Corporate social responsibility in online retail – Perceptions from online discussions on Amazon

Online retail has experienced substantial growth due to the increased utilization of digital technologies. The growth in the industry has created numerous multinational corporations, which serve customers all around the world. As a result, the online retailers’ efforts in sustainability have been more often in publicity. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the efforts going beyond the company’s interest in order to bring social good, have been discussed in the academic community for decades. While the various effects of CSR in retail and business generally have been realized, the research aims to make a contribution by examining the concept from the viewpoint of online retail by focusing on interaction at online discussion forums. The main research question asks: What is the role of online retailer CSR in the online discussion forum context? In order to answer this question, additional three sub-research questions are suggested: 1) What elements of CSR are relevant in the online retailer context? 2) How are discussion forums used in communication regarding CSR and online retail by different discusser types? 3) What kind of company perceptions and consumer behavior appear in online discussions of Amazon’s CSR? The study is qualitative of nature, using the content analysis research method to examine posts found from four different public online discussion forums. A qualitative, interpretative analysis was used, although quantitative measures regarding discussion posts were also presented. The analysis contains a coding process, where attributes are attached to discussion posts. As a result of the process, specific patterns can be indicated in order to categorize the posts. As the research uses Amazon as the case company, the case study method is also adopted. In the online retail context, ethics regarding the online retailer’s tax and labor policies are found as most relevant elements. Customers, using discussion forums to share their experiences and opinions regarding online retailer CSR efforts, are realized as the most prominent stakeholder. The research also highlights the role of online retailer employees providing details on internal business practices. However, the not realize the possibility to participate in discussions. Most discussion posts refer either to a positive, negative or mixed reaction towards CSR efforts, it is suggested that the concept is relevant also in online retail. Although online retailer CSR efforts are somewhat linked to company perceptions, the concept has a minimal role in consumer behavior. In online retail, CSR efforts can reduce the risk of being involved in discussions related to controversies. In addition, online retailer CSR efforts should communicate how the retailer contributes locally.

Alice Amsden's impact on Latin America

On March 15 2012, we lost Professor Alice Amsden, a great intellectual power in development economics. Her work was systematically marked by creativity, originality, relevance and her fearless commitment to always speak truth to power both in academic as well as in policy-making arenas. This In Memoriam concentrates on just one part of her great intellectual legacy: her impact to better understanding Latin America's development challenges, obstacles and policy options. Our paper focuses on three broad areas of her main influence in the region: the role of transnational corporations, the importance of manufactured exports for development, and industrial policy. As we here argue, in all of them, her work is and continues to be a substantial contribution to knowledge that policy makers will be well advised to take into account if the region is to finally enter a path of structural transformation and sustained economic and social development.

Economic stagnation in the United States: underlying causes and global consequences

This paper analyzes the causes of the slow recovery of the US economy since the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2008-9. Fallen house values and excessive household debts continue to depress consumer spending, while corporations are failing to invest in spite of record profits. The increasingly unequal distribution of income limits demand, while long-term structural transformations continue to erode employment creation. An expansionary monetary policy has been incapable of sparking a more robust recovery and fiscal policy has been shifted to an austerity stance. In this context, Brazil and other emerging market nations cannot count on the United States to continue to be the leading source of global demand as it was in previous decades.

Global instability of currencies: reasons and perspectives according to the state-corporation hegemonic stability theory

This paper analyses reasons of the instability of the world monetary system. The author considers this problem from historical and contemporary perspectives. According to presented point of view banknotes and electronic money which replaced gold and silver coins in popular circulation are the most important reason of the instability. There are also proven positive and negative consequences of money instability. Reforms of the world monetary system need agreement within the global collective hegemony of state-powers and transnational corporations.

