Responsible Business in a Changing World

In a context of increasing public awareness of corporate harmful tax practices and their impact on society, corporate tax responsibility (CTR) is becoming more important to companies, stakeholders and scholars. Nevertheless, this issue has not been fully explored in the academic literature and the few existing studies do not delve into the priorities of shareholders and investors.

Our research aims to fill this gap by exploring the importance that the main actors involved in investment decisions give to the corporate tax practices and policies of listed companies. Based on the main academic literature and public CTR initiatives such as the Base erosion and profit shifting project (BEPS), we designed a survey to obtain the opinion of asset owners, asset managers, listed companies, financial analysts, social rating agencies and proxy advisors/solicitors.

Results show that, although the investment community pays little attention to the (ir) responsibility of the taxation practices of listed companies, this importance will increase noticeably in coming years. According to respondents, the reasons for this change include diverse issues such as reputational and governance risks.

Investing in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and supporting societal and environmental matters helps banks to enhance their brand image, develop stronger relationships with their customers, improve their competitiveness and generate positive attitudes. The banking sector suffers from reduced customer loyalty due to the homogeneity among bank services and banks need to make substantial efforts to create competitive advantage generating brand preference and purchasing intentions among customers. The banking industry is the largest contributor of CSR activities in Georgia (the country) and various Georgian banks invest in CSR, in the form of societal and environmental initiatives. Considering the intensive efforts of Georgian banks to demonstrate a socially responsible face, it is interesting to know whether this type of engagement is at all appealing to Georgian bank customers. With this paper we aim to explore whether bank customers in Georgia have a preference for CSR and to understand whether CSR activities of banks in the country influence customer behavior and purchasing intentions. For this purpose, we use a quantitative survey questionnaire to capture bank customer purchasing intentions, customer brand preference, customer attitude formation and information search willingness influenced by banks’ CSR activities in Georgia. We use the quantitative data collected through the survey to create a profile of Georgian bank customers relevant to CSR. We find that Georgian bank customers have a preference for CSR and they are influenced by CSR activities undertaken by banks. The findings will add to existing literature exploring the links between CSR and marketing outcomes and will benefit Georgian banks and the banking sector in general, as banks will be able to evaluate whether their CSR investments have positive influence on customer behavior.

The banking sector since 2001 has seen an increasing evolution in the number of banks that engage in sustainability in Europe. However, this evolution has been slower when compared to the other sectors of activity. It should be noted that the number of empirical studies in this particular sector in this region covering a specific period of study, which includes the global financial crisis, is scarce. The present study evaluates the value relevance of banks listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe using a sample of 66 European banks in the stock markets of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. From 2001 to 2013, the period under review presented a major growth in sustainable investments. Considering the global financial crisis, it was studied in two subperiods, pre and post crisis. Therefore, by using a modified Ohlson model and applying a panel data methodology for the empirical research, consisting of a combination of time series and cross-sectional data in a joint test, it enabled to control individual unobservable heterogeneity as well as the endogenous nature of the explanatory variables. The study found that banks listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe are associated with higher market valuations and have a direct effect on stock prices by modifying the value-relevance of financial information. The global financial crisis has led investors to pay attention to sustainability in the banking sector in the European markets and began to include ethical principles in their investment strategies. These findings have important information for both investors and stakeholders, as well as market regulators and policymakers. This empirical study contributes to the existing literature and encourages investors to play a significant role in the sustainable development of such an important sector of society.

This chapter considers whether actions taken by banks and policy makers since the 2007–9 financial crisis have made British banks and banking ‘better’ through the restoration of public trust that banks serve the public good and are ‘socially useful’; and by protecting taxpayers against having to bail-out banks again in the future.

With regard to the restoration of trust, Section 2 reports on the deliberations of a Panel addressing the question: ‘Have we made banking good?’ Section 3 reports on the findings of the ‘Taxing Banks Fairly’ work stream of an AHRC project completed in February 2016 that considered the balancing of the regulation and taxation of banking as a means of protecting taxpayers from bank bail-outs. Section 4 explores the question of whether the ‘regulatory’ cycle in the UK has turned, from tightening to relaxation, too soon: before banks have demonstrably improved their iberali; before competition in UK retail banking has been enhanced significantly; and before taxpayers are protected properly. Section 5 considers: whether the Banking Standards Board, established in 2015, be able to raise banking standards: and whether ‘Open Banking’ initiative, imposed from January 2018 by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (and conformable with the EU’s Payments Services Directive, PSD2), will deliver better financial services to the banks’ retail consumers (households and small and medium sized enterprises, SMEs). Sect. 6 concludes that a new social compact for retail banking in the UK seems to be required.

