Pat Auger, Timothy M. Devinney and Grahame Dowling
One of the hallmarks of strategizing is having a clearly articulated vision and mission for the organization. It has been suggested that this provides a compass bearing for the…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the hallmarks of strategizing is having a clearly articulated vision and mission for the organization. It has been suggested that this provides a compass bearing for the organization's strategy, helps in motivation, commitment and retention of employees, serves as a guide to internal sensemaking and decision-making, has a potential performance effect, helps establish the identity of the organization and positions its desired reputation. The compass bearing role is important because it guides the selection of the goals and strategic orientation of the organization which in turn shapes its overall strategy and much of its internal decision making. The inspirational role is important because it helps to motivate and engage employees and other stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides a more rigorous indication as to whether employees can, in the first instance, recognize and distinguish their corporate and environmental strategy from that of their competitors within their own industry and random other companies from other industries. This first issue addresses, to a degree, if and why, such strategic communiqués are effective inside a range of different organizations. Secondly, the authors examine whether there are any specific individual level effects that could explain variations in these responses. Finally, the authors examine the extent to which the recognition rates the authors observe, relate to how employees are rewarded through appraisals, promotions and salary increases. This helps in the authors’ understanding of the role of hard incentives versus soft motivations. The authors’ approach to assessing employee knowledge of their organization's strategy is unique. Rather than survey employees about their knowledge, the authors use a matching study and a discrete choice measurement model to assess if they can recognize their organization's strategy from those of their competitors and some other randomly selected organizations. This approach allows us to mitigate social desirability and common method biases and directly estimate the underlying behavioral model being used to assess their organization's strategy.
Findings
Overall, the authors found that few employees could correctly identify their corporate strategy statements. In the case of corporate strategy statements, the authors find that, on average, only 29 percent of employees could correctly match their company to its publicly espoused corporate strategy. When the authors look at the environmental sustainability strategy of the firm, this is worse overall, with individuals doing no better than random on average. When the authors look at company training and communication practices across the realm of different strategies, the authors see a number of factors leading to the general results. First, most of the authors’ respondents could not recall a significant effort being given to communication and training by their employer. Indeed, most communication/training is simply related to having documentation/brochures available. Second, respondents indicated that more effort is put into communicating corporate strategy to employees in a more systematic manner than communication about environmental/corporate social responsible (CSR) strategy. Third, the authors see that individuals are evaluated more on and give more weight to, evaluations relating to their ability to meet individual/group financial and market performance metrics (targets) and work as a team than their involvement in environmental and social responsibility programs. Finally, the employees studied seemed to be more confident in understanding the corporate strategy. When asked to put their corporate strategy into words – a task the authors asked respondents to do after the matching phase of the study – 40% of participants did so for the corporate strategy but only 14% did so for the environmental strategy and seven percent for the CSR strategy.
Practical implications
The primary implication of the study is that the values-mission-strategy logic of strategic motivation seems to have limited validity and with respect to the view that employees are a vector of corporate strategy. It is hard to argue that employees can be a vector for something they cannot recall or even distinguish between.
Originality/value
The study is unique in terms of (1) asking the very simple question of whether employees internalize their company's strategies and (2) in the methodological approach to examine employee knowledge and informativeness.
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Pat Auger, Timothy Devinney, Grahame Dowling and Christine Eckert
Socially responsible investment (SRI) funds have grown dramatically as an investment alternative in most of the developed world. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Abstract
Purpose
Socially responsible investment (SRI) funds have grown dramatically as an investment alternative in most of the developed world. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a structured experimental approach to determine if the decision-making process of investors to invest in SRIs is consistent with the process used for conventional investments. The theoretical framework draws on two widely studied concepts in the decision making and investment literature, namely, inertia and discounting.
Findings
The authors find that inertia plays a significant role in the selection of SRI funds and that investors systemically discount the value of SRIs.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that SRIs need to be designed to cater to the risk/return profiles of investors and that these investors need to be better informed about the performance of SRIs vs conventional investments to reduce their systematic discounting.
Originality/value
Unique experimental approach applied to investment alternatives in a manner that captures individual level variation.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Employee familiarity with their firm’s strategic intent has significant performance implications. Companies might boost employee knowledge through effective communication and by integrating information about their various strategies within training, evaluation and reward initiatives.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Turgut Var, William W. Swart and Charles E. Gearing
Although this is a survey of research techniques, it has become increasingly apparent, as the study has progressed, that our investigation of research methods for use in tourism…
Abstract
Although this is a survey of research techniques, it has become increasingly apparent, as the study has progressed, that our investigation of research methods for use in tourism and travel studies, without prior consideration of the nature and scopes of tourism and travel themselves, would he inadequate. At the outset it would be imperative to distinguish three interrelated terms. These are recreation, tourism, and travel.
Manufacturing industry worldwide is at a turning point in seeking greater competitiveness. High precision manufacturing offers better quality and reliability for conventional…
Abstract
Manufacturing industry worldwide is at a turning point in seeking greater competitiveness. High precision manufacturing offers better quality and reliability for conventional products, but also makes possible entirely new products, especially where mechatronics, miniaturization and high performance are important. Describes the main ultra precision machining processes and illustrates how cutting and grinding have been stretched into the nanotechnology regime, especially for advanced ceramics, glasses and opto‐electronic materials.
