The views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh: an engagement based study

Purpose – This paper seeks to respond to recent calls for more engagement-based studies of corporate social reporting (CSR) practice by examining the views of corporate managers on the current state of, and future prospects for, social reporting in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a series of interviews with senior managers from 23 Bangladeshi companies representing the multinational, domestic private and public sectors. Findings – Key findings are that the main motivation behind current reporting practice lies in a desire on the part of corporate management to manage powerful stakeholder groups, whilst perceived pressure from external forces, notably parent companies' instructions and demands from international buyers, is driving the process forward. In the latter context it appears that adoption of international social accounting standards and codes is likely to become more prevalent in the future. Reservations are expressed as to whether such a passive compliance strategy is likely to achieve much in the way of real changes in corporate behaviour, particularly when Western developed standards and codes are imposed without consideration of local cultural, economic and social factors. Indeed, such imposition could be regarded as little more than an example of the erection of non-tariff trade barriers rather than representing any meaningful move towards empowering indigenous stakeholder groups. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on CSR in developing countries where there is a distinct lack of engagement-based published studies.

Corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability:the missing link

Recent years have witnessed a significant degree of administrative reform, in terms of the increasing number of major companies proclaiming their social responsibility credentials, and backing up their claims by producing substantial environmental, social and sustainability reports. The paper critically evaluates the degree of institutional reform, designed to empower stakeholders, and thereby enhance corporate accountability, accompanying these voluntary initiatives, together with that potentially ensuing from proposed regulations, later rescinded, for mandatory publication of an Operating and Financial Review by UK quoted companies. It is concluded that both forms of disclosure offer little in the way of opportunity for facilitating action on the part of organizational stakeholders, and cannot therefore be viewed as exercises in accountability. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A kereskedelmi láncok CSR-tevékenysége – a versenyképességük fokozása (CSR activities of commercial chains – increasing their competitiveness)

A kereskedelmi láncok különböző stratégiákat választhatnak, illetve alkalmazhatnak a társadalmi, gazdasági és környezeti kihívások kezelésére, a társadalmi normákhoz és elvárásokhoz való igazodáshoz. A tanulmányban a szerző azt vizsgálja, hogy milyen összefüggés van a társadalmi felelősségvállalásuk és a versenyképességük között, s a felelős magatartásuk javítja-e versenypozíciójukat. Bemutatja, hogy hazai viszonylatban a nagyobb forgalmat lebonyolító kereskedelmi láncok milyen CSR-tevékenységet végeznek, ez beépült-e hosszabb távú üzleti stratégiájukba, és mennyiben járul/járulhat hozzá versenyképességük fokozásához. Elemzi több kereskedelmi láncnál, hogy miképpen sikerült összeegyeztetni társadalmi felelősségvállalásukat a profitérdekeltségükkel, továbbá megteremthető-e a felelős működésük és a költséghatékony gazdálkodásuk összhangja. Többek között rámutat arra, hogy a gazdasági és külső szociális felelősségvállalásuk, továbbá a versenyképességük közötti pozitív korreláció megkérdőjelezhetetlen, ami win-win szituációt alakít ki. ______ Commercial companies can embark on and apply different strategies to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges and to comply with the standards and expectations of the community. In the study the author analyses the relationship between corporate social responsibility activities and competitiveness, and whether or not the responsible attitude of these companies improves their competitive position. She outlines the CSR activities of high turnover commercial chains in Hungary, examining their incorporation into the company’s longer term business strategy, and how these activities may contribute to their enhanced competitiveness. She will analyse several commercial chains from the point of view of their success in harmonizing their CSR with their profit making, and whether they can create the harmony of an environmentally friendly attitude and cost-effective operations. Among other findings, the author concludes that there is an unquestionable correlation between corporate economic and outside social responsibility and profitability, which creates a definite win-win situation.

