps to understand if women’s role was mainly “hidden” or externally recognized and appreciated for contributing to promote social change in the internal and external context.

This chapter contributes to assess the Higher Professional and Technical Courses (HPTC) in Portugal (Hasanefendic et al., Technological Forecasting and Social Change 113:328–340, 2016; Jin et al., Professional Development in Education 47:745–762, 2019; Joensen & Nielsen, Is there a causal effect of high school math on labor market outcomes? IZA Discussion Papers, No. 2357, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2006). These new cycles of non-degree higher education were created and regulated by Decree-Law n°43/2014, 18th March (MEC, Diário da República, I Série 18:2074–2081, 2014), in response to the main higher education policy objective of the XIX Portuguese Government Programme and of the European Union 2020 Strategy (EC, Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Communication from the Commission. Publications Office of the European Union, 2010), knowing that both promote economic growth and job creation in Europe and Portugal. The aim of the chapter is to analyse the development of HPTC investigating the path of graduate students in Portugal, in order to present the contribution of these courses for students as an opportunity to continue their studies, as well as to enable a better participation in active life.

Methodologically, this research relies on two different approaches. The first approach takes the form of a literature review, based on the legal regime of the HPTC. The second approach takes the form of a descriptive statistical analysis, using a questionnaire and the case study method in a Portuguese public polytechnic higher education institution (Yin, Case study research: Design and methods. Sage Publications, 2018).

One of the most important results is the incentive to the academic community, especially the Portuguese polytechnic higher education institutions, to promote studies and annual reports about this theme. Another result is that these cycles improve professional education, both for the diversity of demand labour in the Portuguese firms and for the supply of qualified professionals. Another result is that these courses aim to substantially increase until 2030 the number of young people and adults with relevant qualifications, including technical and professional skills, for jobs, decent work, and entrepreneurship (ILO, Decent Work Country Programmes. International Labour Office, 2019; UNESCO, Global education monitoring report 2016: Education for people and planet. UNESCO, 2016a; UNESCO technical and vocational education strategy, 2016–21. UNESCO, 2016b).

The purpose of this study is to identify management considerations of social enterprises for work integration social enterprises (WISEs) in Japan. Specifically, a comparative case analysis of Japanese WISEs was conducted based on the following four elements: (1) the tension between economic and social objectives, (2) the degree of recognition of economic and social objectives within the organization, (3) management to overcome this tension, and (4) economic and social outcomes.

The results reveal the need to go back to the composition of entrepreneurial teams and the perception of business opportunities in the management of the simultaneous pursuit of economic and social objectives. In particular, the emphasis placed on the values pursued by the organization (economic and social values) varies depending on the experience and expertise of the management team and how they perceive the business opportunity, which significantly affects strategy and organizational management. Furthermore, through this study, the current status and challenges of WISEs in Japan are discussed.

Oil and gas companies operate in a controversial industry that is under increasing stakeholder pressure as their products, when burned, are the main cause of global warming. Thus, it is imperative to deepen our knowledge of how these companies communicate their climate-related stance and performance. With this intention, I conducted an integrative literature review with the aim of defining and positioning the concept of corporate climate change communication and developing a conceptual framework that could be utilized to systematically examine the presence and hierarchy of climate information on the companies’ websites, annual reports, and sustainability reports. More deeply, this framework can be utilized to study the presentation of such information; whether it permits stakeholder dialogue; which themes, stakeholders, and external performance criteria are mentioned; and the extent to which the companies utilize symbolic and substantive legitimation strategies.

Methodologically, this research relies on two analyses. The first is theoretical based on the literature review of the energy performance of building and the legal regime of the unworthy conditions of the sustainable living of the citizen. The second is an exploratory analysis, supported on statistics of the Agency of Energy.

The results show that the European Union encourages the Member States to use European funds and to ensure transition between unworthy conditions and social inclusion, to improve the situation of housing for each citizen. It not only reduces the carbon emissions that impact on climate change, but improves the energy efficiency of buildings that generates sustainable and smart living based on the EU Directives. Furthermore, the energy performance certificate demonstrates that more than one-third of citizens live in unworthy conditions. So, the challenge of this research is demanding the awareness of better housing and promoting the participation mechanisms, specifically emphasis on the (isolated) elderly, which need to be strengthened on rural and mountain areas.

