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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential benefits for firms that report more on environmental activities, with regard to two important categories of stakeholders: shareholders and customers.

To avoid the endogeneity problem, the authors apply the system generalized method of moments approach by estimating the relationship between environmental reporting and firm performance with regard both to levels and first differences simultaneously.

Based on the 120 largest publicly traded companies in France from 2007 to 2011, results suggest that shareholders interpret and perceive firms’ environmental information disclosure differently than consumers. However, reporting on environmental duties is perceived favorably by both customers and shareholders for firms with better environmental performance. In the same way, an increase in the level of environmental reporting is valuable in terms of customer-related performance (i.e. sales growth and profit margin) and in terms of market value (i.e. Tobin’s q) for firms operating in customer proximity industries. In a supplementary analysis, the authors found that, for reporting on climate change (a component of the combined environmental reporting index), positive customer and shareholder perceptions are acquired in particular through superior environmental performance and proximity to the final customer.

When reporting on their environmental duties, environmental performance and proximity to the final customers play a critical role for firms in obtaining the necessary support of key stakeholders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the difference between shareholders’ and customers’ perception of environmental reporting according to firms’ environmental performance and to their proximity to the final customer.

This study aims at providing a proof of the factors associated with sustainability assurance demand by French companies.

This research used panel data methodology.

The study results demonstrate that institutional ownership and the presence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee within the management board have an effect on the demand for sustainability assurance. The results also reveal that three types of stakeholders (employees, environment and customers) positively affect the demand of voluntary sustainability assurance.

The paper provides a preliminary proof on the effects of the governance of corporation and pressure of some groups of stakeholders on the voluntary demand of sustainability assurance in France.

This study aims to investigate the influence of organisations’ board gender diversity on the adoption of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) and on the use of external assurance.

The paper combines data from the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database and the Orbis database from Bureau van Dijk. The study uses logit models based on a sample of 366 large Asian and African companies which have addressed the SDGs in their sustainability reports published in 2017.

The results reveal that board gender diversity is positively associated with sustainability reporting and the involvement of an external assurance provider.

This study adds to the growing literature on the relationship between women’s participation on corporate boards and SDG reporting. Additionally, it addresses the understudied question of how the gender diversity of board resources affects the adoption of the external assurance of sustainability reporting.

This article proposes a new theoretical background against which to measure customer experience for omnichannel service deliveries and communications based on the concept of proximity. This represents a first step in developing a new measurement approach for omnichannel customer experience.

The methodological approach is based on literature review and theory development. Various streams of literature are integrated on the basis of their interactionist nature (service logic, psychological distance theory, and omnichannel customer experience literature), and theory is developed based thereon.

Successful omnichannel service deliveries and communications should build proximity with the customer during interactions at the different touchpoints. Proximity represents the value-in-use for the customer, who is coproducer of value at each interaction. Proximity can be applied to all touchpoints, thus strengthening seamlessness for omnichannel service deliveries and communications.

This research advances knowledge by integrating the concepts of omnichannel and proximity under the lenses of service logic. The author proposes a new theoretical background for the measurement of omnichannel customer experience that contributes to the literature. In modern omnichannel service deliveries and communications, a measurement approach based on proximity fulfills the need to reconcile customer experiences at both remote and physical touchpoints for a holistic and coherent customer experience. Use of the four proximity dimensions (social, temporal, spatial, and hypothetical) gives flexibility to managers to build proximity across remote and physical touchpoints in different industries.

Enterprise software is a predominant sector in the European software industry. Four of the five largest European software companies are found in this sector. Interestingly, two of these — among them SAP as one of the two global market leaders — are located within the same industrial agglomeration in South-Western Germany. This agglomeration, the SAP cluster, further consists of enterprise software SMEs forming a ‘satellite system’ centred around the large players, which fosters the formation of ‘mutualistic symbiotic’ relationships between large and small firms. At first sight, cluster formation in the context of the enterprise software industry might seem perplexing considering that traditional rationales of agglomeration economies seem obsolete in an environment where advances in communications technology would permit companies to locate in any location within a modern developed economy instead of concentrating in proximity to each other or to major players in the industry. This chapter explores possible explanations of this agglomeration phenomenon based on patterns of competition, collaboration and the formation of social capital between smaller firms and large anchor firms.

The findings of a comparative analysis between the SAP cluster environment and two categories of controls (firms in other agglomerated environments and those unaffected by agglomeration effects within Germany) show that SAP cluster SMEs might simultaneously benefit from heightened intensity of competition and a more pronounced inclination towards collaboration. Moreover, the role of social capital derived from SAP as anchor firm clearly differentiates SAP cluster participants from firms located within other environments.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Amidst offshoring and reshoring trends, the purpose of this paper is to explore why business practitioners, especially from the labour-intensive clothing industry, choose to manufacture some products in proximity to the high-cost European market. Moreover, the rise of sustainability concerns led us to further explore whether these reasons relate to triple bottom line (TBL): business, environment and society.

The content analysis was adopted for within-case and cross-case analysis of data from semi-structured interviews of managers from 12 clothing companies.