El impacto de la presencia online en las cuentas de Twitter de las universidades vascas y navarras

Las Universidades han tenido que adaptarse a los nuevos modelos de comunicación surgidos en la época de Internet. Dentro de estos nuevos paradigmas las redes sociales han irrumpido y Twitter se ha establecido como una de las más importantes. El objetivo de esta investigación es demostrar que existe una relación entre la presencia online de una Universidad, definida por la cantidad de información disponible en Internet, y su cuenta en Twitter. Para ello se analizó la relación entre la presencia online y los perfiles oficiales de las cinco universidades del País Vasco y Navarra. Los resultados demostraron la existencia de una correlación significativa entre la presencia online de las instituciones y el número de seguidores de sus respectivas cuentas. En segundo lugar, esta investigación se planteó si Twitter puede servir para potenciar la presencia online de una Universidad. Es por eso que se formuló una segunda hipótesis que buscaba analizar si tener varias cuentas en Twitter aumentaría la presencia online de las Universidades. Los hallazgos para esta segunda hipótesis demostraron una correlación muy significativa entre tener varios perfiles en Twitter y la presencia online de las Universidades. Así queda demostrada la importancia de la presencia online para las cuentas de Twitter y la relevancia de Twitter a la hora de potenciar la presencia online de los centros.

Responsabilidade Social Interna e Motivação no Trabalho

Este estudo teve como primeiro dos seus objectivos conhecer as percepções de um grupo de trabalhadores acerca de algumas políticas e de algumas práticas de responsabilidade social interna, nomeadamente, da formação oferecida pela empresa, da capacidade que esta tem de fomentar a sua autonomia e a sua iniciativa, das práticas de comunicação existentes na empresa, do equilíbrio que esta proporciona entre a sua vida profissional e a sua vida familiar, dos planos de saúde, segurança e apoio social por ela disponibilizados, da diversidade de mão-de-obra, da(des)igualdade em termos de remuneração e perspectivas de carreira entre homens e mulheres, dos esquemas de atribuição de prémios, da segurança dos postos de trabalho, da preocupação da empresa com a sua empregabilidade futura e, finalmente, da(in)existência de práticas discriminatórias. Procurou também alcançar dois outros objectivos, ou seja, descobrir se as percepções dos trabalhadores relativamente às políticas e às práticas acima descritas exercem ou não algum tipo de influência sobre a sua motivação no trabalho e perceber qual o papel que a antiguidade dos trabalhadores desempenha nesta relação. Após a apresentação e a análise de várias perspectivas históricas acerca da responsabilidade social das empresas surgidas a partir da década de 50 e de algumas das teorias da motivação que foram aparecendo ao longo do mesmo espaço de tempo, esta dissertação expôs um caso de estudo de 75 trabalhadores de uma empresa nacional de distribuição alimentar. Através dos dados recolhidos da aplicação de um questionário, este estudo explorou a relação entre as suas percepções acerca das políticas e das práticas de responsabilidade social interna em vigor na empresa e a sua motivação e qual o papel da sua antiguidade nesta relação. Os resultados obtidos mostram que a maioria dos trabalhadores inquiridos apresenta uma percepção positiva relativamente às políticas e às práticas de responsabilidade social interna da sua empresa, à excepção do que se refere aos planos de saúde, segurança e apoio social por ela disponibilizados e à sua preocupação com a empregabilidade futura dos seus trabalhadores, e permitem concluir que as percepções positivas têm maior impacto sobre a motivação no trabalho, à excepção do que diz respeito à percepção do equilíbrio entre a vida profissional e a vida familiar proporcionado pela empresa. Conclui-se também que o papel da antiguidade na relação entre percepções das políticas e das práticas de responsabilidade social interna e motivação no trabalho é insignificante. / The primary objective of this study was to learn about the perceptions held by a group of workers concerning some of their company's policies and practices relative to internal social responsibility, in particular, any training offered by the firm, and its role in improving autonomy and initiative. Also of interest were the methods of communication within the firm, the balance provided between the professional and personal lives of personnel, and health, security and social support available to them. The study considered as well the diversity of the workforce, equality (or inequality) of remuneration, and career prospects between men and women, premium allocation schemes, job security, the company's concern for employability, and the existence (or not) of discriminatory practices. Secondary objectives were to discover if the perceptions of workers concerning the policies and practices mentioned above have (or not) any influence on their motivation at work, and to determine any effect of the length of service on this. Opinions were gathered by means of a questionnaire. After the presentation and analysis of various historical perspectives concerning corporate social responsibility from the 1950s onwards and of some of the motivation theories that appeared along the same period of time, this study examines the case of 75 employees of a national company in the food distribution business. The results of the afore-mentioned questionnaire show that the majority of those questioned has a positive attitude towards the policies and practices of their company's internal social responsibility, except concerning health-care, security and social support, and the firm's interest in their future careers, and lead to the conclusion that a positive perception has a greater impact on the workers' motivation. However, they are critical of the importance given by their employer to their personal lives. This study also concludes that length of service has insignificant impact on the perceptions of workers concerning their company's policies and practices relative to internal social responsibility, and on worker motivation.

