Dissertations / Theses: 'Social aspects of Corporations'

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Khodoga, Ephraim Alfheli. "The social responsibility of corporations : a stakeholder approach." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53173.

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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main aim of this study is to develop, from an ethical perspective, a justification for corporate social responsibility. The research methodology used is that of a critical study of relevant literature. The history of corporate social responsibility is discussed and definitions of key concepts are analyzed. Attention is paid to the controversies surrounding corporate social responsibility, and the views of critics as well as advocates of corporate social responsibility are examined. From the literature study it is concluded that since corporations are part of larger social systems, they are not only accountable to their shareholders but their success and long-term survival depends on fulfilling their responsibilities to a range of stakeholders. Stakeholders are defined as those groups or individuals with whom an organization interacts or has a relationship of interdependence, and who are affected by its actions, decisions, policies, practices or goals. The study focuses on the stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility and aims to show how such an approach underpins the idea of corporate social responsibility. It is argued that corporations have moral as well as social responsibilities to stakeholders who are affected by their operations. Emphasis is placed on business ethics as providing the framework for a set of principles or a code according to which a company should make its business decisions and on which it should base its relationships with stakeholders. The research indicates that companies that aim to operate ethically also benefit in terms of profitability and social acceptance. With reference to several South African companies as examples, the study focuses on corporate social responsibility towards key stakeholders such as local communities, the environment, employees, and customers. In each case it is investigated what the specific responsibility requires of the corporation, and what practical measures can be used to meet the responsibility. It is argued that management's task is to treat stakeholders as equal, balance their sometimes conflicting claims, and promote good relationships among them Managers must consider the ethical and social as well as the economic implications of their decisions. The concluding chapter looks more closely at issues that need to be taken into account as far as corporate social responsibility in South Africa is concerned. As a result of the legacy of white rule and apartheid, active steps need to be taken to address economic imbalances between blacks and whites. Both the government and corporate structures have a role to play in creating mechanisms to meet the economic needs of the black community. It is recommended that the means through which this can be achieved are processes such as affirmative action, transformation, black economic empowerment, and poverty alleviation. The study concludes that social involvement by companies is not a favour extended to society or an optional "extra", but a business imperative and a moral obligation that is fundamental to being a company with legitimacy. The social goals of a company should be supportive of the goals of business and its social involvement strategy should be aligned with the overall business strategy.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie is om korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid vanuit 'n etiese perspektief te regverdig. Die navorsingsmetodologie behels 'n kritiese ondersoek van tersaaklike literatuur. Die geskiedenis van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid word bespreek en definisies van sleutelkonsepte word ontleed. Aandag word geskenk aan die debatte rondom korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid en die sienings van teenstanders sowel as voorstanders van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid word ondersoek. Uit die literatuurstudie word afgelei dat aangesien korporasies deel van groter sosiale stelsels uitmaak, hulle nie slegs rekenpligtig teenoor hul aandeelhouers is nie, maar dat hul sukses en langtermyn-oorlewing afhang van die nakoming van hul verantwoordelikhede teenoor verskeie belangegroepe. Belangegroepe word omskryf as daardie groepe of individue met wie 'n organisasie in wisselwerking is of 'n interafhanklike verhouding het, en wat deur sy handelinge, besluite, beleide, praktyke en doelwitte geraak word. Die studie fokus op die belangegroep-benadering tot korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid en poog om te toon hoe so 'n benadering die idee van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid ondersteun. Daar word aangevoer dat korporasies morele sowel as sosiale verpligtinge het teenoor belangegroepe wat deur hul bedrywighede geraak word. Klem word gelê op sake-etiek wat die raamwerk verskaf vir 'n stel beginsels of 'n kode waarvolgens 'n maatskappy sy sakebesluite behoort te neem en waarop hy sy verhoudings met belangegroepe moet baseer. Die navorsing toon dat maatskappye wat etiese optrede nastreef: ook voordeel trek wat winsgewendheid en sosiale aanvaarding betref Met verwysing na 'n aantal Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye as voorbeelde, fokus die studie op korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid teenoor sleutelbelangegroepe soos plaaslike gemeenskappe, die omgewing, werknemers en kliënte. In elke geval word gekyk na wat die spesifieke verantwoordelikheid van die korporasie vereis, en watter praktiese stappe gedoen kan word om dit na te kom. Daar word aangevoer dat dit die bestuur se taak is om belangegroepe as gelyk te behandel, hul soms strydige eise te balanseer en goeie verhoudings onder hulle te bevorder. Bestuurders moet die etiese en sosiale sowel as die ekonomiese implikasies van hul besluite in aanmerking neem Die slothoofstuk kyk meer in besonderhede na kwessies wat in aanmerking geneem moet word wat korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid in Suid-Afrika betref Weens die nalatenskap van wit oorheersing en apartheid is aktiewe stappe nodig om die ekonomiese wanbalanse tussen swart en wit mense aan te spreek. Beide die regering en korporatiewe strukture het 'n rol te speel om meganismes te skep om aan die ekonomiese behoeftes van die swart gemeenskap te voldoen. Daar word aanbeveel dat dit bereik kan word deur prosesse soos regstellende aksie, transformasie, swart ekonomiese bemagtiging en armoedeverligting. Die studie kom tot die slotsom dat sosiale betrokkenheid deur maatskappye nie 'n guns aan die samelewing of 'n opsionele "ekstra" is nie, maar 'n sake-imperatief wat grondliggend is tot die legitimiteit van 'n maatskappy. Die sosiale doelwitte van 'n maatskappy behoort die sakedoelwitte te ondersteun en sy sosialebetrokkenheid-strategie moet in ooreenstemming met die oorhoofse sakestrategie wees.

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Abramowitz, Alan F. "Transnational corporations : an examination of the consequences for society." Thesis, Kansas State University, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/9895.

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Tseung, Pui Heng Debbie. "Corporations and Rawlsian justice." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f6e2e03d-0e32-42a5-b14d-c27f96e399fd.

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Corporations - their power and impact on society - are a neglected topic in political philosophy. In this thesis, I attempt to address this neglect by using the framework of Rawlsian justice to examine what corporations' relationship to social and international justice ought to be. The first part of the thesis is on domestic social justice. I urge that Rawlsians should not begin their inquiry by taking the corporate form as given because the corporation's existence requires a specific set of private-ordering and property rules to be in place. What we should ask, instead, is whether these rules are actually permitted by the two principles of justice as fairness. This question leads to an examination of different economic regimes that are compatible with Rawlsian justice. I focus on one particular regime - that of property-owning democracy. What I find is that while not all versions of property-owning democracy would permit the corporate form, some would actually welcome it due to the feature of 'the separation of ownership and control' that is typical of modern corporations. The second part of the thesis is on international justice. I argue that the best way to situate corporations in Rawls's theory of international justice - his Law of Peoples - is to connect them to the duty of assistance. This is not a straightforward task because a relatively strict reading of the duty of assistance would disallow treating corporations as primarily responsible for discharging it. However, a revisionist approach to the Law of Peoples shows that we can understand the duty of assistance as a part of transitional justice. The significance of this is that Rawls's prescribed ideal theory of international justice does not determine who the agents for transitional justice ought to be or the grounds for attributing responsibility to such agents. We are thus free to adopt David Miller's criteria for attribution of remedial responsibilities to assign to corporations responsibilities for the duty of assistance. What is more, in a particular area of international justice - that of fairness in trade - we can establish that corporations can be primary agents of transitional justice.

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Jarron, Christina. "More nearly social institutions legal regulation and the sociology of corporations /." Phd thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/81460.

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"October 2008"
Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy, Dept. of Sociology 2009.
Bibliography: leaves 273-293.
Introduction -- Patterns of corporate activity as patterns of corporate dominance: legal, organisational, and economic features of corporations -- Representations of corporate dominance in insidious injuries -- The legal basis of corporate dominance: History of the corporation -- Legal individualism and corporate personhood -- Theories of the corporation -- The legal regulation of corporations - corporate liability laws -- Conclusion.
Corporations are no longer simply a type of business structure; they are dominant social institutions. As institutions, corporations are archetypes of contemporary complex social organisation and should, therefore, be a central concern for sociology. Yet with few notable exceptions, sociologists have failed to address their increasingly dominant position in contemporary societies. In this thesis I argue the importance of a renewed sociological interest in corporations. This must acknowledge, but go beyond, the political-economic outcomes of corporations to address the profound consequences of the legal foundations of the corporate form. Corporations are created and regulated by legal doctrine; it is only with a legal mandate that corporations are able to act as employers, suppliers and investors. On this basis, I claim that any understanding of corporate dominance and its effects must commence with an appreciation of the laws that enable the corporation to exist and operate. -- While contributing significantly to wealth creation, corporate dominance also increases the potential for harm to occur to individuals and communities who fall within a corporation's scope. The contemporary proliferation of industrial illnesses is a prime example of this and is examined through a case study of the operations of an Australian asbestos corporation, James Hardie. This case study is timely and unique in its specification of the link between corporate activity and law in contemporary society. -- I argue that corporate activity such as that in the case study is enhanced and legitimated by the legal description of the corporation that assigns to it the capacities of a human individual through corporate legal personhood. Corporate personhood is examined as an example of the legal individualism endorsed in liberal common law countries. By exploring accounts of corporate structure, decision-making and work processes, I explain how the individualised description of the corporation is at odds with its collective realities; the largest and most successful corporations are collectives of human and monetary resources. -- In light of this, I question the extent to which the effective regulation of corporations can be achieved within existing legal frameworks. Building upon research into workplace health and safety in the United Kingdom, the regulation of workplace deaths in Australia is examined to demonstrate the various approaches to regulating corporations and to identify their shortcomings. This is a striking example of the problems law faces in regulating corporations by virtue of its individualistic design. -- The thesis concludes with an affirmation that sociology needs to grapple with issues of corporate activity and that an understanding of the legal basis of the corporation is the foundation of such studies.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
295 leaves

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Schoeman, Pieter Stephanus Johannes Albertus. "An empirical investigation of environmental performance and the market value of JSE listed companies." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97358.

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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the recent past, there has been increasing awareness of, and concern for, the impact that many companies are having on the natural and social environment. This has seen the emergence of a triple bottom line approach to business, with environmental and social metrics being used in addition to financial metrics when evaluating company performance. Despite the growing level of investment in corporate sustainability, it is not clear whether these investments are viewed positively by the market, and to what extent it creates shareholder value. To shed light on the relationship between environmental performance and financial performance, this research assignment used the event study methodology to investigate whether there is statistically significant stock market reactions to announcements relating to the environmental performance of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. A total of 260 news announcements related to environmental performance were collected from a variety of news sources. The 260 news announcements represented 67 different companies across 11 different industry sectors. News announcements were collected from several prominent business news sources including the Business Day, Financial Mail and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange News Service. Abnormal share returns were estimated for a three day event window around the announcement date by using the market model approach. Results were aggregated based on four different categories of environmental performance, including corporate environmental initiatives, environmental awards and certificates, negative environmental publicity and, environmental reporting, permits and licences. Consistent with related research in developed countries, this study found that the market rewards certain categories of positive environmental performance but penalises certain categories of negative environmental performance more severely. The results show that there is a significant positive market reaction to announcements of corporate environmental initiatives on the trading day following the announcement. This result indicates a positive relationship between corporate environmental initiatives and financial performance, as measured by market value. In terms of negative environmental performance, it was found that the market responds negatively to the broad category of negative environmental publicity. In particular, negative announcements from civil society and environmental groups seem to result in more significant market reactions than negative announcements from local or national government. In contrast to some studies done in developed countries, no statistically significant relationship was found between announcements of environmental awards and certificates and the market value of companies. Neither was there a statistically significant relationship between environmental reporting, permits and licences and the market value of companies. These results therefore indicate that the market is selective in its response to announcements of environmental performance.

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Rowe, Anna Lee. "Greening corporate dragon's environmental management and reporting in Shanghai." Phd thesis, Australia : Macquarie University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/26145.

