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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Ralf Barkemeyer and Frank Figge

This paper aims to argue that the on-going professionalization and dissemination of the current wave of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concepts and instruments leads to a…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to argue that the on-going professionalization and dissemination of the current wave of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concepts and instruments leads to a headquartering effect, i.e. the concentration of CSR-related decision-making within corporate headquarters. This headquartering effect casts doubt on earlier studies suggesting that the “transnational” or “glocal” model can effectively address the multitude of global and local CSR challenges modern multinational companies (MNCs) face.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper uses a stakeholder lens, in turn, drawing from resource dependence theory and organizational legitimacy theory to develop under which conditions claims of Southern stakeholders will be considered by Northern MNCs. It provides evidence for the existence of a headquartering effect as a defining characteristic of mainstream CSR approaches.

Findings

The authors argue that the increasing professionalization and dissemination of mainstream CSR approaches among MNCs reinforce the headquartering effect, with strategic decision-making increasingly confined to the companies’ headquarters, while the scope of action within the subsidiaries and the supply chain of MNCs becomes increasingly restricted over time. Ultimately, this headquartering effect strengthens a Northern CSR/sustainability agenda and fails to empower developing country stakeholders.

Originality/value

The paper contributes by exploring how international CSR follows a different underlying rationale than international business. While international business research follows an instrumental perspective, international CSR is driven by both instrumental and normative considerations. Thus, international business theories may not be directly applicable to international CSR contexts.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Suthikorn Kingkaew and Sven Dahms

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of network relationship strength and subsidiary initiatives on the headquarters value added and performance in foreign-owned…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of network relationship strength and subsidiary initiatives on the headquarters value added and performance in foreign-owned subsidiaries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on survey data collected from foreign-owned subsidiaries located in Thailand. The authors use symmetric structured equation modelling partial least squared (SEM-PLS) and asymmetric fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) techniques to analyse the data.

Findings

The authors found that intra-organisational relationship strength is one of the key determinants for high headquarter value added. They also found that headquarter value added plays a crucial role in explaining subsidiary performance. The role of subsidiary initiatives seem overall less pronounced than initially thought.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in the conceptual framework based on networks and subsidiary initiatives. This is one of the few studies that empirically tests headquarters value-added determinants in subsidiaries located in an emerging market. Furthermore, the authors use SEM-PLS and fsQCA to look beyond more commonly tested symmetric associations.

Details

Review of International Business and Strategy, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-6014

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2022

Won-Moo Hur, Yuhyung Shin and Hansol Hwang

This study aims to explore how and when managers' job crafting contributes to their service performance. The first objective of the research was to assess the mediating…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how and when managers' job crafting contributes to their service performance. The first objective of the research was to assess the mediating relationship between franchised restaurant managers' job crafting, work engagement and service performance. Its second objective was to examine the moderating effect of organizational control systems on the job crafting–work engagement relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors administered paper-and-pencil surveys to 235 franchised restaurant managers in South Korea. The authors tested their hypotheses via Process 3.5 macro and bootstrapping.

Findings

The results confirmed the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between job crafting and work engagement. Furthermore, this relationship was more pronounced when the headquarters used a high level of outcome-based control systems and a low level of behavior-based control systems.

Originality/value

Distinct from studies that have examined service employees' job crafting, this study uncovers the role of managerial job crafting in service performance. The findings contribute to service theory and practice by providing novel insights into the interplay between managerial job crafting and organizational control systems.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2020

Jitong Li and Karen K. Leonas

The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability performances of apparel, footwear and accessory (AFA) B Corps, providing companies, especially micro, small and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability performances of apparel, footwear and accessory (AFA) B Corps, providing companies, especially micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with reasonable suggestions on how to incorporate the concept of sustainability efficiently.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focused on 117 AFA B Corps. B Corps’ overall sustainability performances consist of their performances in the five areas of governance, workers, community, environment and customers. First, the 117 B Corps’ performances in these areas were compared. Second, multiple regression models were built to predict the B Corps’ sustainability performances based on their inherent characteristics (headquarter location, age, size and industry sector). Third, according to the B Corps’ performances in the five areas, the B Corps were clustered using the hieratical clustering method.

