Ilan Alon, Christoph Lattemann, Marc Fetscherin, Shaomin Li and Anna‐Maria Schneider
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the status of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) nations. The four countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the status of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) nations. The four countries are among the biggest emerging markets, forecasted to have increasing influence in economic and political spheres. How these countries manage their corporate communication in regards to CSR is, thus, the focus of the investigation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper compares the extent and content of corporate communication with respect to CSR from a sample of over 100 companies from the BRIC nations by investigating the nature of CSR motives, processes, and stakeholder.
Findings
The results of the analysis show that CSR activities differ among BRIC nations with respect to CSR motives, processes, and stakeholder issues. China seems to be least communicative on a number of CSR issues.
Practical implications
The research shows that great variations exist in the implementation of CSR in BRIC nations. Even though India's GDP per capita is lower than that of China, for example, its communication of CSR is more intensive. This suggests that economic development alone cannot fully explain the differences in CSR communication. A full understanding of differences in CSR communications across BRIC is, thus, needed.
Originality/value
The paper is original in providing across BRIC country analysis of corporate communication relating to CSR activities.
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Christoph Lattemann, Stefan Stieglitz, Sören Kupke and Anna‐Maria Schneider
Broadband access plays a major role for economic growth and for social and cultural development of urban and rural areas. A provision of broadband infrastructure and services in…
Abstract
Purpose
Broadband access plays a major role for economic growth and for social and cultural development of urban and rural areas. A provision of broadband infrastructure and services in these areas is not attractive for private investments because of a low or even negative expected rate on return. The purpose of this paper is to identify different modes of public private partnership (PPP) funding and organizational models of collaborations among public and private partners to establish broadband infrastructures. Decision makers get insights about innovative financial and structural models to bring broadband into rural areas.
Design/methodology/approach
Organizational and financial structures of PPP projects will be analyzed by six PPP case studies from the broadband sector in Sweden, Great Britain, and France. This research adopts a data triangulation approach.
Findings
A comparative case study analysis about “broadband‐PPPs” from different countries depicts that the organizational and financial funding models differ from project to project. PPPs represent a good alternative to build a broadband infrastructure through mutual collaboration between public and private partners. The examined case studies verify that a PPP is an appropriate instrument to implement broadband infrastructures, especially in case of market failure.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is mainly based on case studies. Thus, the significance of the derived results is limited.
Practical implications
Companies in the sector of telecommunication as well as decision makers learn about different financing models to implement broadband in rural areas and to increase broadband penetration.
Originality/value
This contribution shows that there are relationships among three key factors of PPPs: environmental conditions (risk, social structures, density of population, etc.), organizational model, and funding modes. This knowledge helps researchers and decision makers to measure different scenarios to bring broadband access into rural areas.
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Paola Ragazzoni, Paola Baiardi, Anna Maria Zotti, Neil Anderson and M. West
Innovation has long been an area of interest to social scientists, and particularly to psychologists working in organisational settings. The team climate inventory (TCI) is a…
Abstract
Innovation has long been an area of interest to social scientists, and particularly to psychologists working in organisational settings. The team climate inventory (TCI) is a facet‐specific measure of team climate for innovation that provides a picture of the level and quality of teamwork in a unit using a series of Likert scales. This paper describes its Italian validation in 585 working group members employed in health‐related and other contexts. The data were evaluated by means of factorial analysis (including an analysis of the internal consistency of the scales) and Pearson’s product moment correlations. The results show the internal consistency of the scales and the satisfactory factorial structure of the inventory, despite some variations in the factorial structure mainly due to cultural differences and the specific nature of Italian organisational systems.
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Antonella Francesca Cicchiello, Anna Maria Fellegara, Amirreza Kazemikhasragh and Stefano Monferrà
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
The results reveal that board gender diversity is positively associated with sustainability reporting and the involvement of an external assurance provider.
Originality/value
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.
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Trials provide social movements with a public arena that can advance social movement goals. The adversarial structure of a trial gives social movements an opportunity to…
Abstract
Trials provide social movements with a public arena that can advance social movement goals. The adversarial structure of a trial gives social movements an opportunity to articulate their grievances and to subject their opponents to cross-examination. The drama associated with trials often attracts media attention, thus creating a broad audience for the movement's message. Moreover, trials can sometimes provide opportunities for collective experiences, bringing together activists, lawyers, experts, and other actors whose combined efforts can both strengthen the movement and promote its goals.
Lars Engwall, Enno Aljets, Tina Hedmo and Raphaël Ramuz
Computer corpus linguistics (CCL) is a scientific innovation that has facilitated the creation and analysis of large corpora in a systematic way by means of computer technology…
Abstract
Computer corpus linguistics (CCL) is a scientific innovation that has facilitated the creation and analysis of large corpora in a systematic way by means of computer technology since the 1950s. This article provides an account of the CCL pioneers in general but particularly of those in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. It is found that Germany and Sweden, due to more advantageous financing and weaker communities of generativists, had a faster adoption of CCL than the other two countries. A particular late adopter among the four was Switzerland, which did not take up CCL until foreign professors had been recruited.
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Onofre Martorell Cunill, Carles Mulet Forteza and Anna Maria Gil‐Lafuente
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that play a decisive role in determining growth strategies implemented by the hotel chains of the Balearic Islands in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that play a decisive role in determining growth strategies implemented by the hotel chains of the Balearic Islands in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Design/methodology/approach
In line with most research on the choice of entry mode, the dependent variable is a categorical one. Given the nature of the dependent variable, logistic regression (or logit) models were used to verify the hypotheses. Since there were more than two categories involved, a multinomial logit model was applied.
Findings
The main findings show that the choice of foreign market entry mode cannot rely solely on host‐specific factors. Moreover, this study facilitates a comparison of the results of this paper and the results of other similar studies of the international hotel industry.
Originality/value
This paper offers several contributions. First, it is a new contribution to the understanding of the factors that determine the behavior of hotel chains in their international expansion. Although this study has been done in other sectors (industrial), it is a novelty in the field of hospitality and, more specifically, in the hotel chains. In addition, new specific, strategic and control factors have been incorporated to help improve the explanation of the study object. Finally, the paper focuses on an important international market, such as the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
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Soniya Billore and Hans Hägerdal
The present paper aims to focus on the Indian influence in the transfer of, the business of and consumer markets for Indian products, specifically, textiles from producers in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The present paper aims to focus on the Indian influence in the transfer of, the business of and consumer markets for Indian products, specifically, textiles from producers in the South Asian subcontinent to the lands to the east of Bali. This aspect of the influence of Indian products has received some attention in a general but not been sufficiently elucidated with regard to eastern Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on archival research, as well as secondary data, derived from the published sources on early trade in South Asia and the Indian Ocean world. The study includes data about the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, a Dutch-owned company, and its textile trade history with India and the Indonesian islands with a special focus on Patola textiles. Narratives and accounts provide an understanding of the Patola, including business development and related elite and non-elite consumption.
Findings
The paper shows how imported Indian textiles became indigenised in important respects, as shown in legends and myths. A search in the colonial sources demonstrates the role of cloth in gift exchange, alliance brokering and economic network-building in eastern Indonesia, often with important political implications.
Research limitations/implications
The study combines previous research on material culture and textile traditions with archival data from the early colonial period, thus pointing at new ways to understand the socio-economic agency of local societies.
Originality/value
Only mapping the purchase and ownership of trading goods to understand consumption is not enough. One must also regard consumption, both as an expression of taste and desire and as a way to reify a community of people.