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Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 2006.
Bibliography: p. 240-276.
Introduction -- "Greening" phenomena of corporate environmental management and reporting -- China's environmental management and reporting -- Research theoretical methodology -- "Evolutionary epic" of China's environmental management institutions -- Findings and conceptualisation of CEM and CER -- Further discussion and implications -- Conclusion.
What was once the preserve of a 'green' social organisational fringe, Corporate Environmental Management (CEM) and Corporate Environmental Reporting (CER), have increasingly become a core business strategy. Research studies in this arena have been centred on industrialised nations (e.g., Guthrie and Parker, 1990), and until recently, comparatively sparse focus on developing nations (Belal, 2000), particularly in empirical studies on CER in the People's Republic of China (PRC). -- As the most populous nation on earth with one fifth of humanity (1.3 billions), China's astounding economic growth and resource consumption (Economist, 2005), provide 'telescoping' lessons in understanding the embracing of CEM and CER in rapidly developing countries. Motivated by China's unique institutional structure and embryonic stage of environmentalism (Luo and Yuwen, 2001; Chan and Welford, 2005), this field study explored the 'greening' phenomena of CEM and CER as perceived by senior managers in Shanghai. -- Utilising a modified grounded research approach (Strauss and Corbin, 1990; 1994; Whiteley, 2004), the constructivist ontology was chosen to penetrate the social context of the companies interviewed. Grounded in the data and applying interpretive epistemology, this qualitative research elucidated our awareness about the normative assumptions underpinning CEM and CER in Shanghai. The emergent model illuminated our understanding of how Chinese institutions and senior individuals within enterprises responded to the greening challenges, and how senior managers matched their personal beliefs with perceived CEM and CER. -- The results in this study indicated that CEM and CER were influenced and/or constrained by formal institutional rules (e.g., environmental policies and laws) and informal cultural institutional norms (e.g., Guanxi, trust and secrecy). The findings resonate well with institutional theoretical constraints (Powell and DiMaggio, 1991; Fogarty, 1992a) and cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1962). This is attributable to the dilemma of balancing the 'yin and yang' of long term environmental sustainability and short term economic growth.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
viii, 289 p. ill

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Rampersad, Renitha. "Significance of corporate social investment within the field of public relations with specific reference to selected Kwazulu Natal corporations." Thesis, Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/35.

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This study is a qualitative investigation into the areas of corporate social investment and public relations. The study examines the significance of corporate social investment within the field of public relations with specific reference to selected KwaZulu Natal corporations. The study looks at the corporate social investment and public relations departments of five corporations in the KwaZulu Natal region. The corporations that were interviewed were selected based on their location, and the number of years of experience in the field. The five companies, namely, The South African Sugar Association, NBS Boland Bank, Hillside Aluminium (Alusaf), McCarthy Retail and Richards Bay Minerals received immense coverage on their corporate social investment initiatives, in the Mail and Guardian’s April 1998 issue, ‘Investing in the future, special focus on social investment.’ The report presents an in-depth literature review, which examines the history of both corporate social investment and public relations. It thereafter examines the current practices of public relations and corporate social investment from a South African perspective. The prevalent approach to corporate social investment is also addressed. Apart from the study of the five corporations, the report also comments on other dedicated corporate social investment programmes. The programmes of each of the five companies are contrasted with current and relevant documentation from the 1999 Business and Marketing Intelligence report. Graphs and tables complement this information. The findings reveal that there is little public relations involvement in corporate social investment initiatives because corporate social investment practitioners do not see the need for the involvement of public relations practitioners in all areas of their corporate social investment initiatives. The results of the interviews gives the reader a broad perspective of corporate social investment and public relations within each company. The findings suggest that the role of public relations needs to be re-examined in the new millennium.

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Turyakira, Peter. "Corporate social responsibility: a competitive strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises in Uganda." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1012648.

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In view of the important role small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) universally play as the backbone of national economies and the survival and competitiveness challenges that they face, the purpose of this study was to develop specific models of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for SMEs in Uganda as an avenue to enhance their competitiveness and foster economic development. The primary objective was to gain insight into the deployment of CSR in SMEs, including investigating CSR factors and their potential impact on competitiveness. This study integrates previous findings and theories on CSR activities and SMEs‟ competitiveness into a comprehensive hypothesised model. A comprehensive literature study revealed potential factors that could influence the Increased competitiveness of SMEs in Uganda. Four independent variables (Workforce-oriented, Society-oriented, Market-oriented and Environmental-oriented CSR activities) and three mediating variables (Employee satisfaction, Business reputation and Customer loyalty) were identified as variables influencing the Increased competitiveness (dependent variable) of SMEs. Independent variables were categorised as CSR factors while mediating and dependent variables were categorised as outcomes factors. Furthermore, hypotheses were formulated for possible relationships between the independent, mediating and dependent variables. All the variables in the study were clearly defined and operationalised. Reliable and valid items sourced from various measuring instruments used in other similar studies, were used in the operationalisation of these variables. Furthermore, several items were generated from secondary sources. A structured self-administered questionnaire was made available to respondents identified using the stratified and purposive sampling techniques, and the data collected from 383 usable questionnaires was subjected to several statistical analyses. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument was ascertained using an exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach-alpha coefficients respectively. An exploratory factor analysis using SPSS 18 for Windows was conducted to identify the unique factors available in the data before applying structural equation modelling (SEM). The data were categorised into models of independent variables (CSR factors) and the mediating variables (Outcomes factors). The items measuring Market-oriented CSR activities and Workforce-oriented CSR activities loaded as expected. The items measuring Environmental-oriented CSR activities loaded onto two separate factors which were renamed Environmental-oriented CSR activities and Regulated CSR activities. One of the items originally expected to measure the construct Society-oriented CSR activities loaded onto Environmental-oriented CSR activities, leaving three items which loaded together onto the Society-oriented CSR activities factor. Four factors constituted the outcomes submodel, namely Customer loyalty, Stakeholder trust, Business reputation, and Employee satisfaction. In this study, SEM was the main statistical procedure used to test the significance of the relationships hypothesised between the various independent and dependent variables. Owing to the sample size limitations, the hypothesised model could not be subjected to SEM as a whole. Consequently, six sub-models were identified and subjected to further analysis. The following independent variables were identified as influencing the dependent variables in this study: Workforce-oriented CSR activities, Society-oriented CSR activities, Market-oriented CSR activities, Environmental-oriented CSR activities, Regulated CSR activities. To establish the influence of the various demographic variables on the mediating and dependent variables, an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis were conducted. The respondent‟s position/title in the business, form of enterprise, branch/sector of business, level of education, and the size of business were found to have an influence on the mediating and dependent variables of this study. This study has therefore added to the underdeveloped body of business research in Uganda by investigating a particularly limited segment of the literature, namely SMEs. The study has also identified and developed various models that explain the most significant CSR factors that influence the competitiveness of SMEs. Consequently, this study has put forward several recommendations and suggestions that can enhance the competitiveness of SMEs locally and globally. Further research is encouraged on action-oriented areas such as: the success of different policies and techniques to increase the uptake of CSR amongst SMEs; the economic, social and environmental impact of CSR at sector level; and a typology of SMEs with regard to their engagement in CSR.

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Mossmann, Jannis. "Corporate social responsibility in the modern world-system - a case study of German Automobile Corporations’ social and environmental responsibilities in South Africa." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4231.

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Black, Michael Thomas. "The theology of the corporation : sources and history of the corporate relation in Christian tradition." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2010. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:552b2250-f462-490c-8156-29cf430431af.

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This essay presents evidence that the institution of the corporation has its origins and its main developmental 'epochs' in Judaeo-Christian theology. The notion of the nahala as the institutional symbol of the Covenant between YHWH and Israel is a primal example of the corporate relationship in its creation of an identity independent of its members, its demand for radical accountability on the part of its members, and in its provision of immunity for those who act in its name. On the basis of the same Covenant, St. Paul transforms an ancillary aspect of Roman Law, the peculium, into the central relationship of the Christian world through its implicit use as the institutional background to the concept of the Body of Christ. The exceptional nature of this relationship allows the medieval Franciscans and the papal curia to create what had been lacking in Roman Law, an institution which can own property but which cannot be owned. This relationship is subsequently theorized as the Eternal Covenant by Reformed theologians and successfully tested in one of the greatest theological/social experiments ever recorded, the 17^th century settlement of North America. The alternative 'secular' explanation of the corporation provided by 19^th century legal philosophy relies implicitly on the theological foundations of the corporation and remains incoherent without these foundations. The theological history of the corporation was recovered in the findings of 20^th century social scientists, who also identified corporate finance as the central corporate activity in line with its Levitical origins. Although the law of the corporation is secular, the way in which this law was made a central component of modern life is theological. Without a recovery of this theological context, the corporation is likely to continue as a serious social problem in need of severe constraint.

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Davids, Douglas. "Corporate social investment strategies amongst the top 100 South African listed companies." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/19803.

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Thesis (MBA) -- Stellenbosch University, 2007.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The new South African government, following the 1994 first free democratic election, inherited a country torn apart by apartheid, with large portions of the population suffering from social and economic deprivation. A society divided along racial lines with many of these divides supported by State policies. Ten years into South Africa's democracy, apartheid's social and economic legacies remain. The majority of the nearly 45 million South Africans still live in conditions closely resembling those of more than a decade ago. In September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit 150 heads of states committed to a set of objectives, if successfully implemented, would see by 2015 a reduction in poverty, improve lives of the less fortunate and protect environmental resources. These set of objectives, summarized into eight goals, became known as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The Eight Millennium Development Goals' fundamental objective is to provide guidelines for the cooperation between rich and poor countries to reach equitable global human development, the eradication of hunger and extreme poverty and the agreed access to healthcare and education for all men, women and children. The eight goals are: • Goal one: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Goal two: Achieve universal primary education • Goal three: Promote gender equality and empower women • Goal four: Reduce child mortality • Goal five: Improve maternal health • Goal six: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases • Goal seven: Ensure environmental sustainability • Goal eight: Develop a global partnership for development. The South African Government, being a signatory to these eight goals was not only faced with addressing the social and economic imbalances it inherited. The Government was faced with the challenge of put processes and polices in place that would address its internal issues and find ways of improving the lives of the less fortunate in accordance with the eight millennium development goals. The South African government, through becoming a signatory to the goals, has given its commitment to achieving these eight goals within the designated timeframes. The underlying assumption in this research project is that Government alone cannot succeed in achieving these eight goals within the required timeframes. Former president Nelson Mandela, when commenting on corporate social responsibility, stated that if the Government's Reconstruction and Development program was to be successful. South African business was needed to realize this goal. The main purpose of this research project is to get an overview of the Corporate Social Investment strategies implemented by the top 100 listed companies in South Africa and to determine if these strategies to will place South Africa in a position to successfully meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die nuwe Suid-Afrikaanse regering wat aan bewind gekom het na die eerste vrye demokratiese verkiesing in 1994 het 'n land geerf wat deur apartheid uitmekaar geskeur is en waarin groot gedeeltes van die bevolking onder 'n sasiale en ekonomiese agterstand gebuk gegaan het. Die samelewing was op rassegrondslag verdeel en baie van die verdelings is deur regeringsbeleid ondersteun. Na tien jaar van demokrasie in Suid-Afrika bly die sasiale en ekonomiese erfenis van apartheid steeds staan. Die meerderheid van die byna 45 miljoen Suid-Afrikaners leef steeds in omstandighede wat baie dieselfde is as die van meer as 'n dekade gelede. Tydens die Verenigde Nasies sa Millenniumspitsberaad in September 2000 het 150 staatshoofde hulself verbind tot 'n stel doelwitle. As hierdie doelwitte suksesvol ge'r'mplementeer sou word, sou dit teen 2015 'n afname in armoede teweegbring, die lewens van minderbevoorregtes verbeter en omgewingshulpbronne beskerm. Hierdie stel doelwitte, opgesom as agt punte, staan bekend as die Verenigde Nasies se Millenniumontwikkelingsdoelwitte. Die basiese uitgangspunt van die agt Millenniumontwikkelingsdoelwitte is om riglyne daar te stel vir die samewerking tussen ryk en arm lande met die oog op die bereiking van gelyke menslike ontwikkeling wereldwyd, die uitwissing van honger en die uiterste armoede, en die ooreengekome toegang tot gesondheidsorg en opvoeding vir aile mans, vroue en kinders. Die agt doelwitte is: • Doelwit een: Uitwissing van uiterste armoede en honger • DoeJwit twee: Daarstelling van universele primere onderwys • Doelwit drie: Bevordering van geslagsgelykheid en bemagtiging van vroue • Doelwit vier: Vermindering van kindersterftes • Doelwit vyf: Verbetering van moedergesondheid • Doelwit ses: Bestryding van MIVNIGS, malaria en ander siektes • Doelwit sewe: Versekering van omgewingsvolhoubaarheid • Doelwit agt: Ontwikkeling van 'n wereldwye vennootskap vir ontwikkeling. Die Suid-Afrikaanse regering, as ondertekenaar van hierdie agt doelwitte, moes nie aileen die sasiale en ekonomiese wanbalanse wat hulle geerf het, uit die weg ruim nie. Die regering het oak te staan gekom voar die uitdaging om prosesse en beleid daar te stel wat interne probleme sou oplos en om maniere te vind om die [ewens van die minderbevoorregtes te verbeter ooreenkomstig die agt Millennium-ontwikkelingsdoelwitte. As ondertekenaar van hierdie doelwitte het die Suid-Afrikaanse regering homself verbind tot die bereiking van hierdie agt doelwilte binne die ooreengekome tyd. Die onderliggende aanname in hierdie navorsingsprojek is dat die regering aileen nie binne die vereiste tyd hierdie a9t doelwitte suksesvol kan bereik nie. Voormalige president Nelson Mandela het in kommentaar op korporatiewe maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid daarop gewys dat die Suid-Afrikaanse sakesektor noodsaaklik is vir die suksesvolle bereiking van die doelwitte in die regering se program van Heropbou en Ontwikkeling. Die hoofdoel van hierdie navorsingsprojek is am 'n oorsig te kry oar die korporatiewe maatskaplike beleggingstrategiee van die boonste 100 genoteerde maatskappye in SuidAfrika en om te bepaal of hierdie strategiee Suid-Afrika in 'n posisie sal plaas am die Verenigde Nasies se Millenniumontwikkelingsdoelwitte teen 2015 suksesvol te bereik.