Responsabilidade social: visões e perspectivas de empresários do segmento industrial do Rio Grande do Norte

The theme Corporate Social Responsibility is relatively recent both in the academic field and in the business practice. Because of the lack of socialization of experiences and precision of concepts, there are gaps regarding the understanding of the subject and, also, how to conduct operations. This study just seeks to investigate such matter, focusing applications of social responsibility in business. It takes, as empirical field, winners of the PSQT - SESI Prize of Quality at Work in Rio Grande do Norte (2002-2007) in order to systematize the various approaches on the issue, aiming to reveal subjective visions and perspectives of the theme. It is characterized as a qualitative study, carried out by structured interview. The universe was composed by 15 companies. It was used analysis of content categorical as an axis for the interpretation of the information. Three approaches guided the analysis: Business Ethics, (normative); Business & Society (contractual); Social Issues Management (strategic). The findings are related in three ways: 1) reasons for the CSR practice; 2) the results obtained; 3) the means of CSR. It was found that the award participation occurs, mostly, linked to SESI invitations, so, as an articulated movement of industrial corporations in Brazil it occurs, also, because of the organizational commitment with the society and the possibility of internal and social growths and because of the importance attributed to the report as an instrument of consultancy. There are no indicators to check impacts of organizational interventions, in spite of the existence of planning for the actions. Social responsibility appears as a tool to reinforce the organizational image and to increase satisfaction of the employees. There is a tendency of large and medium firms to a contractual commitment while the small and the micros firms are on strategic or normative level. The analysis of the perspectives of social responsibility future revealed trends towards for strategic approach

Impacto en la calidad de vida laboral de los empleados de los programas de responsabilidad social empresarial

El interés de este trabajo, es tener la oportunidad de conocer como las organizaciones desarrollan sus programas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial con sus empleados como grupo de interés, donde se pudo concluir que las acciones y estrategias encaminadas al desarrollo del talento humano en su vida personal, familiar y social siguen siendo actividades de cumplimiento de tipo legal que luego son presentadas como resultados de una supuesta Responsabilidad Social. Con el fin de Identificar cuál es el impacto de los programas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial en los empleados como grupo de interés, se aplicará, el método deductivo con enfoque aplicativo de las fuentes secundarias disponibles con las que se aclararán los conceptos básicos y necesarios para familiarizarnos con el tema de estudio, además de conocer los programas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial de tres empresas con reconocimiento y trayectoria en su gestión de la responsabilidad social empresarial: dos del sector alimentos y una del sector financiero, de esta forma se podrán identificar las actividades, procesos y aspectos prioritarios para el desarrollo y cumplimiento del objetivo general del proyecto que es determinar el impacto de los programas de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial en la calidad de vida laboral de los empleados. Encontramos en las empresas objeto de estudio que tienen un alto compromiso con la sostenibilidad de sus organizaciones y que para definir el direccionamiento estratégico han tenido en cuenta estándares internacionales en materia de sostenibilidad como son los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Mileno (ODM), donde en éste puntualmente desarrollan a través de la innovación acciones específicas a uno de los objetivos del milenio que es garantizar la sostenibilidad del medio ambiente, los compromisos del Pacto Global de las Naciones Unidas, los cuales aplican a través de los principios de conducta y acción en materia de derechos humanos, trabajo, medio ambiente y lucha contra la corrupción, los compromisos de la Conferencia de Naciones Unidas sobre Desarrollo Sostenible (Río+20), la Guía ISO 26000 quien da los lineamientos para la responsabilidad social, el estándar del Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), que orienta frente a los 54 indicadores centrales y están organizadas en tres dimensiones: ambiental, financiera y social, con esta información son empresas que trabajan para ser socialmente responsables con sus grupos de interés, pero con el grupo específico de empleados que es el impacto que se pretendía identificar, encontramos que hacen actividades y estrategias con un nivel superior en la gestión que dan cumplimiento a los emitidos por la GRI. Es importante reconocer la participación que estas empresas dan a los empleados en la construcción de las acciones de bienestar laboral, familiar y social que impactan directamente en el logro de los objetivos organizacionales al tener personal motivado en trabajo que aportan desde su acción a la sostenibilidad y permanencia de la organización.

