Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an alternative roadmap to accelerating realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Uganda, even after 2015.

Using a mixed research methodology, this research documented CSR activities of 16 companies operating in Uganda. Data collection was guided by quantitative and qualitative methodologies (semi-structured interviews with CSR managers, plus non-participant observation of CSR activities and projects linked with MDGs). Triangulation was used to ensure credibility and validity of the results. For data analysis, the authors followed a three-stepwise process, which helped to develop a framework within which the collected data could be analyzed. For generalization of the findings, the authors were guided by the “adaptive theory approach”.

Uganda will not realize any MDGs by 2015. However, CSR activities have the potential to contribute to a cross-section of various MDGs that are more important and relevant to Uganda when supported by the government. If this happens, realization of the MDGs is likely to be stepped up. CSR's potential contributions to the MDGs were found to be hindered by corruption and cost of doing business. Lastly, MDG 8 and MDG 3 were perceived to be too ambiguous to be integrated into company CSR interventions, and to a certain extent were perceived to be carrying political intentions which conflict with the primary business intentions of profit maximization.

Governments in developing countries that are still grappling with the MDGs can use this research when devising collaborations with private-sector companies. These documented CSR activities that contribute directly to specific MDGs can be factored into the priority public-private partnership arrangements. Private companies can also use these findings to frame their stakeholder engagement, especially with the government and also when setting CSR priorities that significantly contribute to sustainable development.

This research advances the “Post-2015 MDG Development Agenda” suggested during the United Nations MDG Summit in 2010, which called for academic and innovative contributions on how MDGs can be realized even after 2015.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often depicted as a major challenge to current business practices, and CSR managers have recently been indicated as prime examples of change agents. The purpose of this paper is to take an occupational perspective to consider these managers. It focuses in particular on their occupational rhetorics, which correspond to idealized images that CSR managers use to represent their work. These rhetorics are analyzed in order to shed light on CSR managers’ change potential in organizations.

The study, which benefits from collaboration with the Italian CSR Manager Network, draws on a multi-method research approach which included interviews, observations at public events and meetings, as well as focus groups with CSR managers.

Five broad rhetorical repertoires were identified: “the motor of change,” “the business-oriented,” “the fatalist,” “the idealist” and “the CSR bookkeeper” rhetorics. The primacy of the first two repertoires lead to the conclusion that CSR managers are more likely to foster continuity instead of change in current business practices.

The study is mainly based on interview data and could therefore be extended by ethnographic investigations of CSR managers’ work or by observations of CSR managers’ language use in their everyday work.

The study is part of a growing empirical literature that investigates the role of individual actors in developing and implementing CSR in organizations and, in particular, the role of CSR practitioners. It contributes to the development of the literature on CSR-driven change within business organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the issues and challenges in humanitarian logistics and to develop a framework for effectively managing the humanitarian logistics in disaster relief supply chain operations in India.

This paper presents a framework to manage humanitarian logistics effectively in disaster management through qualitative analysis. First, the author examines the challenges facing the humanitarian logistics and supply chain through the reviews of the literature on various disasters. Then, the author presented a framework based on the best practices and initiatives taken worldwide in the preparedness and response stage of the humanitarian supply chain to manage and reduce the aftermath of any disaster in context to India.

A framework has been developed to manage humanitarian logistics in the disaster relief operation, which would improve the humanitarian supply chain in India and help to effectively manage natural disasters in the preparedness and response stage at the state and district levels.

The paper mainly emphasises on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian context.

None of the disaster incidents can be stopped from taking place, but the impact can be minimised by proper preparedness and effective response during the operations of humanitarian logistics. With this hope, the framework has been developed, which if implemented would help to plan and manage any disaster incident in an effective manner, which ultimately would save millions of lives and cost in terms of infrastructure, property, assets etc.

As natural disaster incidents are occurring frequently in Indian states, there is an urgent need for a framework to manage the logistics operations effectively and efficiently during any disaster relief operations. Limited literature is found on developing and presenting a framework focusing on the preparedness and response phase of disaster supply chain management in context to India. Hence, this paper is believed to be the first to fulfil this gap with main emphasis on the preparedness and response stage of disaster supply chain management in Indian scenario.

This paper aims to emphasize the importance and current deficits of non-financial impact (NFI) assessment of socially responsible investment (SRI) with reference to the action plan of the European Commission (EC) for a greener and cleaner economy.

The importance and current deficits of NFI assessment are evaluated theoretically and condensed to an equilibrated socially responsible investment (ESRI) perspective, based on a narrative literature review of highly ranked academic journals.

