The Heterogeneity of Board-Level Sustainability Committees and Corporate Social Performance

Burke, Jenna; Hoitash, Rani; Hoitash, Udi

doi:10.1007/s10551-017-3453-2

Cited by 128 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Considering the relationship between bank type and the type of sustainability strategy content implemented by such institutions, however, this study does not provide a solid conclusion on the link between the structure of governance and the type of sustainability strategy in a bank. This resonates with research pointing out that the association between governance structure and social and/or environmental outcomes is not always consistent [5,106]. Such inconsistencies might, in turn, be rooted in other attributes that affect overall governance; these attributes include the gender diversity of a company's board of directors [107][108][109], the characteristics of top management [110], and the organizational design for bank sustainability [106,111].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Same Same but Different: How and Why Banks Approach Sustainability

Zimmermann

2019

Sustainability

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Given their intermediary role and resulting influence on other industries, banks are pivotal in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for which they approach ecological and social challenges in numerous ways. This study aims at creating a typology of the sustainability strategies that banks implement. To this end, 26 in-depth interviews were conducted within the German banking industry to detect patterns in the sustainable practices of these financial institutions. The strategy types identified are narrow, peripheral, balanced, and integrative, which are similar in structure but substantially different with respect to the kind of practices. Specifically, three main features distinguish these strategies. First, banks focus on either their core businesses or the peripheries of their business. Second, banks can concentrate on social or environmental issues. Third, within the peripheries of their businesses, banks can support external sustainability projects in terms of finances or content. It is also found that the choice of strategy is driven by varying combinations of business, social, and environmental motives. I thus explore the ways by which financial institutions contribute to the realization of the SDGs. The typology established in this work improves understanding with regards to the implementation of sustainability strategies and serves as inspiration to sustainability managers of banks. It also adds to sustainability research in the service context, which, unlike the manufacturing industry, is a widely under-researched setting.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Same Same but Different: How and Why Banks Approach Sustainability

Zimmermann

2019

Sustainability

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“…In particular, the literature about the board committees depicts a growing presence of CSR committees [13,41], with the aim to manage activities regarding social, environment, health and safety matters, and stakeholder relationships [42], balancing the potential conflict between shareholders' short term profit expectations and the long term creation of value as fundamental to corporate future life, as sustainability view suggests [43]. In fact, such committees act as mediators among conflicting interests within the board, or when short-termism demands conflict with the long-lasting value [44], reviewing and recommending to the BoDs goals and policies that maintain the company committed to high standards of ethics and integrity, legal compliance, social responsibility and sustainability.…”

Section: The Role Of Csr Committeesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Board committees, thanks to activities oriented to monitor, propose and give assurance to the board, manage issues related to critical success factors and/or source of potential conflicts of interest [10][11][12]. In particular, CSR committees are established to guarantee the protection of stakeholders in the case of competing interests, according to the goal to create shared value thanks to the coordination among economic, social and environmental dimensions [13,14]. In fact, a real corporate commitment in sustainability influences different firm's areas and processes (think, for example, to the circular economy, the integrated reporting, the opportunity to be listed in special sustainable stock exchange indexes) and, for this reason, it needs to be planned by the board according to a systemic perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many researches are about the relationship between corporate governance and CSR, considering that the board structure influences the triple bottom line performance [1,[15][16][17][18][19], but mostly ignoring the role of CSR committees within the boards. Most of the previous researches studied the CSR committees as determinants of corporate performance [13,[20][21][22][23][24][25] and corporate disclosure [26] instead of as effects of internal or external variables [9,27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How to Lead the Board of Directors to a Sustainable Development of Business with the CSR Committees

Gennari

2019

Sustainability

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The sustainable development of business requires adjustments in corporate governance to assure the economic, social and environmental aspects of a firm’s responsibility are managed according to the triple bottom line approach. For this purpose, the board of directors can establish devoted corporate social responsibility (CSR) committees to reduce a company’s exposure to responsibility failures. By means of a quantitative analysis on listed firms on FTSE MIB and STAR markets of the Italian Stock Exchange and embracing different theories this paper aims at finding the potential influence of external (soft law and socio-environmental industry risk) and internal (firm size and ownership structure) factors on the presence of CSR committees. This study contributes to the existing literature about sustainability in business, recommends to directors to not underestimate the risk of ‘strategic unsustainability’, and offers to regulators significant food for thought to improve the contribution to sustainable development by companies.

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“…Our findings are also relevant to improving decisions made by the board of directors. Burke, Hoitash, and Hoitash () highlight the growing relevance that boards play regarding CSR and the increasing number of CSR board committees in public companies. Similarly, Albuquerque et al () suggest that CSR has become an important issue inside boardrooms, which increasingly seek to engender investor accountability and stakeholder engagement through the creation of CSR committees or by linking top executive compensation incentives to sustainability metrics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate social responsibility and cost of financing—The importance of the international corporate governance system

Desender

LópezPuertas‐Lamy

Pattitoni

et al. 2020

Corporate Governance

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Research Question/Issue: Our study examines whether international corporate governance systems shape the relationship between a firm's engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their cost of financing (both equity and debt).Research Findings/Insights: Using a large international sample, our findings reveal that although the link between CSR performance and the cost of equity is negative in a shareholder-oriented system, this relationship is positive in a stakeholder-oriented system. Furthermore, the link between CSR performance and the cost of debt is negative for firms that are close to default in both systems.Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our study highlights the importance of considering the shareholder/stakeholder orientation at the country level to explain the link between CSR performance and the cost of financing. Our findings help to explain and place into context the previous mixed findings on the relationship between CSR and the cost of equity and debt and add to the debate about whether CSR is beneficial or detrimental to corporate governance.Practitioner/Policy Implications: The analysis of how the country corporate governance system influences the effect of CSR performance on the cost of financing allows for a deeper understanding of how investors respond to CSR initiatives worldwide and offers managers, directors, and policy makers context-specific recommendations. Our analysis also highlights the limitations of transferring insights regarding CSR from one corporate governance system to another. K E Y W O R D Scorporate governance, corporate social responsibility, cost of debt, cost of equity

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The Heterogeneity of Board-Level Sustainability Committees and Corporate Social Performance

Cited by 128 publications

References 62 publications

Same Same but Different: How and Why Banks Approach Sustainability

Same Same but Different: How and Why Banks Approach Sustainability

How to Lead the Board of Directors to a Sustainable Development of Business with the CSR Committees

Corporate social responsibility and cost of financing—The importance of the international corporate governance system

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