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Mehwish Ali, Majdi Hassen and Sarmad Saeed Sheikh
This study investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate innovation. We selected the listed nonfinancial firms of South Asian Economies. The sample…
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate innovation. We selected the listed nonfinancial firms of South Asian Economies. The sample of the study comprised a total of 426 listed manufacturing firms of South Asian Countries for period spans 10 years from 2012 to 2021. In this study, descriptive statistics, multicollinearity diagnostic tests, correlation analysis and two-step dynamic panel system generalized method of moments (GMM) were applied to analyze the data. CSR measured with three proxies' social indicators, environmental indicators, and CSR composite index of social and environmental indicators. However, corporate innovation is captured with number of citations received in a year and number of patents filed in the year. Overall, findings of the study using all measures of CSR shows that CSR significantly and positively related with corporate innovation. Our results find support for CSR-innovation view with all measures of CSR. The findings suggest that the current study is helpful for managers, regulators, policymakers, and researchers. For managers, the study helps them to make the CSR and innovation decision. The policymakers should take appropriate innovative decision while considering factors such as CSR. This study can also be extended by considering this study for developed and emerging economies sample.
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Suvendu Kr. Pratihari and Shigufta Hena Uzma
The purpose of this paper is to report on the prioritisation of different corporate social identities (CSIs) by the banking sectors in India to endorse the corporate branding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the prioritisation of different corporate social identities (CSIs) by the banking sectors in India to endorse the corporate branding process. To substantiate the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on banks’ profitability, the paper establishes a causal relationship between CSI scores and banks’ profitability. The study defines the CSI scores as measures of different CSR initiatives available on the websites and annual reports of leading public and private schedule commercial banks in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study discusses the key role that CSR plays in building the corporate personality of a firm, which is a key ingredient of a corporate brand. Therefore, the main dimensions and sub-dimensions of CSR are analysed by using content analysis method. The data undergo multiple experiments such as “Percentage of Agreement”, “Scott’s π”, “Cohen’s κ”, and “Krippendorff’s α” to check the validity and the inter-coder reliability of the content. Furthermore, the quartile approach of statistical data analysis, weighted average method of prioritisation and simple linear regression methods are used to examine and discuss the study objectives.
Findings
There were three major outcomes from this study. First, Indian banks institutionalise their credibility of corporate personality by maintaining the CSR principles and goals as the core elements of their corporate statements. Second, the CSI scores of different CSR initiatives indicate variations in the stakeholder prioritisation among different banks. The result shows that the public sector banks give the highest priority to the community-related CSR initiatives followed by environment and customer among others, whereas the private sector banks emphasise on customers as their top priority followed by environment and community. The overall score depicts the environment-related initiatives to be the highest priority, which follows customer, employees, community and suppliers. Third, the research indicates that the relationship between CSI disclosures and profitability is significant in India.
Research limitations/implications
The social aspect of building corporate identity will help in the decision-making process for developing a strong social image through their websites. However, the results suggest that the banking sector should adopt a global standard of CSR reporting and strategic positioning of the social identities among the stakeholders in the value chain. The results are limited to only the Indian banking sector and can be validated and applied to other industries and cross-cultural contexts.
Originality/value
This study is one of the pioneering attempts to focus on the role of CSR in the stakeholder-company relationship through the mean-end approach in the development of CSI.
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The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry…
Abstract
The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry slaughterhouses, cutting‐up premises, &c, appears to be resolved at last. (The Prayer lodged against the Regulations when they were formally laid before Parliament just before the summer recess, which meant they would have to be debated when the House reassembled, could have resulted in some delay to the early operative dates, but little chance of the main proposals being changed.) The controversy began as soon as the EEC draft directive was published and has continued from the Directive of 1971 with 1975 amendments. There has been long and painstaking study of problems by the Ministry with all interested parties; enforcement was not the least of these. The expansion and growth of the poultry meat industry in the past decade has been tremendous and the constitution of what is virtually a new service, within the framework of general food inspection, was inevitable. None will question the need for efficient inspection or improved and higher standards of hygiene, but the extent of the
AUTOMATION is generally a process superimposed on existing plants, not exactly a thing of shreds and patches, but a compromise between the ideal and the practicable. Rarely is it…
Abstract
AUTOMATION is generally a process superimposed on existing plants, not exactly a thing of shreds and patches, but a compromise between the ideal and the practicable. Rarely is it possible to find it as the basic conception in the mind of the industrialist before even the blue prints of a new manufacturing process have been prepared.
A MAJOR transport problem is the rush‐hour traffic. On London's Underground, the morning and more particularly the evening rush‐hour crowds are dense and unless officials at a…
Abstract
A MAJOR transport problem is the rush‐hour traffic. On London's Underground, the morning and more particularly the evening rush‐hour crowds are dense and unless officials at a station are aware of, or can anticipate, the position at any time the situation can arise where departures of trains are delayed and time‐tables are upset.