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Brand crisis has become an increasingly common phenomenon recently. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a role in mitigating the negative consequences of brand crisis, it is not always effective, especially for foreign companies. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the differential effects of CSR on brand crisis, considering the impact of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism.

This study used a 2 (country of origins: domestic vs foreign) × 2 (consumer ethnocentrism: high vs low) × 2 (CSR: before vs after related information is presented) between-subjects experiment to simulate a brand crisis. A fictional WeChat Moment posting was used as a stimulus. Data from 210 Chinese respondents were analyzed.

When consumer ethnocentrism is high, the impact of CSR on consumer attitude toward the company undergoing a crisis was greater for domestic than for foreign companies. Conversely, for consumers with low ethnocentrism, the effectiveness of CSR in attenuating the negative impact of the brand crisis (i.e. the insurance-like effect of CSR) was insignificant across domestic and foreign companies.

This study extends the prior literature and clarifies the unclear results of previous studies on the effect of CSR on brand crisis by examining the impact of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism. Novel insights into the insurance-like effect of CSR in brand crises were obtained.

This study aims to verify the respective and interactive effects of subnational formal and informal institutions (i.e. legal effectiveness and social trust) on foreign firm performance, and further identify the contingent factor (i.e. institutional experience) that moderates these relationships.

Drawing on the institutional-based view, this study develops several hypotheses that are tested using a comprehensive dataset from four main data sources. The authors’ unit of analysis is foreign firms operating in China. The authors ran ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model to investigate the effects. A series of robustness tests and endogeneity tests were performed.

The results show that both legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level positively affect foreign firm performance respectively. Legal effectiveness and social trust at subnational level have complementary effect in promoting the performance of foreign firms. Foreign firm's institutional experience in target region of emerging economies host country strengthens the positive impact of subnational legal effectiveness on performance, but weakens the positive impact of subnational social trust on performance.

It is important to fully understand the impact of heterogeneous institutional environments of subnational regions in emerging economies on foreign firm performance, which would help foreign firm make a more suitable secondary choice decision of investment destinations at the subnational regional level.

First, drawing on institutional-based view, the authors incorporate the subnational formal and informal institutional factors to investigate their impacts on foreign firm performance by switching the attention from national level to subnational level in emerging economy host countries. Second, this research furthers existing studies by bridging a missing link between both subnational formal and informal institutional environments and foreign firms' outcomes. Third, the authors prove that the model of subnational formal and informal institutions in influencing foreign firms' performance is contingent on their institutional experience in target subnational region of emerging economy host country.

Despite the extensive body of research on absolute corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, limited attention has been given to the distinct concepts of optimal and aggressive CSR engagement, as well as their associations with CSR awarding. This study aims to differentiate between optimal and aggressive CSR engagement and examine their relationship with CSR awarding while considering the moderating influence of board characteristics from the perspectives of stakeholder and agency theories.

This empirical analysis draws on an international dataset comprising 43,803 observations from nine sectors across 41 countries. We employ a least squares dummy variable regression approach that accounts for country, industry and year effects to conduct the analysis.

The results reveal that engagement in aggressive CSR activities beyond the optimal level leads to the generation of a social reputation through CSR awarding. However, the influence of board characteristics on this relationship is significant. Specifically, the presence of a dedicated CSR committee encourages CSR awarding in the context of aggressive CSR engagement. Conversely, board independence constrains the relationship between aggressive CSR engagement and CSR awarding. Notably, board gender diversity does not have a discernible impact on this connection.

Our evidence provides valuable insights to help firms seeking to enhance their social reputation through CSR activities better allocate their resources and avoid unnecessary financial commitments.

This study advances the current understanding by exploring the relationship between aggressive CSR engagement and the recognition of CSR awards. Furthermore, it scrutinises the factors that dictate when such aggressive CSR engagement translates into enhanced social reputation, as evidenced by the attainment of CSR awards.

In this study, the authors investigate whether supply chain (SC) strategies (lean or agile) improve or hinder the supply chain transparency (SCT) and what factors affect this relation.

The authors measure the level of SC strategy using natural language processing based on the annual financial reports of listed firms. Secondary data analysis is conducted on various databases encompassing 1,241 listed firms in China from 2011 to 2020. Additional tests are performed to assess the robustness of the results, and alternative explanations are duly considered.

The authors find that firms with an advanced level of SC strategy perform better on SCT. Furthermore, the authors observe that Agile SC strategy and Lean SC strategy have different effects on SCT over a firm’s life cycle. Agile SC strategy (the ratio of the proportion of Agile SC strategy word frequency divided by the proportion of Lean SC strategy word frequency greater than 1) has a significantly positive effect on SCT in the maturity stage; Lean SC strategy (the ratio less than 1) has a positive effect on SCT in the growth and decline stages. An increase in online media coverage negatively moderates the impact of the SC strategy (frequency of Lean and Agile SC strategy-related keywords) on SCT in the maturity stage. An increase in government environmental subsidies positively moderates the impact of SC strategy on SCT in the maturity and decline stages. Additionally, an increase in industrial competition intensity positively moderates the impact of the SC strategy on SCT in the decline stage.

The authors' study contributes to the Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) literature by revealing the positive impact of SC strategy on SCT with objective secondary data. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of moderators over the lifecycle of a firm on this relationship in an emerging market context. The authors' findings offer valuable guidance to companies operating in diverse market environments, providing actionable insights to strengthen their SC strategies and enhance SCT.

This qualitative study set within Northern Ireland aims to explore professional perspectives on the application of evidence-informed practice to the adult safeguarding threshold screening process.

Data was gathered from seven social workers in one health and social care trust area, who perform the designated adult protection role, through individual semi-structured interviews in one region of Northern Ireland. The interview schedule comprised of a series of questions examining the role of the designated adult protection officer and included three vignettes (Appendix). A thematic analysis was undertaken using NVIVO software.

This paper reports main findings under the themes of: the role of the designated adult protection officer, threshold decision-making, evidence-informed practice and service improvement. One of the main findings was that professionals viewed the current process as too bureaucratic, and there was a desire to engage in more preventive safeguarding in collaboration with service users. There was a need to promote awareness of evidence-informed practice as it applies to the threshold screening process. Furthermore, the study raised the question of the need to consider the application of models or methods of assessment to the threshold screening process.

This in-depth exploration of the role of designated adult protection officers in Northern Ireland provides a valuable insight into the complexity involved in managing adult safeguarding referrals and investigations. This study adds to the existing knowledge base, identifies potential service improvements and highlights the gap in evidence-based practice as it applies to the threshold screening process. Threshold screening of adult safeguarding referrals remains a subjective process and is open to interpretation and differences in professional judgement. The study highlights the need to consider the application of quality improvement methodology to the threshold screening assessment and the need to promote the exchange of safeguarding knowledge.