Developing Global Sourcing

Global Sourcing has gained popularity among Multinational Corporations as a method to achieve competitive advantage in increasingly competitive international environment. However, the companies pursuing coordinated global sourcing strategies in many cases tend to overlook many potential synergies from global sourcing. The objective of this research is to identify development areas in which the case company can further improve its conduct regarding global sourcing. This thesis was done as a case study for a MNC with business units across the world. The data used to analyse the case company is based on personal observations of the researcher, company’s material regarding its global sourcing, and on themed interviews and discussions with the company’s purchasing personnel. The analyses of this research are qualitative in nature, relying on subjective observations of the researcher. The research revealed that the case company has room for improvement in many of the identified success factors of global sourcing. One main recommendation of the thesis is to introduce portfolio-tool to identify synergy areas from global sourcing in a more systematic manner. In addition, the thesis proposes that information-processing framework can help the case company design more effective integration mechanisms that are required to process complex information emerging when sourcing globally.

International Entrepreneurship in Bottom of the Pyramid Markets – Overcoming institutional constraints

Bottom of the pyramid (BoP) markets are an underserved market of approximately four billion people living on under $5 a day in four regional areas: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. According to estimations, the BoP market forms a $5 trillion global consumer market. Despite the potential of BoP markets, companies have traditionally focused on serving the markets of developed countries and ignored the large customer group at the bottom of the pyramid. The BoP approach as first developed by Prahalad and Hart in 2002 has focused on multinational corporations (MNCs), which were thought of as the ones who should take responsibility in serving the customers at the bottom of the pyramid. This study challenges this proposition and gives evidence that also smaller international new ventures – entrepreneurial firms that are international from their birth, can be successful in BoP markets. BoP markets are characterized by a number of deficiencies in the institutional environment such as strong reliance on informal sector, lack of infrastructure and lack of skilled labor. The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of international entrepreneurship in BoP markets by analyzing how international new ventures overcome institutional constraints in BoP markets and how institutional uncertainty can be exploited by solving institutional problems. The main objective is divided into four sub objectives. • To describe the opportunities and challenges BoP markets present • To analyze the internationalization of INVs to BoP markets • To examine what kinds of strategies international entrepreneurs use to overcome institutional constraints • To explore the opportunities institutional uncertainty offers for INVs Qualitative approach was used to conduct this study and multiple-case study was chosen as a research strategy in order to allow cross-case analysis. The empirical data was collected through four interviews with the companies Fuzu, Mifuko, Palmroth Consulting and Sibesonke. The results indicated that understanding of the wider institutional environment improves the survival prospects of INVs in BoP markets and that it is indeed possible to exploit institutional uncertainty by solving institutional problems. The main findings were that first-hand experience of the markets and grassroots levels of information are the best assets in internationalization to BoP markets. This study highlights that international entrepreneurs with limited resources can improve the lives of people at the BoP with their business operations and act as small-scale institutional entrepreneurs contributing to the development of the institutional environment of BoP markets.

Corporate grassroots lobbying in the European Union

The European Union has gone through significant changes in the past 20 years. The importance of public opinion in politics has increased and the new technologies are empowering the wider public to express its opinions. The purpose of this study is to explore how corporations use the tactic of grassroots lobbying in the European Union environment. The research objectives were addressed through qualitative research methods. Six expert interviews were conducted to find new perspectives and to deepen the understanding of the research objectives. Following the data collection, the research material was transcribed and analysed. In the analysis, the data was organized based on concepts and themes found from the literature review. The empirical findings on grassroots lobbying in the EU were presented. It was found that when a company is selecting grassroots lobbying tactic, the familiarity of the tactic, organizational culture, financial resources and amount of stakeholders seem to have an impact to the selection. The issues that are successfully lobbied through the grassroots-lobbying tactic were seen to be those, which have high and direct impact on lives of people, arouse strong feelings and are not very complex. Furthermore, when deciding on the timing of a campaign, in the EU it was found that a company should take into account the long policy process and limited capabilities to mobilise people. Targeting the object of the campaign and selecting the channels used in a grassrootslobbying campaign were seen to be in function of identifying the key decision-makers on the issue. The decisions of who to mobilise and the mobilisation channels were considered to be dependant on who the campaign is trying to influence. Also, it was found that when the implementing a grassroots lobbying campaign in the EU environment, the special features such as multiple cultures and languages should be taken into account. This study has provided novel practical insights for corporate grassroots lobbying in the EU environment and furthermore successfully contributed to the academic research in the field.

Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston jauhatuslaboratorion työturvallisuusanalyysi

Suomen työturvallisuuslaki vaatii työnantajia selvittämään työpaikan turvallisuuden ja poistamaan tai pienentämään siellä olevia vaaran riskejä. Tämä laki rinnastaa opiskelijan työntekijäksi ja yliopiston työnantajaksi. Turvallisuuden kartoitukseen on olemassa erilaisia riskianalyysimenetelmiä. Kaikissa menetelmissä analysoitavan kohteen vaaratekijät käydään läpi ja niiden aiheuttamien seurausten vakavuutta ja vaaran todennäköisyyttä arvioidaan. Näiden perusteella voidaan valita tarvittavat toimenpiteet. Yritys voi valita tarkoitukseensa sopivimman analyysimenetelmän tai yhdistellä eri menetelmiä. Tässä kandidaatin työssä Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston jauhatuslaboratoriolle tehtiin riskikartoitus BS 8800-standardin mukaisesti. Riskikartoituksessa tuli ilmi vakaviakin puutteita jauhatuslaboratorion turvallisuudessa. Turvallisuuden parantamiseksi ilmi tulleille puutteille annettiin toimenpide-ehdotuksia. Toteutettujen toimenpiteiden jälkeen on laboratorion turvallisuutta seurattava ja aika ajoin riskianalyysi on tehtävä uudelleen, jotta laboratorion puutteet löydetään ja niihin voidaan puuttua. Näin laboratorio pysyy turvallisena esimerkiksi laitemuutosten jälkeen.

Viimeisimmän finanssikriisin vaikutukset Helsingin Pörssin kulutuspalveluita tuottaviin yrityksiin

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena on analysoida miten vuonna 2008 alkanut finanssikriisi ja sen aiheuttama taloudellinen epävarmuus ovat vaikuttaneet Nasdaq OMX Helsingin pörssiin listattujen kulutuspalveluita tuottavien yritysten suorituskykyyn. Näiden yritysten suorituskykyä analysoitiin tarkemmin tarkastelemalla kannattavuuden, maksuvalmiuden ja vakavaraisuuden tunnuslukuja aikavälillä 2008-2014. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, minkälaisia muutoksia suorituskyvyn suhteen tutkitulla aikavälillä oli tapahtunut kulutuspalveluita tuottavien yritysten keskuudessa. Muutoksia analysoitiin sekä kokonaisuutena että yrityskohtaisesti. Lisäksi tutkittiin, miten kulutuspalveluryhmän sisäiset toimialat olivat selviytyneet finanssikriisistä. Käsiteltävää yritysryhmää analysoitiin tunnuslukuanalyysiä hyödyntäen. Saatujen tulosten mukaan finanssikriisillä ei ollut suurta vaikutusta käsiteltävien yritysten maksuvalmiuteen tai vakavaraisuuteen. Kannattavuuden tunnusluvut sen sijaan heikkenivät merkittävästi koko ryhmän osalta finanssikriisin vaikutuksesta. Yrityskohtaiset erot olivat tutkimuksessa melko suuria. Etenkin mediayhtiöiden tunnusluvut heikkenivät merkittävästi tutkitulla aikavälillä. Mediayhtiöiden huonoon suoriutumiseen liittyy finanssikriisin lisäksi muitakin tekijöitä. Median digitalisoituminen on aiheuttanut useille yrityksille ongelmia liiketoiminnan kannattavuuden ylläpitämisessä. Monet tutkituista yrityksistä ovat kuitenkin pystyneet kääntämään liiketoimintansa kannattavampaan suuntaan vuoden 2013 jälkeen. Johtopäätöksenä voidaankin vetää, että viimeisin finanssikriisi oli vaikutuksiltaan merkittävä ja pitkäkestoinen.

Juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen problematiikka kansainvälisessä yritystoiminnassa

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan kansainvälisessä yritystoiminnassa esiintyviä juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ongelmatilanteita suomalaisten yritysten näkökulmasta. Tutkielmassa pohditaan lisäksi yritysten omaa roolia osana kaksinkertaisen verotuksen tilanteita. Juridista kaksinkertaista verotusta muodostuu, kun sama yhtiö maksaa samasta tulosta veroa kahteen valtioon. Teoriaosio etenee verotusoikeuden määrittämisestä kaksinkertaisen verotuksen muodostumiseen. Kaksinkertainen verotus pyritään poistamaan poistomenetelmällä, joka on Suomessa tavallisesti hyvitysmenetelmä. Ongelmatilanne muodostuu, kun kaksinkertaista verotusta ei saada tehokkaasti poistettua tulon lähdevaltion ja yhtiön asuinvaltion välillä. Tämä tutkielma on laadullinen tutkimus ja tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty teemahaastattelua. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että kvalifikaatiokonflikteissa juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ongelmatilanne esiintyy pääsääntöisesti rojalti-liiketulo -luokitteluristiriidan seurauksena. Kiinteän toimipaikan kvalifikaatio on harvinaisempi ongelmatilanne. Hyvitysmenetelmän suurimmat ongelmat esiintyvät puolestaan pääliikkeen tappiollisen liiketoiminnan johdosta. Toinen hyvitysmenetelmän ongelmakohta esiintyy, kun lähdeveron alainen tulo huomioidaan bruttotulosta, mutta ulkomaisen tulon hyvitys suoritetaan nettotulosta. Haastatteluiden perusteella on selvää, että yritysten oma rooli kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ehkäisyssä on merkittävä. Yrityksen omia vaikutusmahdollisuuksia ovat muun muassa riittävä ennakointikyky, dokumentointi, selkeät sopimukset ja asiantuntijuus.

Corporate green image communication through public disclosures and social media

Today, companies need to mind the environment in all their actions. Policies, regulations and growing pressure from environmentally conscious public are driving corporations to invest increasingly in their green images. Communication plays a key role in forming and maintaining that image. This thesis explores how six selected companies communicate about their environmental efforts and activities, and its linkage to their green images, in annual and sustainability reports and in Facebook. The companies come from the U.S. and Europe and operate in three different industries: ICT, oil and gas, and aerospace & defense. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses are conducted to examine 36 reports and 121 Facebook messages, collected from the period of 2010-2014, and from 2005 for comparison. The results show that although the quality and quantity of environmental disclosure is increasing, there is still room for improvement. Overall, disclosure in the ICT sector is on the highest level. The European companies disclose more and on average have stronger green images than the American ones. Emissions and ways to reduce them is by far the most covered topic in both continents and in all three industry sectors. The messages in Facebook are closer to advertising, and overall the platform is utilized surprisingly little.

Yhteiskuntavastuullinen toimittajavalinta

Yritysten yhteiskuntavastuu on viime vuosina noussut merkittäväksi osaksi yritysten jokapäiväistä toimintaa. Yhteiskuntavastuun aseman kehittymiseen yritysten strategiseksi valinnaksi on edesauttanut internetin sidosryhmille tarjoama lähes rajaton informaatio, joka on pakottanut yritykset muuttamaan toimintatapojaan kestävämpään suuntaan. Nykyinen asetelma on myös pakottanut yritykset miettimään uudestaan mitä he yhteiskuntavastuullaan haluavat sidosryhmilleen viestiä, ja miten he sen tekevät. Vastauksena tähän yritykset ovat kehittäneet voimakkaasti yhteiskuntavastuuraportointikäytäntöjään viime vuosien aikana, mikä näkyy muun muassa erialaisten raportointiohjeistusten hyödyntämisen yleistymisenä yhteiskuntavastuuraportoinnin apuvälineenä. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää mitä yhteiskuntavastuu on, ja millaisia keinoja yrityksillä on integroida yhteiskuntavastuullinen toiminta osaksi hankintatoimeen kuuluvaa toimittajavalintaa. Työn empiriaosuus on toteutettu laadullisena tutkimuksena vertailemalla kahden suomalaisen eri toimialoilla toimivan yrityksen yhteiskuntavastuuraportteja, ja sen tavoitteena on löytää teemoja ja työkaluja, joiden avulla yritykset implementoivat yhteiskuntavastuuta toimittajavalinnassaan. Tutkimuksen yksi merkittävimmistä löydöistä oli yritysten tarve nostaa sekä yhteiskuntavastuu että toimittajavalinta strategisiksi toiminnoiksi, mitä tukee molempien empiriaosuudessa käytettyjen yritysten yhteiskuntavastuuraporteista löytynyt maininta toimitusketjujen sekä toimittajavalinnan suuresta merkityksestä yritysten yhteiskuntavastuun toteuttamisen välineenä.