Findings

This study found that the B Corps’ performances in different areas were significantly different and their performances in the area of the community were better than in the other four areas. The B Corps’ characteristics were correlated to their sustainability performances. For example, company size was positively related to the B Corps’ performances in the area of workers. Additionally, Clusters 1, 2 and 3 were identified and characterized by their competitive performances in the areas of governance, workers and community, respectively.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the knowledge of AFA B Corps’ sustainability performances, identifying the weakness and strongness of the sustainable practices accepted by existing AFA B Corps and lending insights regarding how to predict and improve sustainability performances.

Details

Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1560-6074

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Nidthida Lin, Hao Tan and Stephen Chen

The purpose of this paper is to examine how three key dimensions of a firm’s offshoring portfolio – location diversity, functional diversity and governance mode – affect the…

1065

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how three key dimensions of a firm’s offshoring portfolio – location diversity, functional diversity and governance mode – affect the financial and innovation outcomes of offshoring.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigate the relationships between the diversity of a firm’s offshoring portfolio and its offshoring outcomes using a sample of US, European and Asia Pacific firms engaging in offshoring activities.

Findings

The authors found that: location diversity shows a significant “flipped S-shape” relationship with innovation outcomes, but has a negative impact on financial outcomes, functional diversity has a significant and positive effect on innovation outcome and the use of an outsourcing governance mode significantly moderates these relationships, such that the degree of offshore outsourcing weakens some of these effects.

Originality/value

The authors conclude that firms which strategically coordinate all three dimensions of their offshoring portfolio are more likely to achieve better innovation or financial outcomes from their use of offshoring in global supply chain and sourcing.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 47 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 July 2023

Clara Lina Dziuron and Tilo F. Halaszovich

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains a prevalent topic for businesses worldwide, especially for those operating in developing countries. The attention on small and…

Abstract

Purpose

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains a prevalent topic for businesses worldwide, especially for those operating in developing countries. The attention on small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs') CSR engagement in developing countries has been neglected, although SMEs play a vital role in socio-economic development in African countries like Kenya. This paper aims to conceptualize the relationship between the SME manager's values, ethics, emotional commitment to long-term socio-economic development and the firm's CSR practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted seven semi-structured interviews with Kenyan and German SMEs located in Nairobi. A deductive-inductive analysis approach was chosen, confirming previous findings and contributing new ideas to the International Business (IB) literature.

Findings

This paper develops a concept linking the values and beliefs of the SME manager with the firm's CSR practices in developing countries via the manager's emotional commitment to local long-term socio-economic development. The Kenyan managers tend to show a higher degree of emotional commitment, which the authors explain by two drivers: (1) philanthropic, self-motivated driver and (2) expectation-based, environment-motivated driver. The authors' findings add to the literature on SMEs' CSR engagement in developing countries by looking at the individual level of analysis.

Originality/value

This paper develops a concept linking the values and beliefs of the SME manager with the firm's CSR practices in developing countries.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2002

Randi Lunnan, Rolv Petter Amdam, Bjørn Hennestad, Jon Erland Lervik and Sølvi Nilsen

The article is inspired by a paradox: why do MNEs like standardised leadership tools when everybody argues that the world is becoming more complex? Based on this paradox the…

1415

Abstract

The article is inspired by a paradox: why do MNEs like standardised leadership tools when everybody argues that the world is becoming more complex? Based on this paradox the article raises the question: under what conditions will standardisation of a leadership tool be most useful to an MNE? Previous literature suggests that standardisation of a leadership tool may have control and learning benefits, and the article explores these effects looking at external and internal contexts of MNE subsidiaries. The paper is conceptual, but draws also on examples from a case study within a Norwegian MNE. The article argues that external complexity diminishes the usefulness of standardisation to an MNE. Internal fit of the tool with other tools will increase benefits of standardisation, the article argues, whereas managerial autonomy is associated with higher subsidiary learning effects, but lower synergy and control effects.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Fabian Maximilian Johannes Teichmann and Chiara Wittmann

Through the lens of ethical appreciation, this paper aims to discuss what it means for a company to claim taking responsibility for its supply chain and whether this is a…

Abstract

Purpose

Through the lens of ethical appreciation, this paper aims to discuss what it means for a company to claim taking responsibility for its supply chain and whether this is a reasonable demand to make by corporations.