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Chen, Yang. "The role of IS-enabled capabilities in corporate sustainability : evidence from China." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2011. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/1256.

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Pindela, Nosizo. "Exploration of the extent of greenwashing in South African consumer products." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97411.

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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Greenwashing is a growing concern globally. The increase in the number of green-marketed products has resulted in an increase in greenwashing. Some companies market their products as green, while they are not. They then respond with greenwashing to neutralise condemnations from environmental laws and government or to gain competitive advantage. Investigations into the existence of greenwashing in developed countries have shown high percentages. This study was therefore aimed at investigating the magnitude of greenwashing in South African products and determining whether there is a similar trend to other investigated countries. This research study was conducted among six South African magazines, which have different target markets and therefore advertise different product categories. The results indicated that 94 percent of green-advertised products in South Africa were greenwashing. Baby products and cosmetic products had the highest percentage of green-advertised products and greenwashing products. Amongst the sins of greenwashing, which were used to analyse the greenness of the products, the sins of ‘vagueness’ and ‘no proof’ had the highest percentages and were evident in all product categories. The study also determined which target market was most susceptible to greenwashing. The results show that new mothers were more likely to buy green products, followed by women in general. The green claims that showed evidence of highest presence in South African products were BPA-free, Natural, Organic and Pure.

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Traies, Samantha Jane, and mikewood@deakin edu au. "Corporate sustainability: Greenwash or a path to sustainable capitalism?" Deakin University. School of History, Heritage and Society, 2005. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20050902.105421.

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The problems of unsustainable development and the increased-awareness of corporate power in the global era have contributed to an agenda of corporate citizenship. This thesis explores the meanings and practices that fall under the banner of the triple bottom line of corporate citizenship through forty-two in-depth interviews with representatives from the corporate sector and NGO sector (including trade unions) in Australia. This purposive sample includes a specific range of corporate industries and NGO types, all of which have involvement with various areas of sustainability. Interviewees described their feelings and experiences in relation to the concept of the triple bottom line, the potential and limitations of this type of sustainability and the purpose and impacts of partnerships between NGOs and the corporate sector. On the basis of this research, this thesis argues that corporate citizenship is at best, a set of initiatives for making minor adjustments to the way companies perform their day-to-day operations and at worst, a program for improving corporate image rather than performance and for shifting the agenda of sustainable development toward corporate interests. While radical steps are required to achieve a sustainable society and environment, the terms of corporate citizenship offer very limited opportunities for change. The self-regulatory and market based model of citizenship does not challenge the impact of consumerism or the legitimacy of particular industry types and their products, except where threats are perceived to the longevity of the companies involved. Furthermore, while the exploitation of the environment and society has occurred as a result of corporate self-interest, corporate citizenship is justified on the same basis. The self-interest rationale and the tyranny of the economic bottom line in particular, substantially limit the fields of responsibility that can be included in the citizenship paradigm. While there are undoubtedly some well-intentioned corporate representatives who are working toward attaining a more sustainable corporate culture, the discourse is primarily used to shift the sustainable development agenda toward corporate paradigms and interests.

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Karamata, Helena Ndapopile. "Corporate social responsibility at Namdeb Diamond Corporation : an exploratory case study." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/851.

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Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The onset of globalisation has brought major shifts in business conduct where stakeholder expectations and business priorities and obligation are concerned, bringing a whole new meaning to the issue of sustainable development. In the past, sustainable development essentially concerned the environment, particularly the safeguarding of ecological interests through more responsible business practices. However, over the years, this perspective has evolved to give equal priority to economic, ecological, as well as social interests. The shift in business priorities and obligation has increased the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR), or the discretionary contribution of corporate resources towards social, environmental and economic development, as defined by the study. The practice of CSR, too, has evolved over time – from being mostly once-off, random philanthropic donations, to a more strategic approach that aligns CSR initiatives with national and corporate objectives. Today, CSR has become an item on many corporate agendas worldwide and hence, the study seeks to explore the concept of corporate social responsibility to gain a deeper understanding of the issue. The aims of the study are to gain an understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility and its dynamics, to establish the nature and scope of CSR at NAMDEB Diamond Corporation, and to establish how CSR at NAMDEB aligns with current global approaches and practices. These will be achieved through an analytical study of CSR literature, an exploration of Government’s expectations of the private sector with regard to CSR, and by exploring NAMDEB’s CSR initiatives and practices. In Chapter 2, the meaning of CSR is explored and defined, followed by a discussion of the history, trends, approaches and practices in CSR. The chapter also presents global initiatives relevant to sustainable development and CSR. Following the literature review, Chapter 3 explores the Government’s expectations of the private sector in terms of its support and involvement in socioeconomic development in Namibia. NAMDEB Diamond Corporation (Pty) Ltd was selected for the case study, being a leading mining company in Namibia. The Company is the second-largest employer in Namibia, only second to Government, and the country’s largest single taxpayer. In Chapter 4, the study explores the Company’s CSR initiatives and practices to establish the scope and nature of CSR at NAMDEB. The study then seeks to determine the approach adopted by the Company in implementing CSR, and how it aligns with global approaches and practices. The main conclusions of the study and recommendations to the Company are laid down in Chapter 5.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die aanvang van globalisering het ‘n groot verskuiwing veroorsaak aangaande die besigheidspraktyk van belangstellendes, hul besigheidsprioriteite, verantwoordelikhede en ‘n heel nuwe betekenis vir volhoubare ontwikkeling. In die verlede was volhoubare ontwikkeling meer gemoeid met die omgewing, veral die beskerming van sekere ekologiese belange deur middel van meer verantwoordelike besigheidspraktyke. Oor die jare het die konsep van volhoubare ontwikkeling soveel verander en gee nou ook gelyke aandag aan ekonomiese, ekologiese sowel as sosiale belange. Die verskuiwing in besigheidsprioriteite en verantwoordelikhede het die belang van korporatiewe-sosiale verantwoordelikhede (KSV) verhoog, of te wel die oordeelkundige bydrae van korporatiewe hulpbronne vir sosiale-, omgewings en ekonomiese ontwikkeling, soos deur die studie gedefineer. Die praktyk van KSV het ook mettertyd ontwikkel – van eenmalige, willekeurige filantrofiese donasies, na ‘n meer strategiese benadering wat nasionale sowel as korporatiewe objektiewe met KSV inisiatiewe inskakel. Deesdae is KSV ‘n item op agendas van baie wêreldwye korporasies, en gevolglik is die studie se doel om die konsep van KSV te eksploreer en te ontleed om sodoende dit beter te verstaan. Die doel van die studie is om KSV en sy dinamika beter te verstaan asook die omvang van KSV te NAMDEB Diamand Korporasie, en om vas te stel hoe KSV te NAMDEB met huidige wêreldwye benaderings en uitvoerings inskakel. Dié word bereik met ‘n analitiese studie van KSV literatuur, ‘n eksplorasie van die regering se verwagting van die private sektor aangaande KSV, en met die ondersoek van NAMDEB se KSV inisiatiewe en praktyke. In Hoofstuk 2 word die betekenis van KSV eksploreer en gedefineer. Hierop volg ‘n bespreking oor die geskiedenis, tendens, benaderings en uitvoering van KSV. Die hoofstuk beeld ook wêreldwye inisiatiewe wat relevant is tot KSV en volhoubare ontwikkeling. Die literatuur oorsig word deur Hoofstuk 3 gevolg, wat die regering se verwagting van die private sektor in terme van dié se ondersteuning en betrokkenheid by die sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in Namibie eksploreer. NAMDEB is vir hierdie gevalstudie geselekteer omdat dit ‘n leidende korporasie in die mynwese van Namibia is. Die Maatskappy is die tweede grootste werkverskaffer in Namibie, naas die regering, en is ook die grootste enkel belastingbetaler in die land. Hoofstuk 4 kyk na die Maatskappy se KSV inisiatiewe en praktyke om sodoende die omvang en natuur van KSV té NAMDEB te bepaal. Die studie probeer verder om die benadering wat deur NAMDEB aangeneem is met die implementering van KSV te bepaal en hoe dit met wêreldwye benaderings en praktyke inskakel. Die hoofafleidings van die studie en voorstelle oor KSV aan die Maatskappy word in Hoofstuk 5 bespreek.

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Ally, Kutbuddin. "Individual and organisational learning and the ecology : factors that influence the direction of learning." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85761.

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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Organisations are required to change their internal structures and configuration at a rapid rate as the external environment changes. The external environment comprises of a number of actors and agents that make up society. This includes social movements and government. The influence that industry has over the actions of government is significant. The question is how society, via social movements and NGO’s, influence government and thereby policy and how this leads to change in business organisations. How does learning take place in business organisations when it comes to ecological matters? What is the effect of social norms, expressed in public policy and social movements, on organisations? How can these processes be enhanced for the sake of the ecological agenda? The aim of the research is to present a case for directing the learning process. Organisations will generally develop new products based on existing knowledge and grow this knowledge base. It is argued by some theorists that social movements and NGO’s influence the process of innovation and development. To cater for the ecological elements in an innovation process, it must be part of the organisational objectives. It means that it must be catered for from the outset to direct and influence the process. Chapter 1 outlines the problem statement and the argument that social norms influence the learning process of individuals and groups in organisation to achieve an ecologically friendly outcome in a variety of ways. To determine if the hypothesis is true, Chapter 2 researched the subject of organisational learning. It examines the attributes that organisations must have to promote a learning agenda. This includes the role that the external organisational environment plays through feedback loops, and how these influence the direction of the learning process. To understand issues regarding the ecology, I present in Chapter 3 a high level synopsis based on existing knowledge of economics, environmental economics and ecological modernisation. Both Chapters 2 and 3 take a view on policy and the role it plays in shaping the learning process. It is important that the process of policy development is influenced from the outset. Through the networks of the social movements, alternatives may be presented to society. These alternatives are aimed at influencing the innovation process of organisations either directly through the market or indirectly through policy. When society subscribes to the position presented, a social movement gives them the means to engage with industry and government. Chapter 4 is a case study on carbon capture and storage. The purpose of the case study is to demonstrate the interaction of the various actors in a technology development process and the factors that have to be taken into account when making decisions. It is a demonstration of a directed learning process with the aim of developing an ecologically friendly technology. Chapter 5 is the concluding chapter and provides a summary of learning organisations and ecological modernisation. I provide a brief summary of the main points in the argument and draw a conclusion on the relationship between organisational learning and how this learning is directed from the outset.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisasies moet hul interne strukture en verstellings te verander teen 'n vinnige tempo as die eksterne omgewing verander. Die eksterne omgewing bestaan uit 'n aantal van die akteurs en agente wat die die samelewing op maak. Dit sluit sosiale bewegings en die regering in. Die invloed wat die bedryf het oor die optrede van die regering is betekenisvol. Die vraag is hoe die samelewing , deur middel van sosiale bewegings en nie-regeringsorganisasies , die invloed van die regering en sodoende beleid en hoe dit lei tot verandering in die sake-organisasies . Hoe leer sake-organisasies wanneer dit kom by die ekologiese sake? Wat is die effek van sosiale norme , uitgedruk in openbare beleid en sosiale bewegings , op organisasies? Hoe kan hierdie prosesse verbeter word ter wille van die ekologiese agenda? Die doel van die navorsing is om 'n saak te stel vir die regie van die leerproses. Organisasies sal oor die algemeen die ontwikkeling van nuwe produkte wat gebaseer is op bestaande kennis en groei van hierdie kennis basis. Daar word aangevoer deur sommige teoretici dat sosiale bewegings en NGO se invloed op die proses van innovasie en ontwikkeling. Om voorsiening te maak vir die ekologiese elemente in 'n innovasie proses , moet dit deel van die organisasie se doelwitte wees. Dit beteken dat voorsiening gemaak moet word vir dit van die begin af om die proses te beïnvloed. Hoofstuk 1 omskryf die probleemstelling en die argument dat die sosiale norme beïnvloed die leerproses van individue en groepe in die organisasie 'n ekologies vriendelike uitkoms te bereik in 'n verskeidenheid van maniere. Om te bepaal of die hipotese korrek is , Hoofstuk 2 ondersoek die onderwerp van organisatoriese leer . Dit ondersoek die eienskappe wat organisasies moet leer om die agenda te bevorder. Dit sluit in die rol wat die eksterne organisatoriese omgewing speel deur middel van terugvoer, en hoe hierdie invloed op die rigting van die leerproses is. Kwessies rakende die ekologie te verstaan, het ek in Hoofstuk 3 'n hoë vlak opsomming gebaseer op die bestaande kennis van die ekonomiese , omgewings- ekonomie en ekologiese modernisering. Beide hoofstukke 2 en 3 is 'n uitsig oor die beleid en die rol wat dit speel in die vorming van die leerproses. Dit is belangrik dat die proses van die ontwikkeling van beleid beïnvloed word van die begin af . Deur die netwerke van die sosiale bewegings , kan alternatiewe aangebied word aan die samelewing. Hierdie alternatiewe is gemik op die beïnvloeding van die innovasie proses van organisasies , hetsy direk deur die mark of indirek deur beleid. Wanneer die samelewing onderskryf die posisie wat aangebied word, 'n sosiale beweging gee hulle die middele om betrokke te raak met die bedryf en die regering. Hoofstuk 4 is 'n gevallestudie oor koolstof vang en stoor . Die doel van die gevallestudie is om die interaksie van die verskillende rolspelers in 'n tegnologie-ontwikkeling proses en die faktore wat in ag geneem word wanneer besluite geneem moet word. Dit is 'n demonstrasie van 'n leerproses met die doel van die ontwikkeling van 'n ekologies vriendelike tegnologie. Hoofstuk 5 is die afsluiting hoofstuk en gee 'n opsomming van leer organisasies en ekologiese modernisering. Ek gee 'n kort opsomming van die belangrikste punte in die argument en 'n gevolgtrekking oor die verhouding tussen organisatoriese leer en hoe hierdie leer word gerig van die begin af.

