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1 – 10 of over 87000Xue Lin, Christabel Man-Fong Ho and Geoffrey Qiping Shen
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a collaborative framework for balancing stakeholder power and social responsibilities in construction projects. To…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a collaborative framework for balancing stakeholder power and social responsibilities in construction projects. To resolve the problems of unclear responsibility that is common in construction projects, the framework is designed to help stakeholders identify their roles in various issues and to facilitate collaborative endeavours by elucidating their responsibilities.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is designed using a scientific approach based on a problem-solution paradigm. It is developed as a model that would provide strategies for responding to various issues and that would also balance stakeholder responsibilities with power. A case study is conducted to validate the framework in an ongoing real estate project in China.
Findings
The effectiveness of the framework is validated from the case study, which found that the engagement of stakeholders is improved by adopting the framework. It is also found that use of the framework led to enhancement of communication and trust, and better collaboration through a collective form of responsibility.
Originality/value
The study provides valuable insights into stakeholder collaboration on social responsibility issues in construction projects. The dynamic nature of stakeholders is addressed, and an easy-to-follow framework is offered for use in construction projects.
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The university social responsibility (USR) is still in embryonic stage compared to corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is still debatable by researchers. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The university social responsibility (USR) is still in embryonic stage compared to corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is still debatable by researchers. The purpose of this paper is to propose the contemporary dimension (on top of teaching and research dimensions) of USR in most educational institutes. Based on this new definition, a proposal of a mechanism to quantify USR sustainability was presented.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of the theme of the CSR with the inter-related recent research on USR with researchers perspectives, characteristics of USR were identified and incorporated in the proposed newly definition of USR. The new definition takes into account the interrelationship of university–corporate communication and create shared value (CSV) principle, as well as the knowledgeability and sustainability.
Findings
Based on the review of most active research in the USR development and the concluded contemporary definition of USR, this paper proposes a new extended version of sustainability suitable for educational institutes, where it is composed of different zones, and each zone was defined in terms of value of sustainability with associated knowledgeability in each zone. The Green Cloud project was taken as a vehicle to demonstrate collaboration between a university and cloud service provider located in Middle East (Dubai). Sustainability quantification was provided with hypothetical numbers to illustrate the technique.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is focused on University-specific social responsibility rather than general CSR. The proposed contemporary definition of the USR is a hybrid of a mutated latest research on CSR as well as cascaded recent development on USR. The view of this new definition can have different arguments depending on the ideology (communitarianism as opposed to individualism) adopted by specific university admiration of the objective of social responsibility which is sometimes driven by the political and strategic views of countries and the regions. However, the proposed sustainability zone-split between the CSV type of projects and the reputation values (described via hypothetical example) can minimize the gap between the two ideologies.
Originality/value
This paper attempts to provide a universally acceptable definition of the USR based on different points of views of researchers and tries to accommodate both ideologies toward social responsibility into one coherent framework. The sustainability Venn diagram was extended and made suitable for educational institutes. This approach facilitates the mechanism of quantifying the value of sustainability of a university or educational institutes. Hypothetical “Green Cloud” project was used as a mechanism to show the quantification process.
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Elvira Cruvinel Ferreira Ventura
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the dissemination of structural arrangements relating to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement within the field of banking…
Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the dissemination of structural arrangements relating to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement within the field of banking organizations in Brazil. The paper is part of the research results to understand the dynamics of institutionalizing CSR, which is understood as a movement of capitalism displacement. The structural arrangements under study are: the specific areas created to address the CSR topic, social balance sheet and links on CSR in organizational websites ‐ considered as “tests” to include organizations in the movement. It was found that there is an isomorphic movement in the field where the major banks take the tests, having the arrangements ‐ and soon the large banks joined the movement, adopting different stances. Wholesale banks, however, have still to do the same thing, which ratifies the process as a search for legitimacy, the core argument of the theory.
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Duygu Turker and Y. Serkan Ozmen
This study aims to analyze how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives address sustainability challenges by focusing on the congruence between process and outcome…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives address sustainability challenges by focusing on the congruence between process and outcome variables of CSR.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a theory-driven model, a content analysis was conducted on 63 award-winning social responsibility projects.
