Perceptions of corporate social responsibility: A case study of the perceived contents and outcomes

CSR has been subject of broad debate and research over the decades and has gained attention recently. The purpose of this thesis is to find out how companies perceive CSR. In addition this thesis is researching what is CSR in Finnish companies, how do companies measure CSR, what are the effects of CSR and how companies perceive those effects and what actors and factors support CSR. This research is a case study where altogether nine informants from seven companies were interviewed. This research is qualitative case study implemented with theme interviews. The analysis method is content analysis. Several interesting issues emerged from the empirical findings. CSR is playing pivotal role in companies values, vision and mission. CSR was perceived differently in companies but also mutual points emerged. The role of stakeholders is essential in CSR. In addition the communication with stakeholders was seen very important. Companies perceived that they can gain many benefits when acting responsibly for instance in issues related to cost reduction, reputation and personnel. However measuring these effects from CSR point of view was seen challenging. Other CSR related challenges are for example change and lack of resources. When considering empirical findings from a theoretical point of view, three interesting issues emerged. CSR reports play an important role in measuring and developing of CSR. However, this is not the case with all companies and some of them argued that reporting has too much attention nowadays when talking about CSR. The benefits of CSR are mostly related to responsive CSR. However maybe in a long-term follow-up strategic CSR related competitive advantage benefits could be more easily noticed. Many different issues supported CSR. Some issues are driven by outside of companies like NGO`s and media and some inside like the motivation of personnel and management. Vastuullista liiketoimintaa on tutkittu vuosien saatossa laajalti ja se on saanut viime vuosina erityisen paljon huomiota. Tämän pro gradu –tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, miten yritykset kokevat vastuullisen liiketoiminnan. Tämän lisäksi tutkimuksessa selvitetään, mitä vastuullinen liiketoiminta suomalaisissa yrityksissä tarkoittaa, miten yritykset mittaavat omaa vastuullisuuttaan, mitkä ovat vastuullisuuden vaikutukset, miten yritykset kokevat vastuullisuuden vaikutukset ja mitkä tekijät tukevat vastuullisen liiketoiminnan syntyä. Tutkimus toteutettiin haastattelemalla yhdeksää suomalaisen yrityksen yritysvastuusta vastaavaa tai sen kanssa työskentelevää henkilöä seitsemästä eri organisaatiosta loppuvuodesta 2014 ja alkuvuodesta 2015. Tutkimus on laadullinen, teemahaastatteluilla toteutettu haastattelututkimus. Aineisto on analysoitu teemoittain. Tutkimusaineiston perusteella vaikuttaa siltä, että vastuullinen liiketoiminta on tärkeässä roolissa yritysten arvoissa, visiossa ja missiossa. Yritysvastuu koettiin yrityksissä erilailla, mutta myös yhtäläisyyksiä on nähtävissä. Sidosryhmien rooli on erittäin tärkeä yritysvastuusta puhuttaessa ja myös kommunikointi sidosryhmien kanssa nousi tärkeäksi aiheeksi. Yritykset kokivat saavuttavansa monia hyötyjä vastuullisesta toiminnasta kuten kustannussäästöihin, maineeseen ja työntekijöihin liittyvissä asioissa. Näiden hyötyjen mittaaminen yritysvastuun näkökulmasta koettiin kuitenkin haasteelliseksi. Muita vastuullisuuteen liittyviä haasteita olivat esimerkiksi siihen liittyvä muutos sekä niukat resurssit. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksistä nousi esille kolme merkittävää seikkaa. Vastuullisuusraportoinnin koettiin olevan hyödyllinen yritysvastuun mittaamisessa ja kehittämisessä. Kaikki yritykset eivät kuitenkaan olleet tätä mieltä ja osa koki raportoinnin saavan liian paljon huomiota nykypäivänä. Yritysten kokemat hyödyt vastuullisuuteen liittyen syntyivät pääosin reaktiivisesta vastuullisuudesta. Tässä kohdin on kuitenkin huomionarvoista mainita, että strategisen vastuullisuuden hyödyt olisivat saattaneet nousta paremmin esille pidemmän aikavälin tutkimuksessa. Yritysvastuun syntyä tukevia tekijöitä löytyi monia. Osa tekijöistä oli yrityksen ulkopuolisia kuten kansalaisjärjestöt ja media ja jotkut taas kumpusivat yrityksen sisältä esimerkiksi työntekijöiden ja johdon motivaatio.