This chapter investigates the institutional roles played by the government, non-governmental organisations, and community members in the wake of promoting companies to indulge in corporate social responsibility in Tanzania. The case study design approach was employed using data extracted from semi-structured interviews with government officers and managers of non-governmental organisation and community members residing in places where companies operate. Similarly, managers of companies were used to justify the roles played by institutions. The data covered the period between 2018 and mid-2020. The findings suggest that companies are influenced through coercion from institutions, provision of incentives, dialogue, awareness during registration, directives, stakeholder meetings, and requests for their most pressing needs. Furthremore, non-complying companies face some form of punishments to refrain them from avoiding practising corporate social responsibility. There exists a poor feedback mechanism between companies and community members residing in areas close to companies’ operations. The chapter provides recommendation for policy and documents the limitation of the study.

In 2013, India introduced compulsory CSR spending by corporates over a certain size which created a pool of resources for innovative social impact activities. However, in reality, this law is yet to achieve its full potential.

Direct work of T-Social Impact Group (official CSR cell of Telangana) and evidence-based research account multiple factors for this phenomenon. However, one of the primary factors is the ever-changing and heavy regulatory framework which shifted away from the original principles and acts as structural impediments to innovation and effectiveness. CSR rules are in constant flux with arbitrary (and at times) contradictory amendments and clarifications. These changes lack guiding philosophy and long-term objectives, reflecting only short-term political or policy imperatives. On cue, the entire framework of CSR laws was again changed on January 22, 2021, with significant changes in CSR definitions, implementation, reporting, and monitoring of projects.

This paper argues that constant changes have stifled innovation and shifted the focus on compliance. This paper provides an in-depth review of the legal changes and analyzes their impact in Indian CSR space. Emphasis is on shifting compliance regimes instead of efficacious, creative approaches. These changes, arising out of contradiction in CSR model and political and policy choices of the government, have significantly changed the nature of CSR. Focus is not on beneficiary but on compliance to meet short-term aims of government or as revenue source for the government. In tandem, corporations have adopted a risk adverse bureaucratic approach to CSR which has decelerated decision-making and impact. Overregulation increases costs for companies, pushing them toward traditional, risk-averse programs.

Overall, it creates a cautious environment where choices are made with the aim to avoid bureaucratic complications than use CSR as a tool for sustainable impact.

This study explores the progress toward decent work (SDG 8) in the garment industry in Jordan. The global garment industry is notorious for recurring labor scandals, and the garment industry in Jordan has historically been no exception. In 2006, a report by an American NGO revealed severe incidents of forced labor, sexual assault and harassment, excessive overtime, and discriminatory wages. The report sparked an international outcry and triggered global and local actions to improve working conditions in the industry. In 2016, international observers reported significant improvements and comparably favorable working conditions. To explore this progress, a case analysis of the Jordanian garment industry was conducted with a focus on the perspective of suppliers. Pertinent questions centered on the factors that enabled their decent work improvements and those that hindered further progress. Twenty interviews with corporate, institutional, and labor stakeholders, observations of industry events, and review of relevant documents and publications informed a qualitative explanatory case study analysis. A crossvergence perspective served as the theoretical basis for the analysis. This theory predicts that global and local influences interact at the factory level to shape the work practices of suppliers. Accordingly, the results illuminate the multiple-level developments needed to promote decent work in Jordan. Public, business, and labor stakeholders on global, local industry, and factory levels shaped decent work realities in Jordan. The results confirm the importance of previously well-researched influences such as global and local labor regulation and labor agency. They highlight the necessity of resources and financial viability at the factory level to translate global and local demands into decent work progress. Over and above, they illustrate the significance of a third-party mediator and advisor, Better Work Jordan, for aligning the multiple-stakeholder influences on suppliers.

Dynamic processes taking place in the modern economy cause significant changes in the functioning of retail trade enterprises. Firms are under pressure from internal and external actors to meet the rapidly changing expectations of their social responsibility. Pressure from the environment, company values, as well as personal values and beliefs of managers play a significant role in firms’ involvement in CSR activities.

The development of social responsibility of retail chains in Poland is related to the rapid expansion of foreign enterprises on the Polish market, which started at the end of the 1990s. Gradually, new store formats began to emerge, and the growing competition was introduced by practices and rules of conduct adopted by foreign retail chains toward consumers, as well as local communities and suppliers.