The present paper analyses the governance structure of cooperatives and their relation to the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The historical perspective illustrates that this particular governance structure which traces back to the nineteenth century has been influenced by the economic, political and social circumstances since inception. Values, like democracy, self-help and solidarity, are essential elements of present-day cooperatives although the relevance of these values has experienced volatility over time. Focusing on European cooperative banks and the management concept of member value, this explorative case illustration shows how the traditional values and principles manifest into a modern business strategy. While the focus is on the members, cooperative activities also benefit the society. Although they have similar inspirational roots and are both characterised by a variety of interpretations, there is one major difference between corporate and cooperative social responsibility: The orientation towards the local community and the society has always been part of the cooperative DNA. In this sense, cooperatives serve as role models of a democratically-organised and socially responsible way of doing business. Consequently, using the example of financial cooperatives, the author argues that it is upon the management of those organisations to turn the unique governance structure into a competitive advantage in order to benefit from the cooperative social responsibility.

Companies today face a hard challenge: they have to not only survive amidst global competition, but also, and above all, stand out as an agent with unique and attractive ways of management and making a difference. In a similar context, intangible assets have a central role, but their management, if handled by traditional, deterministic, and reductionist techniques, can have paradoxical and dangerous effects for a company, both internally and externally.

This analysis aims to present an intangible management model based on the theory of complexity. The model views intangible assets according to their classification in the literature, but its underlying hypothesis is that the intangibles are complex objects that are, in turn, composed of other complex objects that establish dynamics among them characterised by an effect–feedback relationship (also known as dynamic and generative feedback loop). The model focuses on the relationships among the elements constituting the intangible assets to build a network of links between the objects at the system’s base. A similar approach highlights the channels on which the effects of actions are felt, including their speed, intensity, and the probable impact on the whole structure. Finally, through various case scenarios, the model could help managers perform a forecast analysis to evaluate different modes of behaviour.

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between environmental disclosure and financial performance of different firm sizes listed on the stock exchange of Thailand. This was achieved through the multiple indicator and multiple cases model (MIMIC) of 402 companies listed on the stock exchange of Thailand.

The findings reveal that firm size influences the environmental disclosure (ENVD) of firms. Furthermore, environmental disclosure has a positive effect on firm performance, with a significance level of 0.01 and correlation coefficient of 0.51.

The analysis of firm size in this study indicates that small-sized (SIZES) firms have low levels of environmental disclosure. The statistical result indicates that the environmental disclosure mechanism of small-sized firms has an indirect, negative effect on financial performance, with a significance level of 0.01 and correlation coefficient of 2.36. In comparison, medium (SIZEM) and large-sized (SIZEL) firms are increasingly trending towards environmental disclosure. The statistical result indicates that the effect of size on environmental disclosure in medium and large companies has an indirect, positive effect on firms’ financial performance, with a significance level of 0.01 and correlation coefficient of 1.00 and 2.35 respectively.

The findings of this research are expected to increase opportunities for firms of various sizes (as listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand) to improve financial performance through the use of environmental disclosure.

The conducted study aimed at indicating the impact of environmental management accounting practices on organizational sustainability of the certified ISO 14001 companies in Thailand. This study adopted a questionnaire survey of 400 samples and analysed data through Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes Model (MIMIC).

The results showed that the driving force of stakeholders (SDP) and environmental CSR (CSR) possessed a negative impact on environmental management accounting practices (EAP) with coefficient values at 0.38∗∗ and 0.42∗∗, respectively at the significance level of 0.01. On the contrary, accountant expertise (ACE) and account policy on environmental aspect from leaders (POL) possessed a positive impact on environmental management accounting practices (EAP)with coefficient values at 1.14∗∗and 1.33, respectively at the significance level of 0.01. Also, environmental management accounting practices (EAP) and competitive financial advantage (CAF) possessed a positive impact on organizational sustainability (OST) with coefficient values at 0.63∗∗ and 0.70∗∗, respectively at the significance level of 0.01.

The findings of this research were aimed at increasing an opportunity of the certified ISO 14001 companies in Thailand in organizational sustainability improvement through the use of environmental management accounting practices.

The objective of this research is to study accountants’ recognition of environmental items influencing profitability, through the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information of 150 companies listed on the stock exchange of Thailand in 2017.

