...Essay Corporate social reporting: a tool to discharge corporate accountability or to enhance managerial capture? Introduction In the last two decades there has been an increased awareness by society in general on the societal and environmental consequences of human behavior, especially towards corporations and its effect on its surroundings. Investors these days are becoming ethically and socially aware, and are more drawn towards investing in companies that contribute positively to society and who are actively reducing any negative impacts it might have. Because of this emerging awareness by public in general and investors, companies need to actively show compliance with this trend. Also due to the damaged reputation corporations have these days due to several scandals that took place around 2001, investors want reassurance when investing in companies. A way to show compliance to these aspects is by producing sustainability reports, which are made available to the public. Sustainability reports, which can also be referred to as Corporate Social Reporting, is a report that shows how a corporation is complying to economic, environmental and societal issues in which it is active. World Business Council for Sustainability Development (WBCSD) established the current and mainly adopted definition for CSR, which states ‘CSR is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce...
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...This report explores the relationship between system oriented theories, sustainability issues and disclosures made by Orica Limited in their 2013 Sustainability Report (“Orica 2013”). The review is based on the system oriented theories covering Stakeholder Theory, Legitimacy Theory and Institutional Theory. On the basis of this assessment, recommendations are made for future approaches to Orica’s Sustainability Reporting. The 2013 Sustainability Report by Orica provided benefit to stakeholders. Orica’s key sustainability challenges and opportunities focus on: refining the customer value proposition, developing people capability and competence, driving common systems and processes, developing performance metrics and targets, reviewing manufacturing reliability and integrity, extending the mining service offering and securing low cost and capital efficient supply (Orica 2013). These areas are constantly being enhanced and some current initiatives are the Seven Pillar training program to ensure all employees have an understanding of Orica’s vision, value and strategies, development of stakeholder plans at key sites to provide a consistent approach to management, implementing Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) to identify key environmental risks, controls and impacts, and Project Sustain which identifies initiatives under Orica’s Safety, Health, Environment and Community (SHEC) (Orica 2013). The disclosures made by Orica can be assessed using system oriented theories. Deegan...
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... s145611 22 pages Table of Contents Introduction 2 Case presentation 2 The Wal-Mart concept 3 Institutional challenges [to be deleted] 4 Cultural challenges [to be deleted] 4 German market 5 Theoretical Background 5 The cultural perspective 6 The institutional perspective 9 Case Analysis 12 The cultural perspective 12 The institutional perspective 15 Recommendations 19 Cultural 19 Institutional 20 Limitations 22 Cultural 22 Institutional 22 Conclusion 23 References: 25 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to address and analyze the challenges Wal-Mart faced during its entrance into the German market in the late 1990s. We have analyzed this with the following problem in mind: “Which aspects, both cultural and institutional, led to Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany and what should they have done instead?” We will approach this problem by outlining theoretical frameworks for analyzing cultural and institutional aspects of a company. We will then employ said theories in order to analyze the case of Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany. Finally, we will come to a conclusion concerning what they should have done as they entered into the German market. Different forms of distance CAGE, Taste and deep-seated preferences, strong national identities, management lacks diversity, mismatch, handling cultural and institutional distances is the essence of international management. Did Walmart start in culturally proximate markets? Customer...
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...organizational processes; the exchange of goods and services is downplayed. With a broader definition of institutional environment, which includes not merely formal rules, procedures and norms, but also the symbolic systems, cognitive models and moral templates that guide people’s behaviors, the new institutionalism offers a distinctively sociological perspective for studying and understanding organizations. Nevertheless, the institutional change also provoked an array of issues that have long been facing the institutional organization theory and have been widely discussed by institutionalists. In this paper, I am going to illustrate as follows two main problems that carry the most argumentations among institutionalists– how to reconcile the conflict between efficiency and institutional rules in organizations isomorphic with institutional environment, by comparing Jens Beckert’s Agency, entrepreneurs, and institutional change and John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan’s Institutionalized organizations; to what degree should organizations be institutionalized, by comparing John W. Meyer and Brian Rowan’s Institutionalized organizations and Charles Perrow’s Overboard with myth and symbols. The three works will be referred to without specific citations. How to deal with interest- driven behavior and institutional change If organizational structures and strategies are shaped by institutional environments, what is the role of ‘strategic choice’ in the management of organizations? Meyer and Beckert...