Due to a deficient exploration of NFI in theory and practice, the role of SRI funds for sustainability transition has not yet been adequately discussed. This has enabled a situation where a constantly rising market share of SRI has not led to similar sustainability achievements. This strongly contrasts with investors’ expectations, the self-portrayal of the sector and the goals of the EC’s action plan. As a solution, the developed ESRI perspective elevates NFI as a second cornerstone for theory and practice. ESRI, contrary to the EC, sets a primer on the role of SRI fund management for achieving sustainability goals.

This study reveals how SRI theory and practice neglect the importance of NFI. The presented ESRI perspective enables scholars to examine SRI practices more holistically through a new theoretical lens. One special focus is on the role of SRI fund management as a transmission mechanism to push portfolio companies’ business practices toward more sustainable behavior.

This paper seeks to report on six Symposia offered at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), held 17‐21 February 2011 in Washington, DC. This 177th Meeting's theme was “Science without Borders.”

The report for each symposium includes internet links and bibliographic citations leading to information that further supports and enriches the information provided in the speakers' presentations.

An enhanced report was presented for each presentation for each symposium.

Several symposia, relating to: global collaboration; the digitization of science; publications without borders; and, teaching, learning, and research in the digital age, are covered in this report. The paper provides a documented insight on the most recent advances in research described by each symposium's presenter.

This paper aims to highlight blind spots in the discourse of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stretch the boundaries of existent CSR frameworks within the particular context of resource extraction and with regard to the particular stakeholder group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This context is important in light of the recommendations from the recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as they relate to initiatives that businesses may take towards reconciliation with Indigenous people.

This paper brings together a disparate body of literature on CSR, Indigenous spiritual values and experiences of extractive practices on Indigenous ancestral lands. Suggestions are offered for empirical research and projects that may advance the project of reconciliation.

CSR may not be an appropriate framework for reconciliation without alteration to its managerial biases and ideological assumptions. The CSR discourse needs to accommodate the “free prior and informed consent” of Indigenous peoples and their spiritual values and knowledge vis-à-vis the land for resource extractive practices to edge towards being socially responsible when they occur on Canadian ancestral territories.

Canadian society exists in a post-TRC world, which demands that we reconcile with our past of denying Indigenous values and suppressing the cultures of Indigenous peoples from flourishing. This paper aspires to respond to the TRC’s recommendation for how businesses in the resource extractive industries may engage meaningfully and authentically with Indigenous people in Canada as a step towards reconciliation.

Although corporate social responsibility–corporate financial performance (CSR-CFP) research topics have been widely investigated, previous research has yet to examine the relationship between the specific dimension of CSR and CFP among Malaysian public-listed companies. Through literature review, it has been found that the CSR-CFP studies conducted in Malaysia have omitted the role of workplace diversity dimension in contribution to CFP. Failure to consider this variable may risk misrepresenting the relationship between CSR and CFP, thereby preclude consensus on the direction of the relationship between the variables. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between individual CSR dimensions and CFP.

By using the CSR dimension disclosure-scoring method and cross-sectional data analysis, this research has conducted a content analysis on annual reports of the sample companies to evaluate the influence of CSR practices on companies’ profitability during 2015.

The results show that companies displaying CSR behavior are associated with higher CFP. That is to say, there is a positive relationship between CSR and CFP. However, the result has further revealed that the five CSR dimensions in isolation would differently associate with the two proxies of CFP.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in Malaysia that considers workplace diversity issues as one of the dimensions of CSR. The findings will thus bring new insights into CSR application in Malaysia and its association with the CFP.

While systems theory explicitly considers interactions as part of a system’s complexity, supply chain complexity (SCC) is mostly conceptualized and measured as a linear summation of several aspects. The purpose of this paper is to challenge the general understanding by explicitly investigating interactions between and across different types (detail and dynamic) and levels (plant, supply chain, environment) of SCC.

An exploratory multiple case study methodology is adopted drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with respondents from eight manufacturing plants in the food processing industry.

On the one hand, it is found that different types add and increase overall SCC. On the other hand, the study also shows the opposite: interactions between detail and dynamic complexity can reduce the overall SCC experienced. Additionally, the findings highlight the specific food processing characteristics such as the variability of quality and quantity of raw materials that underlie interactions between types and levels of SCC.

This study adds to theory by empirically showing that interactions across and between types and levels do not automatically increase, but might also reduce SCC. As such, the findings contribute new detail to the concept of SCC: aspects of complexity do not necessarily add up linearly. Additionally, this study is one of the first to demonstrate how specific contextual aspects from the food processing industry relate to SCC.