Within-case analysis showed enablers and barriers (factors) of proximity manufacturing within each company’s characteristics under TBL. Cross-case analysis showed the most-mentioned enablers (high-quality suppliers, short lead-time and fast replenishment) and barriers (expensive production cost and lack of industrial set-up and seamstresses). The findings revealed both common and different factors from existing studies.

Besides being motives for companies to bring manufacturing back to Europe, the results can be used by researchers and companies to develop criteria and performance measures of manufacturing locations for enhancing the TBL sustainability. Future research may explore different locations and industries for possibilities of proximity–manufacturing generalisation.

Findings show that governments could focus on eliminating barriers of proximity manufacturing and creating favourable institutional infrastructure for the European clothing industry and sustainability.

This paper highlights updated proximity–manufacturing factors from practices in relation to TBL sustainability, including support for proximity manufacturing as a practice for TBL enhancement.

The purpose of this study is to test the legitimacy theory (LT) argument in the context of the banking industry of a developing country, taking Bangladesh as a case by interpreting the bank managers’ perceptions in legitimizing corporate social (CS) reporting.

This study uses the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed banks data during a 10-year period (2004–2013) and uses Islam and Kokubu (2018) CS reporting index. The LT variables are tested by using multiple regression method. A mixed-method of research with “triangulation design” has been used in this study for a comprehensive understanding of LT variables. In addition, a total number of 28 interviews (ranges from Corporate Social Responsibility Operational Manager to Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer) from 24 listed banks have been conducted to interpret bank managers’ legitimate perception in CS reporting.

This study supports the applicability of the broader thrust of LT for the banking industry of the developing economies in three ways. First, for companies with lower “proximity to end-users” by density in population disclose more social information than the companies with higher ones to gain/regain/maintain market legitimacy. Second, newer banks with less scope to reach proximity to end-users disclose more social information to fill proximity to tertiary clients’ gap to meet community expectation. Third, companies disclose more social information in their annual reports to legitimize corporate actions in response to the CS reporting initiatives taken by the stakeholders, particularly regulators.

The main implication of this study is that it extends the applicability of the LT for the developing country, in general, and for the banking industry, in particular.

The study enriches the existing LT literature of the developing economies’ banking industry by providing empirical evidence from the banking system in Bangladesh.

The boom in livestreaming commerce (LSC) has brought significant changes to social interaction methods. Understanding customer engagement in LSC is critical for online sellers who try to enhance the social influence and improve marketing effectiveness of LSC. Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) paradigm, this study aims to develop a model to investigate the effects of perceived attributes of LSC (real-time interaction, perceived proximity and perceived authenticity) on social support (informational and emotional support) and subsequent engagement.

An online survey is conducted to collect data from LSC customers, and data are analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS.

The results indicate that informational and emotional support are positively affected by real-time interaction, perceived proximity and perceived authenticity. In turn, informational and emotional support enable and mediate the prediction of customer engagement intention in LSC.

Prior LSC studies tend to focus on the motivation influencing LSC engagement from the perspective of perceived value. This study confirms the importance of perceived attributes of LSC in driving customer engagement from the perspective of social support.

Previous research on salesperson-customer proximity has yielded mixed results, with some studies documenting positive proximity effects on shopping responses and others demonstrating the reverse. To reconcile such mixed findings, this paper aims to test whether and how salesperson proximity influences a series of key customer outcomes in actual retail settings using sample sizes that are considerably larger than most former investigations.

We conducted two high-powered field studies (N = 1,312) to test whether salesperson‐customer proximity influences consumers’ purchase behavior and store loyalty. Moreover, we investigated whether the short-term effects on purchase behavior were moderated by the extent to which the consumption context had a clear connection to consumers’ own bodies.

Salesperson proximity increased purchase incidence and spending in consumption contexts with a bodily basis (e.g. clothes, beauty, health), suggesting that consumers “buy their way out” in these contexts when a salesperson is violating their personal space. If anything, such proximity had a negative impact on consumers’ purchase behavior in contexts that lacked a clear bodily connection (e.g. building materials, furniture, books). Moreover, the link between proximity and consumer responses was mediated by discomfort, such that a salesperson standing close-by (vs farther away) increased discomfort, with negative downstream effects on shopping responses. Importantly, the authors found opposite proximity effects on short-term metrics (purchase incidence and spending) and long-term outcomes (store loyalty).

Drawing on the nonverbal communication literature and theories on processing fluency, the current work introduces a theoretically relevant boundary condition for the effects of salesperson-customer proximity on consumers’ purchase behavior. Specifically, the bodily basis of the consumption context is discussed as a novel moderator, which may help to explain the mixed findings in this stream of research.

Salesperson-customer proximity may serve as a strategic sales tactic to improve short-term revenue in settings that are closely tied to consumers’ own bodies and characterized by one-time purchases. However, as salesperson proximity was found to be associated with lower store loyalty, irrespective of whether the shopping setting had a bodily basis, the risk of violating consumers’ personal space may have costly consequences from a long-term perspective.

The present field studies make three central contributions. First, we introduce a novel moderator for proximity effects in various sales and service settings. Second, we test the focal hypotheses with much higher statistical power than most existing proximity studies. Finally, we document that salesperson-customer proximity ironically yields opposite results on short-term metrics and long-term outcomes, thus underscoring the importance of not solely focusing on sales effectiveness when training frontline employees.