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...Reflection Organisational legitimacy, capacity and capacity development Mobilising against hunger and for life: An analysis of Derick W. Brinkerhoff capacity and change in a Brazilian network John Saxby Pretoria, South Africa Discussion paper No 58A June 2005 European Centre for Development Policy Management Centre européen de gestion des politiques de développement Study of Capacity, Change and Performance Notes on the methodology The lack of capacity in low-income countries is one of the main constraints to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Even practitioners confess to having only a limited understanding of how capacity actually develops. In 2002, the chair of Govnet, the Network on Governance and Capacity Development of the OECD, asked the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Maastricht, the Netherlands to undertake a study of how organisations and systems, mainly in developing countries, have succeeded in building their capacity and improving performance. The resulting study focuses on the endogenous process of capacity development - the process of change from the perspective of those undergoing the change. The study examines the factors that encourage it, how it differs from one context to another, and why efforts to develop capacity have been more successful in some contexts than in others. The study consists of about 20 field cases carried out according to a methodological framework with seven components, as follows:...
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...Institutional Theory Part One Introduction of Institutional Theory What are institutions? The general understanding of institutions can be defined as a set of formal and informal rules of conduct, made by humans that facilitate coordination or govern relationships between individuals, organizations or government. Examples of institutions include laws, regulations, customs, social and professional norms, culture, and ethics. Selznick (1949) notes that "the most important thing about organizations is that, though they are tools, each nevertheless has a life of its own". While he acknowledges rational view that organizations are designed to attain goals, he notes that the formal structures can never conquer the non-rational dimensions of organizational behaviour. Individuals do not act purely based on their formal roles. Organizations do not act purely based on formal structures. Selznick notes that individuals bring other commitments to the organization that can restrict rational decision-making. Institutions exert a constraining influence over organizations, called isomorphism that forces organizations in the same population to resemble other organizations that face the same set of environmental conditions (Hawley, 1968). Then, the isomorphism was further discussed by DiMaggio and Powell (1983) where the analysis of institutions exert three types of isomorphic pressure on organizations: coercive, normative, and mimetic. Coercive isomorphism refers...
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...9 2011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 711 8 65 Restoring reputation and repairing legitimacy: a case study of impression management in response to a major risk event at Allied Irish Banks plc Philip Linsley* The York Management School, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK E-mail: pl521@york.ac.uk *Corresponding author Peter Kajüter University of Münster, Chair of International Accounting, Universitätsstr.14-16, D-48143 Münster, Germany E-mail: peter.kajueter@wiwi.uni-muenster.de Abstract: Risk events can cause significant damage to a firm’s reputation and legitimacy. From the perspective of legitimacy theory, there are four broad strategies to restore reputation and repair legitimacy in response to a risk event. The annual report is a potential vehicle for communicating these strategies to the firm’s stakeholders and, therefore, the discretionary disclosures explaining the strategies implemented can be regarded as a means for managing reputational risk. This paper analyses annual report disclosures published in response to a major risk event at Allied Irish Banks plc. The empirical results suggest that legitimacy theory can usefully explain the disclosures. However, the findings from the case analysis also indicate that the disclosures made by Allied Irish Banks plc were not wholly effective in re-establishing legitimacy and thereby demonstrate the need for effective internal control and risk management systems that reduce the likelihood...
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...Determinants of MNE Subsidiaries' Political Strategies: Evidence of Institutional Duality Author(s): Amy J. Hillman and William P. Wan Source: Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3 (May, 2005), pp. 322-340 Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3875180 Accessed: 26-02-2015 20:33 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Palgrave Macmillan Journals is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of International Business Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 193.140.253.100 on Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:33:00 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Studies(2005)36, 322-340 Business journal International of - 2005 Palgrave 0047-2506 $30.00 Macmillan Ltd. Allrightsreserved www.jibs.net The determinants of evidence strategies: Amy J Hillman' and William P Wan2 MNE of subsidiaries' political institutional duality Abstract of State Arizona IDepartment Management...