Literature shows that retailers’ CSR activities focus on four main areas: environment, supply chain, employees, and society. However, these activities occur with different intensity in each of the areas mentioned. Since retailers are closer to consumers, they know their needs and can use retail-level marketing tools that respond to local preferences for ethical and responsible business approaches.

The purpose of this article is to identify the intensity of CSR activities undertaken by retail chains operating in Poland in areas selected on the basis of literature, as well as to indicate significant differences in these activities between a group of retail chains with only Polish capital and a group of retail chains with foreign capital. Primary data was collected in 2016 using the CATI method on a sample of 259 medium and large retail chains operating in Poland.

The emerging global consensus is that businesses are the engine of economic growth and international development and that they should play an indispensable role alongside government and communities to solve complex, global challenges like poverty, inequality, unemployment, and climate change. In terms of education or tertiary education to be precise, sustainability is gradually integrated into the curriculum in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) evolves into university social responsibility (USR). This research employs the content analysis as the main research methodology to retrieve and analyze the curriculum of top 10 Japanese universities. The coding instrument was developed considering five dimensions of CSR including environmental, economic, social, stakeholder, and voluntariness. The aims are to (1) examine the USR’s current situation of top universities in Japan and (2) assess the strengths and weaknesses of USR in these above universities. The analysis undertaken shows that to date, Japanese universities, to some extents, have engaged properly in social responsibility and sustainable development. Moreover, these activities, projects, research, and implementations have also been announced and reported in their website contents.

In the same period, the evidence linking processed foods to overweight and obesity has increased, and, consequently, multiple actors question the legitimacy of the food industry and the fulfillment of its social objective of producing food and feeding and demand that the food industry adopt responsible practices in terms of nutrition through various institutional mechanisms.

Sustainable development goals such as zero hunger and good health and well-being set targets related to the control of excess weight. Within the food systems approach, there is an urgent need for the food producing industry to adopt responsible practices (HLPE, Nutrition and food systems. A report by the high level panel of experts on food security and nutrition of the committee on world food security, 2017). The Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (WHO, Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health, 2004; WHO, Report of the commission on ending childhood obesity, 2017) includes the action of the food producing industry among the strategies needed to support healthy diets.

This paper is to embark on a path in this direction. It has been identified that a possible lens for this analysis could be the New Sociological Institutionalism, which allows us to approach practices of this type, which are the product of a social construction. For this reason, it is of interest to this article to explore how CSR practices in nutrition could be approached from the new sociological institutionalism theory, to undertake empirical research paths in this regard. To achieve the above, this article addresses the CSR practices in nutrition as an object of study and considers the new sociological institutionalism as a theoretical lens, based on which assumptions are made about the problem and conclusions are drawn in this regard.

To date, there has been growing awareness of the need to consider ESG (environmental, social, and governance) risks in the valuation of investments, not only because of the greater social demand for an inclusive economic growth for future generations but also because there is empirical evidence that shows a positive relationship between profitability and ESG criteria.

The recent works published by the Committee of Experts designated by the European Commission (highlighting the publication of the taxonomy on sustainable finance), in addition to the adoption of the principles of sustainable banking or the recommendations of the central banks, make us think that ESG principles will be factors to consider in the definition of future capital requirements of the financial sector although, previously, it becomes necessary to quantify the relationship between ESG risks and probability of default.

The limitations of our model are based on the availability of information, since we have only had access to historical public reports that limit the number of explanatory variables. However, we believe that our research constitutes a first empirical demonstration that those companies, in this case credit cooperatives, which actively manage ESG risks, present a lower probability of insolvency isolating financial aspects.

Internal social responsibility and its effect on employee behavior in service companies need attention from researchers. Internal social responsibility activities are activities directly related to the employees’ physical and psychological working environment. Employee’s well-being is essential for each company, as it is well-known that employees are one of the most important stakeholders. Employees can be influenced by, but also they can influence on different organizational activities, so they have a key role in achieving organizational goals. It is expected for employees to have opinions about companies’ social responsibility activities, and those opinions always influence their attitudes and behavior. How social responsibility activities impact employee-focused outcomes in service industry context is still unclear, and there is a need for further research. The subject of this research was the relation between internal social responsibility and employees’ job satisfaction in service companies in Serbia. The main goal was to show if there was a positive correlation between internal social responsibility and employees’ job satisfaction. The data were collected using questionnaire and the analysis was done through SPSS. Descriptive and correlation analysis were done. The results showed strong positive correlation between internal social responsibility and employees’ job satisfaction. The contribution of this paper was in suggestions for managers in service companies to carefully plan and develop strategies for internal social responsibility as service industry is often characterized by poor working conditions and workers’ depressions.