Findings
The study reveals that the adoption of a proactive approach during environmental assessment, which manifests itself in a focus on emerging sustainability challenges with a deeper interest, affects the centrality of social responsibility initiative by increasing its learning and partnership potential and leads organizations to produce radical innovations.
Practical implications
The findings provide a valuable understanding for practitioners on organizing the decision making process of CSR initiatives in order to unlock its learning potentials.
Social implications
Radically innovative projects with their higher levels of proactivity, centrality and generalizability are better than incremental ones at transferring and integrating company resources and capabilities to address emergent sustainability challenges.
Originality/value
The impact of CSR on society and nature has been a neglected area of literature. To reduce this gap, this study analyzes how the configuration of process variables shapes the outcomes of socially responsible initiatives on sustainability. It also provides a new typology on the relevance of CSR initiatives to company mission/model that can show how CSR can unlock organizational learning and innovation potentials.
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Noor Muafiza Masdar and Rohaida Basiruddin
Corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) with social, economic, and environmental elements become of high demand in the private, public, as well as third-world sectors or…
Abstract
Corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) with social, economic, and environmental elements become of high demand in the private, public, as well as third-world sectors or so-called non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These sectors have their own identity in carrying out the CSR projects. However, the CSR initiatives to be implemented by the NGOs promised challenges due to the NGOs' identity in justifying human rights that remains dissimilar with corporation or fund provider's identity to maximize the profit with less concern on the humanitarian issues leading to tension for both parties to have CSR project alliances. NGOs face extreme difficulty to raise funds from the private sector due to their ideology in influencing the social movements that might harm society. Also, the fund raised by the NGOs for CSR projects are somehow misused by this party for its own self-interests and leads to an accountability issue. An NGO is seen as a key player in CSR projects but still there is an issue of legitimacy and mistrust amongst stakeholder groups. Underlying to these issues, this study aims to explore the challenges faced by NGOs in regards to the CSR initiatives that have been announced by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) to be used widely and harmoniously by all sectors of the world and its future directions to successfully implement CSR in its own style of leadership. Therefore, the involvement of NGOs in CSR initiatives can be effectively employed with government intervention on economics development programmes in alleviating poverty which becomes a central issue highlighted in many countries nowadays. Extensive rules and regulations from the government towards NGOs are embedded within the CSR project developments of NGOs and are necessary in reducing the discrepancies in the roles that NGOs play.
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Wujuan Zhai, Florence Yean Yng Ling, Jiyong Ding and Zhuofu Wang
Megaprojects have large impact on the environment and stakeholders should take collective action to ensure that these projects are developed in a socially responsible manner…
Abstract
Purpose
Megaprojects have large impact on the environment and stakeholders should take collective action to ensure that these projects are developed in a socially responsible manner. Hitherto, it is not known whether group and subjective norms and social identity could compel stakeholders to take socially responsible collective actions in megaprojects. The aim of this study is to design and test a model to boost stakeholders' intention to take socially responsible collective action in the context of mega water transfer projects in China.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental causal research design was adopted to establish cause–effect relationships among the dependent variable (we-intention) and independent variables (subjective norms, group norms, social identity and desire). This study adopts the belief–desire–intention model and social influence theory to empirically investigate how to boost the stakeholders' intention to participate in socially responsible collective action. An online questionnaire survey was conducted and data was collected from 365 respondents who were involved in mega water transfer projects in China. The partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was employed to analyze the data.
Findings
The results from partial least squares analyses indicate that the presence of subjective norms, group norms and social identity (collectively known as social influence process) could increase stakeholders' intention to take socially responsible collective action. In addition, the desire to be socially responsible also boosts stakeholders' intention to take collective action. Desire partially mediates the relationship between social influence process and intention to take socially responsible collective action.
Originality/value
This study adds to existing knowledge by discovering social influence process as an antecedent to taking socially responsible collective action in megaprojects. Strong group norms and subjective norms could propel stakeholders to be more socially responsible. The study also adds to knowledge by discovering that stakeholders' desire to fulfill social responsibility also leads them to take concrete actions. Implications and recommendations are provided on how to manipulate different types of social influence processes to facilitate stakeholders to adopt socially responsible collective action in the process of managing megaprojects.