Design/methodology/approach

The place of ethics in economic and legislation is not selfevident. The intersection of ethics and economics through the topic of supply chains is approached by breaking down, respectively, the integral features of supply chains and the ethical considerations in compliance regulations.

Findings

The transnational nature of global supply chains, the depth of manufacturing tiers and the power asymmetries between buyer and seller are some of the fundamental sticking points in dissecting corporate social responsibility.

Originality/value

This paper uses a unique parallel perspective of the broad ethical concerns, which have developed under the umbrella term of responsibility, as well as the finer ethical details which are integral to supply chains as international structures of dependency.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 August 2018

Karim Saïd, Zeljko Sevic and Ian Llewelyn Phillips

This paper aims to examine the tensions between global and local corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives developed by multinationals managing subsidiaries in different…

1737

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the tensions between global and local corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives developed by multinationals managing subsidiaries in different emergent countries. Multinationals carry out a wide array of political activities (Boddewyn and Brewer, 1994; Hillman and Hitt, 1999; Rehbein and Schuler, 1995) supporting their economic objectives, even though the political landscape and the institutional environment may vary significantly in the different countries in which they are located (Luo, 2006). This can raise issues related to the management of cross-border political imperatives as well as the coordination of political activities among multinational companies and their subsidiaries.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a documentary research, this paper analyses the key challenges facing the non-market and CSR strategies of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) a world leading, research-based pharmaceutical and health-care company.

Findings

The paper further looks at the way in which GSK deploys its global non-market strategies and manages their alignment with local CSR initiatives in emerging markets, particularly in China.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is required to address the question of international CSR mediation and moderation of this imbalance between pressures for global consistency and local responsiveness. More specifically, in-depth case studies designed to target local managers, as well as their counterparts from the MNE headquarters, should allow us to more effectively analyse and capture the perceived biases with regard to the way the CSR agenda is set at the central level, in light of its global strategy and to the needs and demands of their local host countries’ stakeholders.

Originality/value

This exploratory research based on secondary data allows an interesting base for analysis of the synergies between CSR, non-market strategies and international strategic management which provide a promising base for continuing research.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2021

Marta Ferrer-Serrano, Lucio Fuentelsaz and Maria Pilar Latorre-Martinez

Knowledge transfer (KT) has been attracting significant attention from the scientific community. The need to establish collaborative network relationships to achieve effective KT…

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge transfer (KT) has been attracting significant attention from the scientific community. The need to establish collaborative network relationships to achieve effective KT has led to a large volume of studies that attempt to identify how collaborative networks influence KT processes. However, papers, which link KT and networks have not been systematised. This study aims to provide an overview of this academic field and sets an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses method to conduct a systematic review of the literature published in 2000–2020. The authors sourced the sample from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. The authors screened the references under the management and business categories that were published in the first two quartiles of the Journal Citation Report. This search returned 190 impactful papers across the 53 journals that were analysed.

Findings

The authors present the main results in two sections. First, this paper elaborates a conceptual model of the field; second, the authors review KT between firms and other agents, which allows us to identify KT flows within and between companies, universities and public institutions.

Originality/value

This paper provides the first systematic review of collaborative networks and KT. Five areas of action are identified for future research and are specified in several research questions. The authors also provide several practical implications. In a world in which more and more dynamic agents coexist, it is important to be aware of the needs of organisations that create and disseminate specific knowledge.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 26 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

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