The results of this study show that accountants’ recognition of environmental items has a positive influence on profitability, based on the disclosure of corporate social responsibility information of 0.17, at a statistical significance level of 0.05. Environmental accountants’ ability to recognize environmental items (EARE) has a positive influence on corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) of 0.33, at a statistical significance level of 0.01. Environmental accountants’ ability to recognize environmental items (EARE) has a positive influence on profitability (PFBL) of 0.31, and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) has a positive influence on profitability (PFBL) of 0.51, at a statistical significance level of 0.05.

The implication of this research is that environmental accountants’ abilities can enhance the opportunity of firms to improve profitability through the use of CSR disclosure.

Over the recent years, there has been increasing attention to sustainability management and reporting. Sustainability reporting is adopted by companies to communicate their impact on sustainability, and it is declined as economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. Its final goal is to depict the implementation of policies, plans, process, and products in respect of social and environmental issues. The purpose of this paper is to critically compare sustainability reporting and real practices of sustainability management by focusing on two companies. The study applies a multiple typical case study approach, namely, the cases that we will focus on are the Volkswagen emissions scandal and Zara’s unpaid labourers’ issue. After evaluating the sustainable reports and the code of conduct of the companies, we compare the discrepancies between reports and companies’ performance. The analysis of those two cases studies, and the related companies’ scandals reveals a disconcerting situation shedding light on the gap between what it has been reported and disclosed by the companies and what is the actual practices. To overcome such problems, further study on the implementation of a knowledge management strategy could drive transparency and enable effective reporting on sustainability.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the impact of a firms’ intangible intensity on analyst forecast accuracy, using data drawn from a sample of 87 Spanish industrial firms over the period 2000–2016. Our results show that higher intangible intensity is associated with lower analyst forecast accuracy. This result holds after taking into account additional firm-level characteristics that define the set of hard-to-value and difficult-to-arbitrage firms (HVDA), the effects of both the global financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis in the Spanish economy, and variables affecting the degree of information asymmetries among the firm’s main stakeholders.

Since 1990s, the mining sector has been one of the most important industries that contribute to the economic development of Peru. However, it has also led to the environmental disruption and social conflict. This situation has forced the companies to reconsider the development of social partnerships between businesses and the civil society in order to tackle social issues including social justice and the environmental protection. Consequently, the object of the study involves mining companies, peasant communities, government and non-profit organisations and seeks to answer: How institutional forces contribute to the development of Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiatives through social partnerships in the Peruvian mining industry?

Social partnerships require companies to understand not only the market but also the distinctive socio-economic, legal and cultural forces that represent social norms known as institutions. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the new institutional theory that establishes three pillars of institutional order; cognitive, normative and regulative. This framework represents a holistic approach that provides new lenses to understand CSR in a developing country.

This exploratory qualitative research consists of 53 interviews and a focus group during a communal assembly. In addition, indigenous methodology has been implemented in order to unleash the unheard voices from peasant communities based on observation and witnessing of verbal traditions. The fieldwork was carried out in August 2016 and from June to September 2017 in the regions of Lima and Ancash in Peru. The secondary research is based on the study of 25 sustainability reports and the analysis of three partnership agreements between peasant communities and mining companies. Some early findings have revealed that no compliance with communities has led to distrust towards mining companies, government and NGOs; and protests have been used by peasant communities as a legitimate instrument in order to manage an unbalance power.

At the beginning of the present decade, China has shown preoccupation with its overseas investors’ behaviour in fields like labour, human rights or the environment. Comprehensive, OECD-style environmental, social and governance standards were issued in 2012 by the overseas contractors’ association. One year later, however, the government issued specific, sectorial guidelines for the field of environmental protection only. The divide between industry associations’ approach, favouring comprehensive CSR, and the state’s, paying more attention to the field of environment in its guidelines for overseas operations, is also visible in other normative documents. This chapter focuses on the fields of contracting and mining, as among the most prone to environmental and social wrongdoing by corporations. It first reveals the different CSR approaches at government and industry level as paradoxical, since in China, the government is behind the business associations. The chapter then explains the differences using a theoretic framework that combines sociological neo-institutionalism, with its focus on isomorphism and mechanical alignment to taken-for-granted models, with more recent theories focused on agency. In this context, we discuss the suspicion of decoupling, i.e. adoption of policies that look good without a real intent of implementing them.

Using criteria from emerging research on responsible leadership, we identified a sample of senior leaders from a list of top employers in Canada (2016). Top employers are recognised nationally in Canada for their success in providing quality workplaces and engaging with the community. Given their achievements as top employers, we proposed that these leaders would also be responsible leaders, i.e., they would define responsibility broadly, and consider the interests of multiple stakeholders in corporate decisions and actions.