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Price, Leigh. "A transdisciplinary explanatory critique of environmental education." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2007. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/909/.

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Coetzee, Johan J. "Systemic corruption and corrective change management strategies : a study of the co-producers of systemic corruption and its negative impact on socio-economic development." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71904.

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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
The focus of the study is the socio-economic impact of systemically corrupt institutions on developing countries. The unit of analysis is systemic corruption. The study seeks to make a contribution towards the understanding of, and insight into, corruption in private and public institutions. Corruption is a subsystem of the social system that is embedded in the economy, politics, science and technology, ethics, and aesthetics. Systemic corruption is not only an impairment of integrity, virtue and moral principle(s), but a departure from the original purpose, processes, structure, governance and context of systems created with the intention to be pure and correct and to enable development. Systemic corruption is destructive for development. Corruption is a social pathology. As a systemic problem situation, corruption does not have root causes, but co-producers. These co-producers are obstructions to first-order-development of an institution and society. If these first-order-co-producers interact, e.g. when marginal groups are powerless and do not have any hope of being accommodated in formal society (that is synonymous with a better life) the impact thereof co-produces second-order-problems, e.g. alienation and polarisation. Alienated people organise themselves and for survival create their own values and culture that contradict those of formal society. For example, organised criminal groups are not accommodated within the formal structures of society; they are labelled, feared and detested. Marginal groups use the negative impact they experience during alienation and polarisation, i.e. absolute, relative, and total deprivation from goods, services, knowledge, influence, norms and identity, to justify their corrupt practices. Corruption cannot be solved with linear solutions, but should be addressed by a systemic approach, e.g. system dynamics, soft - and complex systems. This approach aims to change the „culture of corruption‟ by changing the environment that contributes to corruption, i.e. by eliminating programmes that co-produce corruption, by developing moral and transformational leaders and role models, and by developing innovative, transparent and accountable institutions. This dissertation is primarily a hermeneutic study. Exploratory research provided insight into and comprehension of the co-producers and impacts of corruption. Although a substantial volume of literature on corruption exists, very few employ a systemic framework that provides a holistic understanding of corruption and its relationship with other variables within the context of the developing world. The relationship with these variables is important to gain an understanding of the complexity of corruption. Corruption can be a concept, a condition, a manifestation, and a co-producer that contribute towards poverty and under-development. Corruption can also be a co-impact on poverty and under-development. The multidimensional dynamics of corruption to take on various „masks‟ make it an elusive phenomenon. As a complex subsystem, corruption takes on a life of its own that is self sustaining - corruption strengthens corruption. Corruption‟s co-producers, various manifestations and devastating impacts can at best be understood in terms of contextualising these from a systemic and complex system perspective. The dissertation offers a conceptual framework for identifying systemically corrupt institutions. Strategies were developed for change management to transform such institutions to international best practices. These strategies are based on the principles of good governance, institutional capital and trust, quality personnel, a culture of discipline, and sustainability. The concept of „quality‟ is central to the creation of social/institutional capital, an integrated institution and also in the control and management of these strategies. Strategies and processes were developed for a complete institutional change and transformation, by creating institutions that enhance participation, parity, organisation, adaptation and innovation. These strategies were developed by integration, e.g. developing social capital; differentiation, e.g. application of specialised knowledge and skills about procurement; coordination; and control of systemic corruption. For every level of differentiation, a minimum required level of integration is required. Therefore, all strategies „balance‟ opposing developmental aspirations. A discussion of developing countries‟ corruption problem situations, based on examples of real incidents of corruption, illustrates what can be done if reform of people and transformation of systems are applied systemically. Corrective change management strategies were tailored for suiting a unique context, governance, structure, purpose and processes. The discussion assessed the key drivers and key uncertainties with possible directions of how these alternatives can unfold in terms of the Namibian corruption problem situation. Leverage points describe how to implement the most effective containment strategies with the best outcome in the shortest time. Containing strategies include hard, formal and tactical-operational strategies. Dissolving strategies focus on soft, informal and long-term sustainable transformation.

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Da-Wariboko, Biobele. "Investigating the effects of the proliferation of commercial broadcasting on public service broadcasting: the case of Rivers State of Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002876.

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1992 marked a turning point in Nigeria’s broadcasting history as the country formally deregulated her broadcast space. However, it was not until March 2002 that the first commercial radio station was established in Rivers State, a broadcast environment hitherto monopolised by Radio Rivers. The coming of the first independent radio station in Rivers State in March 2002 was followed by the establishment of two other stations in October 2003 and November 2003 respectively. As important as these events in broadcasting in Rivers State are, however, media scholars have argued that in most societies where such change has taken place, public service broadcasters have tampered with their values of being an open space where individuals and groups can come together to be educated, informed, and entertained. This study investigates the extent to which the proliferation of commercial broadcasting outlets has affected Radio Rivers’ public service programming and scheduling. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, through in-depth interviews and analysis of the mandate and programme schedules, the study established that while Radio Rivers still maintains some public service values, its current programming policy is driven by the need to compete with the commercial broadcasters. This is evidenced in the decrease in the programme space allocated to current affairs and educational programmes on the schedule, (the genre of public service broadcasting), and the increase in attention to advertisements and entertainment programmes, (the genre of commercial broadcasting). The study also confirms the adverse effects of dwindling financial resources as forcing public service radios to compromise on their public service values, as majority of programmes on Radio Rivers current programme schedules are now geared towards attracting advertisers rather than serving the public good and interests. However, the study proved that it is not in all cases that the entry of commercial broadcasters into Rivers State broadcast space has undermined Radio Rivers public service values. Indeed, in leading to the expansion of interactive, news, and the diversification of entertainment programmes spaces on Radio Rivers’ programming schedules, the proliferation of commercial broadcasters has yielded some positive effects on Radio Rivers public service values and contribution to the public sphere. The study further highlights the need for some policy reforms at Radio Rivers, such as the introduction of licence fees, increased government funding and loosening government’s current control over the station. In addition, there is the need for the edict establishing the station to be amended to reflect the current trends in broadcasting in Rivers State, and above all to reposition Radio Rivers to sustain public good and public interests in its programming.

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Seely, Peter W. "The impact of virtuality on team functioning: a meta-analytic integration." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/45894.

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Communication technologies have become a central characteristic of workplace functioning. The literature has suggested that the use of these technologies fundamentally changes the manner in which team members interact. The present study sought to reorganize previous research on the impact of virtuality on team emergent states and behavioral processes to elucidate how different degrees of team virtuality shape team functioning, and to investigate the manner in which these relationships differ according to team type, team membership stability, and publication year. Findings from 174 studies (total number of teams = 9204; total N approximately 26,050) suggest that there is not a strong relationship between team virtuality and emergent states and behavioral processes. However, moderator analyses revealed that a reliance on highly virtual tools may be most detrimental to action teams and ad hoc teams. Moreover, findings demonstrate that the degree to which virtuality shapes team transition and action process may be changing over time.

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Chénière, Raphaële Thérèse Marie. "A deeper look at ethics within banking corporations: the approach of one of the biggest bank in the world." reponame:Repositório Institucional do FGV, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10438/9581.

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There is a noticeable growing society’s preoccupation with ethics, coming partly from the numerous scandals that came to light in the corporate world lately, especially in the financial sector in which the repercussions of embezzlements usually have a broader impact for the society than they may have when happening in other sector of activities. As another consequence, we can observe a raising interest of the academics in studying business ethics. Nevertheless, despite the very frequent use of the term and concepts related to this subject, there is still no consensus on a common definition of business ethics. It belongs to each corporation to define what it considers as corporate ethics. Therefore, in order to understand better what is behind ethics, it is necessary to go back to its definition, explain its evolution, put it in our contemporary context, and then apply it to the field of interest. Within the banking sector, ethics refers mainly to a legal aspect, but also took the path of corporate social responsibility development within the corporations, through various practices. The literature on this matter underlines that the traditional banking corporations’ approach of ethics disconnects it from their core business, considering that it does not belong to the heart of their activity. Actually, corporations respond to the same institutional isomorphism mechanisms that lead them to adopt some practices with the objective of achieving legitimacy within the society. Contrary to these traditional banking corporations, the banks qualified as ethical within the literature have in common to structure their activities on or around ethics, distinguishing themselves from other banks by having as main goal to be ethical. The Brazilian bank, Itaú Unibanco, one of the biggest traditional bank in the world in terms of market value, was progressively perceived as highly preoccupied with ethics and was recently designated as the most sustainable bank in the world by the Financial Times Magazine. Itaú Unibanco designed and implemented a program of ethics, which combines a theoretical component 8 (with guidelines, rules, principles and code of ethics), used as a framework for a practical component (with particular organizational structure and practices). Thanks to this characteristic, o Itaú Unibanco placed itself as a pro active actor that can be qualified of champion of innovation in the banking sector concerning ethics’ institutionalization.
Existe uma preocupação crescente da sociedade com a ética, devida em parte aos numerosos escândalos que surgiram no mundo corporativo ultimamente, em particular no setor financeiro em que as repercussões de malversações têm geralmente um impacto maior para a sociedade do que podem ter quando acontecem em outro setor de atividade. Outra consequência é o interesse cada vez maior dos acadêmicos em estudar ética dos negócios. Porém, a pesar do uso frequente do termo ética e dos conceitos relacionados, não existe ainda um consenso sobre uma definição comum de ética dos negócios. Pertence a cada corporação definir o que considera ser ética dos negócios. Portanto, para entender melhor o que tem por trás do termo ética, é preciso voltar a sua definição, explicar a sua evolução, colocá-lo dentro do nosso contexto contemporâneo, para depois aplicá-lo à área de interesse. Para o setor bancário, ética se refere mais ao aspecto legal, mas também faz referência ao desenvolvimento da responsabilidade social corporativa dentro das corporações através de diferentes práticas. A literatura a respeito ressalta que a abordagem da ética pelas corporações bancárias tradicionais desconecta a ética do foco de negócio, considerando que não pertence ao centro da sua atividade. De fato, as corporações respondem aos mesmos mecanismos isomorfos institucionais, os quais as levam a adotar práticas com o objetivo de conseguir legitimidade dentro da sociedade. Ao contrário dessas corporações bancárias tradicionais, os bancos qualificados como éticos pela literatura, tem em comum o fato de estruturar as suas atividades sobre ou em volta da ética, diferenciando-se dos outros bancos por ter como principal objetivo ser ético. O banco Brasileiro Itaú Unibanco, um dos maiores bancos tradicionais do mundo em termos de valor de mercado, foi percebido aos poucos como um banco muito preocupado com a ética, e foi recentemente reconhecido como o banco mais sustentável do mundo pela revista Financial Times. O Itaú 5 Unibanco desenhou e implementou um programa de ética, o qual junta um componente teórico (com diretrizes, regras e princípios e um código de ética), usado como um suporte para o componente prático (estrutura organizacional particular e práticas cotidianas). Esse programa levou o Banco Itaú a ser campeão inovador na institucionalização da ética dentro do setor bancário.

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Böckle, Ingrid. "Managerial perceptions of corporate social responsibility and social practices present at McDonalds South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003088.

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This study deals with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and focuses on managerial perceptions of CSR at McDonald’s South Africa (SA) and how social responsibility is translated into social practices. The key objectives of the research are: to analyse McDonald’s both internationally and locally in South Africa to establish whether CSR policies exist, then to investigate how these policies are perceived and integrated by outlet managers. Lastly to investigate what kind of social responsibility (SR) involvement, if at all, occurs at outlet level. The research site covers three regions in South Africa, which are the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng. The total research sample is 38. 33 interviewees were outlet managers, who were purposively selected, and 5 additional interviews took place with: 2 McDonald’s SA Head Office representatives, 2 interviews with beneficiaries of McDonald’s SR involvement and 1 with the trade union SACCAWU. The research was carried out through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The design of this research is based on an interpretive social science approach. The aim of the research was to investigate outlet managers’ perceptions of CSR and social practices present at McDonald’s SA outlets. The key findings of the research indicate that: CSR policies at McDonald’s SA head office are not communicated sufficiently to outlet managers, SR involvement is evident, especially for initiatives focusing on children’s welfare, but far too little occurs at the outlet level. There are also too few checks on social involvement by head office and no formal reporting system is available to the outlets except through an internal magazine, called the Big Mag. There is no official CSR report at McDonald’s SA. The fact that no report exists makes this study more relevant since this research investigates matters pertaining to CSR and social practices. The overall significance of the study is that it brings to the forefront the importance of internal company and external broader regulation which is part of the greater debate of CSR. This is because the analysis of managerial perceptions and implementation of CSR shows some unwarranted discrepancies between policies and practices, locally, nationally and internationally even within the same organisation.

