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This study aims to describe and understand how and to what extent hotel managers adopt sustainable development (SD) practices in their establishment, given the presence of barriers to the adoption of such practices by hotel establishments, and the lack of knowledge as to the ways and means by which an SD orientation is developed and implemented.

A qualitative research strategy was chosen to answer the research questions, that is, a multi-site case study of five Canadian hotels.

The study shows why and how hotel managers proceeded to develop and implement an SD orientation, as well as the contextual factors that affected the extent to which SD practices were adopted.

The initial elaboration and validation of a process model of SD adoption in hotel establishments constitute a conceptual building block upon which this complex phenomenon can be further studied.

This study demonstrates that in the hospitality industry, implementing an SD orientation is a strategy that can be enabled through the provision of required knowledge and expertise as well as appropriate tools and techniques to hotel managers.

In describing and understanding the dynamics of implementing a SD orientation in five Canadian hotels, this study has provided a conceptually and practically fruitful answer to the question of “how” and “to what extent” hotels adopt SD practices.

This paper aims to examine if certain board characteristics have an impact on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) score of corporations.

The authors’ paper analyzes the link between the ratings of CSR of the largest publicly traded Canadian firms (i.e. those included in the S&P/TSX 60 index) and the traits of their boards.

The authors’ examination concludes that the CSR score is positively linked with the percentages of women and independent directors. The study did not find a link in the cases of board characteristics, namely, director’s remuneration, director’s tenure and director’s ownership.

The study focuses on the 60 largest public Canadian firms, which are strongly scrutinized. An analysis that includes smaller firms as well may show different results.

To improve the ability of boards of directors to deal with CSR, the appointment of women and independent directors should be given greater emphasis. Data show that all boards in their sample are composed of at least 50 per cent of independent directors, with an average of 80 per cent. Thus, there is a more limited room to ameliorate CSR by adding independent directors. In contrast, women represented, on average, only 14.25 per cent of all directors. Companies wanting to improve their CSR should consider appointing more female participation in their boards.

The paper contributes to the extant literature on corporate governance by presenting evidence of a link between CSR and certain board characteristics.