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Interior design is a process which collaborates different approaches, strategies, methodologies and practices. This study is a social responsibility project which had been…
Abstract
Interior design is a process which collaborates different approaches, strategies, methodologies and practices. This study is a social responsibility project which had been conducted under the supervision of the author and the authorities of The Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV). The purpose of this project is to investigate how effective the integration of knowledge-based sessions and research-project development phases, while trying to increase students’ motivation. The project had been rejenerated twice, in 2014 and 2015 spring terms, during which the visual research method was photographing, computer modelling, interviews with authorities and children. In regard to the mission of the foundation, twenty-eight interior design students (in 2014 spring term) and seventeen students (in 2015 spring term) developed concept sheets, prepared design proposals, presented and submitted them to the authorities. This paper is a brief discussion and evaluation on the design process which may help to provide a base for similar social responsibility projects. Design proposals in the study may also help to identify new research questions such as whether/how changes in social, physical and cognitive concerns may influence the psychological reactions to educational activity centers and how such impacts may help enhance the affective quality in designs where necessary. In the project, each project team was asked to develop a concept map and to identify the most important words. It was recorded that all groups used “children” as the main keyword in their concept maps. Hence, the most frequently referred terms in the concept maps were grouped, analysed and interpreted, which can also be defined as the “concept map” of the project. Another concrete outcome of the study was the encouragement of students, they got involved in the design process equally. They were honoured by “TEGV social responsibility certificates” which supported their awareness and motivation to the design process as well.
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The purpose of this paper is to determine the most successful companies on social responsibility issues based on the data collected through a field survey and to see the corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the most successful companies on social responsibility issues based on the data collected through a field survey and to see the corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach of the five most mentioned companies, their future projects, and their main social investment drivers in order to clarify the future prospects of CSR in the Turkish context.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, data was collected from two sources, at first; a survey is conducted on consumers. Second, face‐to‐face interviews are realized to illuminate the future prospects on CSR issues of these firms and to elucidate their vision.
Findings
Not surprisingly, the most appreciated companies on CSR have a pro‐active approach. However, this should not be taken as a reality of Turkey since these companies are leaders in the field. The most important issues according to consumers and these managers, and the main basic principles of the companies making a CSR investment, are determined.
Research limitations/implications
Though the aim of this study had been to examine the future prospects of CSR projects in Turkey, the interviewees didn't give details about their future projects. It is also impossible to make generalizations for Turkey with the data collected from consumers as it was collected only in the Istanbul urban area. Concerning the interviews, only five firms are included in the second part of the study.
Practical implications
The study enriches the extant literature and provides future research areas as well as insights and basic principles for managerial use in determining the most suitable CSR strategies and investing for CSR projects.
Originality/value
As the subject of the study is open to continuous development, this study shows the current situation on CSR issues via the leader companies in Turkey according to consumers.
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Pedro Luiz Cortes, João Roberto Cordeiro Duarte and Sylmara Lopes Gonçalves Dias
This paper aims to consider the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects by Catoca, a diamond mining company in Angola, along with the effectiveness of these…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to consider the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects by Catoca, a diamond mining company in Angola, along with the effectiveness of these projects, and the benefits to stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method used was direct observation and semi-structured interview with executives and administrative employees of the company, and collaborators of CSR projects, during 2010, 2011 and 2012. We also analyse documents about CSR projects developed by Catoca and identify the challenges faced.
Findings
The management of CSR projects is hampered by the low disclosure of results and the absence of social indicators. This may generate inadequate results compared to investment. The assumption of low stakeholder expectation and the absence of social indicators may lead to neo-philanthropic or preconceived actions that ignore local peculiarities.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to one company, and the lack of social indicators means it is difficult to evaluate the reported results.
Practical implications
This paper improves understanding of the challenges involved in CSR projects in Africa and may also be useful for companies that develop CSR projects, drawing attention to issues that could compromise the proper use of resources and hamper results.
Social implications
This study considers Angola, which is using its natural resources to boost economic and social development, establish partnerships with foreign companies and encourage the development of CSR programmes which often end up filling gaps left by the absence of government action.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the largely under-researched area of CSR projects in Angola.
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