Suchergebnisse

In the increasingly legitimized neo-liberal climate, state governments have adopted policies that divest themselves of formalized regulation. This move towards the deregulation of corporate policy has created a unique climate in which the responsibility of minimizing risk and behaving in a responsible manner is left to market forces to regulate. Corporations claim to have subsequently adopted self-mandated policies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a means of expressing their commitment to moral concerns. The Case of Canadian oil producer EnCana illustrates that while the admirable moral policy may exist, actual practice does not. EnCana's negligent environmental and social behaviour in Ecuador necessitate an examination of how an unregulated doctrine of corporate social responsibility can be used to harm the public good. Its use of a corporate constitution not only as a public relations ploy to enhance its reputation, but also as a smoke-screen to deter attention from the reality of its practices, raises serious questions regarding the validity of a CSR doctrine. This article connects theoretical discussions of neo-liberal policy and the rise of corporate social responsibility to practical problems that plague the implementation of such policies. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .D46. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, page: 1238. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005.

The practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Middle East is explored in this volume, through a unique compilation of data and perspectives from authors living and working in the region. The authors demonstrate how the long-entrenched traditions of philanthropy and generosity in Arab culture have been reinvigorated in recent years and are starting to cross-fertilize with new and more institutionalized forms of giving, advocated through advances pertaining to CSR. Using a variety of cases, this book ponders the multiple facets of CSR in the region, including philanthropy, strategic giving, social entrepreneurship, internal CSR and responsible human resource management practices, effective CSR integration in SMEs, corporate environmental responsibility and its evolution, CSR reporting and lingering challenges in this respect. It also considers the relevance and applicability of CSR to a wider spectrum of societal actors and institutions. The contributions nicely capture and reiterate commitment to CSR in the Middle East.

AbstractSince the survival and growth of small firms depend largely on their ability to acquire legitimacy within the institutional environment, social responsibility plays an important role in their lives. The aim of this study was to investigate how a disruption in the normal course of business can lead to an evolution and change in the social responsibility activities of small and medium‐sized enterprises. Such disruptions, called critical incidents, interrupt the normal functioning of the business. The case‐based exploratory study found that such critical events can have a positive impact. In particular, they can initiate the integration of socially responsible business practices. This is a journey from philanthropic donations to fully integrated socially responsible practices, often driven by internal triggering events such as organisational growth, unanticipated changes in management, or generational change, which allow new values to be brought on board. When such an internal event is followed by a highly critical but external event, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, the transformation gains momentum. The findings also suggest that social responsibility can be a new source of competitive advantage.

In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, this new book provides thought provoking commentary on the nature of the relationship between society, the prevailing economic system and professionalism in the built environment. It is both an introduction to and an examination of professionalism and professional bodies in the sector, including a view of the future of professionalism and the organisations serving it. Simon Foxell outlines the history of professionalism in the sector, comparing and contrasting the development of the three major historic professions working in the construction industry: civil engineering, architecture and surveying. He examines how their systems have developed over time, where they are currently and some options for the future, whilst asking difficult questions about ethics, training, education, public trust and expectation from within and outside the industry. The book concludes with a six-point plan to help, if not ensure, that the professions remain an effective and essential part of both society and the economy; a part that allows the system to operate smoothly and easily, but also fairly and to the benefit of all. Essential reading for built environment professionals and students doing the professional studies elements of their training or in the process of applying for chartership or registration. The issues and lessons are applicable across all building professions--

This comprehensive review of public governance in Spain finds that it shares with other OECD countries the need for a whole-of-government approach to reform. This is especially needed given Spain's high degree of decentralisation and institutional fragmentation throughout the public sector. The experience of OECD countries with administrative reform is that it is successful when it is not perceived as a one-off exercise, but rather as a process of continuous improvement to constantly identify waste, shortcomings, and opportunities to do things better

ABSTRACTWe analyze factors affecting outreach performance of a large sample of (type A) social cooperatives in Italy taking into account their heterogeneity with a multi‐output stochastic distance function frontier. We find that cooperative age, innovation leading to new products/customer segments, managerial turnover, target programming and shareholder variety are positively and significantly (while shareholder meetings, the number of volunteers and of contracts negatively and significantly) correlated with outreach performance, measured as the capacity of serving more beneficiaries given labour and capital inputs. Outreach is also significantly and positively affected by local GDP and human capital.

In Zeiten globaler Wertschöpfungsketten von Unternehmen und damit einhergehender sozial-ökologischer Problemstellungen wird die gesellschaftliche Verantwortungsübernahme von Unternehmen, d.h. ihre Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), öffentlich verstärkt diskutiert. Auch im Konsumzusammenhang erlangt die CSR-Performance von Herstellern und Händlern zunehmende Relevanz, da viele Konsumenten Kriterien der sozialen und ökologischen Verantwortungsübernahme von Unternehmen in ihre Kaufentscheidung einbeziehen möchten. Selbst für interessierte Konsumenten ist es jedoch nicht einfach, glaubwürdige Informationen über das CSR-Engagement zu finden. Da die CSR-Kommunikation durch Unternehmen systematische Grenzen hinsichtlich ihrer Glaubwürdigkeit und der Vergleichbarkeit aufweisen, erlangen Verbraucherorganisationen als unabhängige Dritte große Bedeutung. Die Autorin untersucht daher speziell die Rolle der verbraucherpolitischen Akteure für die konsumentenorientierte CSR-Kommunikation. Mittels einer Akteursbefragung analysiert sie die Ziele, Strategien und Probleme der Organisationen und arbeitet Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen verbraucherpolitischen Akteurstypen heraus - etwa bei der Beteiligung an kooperativen Maßnahmen mit Unternehmen. Auf Basis der Ergebnisse des empirischen Teils werden schließlich Handlungsempfehlungen für die verbraucherpolitischen Akteure sowie für die Unternehmen abgeleitet. Die Arbeit gibt damit umfangreiche Einblicke in die derzeitige Praxis einer CSR-orientierten Verbraucherinformationspolitik und leistet einen wichtigen Forschungsbeitrag für verbraucherpolitische Entwicklungen in Richtung eines nachhaltigen Konsums.