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Thorburn, Robert H. (Robert Henry). "Towards the new company : proactive corporate ethics in a globalised business environment." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/50202.

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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The corporation is fast becoming, or may already have become, the prevalent structure in human society. As such, its successes and failures impact heavily on society as a whole. This study will endeavour to examine past shortfalls in corporate thinking and practice, explaining much of this by referring to lag between societal and corporate change in their respective responses to globalisation. It is furthermore argued that this change is still far from complete( d), if indeed it ever will be complete( d) with a fixed end. This global change, has to a large extent, caught corporations off guard, with their old management styles no longer providing results - with civil resistance to corporate activity resulting in some instances. The central aim of this study is to not only understand this situation, but also to explore potential remedies. In so doing two unique ideal states, namely the old and the new company, will be developed. With the old company representing corporate structure and thinking that no longer functions effectively. The new company, on the other hand, is not a present state but a future one. Thus it is the destination of the societal and corporate changes examined within this thesis. Consequently, the main subject examined will be a move away from the old company. Finally, it will be shown that dealing with problems within the corporate context no longer requires the heavy hand of yesteryear. Instead, a proactive approach should be adopted, both for financial and ethical reasons.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit kan geargumenteer word dat korporasies binnekort die dominante struktuur in menslike organisasie kan wees, indien dit nie reeds die geval is nie. As sulks, het die suksesse en mislukkings van die korporasie 'n merkbare impak op die menslike samelewing. Gevolglik beoog hierdie studie om voormalige tekortkominge in korporatiewe denke en praktyk te ondersoek en te verduidelik, grotendeels met verwysing na die verskil in tempo waarmee beide die samelewing en korporasies reageer op die nuwe uitdagings wat gepaardgaan met globalisering. Dit word verder geargumenteer, dat hierdie proses van verandering geen voorspelbare einde het in die klassieke sin nie. Juis daarom het die voortdurende verandering oudmodiese bestuurstyle en tegnieke onkant betrap, met nagevolge wat strek tot by burgerlike verset. Sentraal aan die ondersoek van hierdie situasie is nie net die intensie om dit te verstaan nie, maar ook die soeke na strategieë om dit reg te stel. Om die onderneming te fasiliteer word twee ideaal state, naamlik die ou en die nuwe maatskappy ontwikkel. Die ou maatskappy verteenwoordig uitgediende strategieë en bestuurspraktyke, terwyl die nuwe maatskappy 'n toekomstige staat is en dus nog nie gerealiseer is nie. Die fokus is dus op die beweging van die ou na die nuwe maatskappy. Laastens sal dit ook aangetoon word dat uiters outoritêre bestuurstyle en strategieë nie meer van pas, of suksesvol is in die hantering van korporatiewe probleme nie. Alternatiewelik word 'n proaktiewe benadering, op beide etiese en finansiële gronde, aanbeveel.

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Von, Witt Simon. "Why do companies go green? A qualitative study of the motivations and contextual factors inducing sustainable responses." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/6859.

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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: ‘Going green’ draws its origins from the ‘green’ in politics, which was first used as a party name by the German Greens (Die Grünen) in the late 1970s, which, although not the first green party, through media hype triggered the conception of a green movement in the early 1980s. This was voiced through green parties across the globe. Green is now seen as a buzzword and is often used as shorthand for discussing sustainability. It has since gained support leading to the gathering of more than 100 heads of state at the Earth Summit, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and provided the necessary platform to launch a global campaign. It initially began in developed nations, in particular European countries, but has since spread to developing countries, despite receiving abundant opposition both from developed and developing nations, due to its impact on the oil and coal sectors. The purpose of this research is to determine the core motivation behind companies going green. The researcher does this through a qualitative study of the motivations and contextual factors that induce ecological responsiveness ranging from day to day business practices to the ecological design of their offices. The researcher tests the hypothesis, namely climate change mitigation, which is developed through the literature study and adopted to evaluate the four case studies selected. The researcher builds up his argument in chapters 3 to 5, which draw on the literature studied and first discuss Government’s response to climate change, then the interventions in place to address climate change and finally look at the four case studies. Climate change and its relevance to companies is the key motivation behind deciding on this topic and it is discussed throughout the thesis. Companies interviewed in this thesis expressed concern about it, although it was not always the primary motivation. Some had already introduced measures to address it and were continually looking at new ways of mitigating it. Similarly, the companies interviewed and others analysed were all concerned about introducing cost saving measures, which had the added advantage of being of benefit to the environment. Genuine reasons for mitigating climate change and concern over the future of the planet put forward by certain companies, while protecting profit margins were given by others. All served to achieve one goal to protect the environment through the sustainable use of natural resources and ultimately to enhance companies’ public images as being green companies. This study is divided into a literature review and case studies, where literature pertaining to climate change, renewable energy, sustainable building, corporate governance, green jobs and others was sourced from government gazettes, newspapers, academic studies, books, documentaries, journals, magazines and internet sources. These serve to develop and support the case studies, which take the form of interviews done with owners and workers from the selected companies.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Om groen te wees is ‘n uitdrukking wat van die politiek afkomstig is. Die naam is eers deur die Duitse Groenparty (Die Grünen) in die laat sewentiger jaar gebruik en alhoewel dit nie eintlik die eerste groenparty was, het dit deur middel van die media gelei tot die totstandkoming van die groenbeweging in die vroeer tagtige jare. Die naam “groen” is deur groenpartye wêreldwyd gebruik en ‘groen’ word deesdae as ‘n bynaam gebruik as ‘n mens van verdedigbaarheid praat. In 1992 te Rio de Janeiro, Brazil het die groenbeweging sterk steun gevind toe meer as 100 staatshoofde by die ‘Earth Summit’ bymekaar vergader het. Oorspronklik het die groenbeweging in die ontwikkelde nasies, veral Europese nasies, begin maar het daarna tot die ontwikkelende nasies uitgebrei. Maar daar was heelwat teenstand van beide ontwikkelde en ontwikkelende nasies, weens die ekonomiese uitwerking op die olie en steenkool industriëe. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om te bepaal watter motiverende faktore maatskappye inagneem as hulle “groen” gaan. Die skrywer versoek om vas te stel deur middel van ‘n kwalitatiewe studie van die motiverende en samehangende faktore wat ekologiese antwoordendheid teweegbring. Hierdie faktore beweeg van daaglikse besigheidspraktyke tot die ekologiese beplanning van die kantore. Die skrywer gebruik die versagting van klimaatverandering as ‘n toets, wat deur die literatuurstudie ontwikkel is en wat verwys word as die sleutelmotivering wat tot groening lei, en wat gebruik word om die vier uitgesoekte studies te beoordeel. Elkeen van die studies word volgens hierdie kriteria bepaal. Die skrywer pas hierdie kriteria ook op voorbeelde wat gebruik word om die vier uitgesoekte studies te steun. Die skrywer bou in hoofstukke 3 tot 4 sy argument op. Daar word die regering se reaksie tot klimaatverandering en groot besigheid se antwoord op regeringsbeleid uiteengesit. Ons sien ook die bemiddelinge wat in staat gestel is om klimaatverandering teen te staan; daarna word die agtergrond oor die logiese gronde vir die verkiesing van die vier gevallestudies bespreek, en laastens word die eintlike gevallestudies behandel. Klimaatverandering en die relevantheid daarvan is die sleutelmotivering vir die keuse van hierdie onderwerp en dit word deurgaans in die proefskrif bespreek. Dit is die een gemeenskaplike faktor waaroor die vier ondervraagde maatskappye getoets is; hulle het reeds stappe geneem om dit teen te staan en soek aanhoudend om die uitwerking van klimaatverandering te versag. ‘n Oorsig van die algemene literatuur en sakestudies, die literatuur wat spesifiek op klimaatverandering van toepassing is, hernieubare energie, verduurbare geboue, maatskaplike beheer, ‘groen’ werk en klimaatverandering te versag. Inligting afkomstig van staatskoerante, koerante, akademiese studies, boeke, dokumentere studies, joernale, tydskrifte en internet bronne. Altesame het hierdie bronne bygedra tot die ontwikkeling en steun van die gevallestudies, wat hoofsaaklik die vorm van onderhoude met werkgewers en werknemers van uitgesoekde maatskappye gevat het.

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Chirwa, Danwood Mzikenge. "Towards binding economic, social and cultural rights obligations of non-state actors in international and domestic law: a critical survey of emerging norms." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&amp.

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This study argued that the issue of non-state actors requires a comprehensive response that includes the recognition of both non-binding and binding human rights obligations of these actors. It examined critically the emerging norms on voluntary obligations, state responsibility, and direct responsibility of these actors with regard to human rights at both international and domestic levels.

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de, Aguiar Thereza R. S. "Corporate disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions : a UK study." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/840.

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Two beliefs drove this dissertation to be centered on the analysis of the UK corporate disclosure (CD) related to global climate change (GCC). Firstly, GCC is the most significant environmental concern of our current age (IPCC, 2001; Stern, 2006; IPCC, 2007). Secondly, CD could illustrate the values of organizations and possibilities for changing organizations’ responsibility regarding to GCC (Gray et al., 1996; Bebbington and Larrinaga-Gonzalez, 2008; Bebbington et al., 2009). This study utilizes content analysis as its principal method and seeks to achieve its goal by way of a two investigations. The first investigation focuses on disclosures made by direct participants’ (DP) in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It captures GCC disclosures from both stand alone (SA) and annual reports (AR) during 2000 - 2004. This part of the study explores if joining the UK ETS changed GCC disclosures. This is tested on both a longitudinal and matched pair (MP) basis. An analysis using institutional theory suggests that instruments of environmental policy may influence GCC disclosures. Results showed that DP increased GCC disclosure, especially in the AR where mainstream business rationale is accepted. MP disclosures, in contrast, focus on the SA media and on different topics than DP disclosures. AR and SA both contain CD, but in this study they showed different patterns of disclosure and therefore may constitute different disclosure media. The second investigation suggests a method to compare GCC disclosure for a sample of DP and MP, using three different media: carbon disclosure project (CDP), AR and SA. Analysis shows that GCC disclosure did not provide sufficient information to compare GCC initiatives and disclosures. Despite the fact that organizations have similar characteristics in terms of sector, size and origin country, they showed different views on GCC issues and this may partially explain differences on GCC initiatives and disclosure.

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Pahwa-Gajjar, Sumetee. "Building corporate resilience : based on a case study of Spier Holding's search for a lower carbon future." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71843.