Analyzing the learning of the taking personal and social responsibility model within a new physical education undergraduate degree program in El Salvador

EI Salvador presents an unfortunate history that includes a military regime and a civil war that together created a legacy of violence in which the country still struggle nowadays. Salud Escolar Integral (SEI) was created in 2005 as a program to combat youth violence throughout the re-formulation of physical education (PE) classes in public schools, promoting life skills learning that supports the resolution of conflicts with nonviolent ways. In 2007, SEI supported the creation of a physical e~ucation teacher education (PETE) degree at the Universidad Pedag6gica de EI Salvador (UPES), having the goal to assist pre-service teachers with a better understanding of humanistic principles. The present research analyzed if after attending all three years ofUPES PETE program, students presented high self-perception levels of competence and confidence related to attitude, skills and knowledge to teach PE within humanistic principles. Taking Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) was the theoretical framework used to analyze the development of humanistic principles. The study had a mixed-method longitudinal design that included questionnaires, reflection templates and interviews. In conclusion, although it is suggested that UPES should provide better support for the development of the teaching principles of empowering students and transfer learning, most of the humanistic principles were highly promoted by the program. At last, it is suggested that future research should track teachers' progress while teaching in schools, in order to analyze if the theory of promoting humanistic principles have also become a daily practice.

The Mirror Room Project: A Critical Ethnographic Program Evaluation of a Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Based Youth Development Program

Amongst a host of other benefits, proper physical education has the possibility to create a safe place where responsibility can be transferred from the teacher/facilitator, to the student. This is especially true with an underserved population. This critical program evaluation of the program CHARM was done for the purpose of program improvement. This research was a place for participants to share their experiences of the program. The participants were 5 underserved youth, 5 undergraduate students, 3 teachers and 1 graduate student. Observations, interviews, and document analysis were used to gather data. Data was analyzed using a first level read-through, and two second-level analyses. Summaries were written, and cross-case analyses were completed. The main finding of the research was the development of a Handbook, which is a guide to running the program. Secondary findings include issues of program structure, goal setting, meaningful relationships, roles, SNAP, and an outlier in the data.

Developing Life Skills through Physical Activity: A Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model Approach

Ethnographic methods were used to study a weekly after-school physical activity program over an eight-month period. Based on Hellison’s Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model, the program sought to foster positive life skills amongst youth. The study investigated how the developed program influenced this life skills education experience. Several themes were identified from the data revolving around culture, life skills, pedagogy, and lessons learned. Data suggests that the positive environment developed within the program positively influenced youths’ life skill education experience. The topic of ethnicity as it relates to the experience of marginalized youth in physical activity settings is also discussed. This study supports TPSR literature and suggests that effort to establish caring relationships and empower youth contribute to the establishment of a positive atmosphere where life skills education can occur. Beyond this, practical tools were developed through this study to help others deliver life skill education.

Do you believe in the Loch Ness Monster? Children's influence on mothers' beliefs, values, and social/cultural practices.

Obtaining mothers' perspectives and descriptions of incidents in which their child(ren) said or did something that influenced the mothers' values, beliefs, and/or social or cultural practices, that is, the content of socialization, was the primary aim of this research. Bakhtin's (2004) metatheoretical account of dialogism was used to frame this study. From a dialogic perspective utterances (for example, the utterances of children in the present study) are events or acts and are presented as one way to view the process of socialization. In part this purpose, and the decision to utilize a qualitative research orientation, was to address a call (Lollis & Kuczynski, 1997) for qualitative or microanalytic analyses to help elucidate the processes of socialization. Mothers (N=10) in this study were able to provide descriptions of incidents in which their child(ren) said or did something that influenced the mother and hence we have some description of the concept of bidirectionality, a well accepted, but undertheorized concept in developmental psychology. While the concepts of multiple sources of influence and contexts are salient areas of research in parent-child socialization, and were mentioned in the informants reporting these areas did not appear to be as salient in the mothers' accounts. Emotions and the meaning mothers 'derived' from the interactions did, however, take much more prominence in the described incidents.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance, And Managerial Risk-Taking

This dissertation investigates the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and managerial risk-taking, as well as the differences in governance structure that affect this association. Using a sample of US public firms from 1995 to 2009, we find that firms with strong CSR records engage in higher risk-taking. Furthermore, we find that this relationship is robust when accounting for differences in governance structure and correcting for endogeneity via simultaneous equations modeling. Additional testing indicates that performance in the employee relations dimension of CSR in particular increases with risk-taking, while high firm visibility dampens the association between CSR and the accounting-based measures of risk-taking. Prior literature establishes that high managerial risk-tolerance is necessary for the undertaking of risky yet value-enhancing investment decisions. Thus, the main findings suggest that CSR, rather than being a waste of scarce corporate resources, is instead an important aspect of shareholder value creation. They contribute to the debate on CSR by documenting that corporate risk-taking is one mechanism among others through which CSR maps into higher firm value.