CSR Reporting in the Finnish Banking Sector – Status and Recent Development

This thesis reviews the development of CSR reporting in the Finnish banking sector. This was achieved by analyzing the content of specific CSR reports published by three banks during years 2012-2014. The banks selected represent the three largest banks operating in Finland according to their market share, constituting approximately 70 percent of the total perceived market share. The purpose of the analysis is to establish a clear descriptive overview of the status of CSR reporting and how it has thematically developed over the years. The research was conducted with the qualitative content analysis method. By analyzing the contents of the CSR reports it was found that CSR reporting is understood in 3 different themes that reflect the general CSR theory: economic, social and environmental responsibility. The following research focused on analyzing these three core themes separately during years 2012-2014 in order to find specific tendencies in the development of CSR reporting. The results confirm that CSR reporting is developing in the Finnish banking sector. Reporting about economic responsibility is based on core financial performance reporting, and it’s mainly developing in the assessment of the global recession and how the potential fiscal reforms affect to the bank sector’s performance. Economic responsibility is also being understood and reported as a wider concept, including intertwined and shared meanings with the other responsibility reporting themes. The research also suggests that banks value social responsibility reporting increasingly each year. Environmental responsibility reporting is the most standardized form of reporting, however, the reporting development includes the increased use of digitalization as source of lessening the environmental impact.

Responsabilidade social: visões e perspectivas de empresários do segmento industrial do Rio Grande do Norte

The theme Corporate Social Responsibility is relatively recent both in the academic field and in the business practice. Because of the lack of socialization of experiences and precision of concepts, there are gaps regarding the understanding of the subject and, also, how to conduct operations. This study just seeks to investigate such matter, focusing applications of social responsibility in business. It takes, as empirical field, winners of the PSQT - SESI Prize of Quality at Work in Rio Grande do Norte (2002-2007) in order to systematize the various approaches on the issue, aiming to reveal subjective visions and perspectives of the theme. It is characterized as a qualitative study, carried out by structured interview. The universe was composed by 15 companies. It was used analysis of content categorical as an axis for the interpretation of the information. Three approaches guided the analysis: Business Ethics, (normative); Business & Society (contractual); Social Issues Management (strategic). The findings are related in three ways: 1) reasons for the CSR practice; 2) the results obtained; 3) the means of CSR. It was found that the award participation occurs, mostly, linked to SESI invitations, so, as an articulated movement of industrial corporations in Brazil it occurs, also, because of the organizational commitment with the society and the possibility of internal and social growths and because of the importance attributed to the report as an instrument of consultancy. There are no indicators to check impacts of organizational interventions, in spite of the existence of planning for the actions. Social responsibility appears as a tool to reinforce the organizational image and to increase satisfaction of the employees. There is a tendency of large and medium firms to a contractual commitment while the small and the micros firms are on strategic or normative level. The analysis of the perspectives of social responsibility future revealed trends towards for strategic approach

Responsabilidad social empresarial Crepes & Waffles

El presente estudio de caso documenta los planes y actividades relacionadas con el tema de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial que la multinacional colombiana Crepes & Waffles implementa en sus operaciones. El documento contiene una investigación que incluye antecedentes, análisis del sector, temas estadísticos y una entrevista.