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...NELLCO NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository Harvard Law School John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business Discussion Paper Series Harvard Law School 8-3-2004 The Institutions of Corporate Governance Mark J. Roe Harvard Law School Recommended Citation Roe, Mark J., "The Institutions of Corporate Governance" (2004). Harvard Law School John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business Discussion Paper Series. Paper 488. http://lsr.nellco.org/harvard_olin/488 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Harvard Law School at NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Harvard Law School John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business Discussion Paper Series by an authorized administrator of NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact tracy.thompson@nellco.org. ISSN 1045-6333 HARVARD JOHN M. OLIN CENTER FOR LAW, ECONOMICS, AND BUSINESS THE INSTITUTIONS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Mark J. Roe Discussion Paper No. 488 08/2004 Harvard Law School Cambridge, MA 02138 This paper can be downloaded without charge from: The Harvard John M. Olin Discussion Paper Series: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/ The Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=###### This paper is also a discussion paper of the John M. Olin Center's Program on Corporate Governance JEL K4, H73, G34, G28 ...
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...Abstract This paper is mainly discussing about the Corporate Sustainability Reporting. The Sustainability Reporting Framework (G3.1) of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the system oriented theories (Legitimacy Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Institutional Theory) are reviewed in order to explain and support the arguments of the reporting methodology. In addition, the reports of two multinational companies, Apple Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation are inspected with the theories. It is found that both companies involved in multiple activities in promoting and educating the publics about their operations as well as the ways to protect themselves and the nature. It can be concluded that both companies abide the framework and theories to disclose information to the stakeholders. 1.0 Introduction Corporate Sustainability Reporting is becoming more and more important in research and in practice lately, as the consumers are becoming smarter compare to the eras before. Companies have the responsibility to disclose details in financing and operations in order to gain support and resources from the world at large to survive in the market. There are three important system oriented theories that helps in measuring the degree of importance and explaining the methodology in disclosing informations to all types of stakeholders. Two multinational companies that provides annual report and sustainability report are reviewed to help understanding the reporting method. 2.0 Purpose...
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...Eden1 and Stewart R Miller2 1 Department of Management, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA; 2Department of Management, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA Correspondence: JT Campbell, Department of Management, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, 420 Wehner Building, 4221 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4221, USA. Tel: þ 1 979 845 4851; Fax: þ 1 979 845 9641 Abstract Prior studies have found that foreign affiliates of multinational enterprises (MNEs) suffer from liability of foreignness (LOF). Foreign affiliates may be able to improve their social legitimacy and overcome LOF by demonstrating social commitment to host-country constituents through corporate social responsibility (CSR). If LOF is positively related to the distance between the home and host countries, and CSR activities confer social legitimacy benefits on foreign affiliates, we should expect CSR activities and distance to be positively related. However, we argue that, despite this potential motivation, foreign affiliates from more distant home countries are in fact less likely to engage in host-country CSR. Our argument focuses on the ways in which distance affects the MNE’s willingness and ability to engage in CSR abroad. We also predict that hostcountry CSR reputation negatively moderates this relationship. Using Community Reinvestment Act data for foreign bank affiliates from 32 countries in the United States over 1990–2007, we find strong support...
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...DETERMINANTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. AN INTERNATIONAL SETTING Lourdes Torres, Vicente Pina and Ana Yetano Submitted to: Dr. Saneya El Galaly Prepared by: Noha ElZalabani Intake: 40C - Heliopolis Paper Summary: The past two decades have witnessed an influx of new ideas and initiatives in the field of public management in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, which have led governments to undertake major changes in the way in which the public sector is managed in order to better meet citizen needs within expenditure limits. Anglo-American, Nordic and European Continental countries have come under increasing pressure to improve their efficiency and effectiveness and to reduce their demands on taxpayers while maintaining the quality of services and the welfare state. This paper seeks to acquire a deeper understanding of how some of these new ideas have worked in practice by examining the implementation of strategic management in twenty-three pioneer local governments in Australia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, the USA and the UK, countries which belong to different public administration styles. The goal is to identify both the factors that affect the implementation of strategic management and the advantages brought to the organization. For this purpose, experts' views on the implementation of strategic management systems in local governments have been analyzed, applying the Delphi method. The results...