Ethics and Social Responsibility in the Life Sciences

Social Sciences and Humanities Research CouncilHomerton College, Cambridge, U.K.

Corporate Social Responsibility und Stakeholder

Shareholdern, Mitarbeitern und Konsumenten kommt im Rahmen der Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) eine zentrale Rolle zu. Nicht zuletzt aufgrund ihrer ökonomischen Bedeutung für Unternehmen und ihrer Einflussmöglichkeiten auf diese werden sie zu den mithin wichtigsten Stakeholdern gezählt. Innerhalb der unternehmensethischen Diskussion setzt sich dabei verstärkt die Sichtweise eines Business Case von CSR durch, demzufolge CSR generell und insbesondere bei diesen drei Stakeholdern an Bedeutung gewinnt und ein entsprechendes Engagement daher neben finanziellen auch zahlreiche immaterielle Vorteile bedingt. Betrachtet man die Studienlage allerdings genauer, bleibt zu fragen, inwieweit das gezeichnete positive Bild und die ihm zugrunde liegenden Annahmen tatsächlich zutreffend sind. Denn weder liegen ausreichend Studien vor, die sich mit den Prozessen auf der Mikro-Ebene befassen, noch spiegelt sich die postulierte und von Konsumenten in Befragungen geäußerte Kauf- und Zahlungsbereitschaft im Marktanteil ethischer Produkte und Dienstleistungen wider, was im Allgemeinen dann allerdings wiederum durch ein „attitude-behaviour-gap“ erklärt wird. Mit Blick auf ein Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) stellt sich die Sach- oder Marktlage zwar besser dar, doch wird gemeinhin stillschweigend und unhinterfragt davon ausgegangen, dass ein ethisches Investment per se ethisch sei. Die Arbeit setzt an diesen Punkten an und geht nach einer Klärung zentraler Begriffe der Frage nach der Relevanz und Wahrnehmung von CSR bei den drei Stakeholdern anhand eigener qualitativer Fallstudien empirisch nach; d. h. konkret, mittels einer Einzelfallstudie unter der Mitarbeiterschaft eines mittelständischen Unternehmens, einer Konsumentenbefragung zum Kleidungskauf und einer Einzelfallstudie zur Überprüfung der Praxis ethischen Investments anhand des als besonders „ethisch“ ausgewiesenen Ethik-Fonds von Schellhammer & Schattera. Im Endergebnis zeigt sich, dass berechtigte Zweifel an den vielfach postulierten positiven Entwicklungen und Effekten und damit auch der Sichtweise eines Business Case von CSR angebracht sind. Denn selbst der gewählte ethische Fonds kann nicht alle an ein derartiges Investment zu stellenden Kriterien zweifelsfrei erfüllen. In eine ähnlich kritische Richtung weisen auch die Befunde der Konsumentenstudie. Durch die Verwendung eines anderen Untersuchungsansatzes zeigt sich, dass für den Großteil der befragten Konsumenten ethische Aspekte in Wirklichkeit keine oder wenn, eine allenfalls sehr untergeordnete Rolle spielen. Entsprechend handelt es sich möglicherweise beim „attitude-behaviour-gap“ vielfach nur um eine Pseudo-Inkonsistenz, die, wie aufgezeigt wird, theoretisch und methodisch bedingt ist. Im Vergleich dazu fallen die Befunde der Mitarbeiterstudie zwar sehr positiv aus, verweisen jedoch auch auf einen allgemein vernachlässigten zentralen Aspekt des CSR-Engagements. So können die empirisch belegten positiven Effekte zwar bestätigt werden, doch zeigt sich, dass diese wesentlich an die Bedingung der Authentizität von CSR geknüpft zu sein scheinen. Die sich hieraus wie aus den anderen Studien ergebenden Konsequenzen und Fragen werden im Rahmen einer Zusammenfassung abschließend diskutiert.