This study reviews contemporary corporate governance (CG) in China. This is crucial because of the lack of awareness in the foreign investor community concerning the transparency and reliability of the second-largest economy’s governance policy. The review offered in this study not only contributes to the expanding literature in relation to the Chinese CG model, but also further deepens the understanding of the governance issues concerning businesses operating in China among foreign institutional investors and foreign corporate practitioners. The significance of promoting the transparency and integrity of Chinese firms and capital markets is ensuring that firm assets are used diligently and effectively to safeguard the interests of investors and other relevant stakeholders. Moreover, this study sheds light on the latest developments in the Chinese capital market, regulatory framework, and CG perspective for managers of multinational firms to evaluate their potential direct investment decisions in China. In addition, this study provides a review of existing literature on whether Chinese CG is converging towards or diverging from the Anglo-American model, which may be helpful for the decision-making process of Chinese policymakers and regulators in relation to the formulation of new codes, regulations, and policies in the future.

Mandatory approach to board simply means that a board is a product of regulation and voluntary approach to board just provides general principles to be considered when forming a board. But so far, the existing literature has not yet clearly established the approach for determining the ideal size of a board. This study tries to fill this gap by discussing the core capital approach to the board using small banks in Indonesia known as People’s Credit Banks (PCBs) as a case study. The aims of this study are to analyze the significant contributions of the core capital approach as a theoretical framework toward PCBs’ board and, practically, to evaluate the level of PCBs’ compliance with their board structures based on their core capital and to identify the barriers that prevent PCBs from complying with the required board structures. Applying a mixture of legal doctrinal research and in-depth interviews with key participants from Indonesian Financial Services Authority (IFSA) and the chairperson of National PCBs Associations, this research revealed that theoretically, the core capital approach provides a useful framework as well as a strategic model that significantly contributes to the establishment of a PCBs’ board. However, practically, this research also indicated that PCBs are not yet in compliance with their board structures due to several fundamental barriers. This study also sought to provide some recommendations to overcome the barriers.

All organizations are social systems. The family is the first social system to which each person belongs. A business organization is also such a system. Family theorists describe family relationships and use this understanding to help families to improve their functioning. These insights can also be applied to business organizations and their governance. The present paper uses Bowen’s family systems theory to understand financial governance and governance relationships.

Bowen’s eight concepts of family systems are triangles, differentiation of self, nuclear family emotional process, family projection process, multigenerational transmission process, emotional cutoff, sibling position, and societal-emotional process. These concepts are discussed in light of how financial information is shared in a business, how board composition affects the oversight of financial operations, how leadership balances financial and operational demands, and how the social interactions within the business interplay with the macro social-industrial environment.

For example, a well-functioning family helps a family member develop into an independent adult. Likewise, the effective business leader enables the financial department to develop autonomy, allowing that department to provide meaningful, objective information for business decisions. When this does not occur, problems can arise which affects family stability and business efficiency.

Suggestions for further research are offered. In particular, the connection between family theories and agency and social models of governance is explored. The models also are relevant to notions of who are the business’s stakeholders. The overlap between business systems and family systems which has become more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic speaks to the relevance of the concepts in this paper to future research and business planning.

Academics and practitioners are clamoring for convergence and/or harmonization of nonfinancial disclosures (NFD). Previous studies show the de facto harmonization of the application of main standards (GRI, IIRC) by companies. Several studies investigate the degree of flexibility of the contents of NFD regulations and if the mandatory regime can determine the typologies of sustainable performance disclosed by companies and the comparability of reports. No research has broadened the perspective to several countries in the world adopting a comparative approach. The objective of our research is to bridge this gap by discussing the convergence in NFD regulatory provisions of different countries. A manual text analysis of legislation has been performed. The analysis is focused on ten countries with reporting rates of sustainability higher than 90%. The main results highlight that there are no similarities between the different legislations. Most of the regulations have a flexible approach leaving a wide margin of discretion to companies. Moreover, while it is true that the NFD today finds a regulatory base in most countries of the world, each legislation differs from the others. There are situations of convergence regarding the position of the report. There is wide flexibility on the choice of framework; despite this, there is a de facto comparability in terms of adopted standards. The need for harmonization can therefore also be refuted at a regulatory level, except for specific sectors or groups of countries.