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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A study of the sustainability journey of Spier Holdings, a well known wine and leisure business in South Africa, offers a unique opportunity for interrogating corporate drivers for a lower carbon future. The business has established sustainability as a brand identity, declared carbon neutrality as a macro organisational goal in response to the global challenge of climate change, and sought scientifically and technologically appropriate ways of addressing this challenge. A preliminary analysis revealed various initiatives that are in place for measuring and reducing the business’ environmental impact, including carbon emissions. However, an in-depth study of the establishment’s environmental performance over two decades showed inconsistencies in year-on-year reporting, delays in shifting the supply chain, and gaps in implementation, particularly in the area of energy efficiency and adoption of renewable energy technology. Understanding and interrogating the business’ sustainability journey through a systems ecology and corporate citizenship framework proved inadequate. The case highlights that organizational goals for environmental performance areas, including the aim of carbon neutrality, and sustainability reporting are not sufficient catalysts for change. A complexity-based resilience approach allowed the business to be understood as an adaptive system. The sustainability story tracks different phases of a modified adaptive renewal cycle, which also determine the dominant management paradigms, strategic responses and forms of collaboration during each phase. Spier’s sustainability journey was found to be underpinned by a quest for corporate resilience which includes the resilience of the business (enterprise resilience) and of the social-ecological system within which it resides (SES resilience). The business responded to interdependent risks and uncertainties in its internal and external contexts, through investment strategies in key areas of corporate environmental performance. As a contribution to new knowledge, this thesis proposes an integrated corporate resilience framework for building enterprise resilience and ecological sustainability. This framework, and the accompanying mapping tool, reveals deep, ecological drivers for Spier’s environmental performance across corporate areas of lower carbon emissions, water sustainability, wastewater treatment, solid waste recycling and ecological custodianship. The framework is recommended for use by similar businesses, eager to configure their relationship with natural resources and ecosystem services, and by scholars, for investigating corporate performance towards environmental sustainability.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ŉ Studie van die volhoubaarheidsonderneming van Spier Holdings, ŉ bekende wyn- en ontspanningsaak in Suid-Afrika, bied ŉ unieke geleentheid vir die ondersoek van korporatiewe aandrywers vir ŉ laer koolstoftoekoms. Die onderneming het volhoubaarheid as ŉ handelsmerkidentiteit gevestig, koolstof-neutraliteit as ŉ makro- organisatoriese doel verklaar in reaksie op die wêreldwye uitdaging van klimaatsverandering, en het wetenskaplik en tegnologies gepaste wyses gesoek om hierdie uitdaging die hoof te bied. ŉ Voorlopige analise het verskeie inisiatiewe wat gereed is vir meting en vermindering van die onderneming se omgewingsimpak aan die lig gebring, met inbegrip van koolstofvrystellings. ŉ Dieptestudie van die instelling se omgewingsprestasie oor twee dekades heen het egter inkonsekwenthede in jaar-tot-jaar-verslagdoening, vertragings in die verandering van die aanvoerketting, en gapings in implementering, in die besonder op die gebied van energiedoeltreffendheid en die ingebruikneming van hernubare energietegnologie getoon. Begrip en ondersoek van die onderneming se volhoubaarheidsonderneming aan die hand van ŉ raamwerk vir sisteemekologie en korporatiewe burgerskap het onvoldoende blyk te wees. Die geval beklemtoon dat organisatoriese doelstellings vir omgewingsprestasiegebiede, met inbegrip van die oogmerk van koolstofneutraliteit, en volhoubaarheidsverslagdoening nie voldoende katalisators vir verandering is nie. ŉ Kompleksiteitgebaseerde veerkragtigheidsbenadering het dit moontlik gemaak dat die onderneming as ŉ aanpassingstelsel beskou kan word. Die volhoubaarheidsverslag gaan verskillende fases van ŉ gewysigde aanpassings- hernuwingsiklus, wat ook die dominante bestuursparadigmas, strategiese reaksies en vorme van samewerking gedurende elke fase bepaal, na. Daar is bevind dat Spier se volhoubaarheidsonderneming onderstut word deur ŉ soeke na korporatiewe veerkragtigheid wat die veerkragtigheid van die onderneming (ondernemingsveerkragtigheid) en van die sosiaal-ekologiese stelsel waarbinne dit gesetel is (SES-veerkragtigheid) insluit. Die onderneming het op onderling afhanklike risiko’s en onsekerhede in sy interne en eksterne samehange gereageer deur beleggingstrategieë in sleutelgebiede van korporatiewe omgewingsprestasie. As ŉ bydrae tot nuwe kennis, doen hierdie tesis ŉ geïntegreerde korporatiewe veerkragtigheidsraamwerk vir die opbou van ondernemingsveerkragtigheid en ekologiese volhoubaarheid aan die hand. Hierdie raamwerk, en die gepaardgaande beskrywingsinstrument, lê diep, ekologiese aandrywers vir Spier se omgewingsprestasie oor korporatiewe gebiede van laer koolstof-vrystellings, watervolhoubaarheid, die behandeling van afloopwater, herbenutting van vaste afval en ekologiese bewaring bloot. Die raamwerk word aanbeveel vir gebruik deur soortgelyke ondernemings wat graag aan hulle verhouding met natuurlike hulpbronne en ekostelseldienste vorm wil gee, en deur vakkundiges vir die ondersoek van korporatiewe prestasie met betrekking tot omgewings-volhoubaarheid.

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Jjuuko, Denis Charles. "Understanding editorial independence and public accountability issues in public broadcasting service : a study of the editorial policies at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) /." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/261/.

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Saurombe, Memory. "The impact of media commercialization on public service broadcasting : the case of Radio Zimbabwe after the adoption of the Commercialisation Act (No 26) of 2001." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/601.

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Cultural and educational functions of public service broadcasting come at a fortuitous time, as the changing environment of broadcasting is on various agendas. At the heart of this is the question of the present and future status of public service broadcasting. Major changes have taken place in the political economy of the media and the world economy at large, technological advancement has resulted in privatization and commercialization of the media. In most societies where these changes have taken place, public service broadcasting has been threatened by the rapid rise of commercial institutions, resulting in stiff competition for audiences. This study will examine the extent to which the adoption of the Commercialization Act (No 26) of 2001 in Zimbabwe has affected Radio Zimbabwe’s role as a public broadcaster. The study is based on the hypothesis that with the adoption of the Commercialization Act, Radio Zimbabwe is no longer playing its public service role effectively. The current nature of programming at Radio Zimbabwe as the research hopes to show will highlight tremendous changes towards a commercial logic. The study uses a combination of document analysis, secondary literature and qualitative interviews.

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Zhang, Junru. "Determinants of corporate environmental and social disclosure in Chinese listed mining, electricity supply and chemical companies annual reports." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2013. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/529.

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As the environmental and social disclosing systems have been developed over decades, the climate of corporate environmental and social responsibility is becoming mature nowadays globally. What and how environment-sensitive companies (i.e. companies that are more likely to do environmental damages) disclose such information voluntarily are extensively concerned by the public, especially in China, where strong debatable issues constantly raise as a result of the rapid economic growth. Corporate environmental and social responsibility is no longer an international obligation but a domestic demand for China. This study will enhance our understanding of a very important issue in arguably the world's most vibrant economy. The thesis has contributed the literature in a number of ways. First, this study aimed to measure the type and extent of both corporate environmental and social reporting across the Chinese environmental sensitive industries’ annual reports, which include mining, electricity supply, and chemical industries. A dichotomous method was employed and the Global Reporting Initiative third edition (G3) was selected as a benchmark. In addition, the characteristics of the companies that voluntarily disclose environmental and social information in their annual reports were to be examined under legitimacy theory. Seven hypotheses that developed seven predictor variables based on legitimacy theoretical framework with one of three industries examined each time. The variables were government ownership, management role, member of industrial association, profitability, operating leverage, company age, and firm size. Finally, results in differences across industries were to be discussed and compared. This study aimed to measure the type and extent of corporate environmental and social reporting across the Chinese mining, electricity supply, and chemical industries' annual reports, using the Global Reporting Initiative third edition (G3) as a benchmark. In addition, the characteristics of companies that voluntarily disclose environmental and social information in their annual reports were to be examined under legitimacy theory. There are seven hypotheses that developed seven predictor variables based on legitimacy theoretical framework with one of three industries examined each time. The variables were government ownership, management role, member of industrial association, profitability, operating leverage, company age, and firm size. Finally, results in differences across industries were to be discussed and compared. There were a total of 193 sample companies selected from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange database, and content analysis was applied to review and examine their annual reports in 2010. The G3 guidelines were used to indicate the extent of environmental and social performances by the sample companies. Companies’ specific characters for the predictor variables were also obtained from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange database. In order to accomplish the first aim of the study, descriptive statistics were used to determine the type and extent of environmental and social disclosures in the sample industries' 2010 annual reports. In addition, to accomplish the second aim, which is to examine the determinants of corporate environmental and social disclosure under legitimacy theory, univariate statistics and multiple regressions analysis were adopted. The comparisons across the sample industries were conducted after the regression analysis. Research findings from environmental disclosure analysis showed that although mining industry disclosed slightly more information than electricity supply industry, the extent of environmental reporting for all three industries were typically low because information disclosed was limited to several categories. It was found that Chinese mining, electricity supply, and chemical industries are more likely to disclose information regarding energy and materials, which were the most concerned aspects in the Chinese society. Environmental disclosure regression analysis indicated that most of the predictor variables from legitimacy theory are able to explain the extent of environmental reporting in the sample industries. The results indicated that member of industrial association, company age, company size and profitability were significant to the extent environmental reporting across the three sample industries. However, government ownership was found to be insignificant in the study. Results from social disclosure analysis indicated that electricity supply industries disclosed slightly more information than mining and chemical companies in their 2010 annual reports. Interestingly, all of the sample companies disclosed at least one item from the G3 social guidelines; however, the information disclosed was narrow in only a few categories, and the extent of social disclosure in the sample industries was typically low. The disclosure analysis found that Chinese mining, electricity supply, and chemical industries were more likely to disclose labour practices and decent work, and human rights information. The regression analysis showed that company size, profitability, leverage and management role have become the most significant factors, whereas member of industrial association was found to be insignificant in the sample industries. This study concludes that on the basis of legitimacy theory, the amount of environmental and social information disclosed in the Chinese mining, electricity supply, and chemical industries’ annual reports was almost the same, and the firm specific predictor variables have similar influences across industries both environmentally and socially.

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Porto, Jo??o Luis Priori. "Divulga????o dos riscos associados ?? mudan??a clim??tica : uma an??lise no conte??do dos relat??rios de empresas que integram o ISE." FECAP - Faculdade Escola de Com??rcio ??lvares Penteado, 2010. http://132.0.0.61:8080/tede/handle/tede/458.

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The objective of this research was to verify the level of disclosure of the risks associated with climate change in the reports of companies of the corporate sustainability index stock (ISE) of (BM&FBOVESPA). To acomplish this objective a content analysis was performed in the Environmental or Sustainability Reports, Financial Statements, and in the Management Report of the year 2008, from companies that have remained members of ISE, for three consecutive years, in the period from 2006 to 2008. The level of disclosure was assessed on the basis of the types and characteristics of disclosure: (declarative, quantitative, monetary , monetary and quantitative). Understanding that is relevant not only to investigate the level of risk disclosure, other specific objectives were established related to risk management, mitigating actions and opportunities related to climate change disclosure. The results showed that in the sustainability reports, for the period under examination and, in the set of categories analysed, a total of 228 disclosures for a total maximum possible of 322, i.e. 65%. In the Management Report this percentage is reduced to 27% and in the explanatory notes to 6%. In the Sustainability reports, of 14 companies analysed, 4 have a disclosure index above 80%, 7 companies showed indexes between 50 and 80% and 3 between 30 to 48%. The category with the largest index of disclosure was the strategic analysis of climatic risks whose index reached 84%, the ISO 14000 certification subcategory was disclosed in 100% of the companies. Although most of the information disclosed be as declarative type, the category Mitigating Actions presented the largest monetary quantitative information index, the subcategory Environmental Investments had its values available for 100% of the companies. It was also found in the category Opportunities, a companies' concern to disseminate information on new products (57%), alternative energy sources (86%) and information about ecoefficiency (100%).
A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar o n??vel de divulga????o dos riscos associados ??s mudan??as clim??ticas nos relat??rios das empresas integrantes do ??ndice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE) da Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros do Estado de S??o Paulo (BM&FBOVESPA). Nesse sentido, foram analisados os relat??rios ambientais ou de sustentabilidade, as demonstra????es cont??beis e os relat??rios da administra????o, do ano de 2008, das empresas que permaneceram integrantes do ISE, por tr??s anos consecutivos, no per??odo de 2006 a 2008. O n??vel de divulga????o foi avaliado com base nos tipos ou caracter??sticas da informa????o (declarativa, quantitativa n??o monet??ria, quantitativa monet??ria, quantitativa monet??ria e n??o monet??ria). Considerando relevante n??o somente investigar o n??vel da divulga????o dos riscos, foram estabelecidos objetivos espec??ficos relacionados ?? divulga????o da gest??o dos riscos, das a????es mitigadoras e das oportunidades relacionadas ?? mudan??a clim??tica. Os resultados demonstram que, nos relat??rios de sustentabilidade, no per??odo analisado e, no conjunto das categorias analisadas, o n??mero total evidenciado foi de 228 divulga????es para um total m??ximo poss??vel de 322, ou seja, 65%. No relat??rio da administra????o, esse percentual se reduz para 27% e nas notas explicativas para 6%. Nos relat??rios de sustentabilidade, das 14 empresas analisadas, 4 apresentaram ??ndice de divulga????o acima de 80%; 7 empresas apresentaram ??ndices entre 50 e 80% e 3 entre 30 a 48%. A categoria com maior ??ndice de divulga????o foi a de an??lise estrat??gica dos riscos clim??ticos, cujo ??ndice atingiu 84%, destacando-se a subcategoria certifica????o ISO 14000 divulgado em 100% das empresas. Embora a maior parte das informa????es divulgadas seja do tipo declarativa, a categoria a????es mitigadoras apresentou o maior ??ndice de informa????es quantitativo monet??rio, sendo que a subcategoria investimentos ambientais teve seus valores divulgados em 100% das empresas. Constatou-se, tamb??m, na categoria oportunidades, uma preocupa????o, por parte das empresas, em divulgar informa????es sobre novos produtos (57%), fontes alternativas de energia (86%) e informa????es sobre ecoefici??ncia (100%).

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Gouws, Stephanie. "A study on the cultural adjustment of the domestic partners of German expatriates in the Nelson Mandela Bay automotive industry." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1540.