Prácticas de responsabilidad social empresarial y bienestar de los empleados en el marco de las organizaciones saludables

La noción de organización saludable cada vez toma mayor relevancia en el mundo académico y empresarial, pues se ha demostrado que las organizaciones que crean ambientes saludables y adoptan prácticas saludables, afectan positivamente a sus diferentes grupos de interés, incluidos empleados, socios, proveedores, clientes y la sociedad (Grueso y Rey, 2013). Con el fin de contribuir a lo anteriormente mencionado, a continuación se presenta el avance de una investigación de tipo documental y aplicada, mediante la que se pretende comprender la forma como la adopción de prácticas de responsabilidad social contribuye al bienestar de los empleados en dos compañías del sector comercio al detal en Colombia. Para lograr lo anterior, primero se mostrarán los fundamentos teóricos y antecedentes de estudios e investigaciones realizadas sobre Responsabilidad Social Empresarial y el bienestar de los empleados. Posteriormente se describe la metodología desarrollada para la recolección de la información y el proceso mediante el que esta fue analizada. En la siguiente sección se describen los hallazgos y por último se plantean las conclusiones del estudio.

Incidencia de la adopción de los estándares de pacto global, en las instituciones de educación superior en Colombia en los años 2010 - 2015

La presente investigación busca analizar el impacto en los procesos organizacionales de las Instituciones de Educación Superior IES, por la adhesión voluntaria a Pacto Global mediante la verificación del cumplimiento de los principios a nivel documental y práctico. Esta iniciativa encuentra de gran valor la participación de la academia por su aporte a los aspectos críticos en las actividades, su contribución a la investigación, aprendizaje, recursos educativos, a la formación de líderes responsables, entre otros. En ese orden de ideas, el objetivo es conocer cuáles son los beneficios de la adopción de los diez principios relacionados con derechos humanos, estándares laborales, medio ambiente y anticorrupción en las IES, a partir de la revisión de los Comunicados de Progreso (COPs) y/o Comunicados de Involucramientos (COEs), trabajo de campo pertinente a la investigación. En una primera etapa se realizó el diagnóstico, basado en la revisión documental de los informes de cada IES activas en Pacto Global y de la verificación del cumplimiento de los compromisos descritos en los informes a través de las entrevistas realizadas en las IES seleccionadas. La segunda etapa consistió en evaluar en una matriz: el nivel de conocimiento, cumplimiento, motivación y efectividad de los resultados de cada IES. Los resultados obtenidos hacen referencia a la unificación de esfuerzos dentro de la organización, la transferencia del conocimiento, mayor visibilidad en la sociedad, entre otros. En definitiva, la adhesión a Pacto ha permitido que las IES sean organizaciones responsables al servicio de la comunidad educativa y empresarial.

Liderazgo Responsable: Una revisión de la literatura

El objetivo del presente artículo es profundizar en los conceptos de liderazgo responsable y responsabilidad social empresarial, basándose en un marco referencial y bibliográfico pertinente para la investigación. Para ello, se realizó una exhaustiva búsqueda de referencias bibliográficas, tales como artículos científicos, publicaciones académicas y estudios de caso, que ayudaron a dar un acercamiento conceptual al tema principal. Se encontraron diferentes aproximaciones conceptuales sobre el liderazgo responsable y la importancia que tiene en términos de responsabilidad social, algunas teorías del liderazgo, estilos de liderazgo responsable, la satisfacción laboral y por ultimo una serie de casos empresariales que ponen estos conceptos en práctica.