Social Responsibility, an Approach to the Executive Peruvian Perspective

In recent years the issue of social responsibility is becoming more important, which isreflected in the companies have incorporated it into their agenda of interests. In this sense,the article is intended to make a first approach to the level of implementation efforts, aswell as their prospects for the future. We interviewed a total of 144 people representingdifferent economic sectors. We conclude that the majority of executives do not have aclear understanding of the modern concept of RS nor of its benefits, it limits the concept tophilanthropy and actions are oriented to the community and environment.

Utilidad de la responsabilidad social en la relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing en el sector del transporte público

Esta investigación se dirige a determinar el uso de la responsabilidad social como estrategia de mercadeo y de relación, y cuál es su impacto en la sociedad. De esta manera, se hace uso de los conceptos del mercadeo comunitario y el mercadeo relacional, para así desarrollar nuevas estrategias de marketing, en donde se logre incentivar y promover la responsabilidad social entre las empresas del sector de transporte público, por medio de la creación de una relación más estrecha entre las compañías y los clientes. Por esta razón, el objetivo general de la investigación es determinar cuál es la utilidad de la responsabilidad social en la relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing en el sector del transporte público. Adicionalmente, se espera lograr una conexión entre la relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing dentro del sistema de transporte público, por medio de la responsabilidad social. La importancia de éste proyecto consiste en determinar los beneficios que puede recibir el sector de transporte público con una aplicación estratégica de la responsabilidad social y el marketing comunitario. En Transmilenio se encontró que sí utilizan la relación estrategia comunitaria, a través de la implementación de las estrategias comunitarias mediante la responsabilidad social, usándolas de manera efectiva ayudando al marketing relacional. Lo anterior se evaluó mediante una revisión de la literatura sobre responsabilidad social, marketing relacional, la relación estratégica comunitaria, una investigación de las prácticas de responsabilidad social de la compañía así como investigaciones sobre Transmilenio.

Responsabilidade social nas organizações : Avaliação das motivações no desenvolvimento e implementação de práticas socialmente responsáveis

A presente dissertação consiste num trabalho de investigação, descritivo e exploratório, cujo objetivo foi abordar o conceito de responsabilidade social, enfatizando a sua vertente organizacional. Teve como principal desafio, por um lado, compreender a dinâmica da implementação de medidas socialmente responsáveis por parte das organizações, por outro lado, avaliar as motivações das organizações no que respeita às práticas de responsabilidade social. Com base no estudo de caso realizado, concluiu-se que na organização estudada a adoção de políticas socialmente responsáveis está diretamente relacionada com o seu modelo de gestão, que é baseado na sua visão, missão e valores. Com o culminar deste trabalho, pode-se aferir que as organizações cuja gestão é baseada em valores estão mais comprometidas com o desenvolvimento sustentável.

Delta cafés : prática de Responsabilidade Social ou Estratégia de Marketing Promocional?

Nesta dissertação será abordada a temática de Responsabilidade Social no ponto de vista teórico, as suas origens, dimensões, desenvolvimento, e a sua importância nos dias de hoje. Será igualmente abordado a importância do Livro Verde, livro este que promove um quadro europeu para a responsabilidade nas empresas. Com algum destaque, os media representam uma parte essencial para que a informação sobre a responsabilidade social chegue às partes interessadas bem como à sociedade. De certa forma, cabe aos media transmitir as suas vertentes, os eventos futuros, o que cada empresa fez ou faz (neste caso a empresa Delta Cafés) para promover as suas práticas de responsabilidade social. Bem como no ponto de vista prático, sendo o caso concreto da empresa Delta Cafés, será feita uma tentativa de articular a parte teórica da responsabilidade social, com o caso prático, que será a junção de ambos, tentando assim perceber se a empresa pratica realmente responsabilidade social ou se não passa de uma estratégia de marketing promocional.

Championing the rhetoric: corporate social responsibility in the Ghanaian mining sector

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature that critically examines how mining companies are embracing community development challenges in developing countries, drawing on experiences from Ghana. Despite receiving considerable praise from the donor and industry communities, the actions being taken by Ghana's major mining companies to foster community development are facilitating few improvements in the rural regions where activities take place. Companies are generally implementing community development programmes that are incapable of alleviating rural hardship and are coordinating destructive displacement exercises. The analysis serves as a stark reminder that mining companies are not charities and engage with African countries strictly for commercial purposes.