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...obstacles are political blockages, monitoring deficits, and incomplete commitments. Monitoring deficits- Situations where a government has adopted policies related to service provision or regulation, but where a lack of info, ineffective incentives or toothless sanctions, or beaurocratic incapacity and inertia hinder implementation. In these instances, the courts correct information deficits or recalibrate performance incentives and sanctions serving as “fire alarm” monitoring devices Incomplete comintments- occur when regimes draw substantial legitimacy from an announced project of social transformation and inclusion, broad democratization, or nationalistic development, but fail to deliver material goods on a universalistic basis. Courts respond to demands by appealing to and drawing on the legitimacy of the shared social project. In doing so constitutional courts may enhance their own prestige and may be able to lean on the legitimacy of rights themselves to move to the defese of rights (Shapiro 2004:13). The strength of the legitimating discourse itself creates the space for courts to challenge dominant political actors. O’Donnell has argued that effective horizontal accountability requires a “whole network of state agencies, culminating in high courts, committed to preserving and eventually enforcing horizontal accountability, if necessary against the hightst powers of the state” (O’Donnell 2003:47) Public interest litigation arises when the existing policy infrastructure...
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...Definitional activity (covering Power, Authority, and Legitimacy) There is no universally accepted view of power. Some authors have defined power as domination over others (Hobbes, 1651) while others defined it as a passage to achieve goals (Parsons, 1963). Some look to where power lies to define power from where power lies in the hands of many, this can be seen as Pluralism (Dahl, 1957) to where power lies in the hands of a few, this can be seen as Elitism (Pareto, 1935) but essentially it is the ability to do something For example, in the UK system, there are many accounts of both Elitism and Pluralism but realistically, we live in an Elitist state. The definition of authority is based on the power or right to act in a particular way and to influence others. To excise authority, consent is needed. Some may argue that there are three types of authority: charismatic authority, traditional authority and rational-legal authority (Weber, 1958). It can be argued that authority is used to excise social control (McLaughlin, 2008) and even that we, as humans, need authority in order to live (Seligman, 2003). An example of authority in the UK system could be the Prime Minister, as he has the power to “give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience” (Collins English Dictionary, 2009). The definition of legitimacy has many forms and shapes but some may argue that it derives from something that is right and proper. “Legitimacy has both a normative and a sociological meaning” (Keohane...
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...Extending New Institutional Theory: Regulation and ActivityBased Costing in Portuguese Telecommunications* Maria Major1, 2 and Trevor Hopper3 1 Departamento de Finanças e Contabilidade, ISCTE – Escola de Gestão, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal. 2 UNIDE Researcher. 3 Manchester School of Accounting and Finance, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK. * The authors wish to thank Bob Scapens, Sven Modell, Salvador Carmona, Angelo Riccaboni, John Burns, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Caroline Lambert, Rui Vieira, Aldónio Ferreira, and other participants at the EAA Congress 2002 and IPA 2003 for comments on earlier versions of this paper, and Joao Ribeiro and Jodie Moll for their insights on institutional theory. Also, the authors are grateful to Marconi, and Maria João Mendes and Mário Lima for their support of this project. The first author is grateful to “Fundação Para a Ciência e Tecnologia” for financial support. Extending New Institutional Theory: Regulation and ActivityBased Costing in Portuguese Telecommunications ABSTRACT This paper investigates why a Portuguese telecommunications firm adopted activity-based costing (ABC). Theoretically it draws from New Institutional Sociology. An intensive, holistic case study revealed that ABC was implemented to improve competitiveness and efficiency. However, it was also an isomorphic response to pressures from a chain of institutions, especially its parent company, management consultants, national and European...
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