PurposeThis article aims to analyze the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy of Spanish MNCs and how the firms integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their reports and communication messages.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on cases studies with data collected through the corporate websites of Spanish MNCs listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.FindingsThe findings tend to indicate that the stakeholder theory and creating shared value are both useful in the analysis of CSR business goals linked to the sustainable development goals of MNCs. However, companies generate little engagement with their stakeholders.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this article resulted from an in-depth analysis of case studies with data collected from a selected sample of MNCs. The qualitative analysis allows us to understand how SDGs are integrated in the CSR activities. But there is a lack of global indicators to measure the impacts of business through the SDGs.Practical implicationsMNCs with a CSR strategy report the information connected with SDGs. However, there is a need of metrics to better understand the contribution of companies for sustainable development and then to clearly know the contribution of business in sustainable development.Social implicationsCreate shared value means that companies integrate SDGs in their CSR activities and, as a result, they can create different impacts in economic, social, and environmental issues. If companies communicate these activities and engage the stakeholders the social impact may be even greater.Originality/valueThe stakeholders theory serves to explain that companies can make a real contribution to society in their relationship with stakeholders. In addition, the creation of shared value is applicable to the integration of SDGs in companies within the CSR strategy.
Social networks are an opportunity to foster and strengthen dialogue between companies and their audiences and also to integrate social expectations into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. This research analyses communication on CSR on Twitter and its main objectives are: 1) to analyze if there are CSR concepts which can lead the conversation among Twitter users and companies when discourse is limited to CSR related concepts; and 2) to detect those concepts which might create engagement (underlying conversations) between companies and Twitter users. Our research is focused on insurance companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). The methodology used is qualitative and the sample comprises more than 8,500 tweets which include a set of keywords related to CSR, that were published by the companies in the sample and/or mentioned those companies. The results show that industry-related words, financial performance messages and the local activities of the company are opportunities to spread the CSR commitment. We concluded that communication is scarce between companies and users related to CSR. In general, companies and users shared interests, but these were not related to a real conversation about CSR and sustainability.
Purpose The paper analyses social and environmental engagement, stakeholders’ relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies/options along with their underlying mechanisms of firms operating in China. Design/methodology/approach It does this through the analysis of a unique case study using data collected from internal members and external stakeholders of the company framed within stakeholder theory. Findings Within the Aguinis and Glavas (2012) framework, the results show that the company’s resources and values can act as a mediator, their high visibility and scale can act as a moderator, and their self-regulation can act as a predictor in weak institutional contexts. Also, the findings show that employees’ perceptions of visionary leadership can act as a mediator, and that the alignment in the vision/values/beliefs of the chief executive officer with those of the shareholders can act as moderators. Originality/value The paper intends to contribute to the literature on CSR in China by analysing a specific type of investor, the socially responsible investor, neglected in the CSR literature, and by studying multilevel (individual/organisational/institutional) social and environmental engagement, stakeholders’ relations and CSR strategies/options in an evolving institutional environment.
The objective of this study is to explore empirically the dimensions that generate high impact in the finance industry to better understand its contribution from a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perspective. We analyze data concerning impacts of finance sector firms certified by B Corp in order to identify the combinations that are necessary and/or sufficient to obtain a recognition of their high impact generation. The methodology followed to identify the impact dimensions is fsQCA, (fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis), a qualitative comparative analysis method applied to a sample of finance firms (n-181). The results indicate that financial sector firms exhibited four combinations focusing on different impact dimensions. Specifically, the first route indicates that a high degree of focus on customers and communities is sufficient to obtain a high impact score. The second path signals that the combination of the impacts on customers and corporate governance could lead to the same result, while in the third pathway the focus would be on the employees. Finally, the fourth route indicates that some financial firms focus strongly on their communities, corporate governance and their employees, but very weakly on the environmental dimension. Consequently, diverse combinations of CSR dimensions characterize financial sector contributions to impact generation and sustainable development.Sustainability 2020, 12, 2395 2 of 17 particular, the finance industry, related to their corporate sustainability strategies [7]. Thereby, as B Corp firms gain recognition for their high impact on their CSR dimensions, this also represents an opportunity to balance their business activities in order to pursue financial, social and environmental positive contributions [8]. Furthermore, as companies can create an impact in several ways, it is useful for academics and practitioners to analyze the different routes followed by companies in the finance sector certified as high-impact firms, showing which dimensions are relevant for firms. Moreover, to explore these dimensions, we analyze the literature concerning impacts in the finance sector, which has shown an increasing interest in CSR and sustainable development in recent years [9].Therefore, this study aims to study the necessary and/or sufficient combinations of dimensions for the finance industry, in order for them to be recognized for their high impact generation using the B Corp dimensions. The methodology followed was fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and we analyzed the impact of B-Corp dimensions in a sample based on financial sector firms (n=181) in the B-Corp 2018 database, which includes the scores resulting from the certification process of these firms related to the five dimensions. This exploratory study is the first study analyzing the B Corp database with the fsQCA method, which facilitates the identification of causal relationships within the results [10]. Moreover, it provides useful information for strategic decisions of companies regardin...
Purpose – This paper aims to analyse corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in emerging markets (EMs) from developed countries-based multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on eight case studies with data collected through in-depth interviews with senior managers of the companies representing 85 per cent of the Spanish foreign investments in Latin America. Findings – The findings tend to indicate that instrumental theories of CSR seem to apply for Western MNCs operating in EMs. CSR initiatives from these companies seem to be guided by instrumental theories, as they use these initiatives as a strategic tool to achieve economic objectives, seek a positive relation between them and their financial performance and use them to strengthen their reputation. Research limitations/implications – The results of this article resulted from an in-depth analysis of case studies with data collected from a carefully selected theoretical sample with data analysed by following well-established methods like coding, triangulation and pattern matching. This combination was designed to minimise possible concerns in these areas, and as a consequence to strengthen the research design and, therefore, the conclusions of the paper. Measures were taken to minimise possible concerns in this area. The companies were selected for theoretical, not statistical, reasons with the aim to replicate or extend emergent theories, which is one of the main objectives of the research. Practical implications – Companies are using CSR in EMs as a strategic tool to achieve economic objectives (the main principle behind instrumental theories). MNCs seek a positive relation between CSR initiatives in EMs and their financial performance (also a key principle within instrumental theories). Companies in the sample develop CSR initiatives, including those in EMs, to increase their legitimacy as part of their global reputation rather to deal with host country challenges. Finally, MNCs actively manage stakeholders to strengthen their local reputation as a means to improve financial performance. Social implications – Instrumental theories of CSR seem to apply for Western MNCs operating in EMs. These findings highlight the need to continue the study of CSR from Western MNCs in Ems, as the vast majority of academic literature relates to the characteristics of social responsibility initiatives in developed economies. Originality/value – Instrumental theories apply in a global market for MNCs; in this case, Spanish companies operating in more than 30 countries with a global strategy in CSR and similar objectives.
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