Collection de titres et généalogies, formée par Charles-François BLONDEAU DE CHARNAGE († 1776). MELANGES. Français 26469 (161)

Montres d'armes et pièces militaires (1686-1690) ; — confirmation de l'hérédité aux notaires et procureurs (1690) ; — création de maréchaussées en Franche-Comté (1692) ; — création d'un président et de six notaires-secrétaires en la Chambre des comptes de Dole (1693) ; — suppression des offices de conseillers lieutenants-généraux de police, excepté à Paris, et création de nouveaux offices de conseillers lieutenants-généraux (1699) ; — création de contrôleurs des deniers patrimoniaux et d'octrois et de substituts des procureurs du roi (1694) ; — arrêt du Conseil d'État prescrivant la confection d'un état du personnel des corporations d'arts et métiers (1673) ; — procureurs du roi et greffiers des villes (1691) ; — officiers municipaux (1693) ; — notaires, procureurs, huissiers et sergents (1701) ; — détenteurs d'héritages (1711) ; — offices municipaux (1737-1738) ; — billets de monnaie (1707) ; — laines de Languedoc, de Provence et du Dauphiné (1742) ; — loterie royale (1755) ; — loterie de l'École militaire (1757) ; — récit de la victoire remportée par la flotte française à Gibraltar (1756) ; — ode sur la paix ; — mausolée de Languet de Gergy, curé de St-Sulpice ; — factum pour Jean Sarrazin contre Nicolas Le Fèvre ; — arrêt sur la péremption (1703) ; — attaque du fort St-Philippe (1756) ; — les cabriolets justifiés ; — plan d'association ; — compliment à F.-M. de Verthamon ; — conjuration à Malte (1749) ; — requête du curé de Fontenoy au roi ; — les Tronchinades ; — lettre d'un Français à un Anglais ; — pamphlet en vers contre le pape ; — Nantes (1705) ; — Constitution Unigenitus (1720-1733) ; — condamnation d'une thèse de Jean-Martin de Prades (1752) ; — arrêt en faveur du curé de St-Nicolas-des-Champs (1754) ; — arrêt contre la Lettre de M. l'évêque de Boulogne à M. le Procureur général (1754) ; — arrêt contre Laugieur de Beaurecueil, curé de Ste-Marguerite, à Paris (1755) ; — chapitre Ste-Croix d'Orléans (1755) ; — suppression de deux chambres des Enquêtes (1757) ; — officiers et affaires du Parlement (1753) ; — arrêt concernant la délivrance des prisonniers d'Orléans à l'avènement des évêques de cette ville (1753) ; — mandements de l'archevêque de Paris, des vicaires-généraux de Bourges et de l'évêque de Troyes (1756-1758) ; — règlement pour la chambre des Vacations, tenue aux Grands-Augustins (1753) ; — St-Sauveur de Lille.

Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Social and Business Results

Competitividad y valor compartido

The determination of sinigrin in Brassica, and investigations into the use of allyl-isothiocyanate as a nematicide

The goal of this thesis was to study factors related to the development of Brassica juncea as a sustainable nematicide. Brassica juncea is characterized by the glycoside (glucosinolate) sinigrin. Various methods were developed for the determination of sinigrin in Brassica juncea tissue extracts. Sinigrin concentrations in plant tissues at various stages of growth were monitored. Sinigrin enzymatically breaks down into allylisothiocyanate (AITC). AITC is unstable in aqueous solution and degradation was studied in water and in soil. Finally, the toxicity of AITC against the root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus penetrans) was determined. A method was developed to extract sinigrin from whole Brassica j uncea tissues. The optimal time of extraction wi th boiling phosphate buffer (0.7mM, pH=6.38) and methanol/water (70:30 v/v) solutions were both 25 minutes. Methanol/water extracted 13% greater amount of sinigrin than phosphate buffer solution. Degradation of sinigrin in boiling phosphate buffer solution (0.13%/minute) was similar to the loss of sinigrin during the extraction procedure. The loss of sinigrin from boiling methanol/water was estimated to be O.Ol%/minute. Brassica juncea extract clean up was accomplished by an ion-pair solid phase extraction (SPE) method. The recovery of sinigrin was 92.6% and coextractive impurities were not detected in the cleaned up extract. Several high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods were developed for the determination of sinigrin. All the developed methods employed an isocratic mobile phase system wi th a low concentration of phosphate buffer solution, ammonium acetate solution or an ion-pair reagent solution. A step gradient system was also developed. The method involved preconditioning the analytical column with phosphate buffer solution and then switching the mobile phase to 100% water after sample injection.Sinigrin and benzyl-glucosinolate were both studied by HPLC particle beam negative chemical ionization mass spectrometry (HPLCPB- NCI-MS). Comparison of the mass spectra revealed the presence of fragments arising from the ~hioglucose moiety and glucosinolate side-chain. Variation in the slnlgrin concentration within Brassica juncea plants was studied (Domo and Cutlass cuItivars). The sinigrin concentration in the top three leaves was studied during growth of each cultivar. For Cutlass, the minimum (200~100~g/g) and maximum (1300~200~g/g) concentrations were observed at the third and seventh week after planting, respectively. For Domo, the minimum (190~70~g/g) and maximum (1100~400~g/g) concentrations were observed at the fourth and eighth week after planting, respectively. The highest sinigrin concentration was observed in flower tissues 2050±90~g/g and 2300±100~g/g for Cutlass and Domo cultivars, respectively. Physical properties of AITC were studied. The solubility of AITC in water was determined to be approximately 1290~g/ml at 24°C. An HPLC method was developed for the separation of degradation compounds from aqueous AITC sample solutions. Some of the degradation compounds identified have not been reported in the literature: allyl-thiourea, allyl-thiocyanate and diallyl-sulfide. In water, AITC degradation to' diallyl-thiourea was favored at basic pH (9.07) and degradation to diallyl-sulfide was favored at acidic pH (4 . 97). It wap necessary to amend the aqueous AITC sample solution with acetonitrile ?efore injection into the HPLC system. The acetonitrile amendment considerably improved AITC recovery and the reproducibility of the results. The half-life of aqueous AITC degradation at room temperature did not follow first-order kinetics. Beginning with a 1084~g/ml solution, the half-life was 633 hours. Wi th an ini tial AITC concentration of 335~g/ml the half-life was 865 hours. At 35°C the half-life AITC was 76+4 hours essentially independent of the iiisolution pH over the range of pH=4.97 to 9.07 (1000~g/ml). AITC degradation was also studied in soil at 35°C; after 24 hours approximately 75% of the initial AITC addition was unrecoverable by water extraction. The ECso of aqueous AITC against the root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus penetrans) was determined to be approximately 20~g/ml at one hour exposure of the nematode to the test solution. The toxicological study was also performed with a myrosinase treated Brassica juncea extract. Myrosinase treatment of the Brassica juncea extract gave nearly quantitative conversion of sinigrin into AITC. The myrosinase treated extract was of the same efficacy as an aqueous AITC solution of equivalent concentration. The work of this thesis was focused upon understanding parameters relevant to the development of Brassica juncea as a sustainable nematicide. The broad range of experiments were undertaken in support of a research priority at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.