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This study explores the cultural adjustment of the domestic partners of German expatriates working in the Nelson Mandela Bay automotive industry of South Africa. The data was collected by distributing pre-interview questionnaires to the participants and conducting in-depth interviews with them. Grounded theory was used in the data collection and analysis and an auto-ethnographic approach was employed, allowing for reflexivity. The findings suggest that the expatriated domestic partners did not necessarily experience much difficulty in adjusting to South African culture as they did, for example, adjusting to not being able to work for the duration of their stay. The research has also shown that the unmarried domestic partners of expatriate employees are at a disadvantage compared to their married counterparts; receiving less assistance from the companies of their partners. Based on the findings, it has been recommended that companies refine and streamline the assistance they offer to the domestic partners of their expatriate employees, providing all domestic partners with the same pre-departure training and entitling them to the same benefits.

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So, Ming-tat, and 蘇明達. "Tracking the evolution of corporate environmentalism in Hong Kong: a study of environmental reporting." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2004. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31245948.

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Chen, Hunglin Maggie. "An analysis of the impact of cultural differences upon management styles of selected Taiwanese managers within business/industry organizations of Southern California." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1995. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1045.

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Fracassi, Cesare. "Social networks and finance." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1872060441&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

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Islam, Md Tarikul. "Hybridized corporations and their social responsibility performance." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/116375/1/Md.%20Tarikul_Islam_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis studies for-profit hybrid corporations, which are dual-purpose corporations pursuing mandatory social goals along with the for-profit goal. Rights to incorporate such dual-purpose entities have been provided in various international jurisdictions as a mechanism to enhance corporate social responsibility and accountability of for-profit businesses. Examining for-profit hybrid corporations as enabled in Bangladesh and examining primary data collected from their stakeholders, the thesis explains the emergence, impact, social responsibility, and accountability of for-profit hybrid corporations in Bangladesh and explains similar characteristics of such corporations around the world.

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Ilyashenko, Alona, and Альона Іл'яшенко. "Social objectives of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of transnational corporations." Thesis, National aviation university, 2021. https://er.nau.edu.ua/handle/NAU/50592.

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1. M. DESCOLONGES, B. SAINCY, (dir.), Les nouveauxenjeux de la négociation internationale, La Découverte, 2006, pp. 93-96. 2. ISO 26000: 2010 Guidance on social responsibility [online] Available at: https://www.iso.org/iso-26000-social-responsibility.html. 3. VOLKSWAGEN TO PAY $2.8 BILLION IN US DIESEL EMISSION SCANDAL BY ED WHITE ASSOCIATED PRESS [online] Available at: https://wwmt.com/news/auto-matters/volkswagen-to-pay-28-billion-in-us-diesel-emission-scandal-04-21-2017. 4. Global Compact Network Ukraine [online] Available at: https://globalcompact.org.ua 5. Directive 2014/95/EU: Disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by large companies and groups [online] Available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/LSU/?uri=CELEX:32014L0095.
Abstracts are devoted to the study of the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR), "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) in the daily activities of transnational corporations (TNC) and the definition of social goals of TNC`s CSR in solving social problems of social development.
Тези присвячені вивченню ролі корпоративної соціальної відповідальності (КСВ), "Корпоративної соціальної відповідальності" (КСВ) у повсякденній діяльності транснаціональних корпорацій (ТНК) та визначенню соціальних цілей КСВ ТНК у вирішенні соціальних проблем соціального розвитку.

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Boman, Alexandra, and Nora Elvin. "VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURES AND TRUST IN CORPORATIONS : A study of listed corporations in Sweden." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för handel och företagande, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-15407.

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Over the past decades, major changes have been noticed in annual reports. For instance, annual reports have become more comprehensive. Today, corporations can partly decide what to include in their annual reports. This is called voluntary disclosures. Furthermore, corporations chose to disclose pictures, narratives and other graphics material in their voluntary disclosures. This, to give an image of the corporation. Moreover, voluntary disclosures could impact shareholders’ trust towards corporations. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate whether shareholders trust is affected by the voluntary disclosures in annual reports. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine in what way shareholders have increase trust in corporations based on the voluntary disclosures, including marketing aspects, that corporations publish in their annual reports. Furthermore, corporations view of the voluntary disclosures in their annual reports connected to shareholders trust are also examined. This study was conducted with a qualitative research method. The empirical findings were collected through semi-structured interviews with both shareholders and listed corporations in Sweden. During these interviews, both shareholders and corporations answered questions regarding their view of the annual report, its voluntary disclosures and trust. After completing this study, the authors identified parts of the voluntary disclosures that shareholders consider more interesting in trust purposes. For instance, more information about the CEO and managers increase trust among shareholders. Moreover, all shareholders emphasized that transparency and honesty were two factors that have a positive effect on trust. This is something the corporations showed awareness of. They disclose succinct and informativevoluntary disclosures rather than increasingly comprehensive.
Under de senaste årtionden har stora förändringar i årsredovisningen skett. Ett exempel är att de ökat i omfattning. Företag har idag delvis frihet att själva bestämma vad som ska ingå i deras årsredovisning. Denna del kallas för den frivilliga informationen. Vidare kan företag med hjälp av bland annat bilder, berättande text och annat grafiskt material måla upp en bild av sig själva. Detta är något som kan ha en påverkan på aktieägarnas upplevda tillit gentemot företagen. Därför är det av intresse att studera huruvida aktieägarnas tillit påverkas av den frivilliga informationen i årsredovisningar. Syftet med studien är således att undersöka hur aktieägares tillit påverkas av ökad frivillig information som företag väljer att publicera i sina årsredovisningar. Studien kommer även att undersöka om marknadsföringsaspekter i årsredovisningar ökar aktieägarnas tillit. Vidare kommer det även undersökas hur företag ser på den frivilliga informationen och marknadsföringsaspekterna i deras årsredovisningar som ett sätt att öka aktieägarnas tillit. Denna studie genomfördes med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Därmed samlades studiens empiri in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med både aktieägare och svenska börsnoterade företag. Under dessa intervjuer fick både aktieägarna och företagen svara på frågor gällande deras syn på årsredovisningen, dess frivilliga information och tillit. Efter genomförd studie har författarna identifierat delar i den frivilliga informationen som anses vara mer intressant i tillitssyfte. Ett exempel är att ökad information från VD:n skulle öka tilliten hos aktieägarna. Vidare pratade samtliga aktieägare om att transparens och ärlighet är två faktorer som påverkar tilliten positivt. Detta behöver inte innebära mer information utan det kan även betyda att det ska vara kvalité på den information som företagen publicerar i deras årsredovisningar. Detta är någonting som företagen även identifierat och satsar därför på att publicera kortfattad och informativ frivillig information i sina årsredovisningar.

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Payne, Kenneth L. "Financing instructional materials in Indiana public school corporations." Virtual Press, 1987. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/505144.

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The purpose of the study was to analyze current procedures utilized for financing textbooks and related instructional materials by Indiana public school corporations and public school corporations in selected states. Respective practices were examined in order to determine feasible methods/alternatives for Indiana school corporations to use in overcoming the contemporary financial and administrative dilemma which existed in the 1985-86 school year.A descriptive questionnaire was developed from a review of literature and with the assistance of colleagues. Data obtained by the instrument were analyzed using frequency tabulations and percentages. Based on information gained from the study and data collected in superintendents in Indiana, solutions to financing instructional materials for Indiana school corporations were determined.Data collected supported the following conclusions: 1. Public school corporations in Indiana charge fees for textbooks and related instructional materials and are experiencing difficulties in collecting textbook rental and related fees from parents or guardians of school children.2. The use of small claims court for recovering fees is not an effective method for most public school corporations in Indiana.3. Township trustees and/or county councils should pay for textbooks and instructional materials of students whose parents or guardians are declared by the courts to be indigent.4. The current formula for determining textbook rental rates is satisfactory.5. Legislation should be adopted to permit public school corporations to increase revenue in order to finance textbooks and related instructional materials.6. To be in concert with other states in the United States and more specifically within the Great Lakes Region, public school students should be supplied textbooks and related instructional materials without charge.7. The location and size of school corporations have implications to problems existing in public school corporations when administering textbook rental programs.8. Lack of additional finance has restricted public school corporations in implementing new programs to be funded by the general fund budget.9. Based on the average rankings of ten regions, public school corporations in Regions I, II, and VI encountered the greatest difficulty in financing textbooks and related instructional materials. Public school corporations have the least problems in supplying textbooks to school students.10. Based on the average rankings of six enrollment groups, public school corporations in the smallest three groups had the greatest success in financing textbooks and related instructional materials for students.11. Additional costs for school corporations are incurred when interest is paid to publishers for overdue accounts or for installment payment programs.12. School corporations with deficit balances or significantly decreasing balances in textbook rental accounts are in. need of assistance in collecting outstanding fees from constituents and/or means of generating sufficient revenue to account for required textbooks and related instructional materials for students.

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Nayak, Raveendra, and raveendranayak@yahoo com au. "Developing sustainable corporations in Australia." Swinburne University of Technology. Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, 2006. http://adt.lib.swin.edu.au./public/adt-VSWT20060320.110540.

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In the wake of the environmental degradation, social inequality and injustice, and the incidents of corporate frauds and mismanagement reported in Australia, domestic business organisations have been asked increasingly by Australian governments and people to pursue sustainable business practices. As prime movers of creating wealth and employment, business organisations have an important and legitimate role to play in sustainable development, which is defined as a notion that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations. Corporate sustainability, which is a subset of the concept of sustainable development, involves integrating financial, social, and environmental values into business policy, planning, and decision-making requiring changes in organisational values, perspectives, culture, structure, and performance measures. Many Australian businesses are wary of meeting financial, social, and environmental objectives simultaneously claiming the agenda as contradictory and almost unattainable, but the demand for achieving corporate sustainability seems inescapable. Since Australian businesses are facing a fierce competition in domestic market as a result of reducing trade barriers, globalisation, and market deregulation, demanding them to contribute more to sustainable development may appear to be unreasonable. Furthermore, business managers are often wary of any organisational changes, as several of them have failed in creating organisational value. As a consequence, business managers are cautious of engaging in sustainable business practices. In an attempt to unravel the above dilemma, this study mainly examined how to enhance organisational value by sustainable business practices. It examined the two dominant strategic management theories, i.e. Barriers to Entry theory and the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. It collected the data from 102 Australian business organisations using a survey method. Based on its findings, this study makes a number of contributions to the theory and practice of strategic management. Notable among them are, first, it shows that socially crafted business practices such as knowledge management, customer relationship management, and stakeholder management can have substantial leverage to building business competitiveness. Second, it demonstrates that environment-oriented business practices can provide a number of effective opportunities for increasing the height of entry barriers to new competition. Third, this study concludes that social-oriented business activities are almost ineffective as entry barriers to new competition. Fourth, it substantiates why environment protection measures such as Environmental Management System (EMS) are least contributing to business competitiveness. Finally, this study substantiates its main claim that a business organisation can enhance its competitive advantage by pursuing corporate sustainability principles. This study upholds the view that business organisations have enlightened self-interest in following corporate sustainability.

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Lado, Hervé. "Le développement comme processus d'élimination des rentes et de la prédation : le cadre conceptuel de Douglass North, John Wallis et Barry Weingast à l'épreuve du Nigéria." Thesis, Paris 1, 2014. http://www.theses.fr/2014PA010086.

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Si l’on conçoit le développement comme un processus d’élimination des rentes, le cadre conceptuel de Douglass North, John Wallis, Barry Weingast (NWW) élaboré en 2009 qui le définit comme processus de transition institutionnelle d’un ordre social d’accès limité (pays en développement) où la violence est permanente et disséminée, vers un ordre social d’accès ouvert (pays développés) où les accès économiques et politiques sont ouverts à tous grâce à la libre compétition, élimine-t-il véritablement les rentes ? Par une critique théorique interne et une critique empirique illustrée par l’histoire du Nigeria et en particulier l’activité des multinationales pétrolières, nous soutenons que le cadre conceptuel de NWW est défaillant i) dans sa conception du rôle des élites et des non-élites dans le processus d’ouverture des accès au sein de l’ordre social d’accès limité ii) et dans sa construction épistémologique du modèle d’ordre social d’accès ouvert basé sur la libre compétition politique et économique. L’ordre d’accès ouvert de NWW entretient des rentes, et légitime la prédation, que nous définissons comme l’exploitation de rentes de domination. Les prédateurs font ainsi peser sur leurs victimes des coûts sociaux que les démarches de développement durable (DD) et de responsabilité sociétale des entreprises (RSE) peinent à éliminer. Le DD et la RSE ne parviendront à éliminer la prédation qu’en développant des institutions et des référentiels qui contraignent les acteurs à la prise en compte de l’asymétrie de pouvoir et du risque de domination dans les négociations entre parties prenantes, en vue du respect de la dignité humaine dans les transactions
The conceptual framework developed in 2009 by Douglass North, John Wallis, Barry Weingast (NWW) regards development as an institutional transition from a limited access social order (developing countries), where violence is a spread and permanent threat, to an open access social order (developed countries), where economic and political accesses are open to all through free competition. If we consider development as a process of rents elimination, does this framework enable rents elimination? Combining a theoretical analysis, and an empirical analysis illustrated by the history of Nigeria and oil multinationals’ activities, we argue that NWW’s framework fails i) in the design of the role of elites and non-elites in the transition process within the limited access order ii) and in the epistemological shaping of the open access order based on political and economic free competition. The NWW’s open access order maintains rents, and legitimizes predation which we define as the exploitation of domination rents. Predators generate on their victims various social costs which sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are failing to eradicate. SD and CSR approaches will succeed in eradicating predation only if they consider within transactions the power asymmetry and the risk of domination in negotiations between stakeholders, in order to protect the human dignity

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Ward, Robert A. "Exploring Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Practices in Multinational Corporations." Thesis, Baker College (Michigan), 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13425719.