The literature describes two general types of responsible leaders: integrative and instrumental. The integrative leader takes a broad approach to responsibility and is accountable to multiple stakeholders; the instrumental leader is financially focused and accountable primarily to shareholders. Most of the leaders in this study demonstrated the characteristics and practices of the integrative leader, a mindset considered the gold standard of socially responsible leadership. However, these individuals were not perfectly aligned with that standard because they also showed a trait more often associated with the instrumental leader: competitiveness.

This article presents both the theoretical and practical aspects of a model for the effective development of a sustainability strategy in companies which include sustainable development in their mission statement. The meaning of corporate sustainability is revised, and the conditions for an effective rollout of the strategy are examined. The paper is based on the case study of Aigües de Barcelona, a water management company of Suez Group company, which has centred its mission on sustainable development and applies a three-dimensional model for rolling out the mission: as statement, motivation and practice. This case helps to identify the main problems faced by companies in rolling out a sustainability strategy and how these problems can be resolved from the perspective of the corporate mission. The difficulties encountered in ensuring that the sustainability strategy is effective in the company’s daily business are also covered, and some questions that remain unanswered are identified.

The current article is pilot study before conducting a large-scale PhD research on exploring the impact of the CSR initiatives of Tata Steel on poverty reduction and development of income generating opportunities for local communities in the Joda block of Odisha in India. Tata Steel has mining operations based in Joda which is rich in mineral resources. Survey method has been used for data collection and the data has been analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The findings reveal that the CSR initiatives by the Tata Steel Group has a positive impact on facilitating development opportunities for local communities in the Joda block and the model of CSR as adopted by the company has the potential to act as a tool for achieving development goals and poverty reduction.

In recent years, GCC countries have introduced various plans and projects for revenue diversification, as the largest source of revenue for these countries to date is oil. This new direction taken by GCC countries has been welcomed by large foreign companies willing to invest in this region. However, large-scale foreign companies have established certain standards in terms of using sustainable products, reflecting society’s increasing awareness of sustainability.

This chapter will examine how managers in GCC countries are currently incorporating Green IT practices in their business strategies. First, the researcher explains what is meant by ‘GCC’ countries and explores their current situation regarding the issue of sustainability. The researcher then explores the factors which are used to measure the prevailing attitudes derived from the data collected from interviews with 17 high positioned managers in the GCC countries. NVivo application was used as the primary tool for data analysis.

The interview questions touched on several themes: governance, social and cultural, Green IT, and green management. However, the scope of this chapter is limited to discussing and addressing the current managers’ attitude of GCC organisations toward the Green IT concept and its adoption. The interview data indicated that there are different considerations and deliberations about numerous and various aspects of the Green IT issue. For instance, social media is a powerful tool that can be used by organisations to transform people’s attitudes and increase their awareness of sustainability. This revolution is much needed in the GCC countries, as are new regulations for the disposal of waste. The adoption of Green IT will raise public and industry awareness of sustainability in GCC countries. Employees could be given guidelines for adopting and integrating sustainability in the workplace, and encouraged to incorporate social responsibility (CSR) in their organisations, supported by GCC governments.

The predicted developments with the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence and automation in society, alongside the role business(es) will play in this process, are likely to bring morally problematic developments in the near future. These developments, if not managed in a morally sound manner, may cause significant disruptions and societal crises that will negatively affect all market participants, including business(es), academia, government(s), policy-makers, and consumers. However, involved parties are unable to positively manage such developments if they lack the tools and methodologies to understand, predict, and manage them. Thus, there is a clear moral need for the establishment of a comprehensive ethical framework for artificial intelligence and automation in the business world, that can serve as a tool to achieve exactly this. The author argues for the existence of such need, and of the attributes such a framework should embody to be implemented by all relevant parties in a successful and sustainable manner.

The purpose of this paper is to study the perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by small and medium-sized business (SMB) and to show pivot motives of CSR performances. To achieve it, several analytical researches as well as reports concerning SMB’s attitude towards social and environmental performances were considered. The paper puts special emphasis on the good practices of CSR applicable to small and medium-sized companies. Both general and specific attempts within CSR performances are included in the list of good practices for small and medium-sized entities.

The contribution of the paper into the subject area is demonstrated by analyzing costs of CSR performances and barriers of utilizing social and environmental actions by the SMB. At the same time, the chapter shows motives and benefits derivable from being socially responsible by small or medium-sized enterprise. In addition, this paper shares some of the highlights concerning SMB’s requirements in the attempt to improve their CSR practices. In the meanwhile, the present paper is looking into these aspects of CSR strategy that will beneficial to SMB owners, stakeholders, in particular local communities and society in general.