Relationship between the Voluntary Instrument of CSR in the Textile Industry in the Czech Republic and Financial Performance

Abstract

The paper deals with the relationship between an environmentally friendly approach on the part of companies and financial performance. The paper emphasises that corporate social responsibility is an important issue in the strategic management of companies. The paper examines companies in the textile industry with an environmentally friendly certification in the Czech Republic, and then compares their indicator of profitability with companies in the textile industry without this chosen certification. The Wilcoxon test and t-test are used for the comparison. No statistically significant differences are confirmed. The limitations of the research are also discussed in the article.

Sustainable development and economic performance: Gaps and trends for future research

“…Many of the authors chose not to establish a proper method of measuring the environmental aspect of sustainability by comparing companies belonging to sustainability/social responsibility indices to their counterparts (Adegbite et al, ; DiSegni et al, ; Lee et al, ), analyzing the act of environmental disclosure and its effects on financial performance (Said et al, ), and possessing an environmental friendly certification (Krause, ). There is, however, a great variety of variables which were created to measure environmental performance specifically.…”

“…These have brought positive results to the discussion by analyzing the variables through different points of view and the use of different methods. Yet, other studies sought to explore the effects of sustainability disclosures over financial performance in contexts such as construction companies (Siew, Balatbat, & Carmichael, 2013), the relationship between sustainability disclosure and its effects on a firm's financial performance (Kasbun, Teh, & Ong, 2017;Said, Theng, Senik, Yusri, & San, 2015), sustainability reporting quality and its relationship with corporate financial performance (Ching, Gerab, & Toste, 2017), CSR disclosure in the textile industry (Krause, 2018), evaluating the impact of sustainable strategies on financial performance (Siminica, Craciun, & Dinu, 2015), determining whether the quality of the sustainability disclosures had an influence on the financial outcomes of companies listed in the ISE (Ching et al, 2017), determining the effects of the performance measuring parameters on the overall outcome of a business and on the index composed of sustainable development to determine its impact in Slovakian companies (Rajnoha, Lesníková, & Koraus, 2016), and describing the connection between financial results and sustainability levels (Wagner & Blom, 2011), bringing either positive, negative, or inconclusive results.…”

“…Other studies worth singling out are the ones by Cubas-Díaz and Martínez Sedano (2018) Goel & Misra, 2017;Paun, 2017;Lucato et al, 2017;Ganda & Milondzo, 2018;Atan et al, 2018;Xiao et al, 2018;Krause, 2018). Ten studies either could not find enough evidence to determine the existence of such relationship (Ching et al, 2017;Lean & Nguyen, 2014;Santis et al, 2016;Siew et al, 2013) or found mixed results when comparing different sectors (Ameer & Othman, 2012;Mervelskemper et al, 2013;Cristófalo et al, 2016;Lassala et al, 2017;Charlo et al, 2015;Chang & Kuo, 2008;.…”

“…The second group is the one whose authors analyzed ESG, CSR, or sustainable performance of companies by using existing indices or creating social performance indicators. (Adegbite et al, 2018;DiSegni et al, 2015;Lee et al, 2009), analyzing the act of environmental disclosure and its effects on financial performance (Said et al, 2015), and possessing an environmental friendly certification (Krause, 2018). There is, however, a great variety of variables which were created to measure environmental performance specifically.…”

“…From the 79 studies analyzed, 39 found a positive relationship, meaning that sustainability had a positive influence when it comes to obtaining financial outcomes (Roberts & Dowling, ; Weber et al, ; Ekatah et al, ; Škare & Golja, ; Pérez‐Calderón et al, ; Fujii et al, ; Wang & Sarkis, ; Martínez‐Ferrero & Frías‐Aceituno, ; Pätäri et al, ; Singal, ; DiSegni et al, ; Przychodzen & Przychodzen, ; Kasbun et al, ; Rodriguez‐Fernandez, ; Younis et al, ; Gómez‐Bezares et al, ; Li et al, ; Rajnoha et al, ; Suriyankietkaew & Avery, ; Carini et al, ; Martinez‐Conesa et al, , 2017; Cheon et al, ; Weber, ; Amacha & Dastane, ; Choongo, ; Rivera et al, ; del Alonso‐Almeida et al, ; Ang & Weber, ; Aboud & Diab, ; Cubas‐Díaz & Martínez Sedano, ; Hategan et al, ; Kim & Lee, ; Liang et al, ; Shin et al, ; Zhao et al, ; Adegbite et al, ; Cherian et al, ; Lin et al, 2019; Xie et al, ). Twenty‐one studies did not find a significant relationship between the same variables (Lee et al, ; Aras et al, ; Wagner, ; Wagner & Blom, ; Humphrey et al, ; Miron & Petrache, ; Siminica et al, ; Maletic et al, ; Said et al, ; Dobre et al, ; Ferrero‐Ferrero et al, ; Pandey & Kumar, ; Al Abri et al, ; Ching et al, ; Goel & Misra, ; Paun, ; Lucato et al, ; Ganda & Milondzo, ; Atan et al, ; Xiao et al, ; Krause, ). Ten studies either could not find enough evidence to determine the existence of such relationship (Ching et al,…”