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Companies experience a problem implementing corporate social responsibility reporting standards due to geographical differences, an over-abundance of guidelines, regulatory disparities, and varying levels of stakeholder requirements. These diverse conditions result in inadequate reporting of sustainability efforts and a lack of consistency of what actually gets reported. This exploratory, qualitative case study was based on a theoretical framework consisting of Freeman’s stakeholder theory, Suchman’s legitimacy theory, and Spence’s signaling theory. The sample consisted of six respondents from a research population of 100 multinational corporations (MNCs) with successful reporting practices. The instrument used was a researcher-developed questionnaire. The study addresses three research questions: How did leadership identify sustainability reporting standards, guidelines, or frameworks that would be appropriate for their company; how did the needs of the company’s stakeholders for reporting differ from the standards selected; and what CSR activities, indicators, or disclosures are not being included in the guideline that the company might want to report based on the needs of the stakeholders? Based on the results, nine themes emerged: (a) External motivational factors and stakeholders are critical to deciding which reporting guideline to use; (b) the CSR reporting method chosen is selected in order to meet the needs of the most influential actors; (c) companies augment reports with self-created KPIs based on influential actors and situational requirements; (d) the CSR reporting process requires greater internal collaboration within an organization; (e) changes to business strategy and resource allocation may be necessary; (f) both external and internal stakeholders are a source of valuable input and feedback regarding the produced reports; (g) collecting material and nonmaterial data is useful in producing reports and improving transparency; (h) companies want to see the impacts of their use competitors’ CSR activities and to use their reports to improve their own CSR activities and reports; and (i) standardization of reporting guidelines would benefit all stakeholders by allowing companies to become more transparent, improve comparisons between companies, and provide incentive to improve CSR processes. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on CSR reporting and allows companies to better understand CSR reporting process in their own environments.

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Haniffa, Roszaini Mohamad. "Culture, corporate governance and disclosure in Malaysian corporations." Thesis, University of Exeter, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.267212.

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Kumar, Vikas. "Impact of social ties on knowledge transfer within multinational corporations." Full text available, 2004. http://images.lib.monash.edu.au/ts/theses/kumar.pdf.

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Marteinsdóttir, Ína. "Aspects of Social Phobia." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Neuroscience, 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-3323.

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Social phobia is a disabling, lifelong disorder characterised by fear in social settings.

The aim of the present study was to gain more knowledge about diagnostic, neurobiologic and epidemiologic aspects of social phobia.

Thirty-two individuals were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and II psychiatric disorders, the Karolinska Scales of Personality and the Temperament and Character Inventory. Social phobia was accompanied by concurrent axis I disorders in about 28% of individuals, lifetime axis I disorders in 54%, personality disorders in 60%, and avoidant personality disorder (APD) in 47%. This suggests that there is a high comorbidity between social phobia and APD according to the DSM-IV criteria. The personality profiles associated with social phobia were dominated by anxiety-related traits that were primarily related to social phobia itself and not to the presence of concurrent personality disorders.

Eighteen subjects with social phobia and eighteen controls were investigated with positron emission tomography and the radiolabeled serotonin precursor, [3 -11C]–5-HTP (5-HTP). Individuals with social phobia demonstrated proportionally lower regional relative whole brain accumulation of 5-HTP in areas of the frontal and temporal cortices as well as the striatum, but higher accumulation in the cerebellum. This suggests that there are imbalances in presynaptic serotonin function in individuals with social phobia, although this could only be confirmed in men, and not in women.

By means of a postal survey, distributed to 2000 randomly selected individuals, social phobia in Sweden was found to be common, with a point prevalence of 15.6%.

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Marteinsdóttir, Ína. "Aspects of social phobia /." Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-3323.

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47

Kosolap, N. Ye. "Social aspects of tourism." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2012. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/26076.

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Morys, Thomas. "Company valuation and environmental value." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/15046.

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Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The natural environment has gained intensified importance in recent years (Stern, 2007) as the depletion of free natural resources and creation of non-intentional by-products speeds up. Especially air quality-related issues such as carbon dioxide emissions caused by non-intentional by-products from fuel combustion intensify the pressure on nature and thereby on human beings. Global commitments to greenhouse reduction by different nations, manifested in the Kyoto Protocol, increase the pressure on the economic environment as they force nations and in particular companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to the agreed levels. This means that companies unable to meet the emission targets are forced to acquire additional emission rights. This has an impact on the value of a company. The lower the emissions, the more emission rights can be sold on the carbon markets. Furthermore, the less natural environmental risk a company is exposed to, the higher its value. In general, the risk reductions result from creating benefits for the natural environment. This research project shows how the natural environment impacts on the value of a company. It considers the green value, described as the overall tradable benefit from the reduction of non-intentional by-products, of a small liquid-petroleum-gas (LPG)-converting company. It is assumed that emission benefits created through the reduction of relevant marketable byproducts will lead to emission credit notes, equal to emission rights, offered to companies at the carbon spot market. This enables the companies participating on the carbon market to buy additional emission rights. This non-empirical report focuses on a study of the theory. Topics such as the global natural environment, awareness of natural environment and willingness to pay for higher quality of the natural environment, traditional valuation, and environmental accounting give an understanding of the subject. In addition, personnel communication was used to discuss relevant market expectations and prospects. The outcome is a valuation approach to determine the potential value of companies. The intention is to show that the value goes beyond a purely financial approach. From the valuation procedure performed one can easily see that the value of a company is strongly influenced by the green value component derived from valued environmental benefits.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die natuurlike omgewing het in die afgelope paar jaar toenemend belangrik geword (Stem, 2007) namate die uitputting van gratis natuurlike hulpbronne en die skep van toevallige neweprodukte toeneem. Veral kwessies wat met die gehalte van lug verband hou, soos koolsuurgasvrystellings wat deur toevallige neweprodukte van brandstofverbranding veroorsaak word, verhoog die druk op die natuur en dus ook op die mens. 'n Wereldwye verbintenis tot die vermindering van die kweekhuis-effek deur verskillende lande, wat in die Kyoto Protokol inslag vind, verhoog die druk op die ekonomiese omgewing, aangesien dit lande, en spesifiek maatskappye, dwing om hulle kweekhuis-gasvrystellings tot by die ooreengekome vlakke te verminder. Dit beteken dat maatskappye wat nie die vrystellingsteikens kan haal nie, gedwing word om bykomende vrystellingsregte te bekom. Dit het 'n impak op die waarde van 'n maatskappy. Hoe laer die vrystellings, hoe meer vrystellingsregte kan op die koolstofmarkte verkoop word. 'n Maatskappy se waarde verhoog indien die risiko rakende die natuurlike omgewing verlaag word. Oor die algemeen is hierdie risikoverminderings die resultaat van die skep van voordele vir die natuurlike omgewing. Hierdie navorsingsprojek toon aan wat die natuurlike omgewing se impak op die waarde van 'n maatskappy is. Dit ondersoek die groen waarde, wat beskryf word as die algehele verhandelbare voordeel uit die vermindering van toevallige neweprodukte, van 'n klein vloeibarepetroleumgas-maatskappy. Die aanname word gemaak dat vrystellingvoordele wat geskep word deur die vermindering van toepaslike verkoopbare neweprodukte daartoe sal lei dat vrystellingskredietnotas, wat gelykstaande aan vrystellingsregte is, aan maatskappye by die koolstoflokomark aangebied sal word. Dit stel die maatskappye wat op die koolstofmark handel dryf in staat om bykomende vrystellingsregte te koop. Hierdie nie-empiriese verslag fokus op 'n studie van die teorie. Onderwerpe soos die globale natuurlike omgewing, bewustheid van die natuurlike omgewing en 'n gewilligheid om te betaal vir 'n natuurlike omgewing van 'n hoer gehalte, en omgewingsrekeningkunde dra by tot 'n beter begrip van die onderwerp. Verder is persoonlike kommunikasie gebruik om toepaslike markverwagtinge en -vooruitsigte te bespreek. Die uitkoms is 'n waardasiebenadering om die potensiele waarde van maatskappye te bepaal. Die doel is om aan te toon dat die waarde verder as 'n suiwer finansie1e benadering strek. Uit die waardasieprosedure wat uitgevoer is, kan maklik gesien word dat die waarde van 'n maatskappy sterk beinvloed word deur die groenwaarde-komponent wat deur gewaardeerde omgewingsvoordele bepaal word.

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49

Zheng, Meng. "Two essays on determining corporations' long term commitment : political versus economic freedom." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2020. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/758.

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Freedom is universally valued and fundamentally affects social life. In this thesis, I examine how freedom affects an important dimension of business: long-term commitment (LTC). The LTC of corporations is vital for economic growth because economic development is reliant on entrepreneurs continuously investing in physical and social capital. Corporate opportunism will never lead to long-term economic growth. Specifically, this study examines the effects of political freedom (PF) and economic freedom (EF) on two LTC-related variables: investment and the commitment to maintaining a loyal shareholder base, both of which are essential topics in the business literature. This study consists of two essays. The first essay investigates the effects of a country's political versus economic freedom on corporate investment based on a sample of 19,605 companies operating in 49 countries for the timespan covering 1995 to 2015. First-differencing (FD) regressions show that PF and EF are positively associated with corporate investment, but PF's effect is larger. I also find that the effect of EF is conditional on the development of PF but not vice versa. Further, the effect of PF does not seem to be due to concurrent changes in uncontrolled factors: major changes in PF have larger effects than minor changes, and I do not observe a reversion in the effect of PF. Lastly, I find that an improvement in PF is associated with a larger growth in investment among firms with state ownership or political connections, suggesting a larger distorting effect of low PF on these firms' investment decisions. Overall, the findings shed new light on the economic reforms designed by policymakers: economic reforms, no matter how easy they seem, may not work well without political reforms. The second essay examines the impacts of a country's political compared with economic freedom on corporations' commitment to maintaining a loyal shareholder base. With a sample of 45 countries spanning 12 years, the FD result shows that PF and EF are positively associated with corporations' commitment to shareholder loyalty (CSL). More importantly, PF has a greater effect than EF. It is also determined that the impact of EF is dependent on the advancement of PF, but the reverse is not true. Furthermore, the impact of PF is not caused by concurrent changes in uncontrolled factors: major changes in PF are more impactful than minor changes, while a reversion in the impact of PF is not observed. Finally, I find that an enhancement to PF is correlated with a more significant increase in CSL among firms with state ownership or political connections than in firms without. This implies that low PF has a greater distorting effect on the CSL of such firms. In general, these results indicate that while it is comparatively easier for policymakers to enact economic reforms, their effectiveness may be reduced in the absence of concurrent political reforms.

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Leal, Gina Diaz. "Estudo dos eventos corporativos sob o contexto da cultura organizacional e da hospitalidade: um estudo de caso." Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, 2007. http://sitios.anhembi.br/tedesimplificado/handle/TEDE/1473.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Com o incremento de novas tecnologias e o fácil acesso à informação, as empresas enfrentam um mercado cada vez mais concorrido. E, para enfrentar essa concorrência, não basta que se preocupem com seus clientes ou em oferecer produtos ou serviços diferenciados, faz-se necessário preocuparem-se também com seu público interno, seus funcionários. Contar com uma equipe de profissionais comprometida pode significar um grande diferencial para as empresas. Este trabalho tem como o objetivo investigar a possibilidade de utilização do evento corporativo e seus rituais de hospitalidade, como uma estratégia de gestão que possibilite a interação entre os funcionários e a organização proporcionando a esses atores, uma participação efetiva na construção e no reforço da cultura organizacional. Para tanto, foram realizadas uma revisão bibliográfica acerca dos temas, cultura e cultura organizacional, hospitalidade e eventos, e uma pesquisa exploratória, aplicada junto a Holding Águia Branca Participações, localizada no estado do Espírito Santo. Para a realização da pesquisa foram estabelecidas duas etapas metodológicas: a primeira, constituiu-se de uma Entrevista Aberta aplicada junto à gerência de comunicação interna com o intuito de levantar os principais valores que norteiam a cultura dessa organização e, também, verificar o processo de planejamento dos eventos voltados para seu público interno; e, a segunda etapa, realizada por meio de Observação Não Participante, a fim de verificar a aplicação dos valores culturais organizacionais destacados na primeira etapa, pela gerência, bem como, os veículos ou instrumentos utilizados para a sua transmissão. O conjunto de informações coletadas, juntamente com a análise crítica desenvolvida posteriormente, pretende colaborar para a formação de um conhecimento que relacione os eventos corporativos às estratégias de gestão da cultura organizacional.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social aspects of Corporations'

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