This article analyzes the relationship between IBEX35 companies with their stakeholders. Previous research points out two relevant aspects for the long run value creation in organizations with CSR strategies: first, the existence of a stakeholder’s dialog which allows building a joint materiality matrix and, second, the ability to manage interest groups, where some relevant elements have been identified, such as the recommended proactivity of organizations. These elements are completed by carrying out a qualitative analysis of the best practices in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) companies, and further, the IBEX35 companies’ relationship performance with their stakeholders is studied, for which stakeholder approach (theory) and the renewed accountability standards have been considered. Results are presented in a radar/spider chart where IBEX35 companies are compared against best performing DJSI companies.

Communication professionals are often associated with the organization’s responses to developments in the environment (reactionist’s approach), but most of the CSR and sustainability initiatives in an organization are due to the active role and personal leadership (proactive and leadership approach) of communication professionals.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of the performance of communication professionals: if in the past communication professionals were able to communicate face-to-face through various communication tools and encourage stakeholders to engage in various organizational activities, the changed conditions not only forced to search for new forms of communication building and strengthening relationships with stakeholders in the “new reality” applying a hybrid mode for interactions and communication, but also to review the organization’s activities, strengthen the motivation of individual stakeholders, and encourage them to stay engaged with the organization.

In the chapter, the model of one- and two-way communication processes is applied for the analysis of CSR/sustainability communication strategy and the role of communication professionals in proposing and implementing CSR/sustainability activities in organizations, through initiation, motivation, and call to action, especially during crisis or in the situations with high level of uncertainty.

The choice of such an approach for analysis of CSR/sustainability activities within the organization, which indicates the respective role of communication professionals in them, allows us to evaluate the activities of communication and sustainability of the organization, highlighting the role and personal and proposed globally initiatives taken by communication professionals as social change agents.

The chapter analyzes the role of communication professionals as social change agents in times of crisis to achieve an organization’s CSR/sustainability goals in collaboration with various stakeholders.

In the chapter, statements on the role of communication professionals are reinforced with the results of qualitative in-depth interviews with top communication professionals working in corporations nominated for CSR and sustainability awards in Lithuania, supported with the content analysis of activity reports of those corporations for 2019–2020.

Communication professionals, driven by the organization’s values, take on the role of social change and CSR/sustainability “ambassadors” in the pursuit of the organization’s corporate strategy, promoting and sharing sustainability ideas and encouraging responsible actions by organizations and external stakeholders.

The actions of communication professionals are related to integrating the relevant values into the organization’s activities and communication, promoting CSR/sustainability initiatives, motivating the launching of activities, and engaging actively in the implementation of CSR/sustainability activities. The role of communication professionals in CSR/sustainability can be seen in the context of the organization’s system and culture for initiating and implementing CSR/sustainability activities but is also determined by the communication professional’s personal leadership and individual engagement in initiating sustainability activities, finding CSR/sustainability solutions, and implementing activities involving different stakeholders in the organization to create an added value for the organization and make social impact in the areas of CSR/sustainability chosen by the organization.

Pressures to disclose social and environmental impact in business sector have grown over the last few decades. Literature suggests environmental information disclosure tends to increase with Environmental Management System implementation. In this context, this study aims to develop and analyze a theoretical model which seeks to measure the relationship between environmental certification, level of environmental information disclosure, and profitability of Portuguese companies listed on stock exchange. Using content analysis technique, we have developed two Environmental Disclosure Indices (EDIs) to assess environmental information disclosure level in companies’ annual reports and sustainability reports from 2015 to 2017. In theoretical model analysis, we applied the Process Macro of SPSS software. Based on a sample of 30 Portuguese listed companies, results show that companies are increasingly involved in responding to stakeholder pressures. In addition, we find that IDA is a mediating variable in relationship between environmental certification and profitability. The main study limitation is the sample size and period of analysis, which is relatively limited (2015–2017). The context of environmental information disclosure is analyzed to explain influences on environmental reporting practice, as well as certification environmental influence on IDA and business performance.