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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of corporate governance practices on firms’ financial performance, as measured by comprehensive income (CI).

Using a sample of 237 firms from the Standards & Poor (S&P) 500 index during the years 2004-2009, multivariate statistical analyses are conducted to confirm the authors’ main hypothesis.

The results indicate that having high levels of corporate governance culture has a positive impact on a measure of firms’ financial performance, namely, CI. Furthermore, they indicate a positive correlation between a higher percentage of external directors and financial performance, and a negative relationship between number of board meetings and financial performance.

The main contribution of this research is that good corporate governance strategies deliver superior financial performance for businesses in terms of CI. This serves as a method of value creation, which is the ultimate goal of a business. In addition to the use of CI as an indicator of financial performance, a unique measure of corporate governance level is tested.

This paper aims to piece together chronologically the events and revolutionary acts that have been taken by groups of individuals, entrepreneurs/industrialists and corporate entities in the UK which fall under the ambit of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to derive the history of CSR in the country.

Data from literature and prior studies were used to gather the required information in order to contribute to knowledge about the history of CSR, at least from the perspective of the UK.

The results suggest that individuals in groups, industrialists/entrepreneurs acting individually, and even corporate entities have been indirectly engaged in CSR activities in the UK for well over 200 years. Altruistic CSR in the UK has a long history.

Information on how CSR evolved in the UK and elsewhere is considered to be valuable by both academic researchers and business managers, as it provides a framework on which future studies can be based. In addition, it improves the understanding of how the field originally started before it reached its current state.

This paper documents the motivations of modern corporations in issuing corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to their stakeholders. It further demonstrates why these entities have suddenly become more moral or ethical.

An empirical methodology was used to gather and analyse the required information from companies drawn from two sectors of the capital market.

The study results suggest that UK companies have different reasons for issuing CSR reports, for instance; in response to an increasing number of stakeholders requesting information on CSR, companies believe that doing so is good for business, to derive positive public relations benefits, to comply with the government's request for them to issue information on CSR, etc.

Information on corporate entities' CSR activities is considered to be valuable by both academic researchers and business managers as it provides a working framework on which future studies can be based. In addition, it improves understanding of the social obligations which corporate entities owe to their stakeholders and society in general.

This paper aims to focus on how the advantages of computer mediated social networks (CMSN) can be effectively harnessed to create value for organizations in the form of ready knowledge and quick solutions to problems.

A knowledge capture technique – the Delphi technique – was fused into the social networking process. A model was designed to help show how this can be achieved and further illustrated through a case study of the dotCSC intranet portal – a social networking project conceptualized and designed by the authors for the Department of Computer Science, in the authors' university. An online survey was carried out to determine the efficacy of the prototype dotCSC.

The results show that, though computer mediated social networks are regarded as major sources of social capital development and potential sources of knowledge capital, there is still room for improvement in their present design if they are to be effectively used for knowledge creation and management attaining their optimum potential. Conversely, the bad spells and pitfalls of KM acceptance and deployment in organizations tend to be reduced when it is amalgamated with SN. The survey conducted showed that the users of the dotCSC enjoyed using the prototype as they would any other CMSN and that the strategies employed in the development of the dotCSC was effective in problem solving, knowledge creation, capturing, and indeed, management.

This improvement strategy is by no means exhaustive of the creative ways that knowledge capturing and management concepts can be combined and applied in the actual design of CMSNs for the benefit of organizations. It is meant to be an eye opener, a clarion call to developers and IS managers. It will also serve as a starting point into the future of objective KM oriented CMSN. Possible response bias from some respondents can be considered a primary limitation of the research.

Looking through existing documentation and literature would show that this research presents a novel approach/model in the design of CMSNs. It is able to aid knowledge generation or synthesis in organizations by objectively structuring staff conversations through the CMSNs to facilitate knowledge management. It can also help organizations leverage the success and appeal of CMSN in their design of KMSs.

The last few decades have seen an increase in awareness on the part of corporate entities in Western democracies that they are morally obliged to give something back to society. An entity that fails to make a positive contribution to society will be perceived as being socially irresponsible! To demonstrate that they “care” about the people and environment they operate in, organisations have taken different courses of action. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports which have now become an annual report in addition to the traditional annual financial reports is one of the vehicles used to demonstrate how caring they have been over the financial period that has just ended and how they intend to continue to be even more so in future periods. The study looks at CSR reports of different companies across different industries in the UK. Notes that there are two distinct practices adopted when reporting on CSR matters. Some companies issue separate reports for their CSR activities whilst others devote a section in their annual reports for providing information on these activities. Also notes that all companies in the survey recognise the enormous benefits that can emanate from making known their CSR policies and activities. It can be revealed from the study that UK CSR reports disclose information about the contributions an entity has made during the year that has just ended in four main perspectives, which are environment, community, marketplace and workplace.