Silvia Ayuso, Xavier Carbonell and Laia Serradell
The purpose of this paper is to assess higher education institutions’ (HEIs) social sustainability by applying Integrated Social Value (ISV) analysis to eight universities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess higher education institutions’ (HEIs) social sustainability by applying Integrated Social Value (ISV) analysis to eight universities belonging to the Catalan Association of Public Universities in Spain.
Design/methodology/approach
ISV analysis is a social accounting methodology that considers both the economic value and the social value created for all the organisation’s stakeholders through a participatory and systematic process.
Findings
The authors have shown that ISV analysis can be effective to assess the impacts on social sustainability of HEIs. The monetised results facilitate understanding about the valued impacts and allow integration with the universities’ financial data.
Research limitations/implications
The research advances the under-researched topic of social sustainability assessment in higher education.
Practical implications
Quantifying universities’ social impacts in monetary terms may help to transform conventional financial accounting and improve HEIs’ internal strategy and management according to sustainability principles.
Social implications
The process of measuring the social value created by universities provides a way to meet the rising demands for greater accountability and transparency and facilitates engagement with stakeholders on how these institutions are contributing to sustainable development.
Originality/value
ISV analysis represents an innovative approach to assess how HEIs create benefits for its internal and external stakeholders and contribute to solutions to social challenges.
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Silvia Ayuso, Pablo Sánchez, José Luis Retolaza and Mònica Figueras-Maz
This paper aims to explore how to quantify the social value generated by higher education from a social accounting perspective. The proposed approach is integrated social value…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how to quantify the social value generated by higher education from a social accounting perspective. The proposed approach is integrated social value (ISV) analysis, a social accounting model that considers both the economic value and the social value created by an organisation for its stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The ISV analysis has been applied to Pompeu Fabra University, following a participatory action research process with representatives of the university and its stakeholders.
Findings
The final ISV includes not only the social value created through the university’s economic activity – captured by economic and financial accounting indicators – but also the specific social value created for the different stakeholders by means of non-market relationships, which were monetised through the use of indicators and financial proxies.
Research limitations/implications
Like other social accounting methodologies, ISV analysis suffers from some limitations regarding data availability and economic pricing, that partly will be resolved with maturation of the methodology and increasing standardisation.
Practical implications
By using appropriate proxies, the non-market value of the university can be monetised and integrated with university’s market value. The social value results become a valuable tool for developing useful indicators for internal management and external communication.
Social implications
The process of measuring the social value created by universities provides a way to meet the rising demands for greater accountability and transparency and facilitates engagement with stakeholders on how these institutions are contributing to a sustainable society.
Originality/value
ISV is a recently proposed social accounting model that combines an organisation’s economic and social results into a single concept of value creation and thus contributes to advance the field of social accounting.
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Silvia Ayuso, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Roberto García‐Castro and Miguel Ángel Ariño
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the contribution of stakeholder engagement to firms' innovation orientation within the context of sustainable development. It investigates…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the contribution of stakeholder engagement to firms' innovation orientation within the context of sustainable development. It investigates whether engagement with different stakeholders promotes sustainable innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is based on an international sample of 656 large companies, drawn from the annual assessment for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. A logistic regression analysis was performed in order to test the hypothesized relationships between stakeholder interaction, knowledge management and sustainable innovation orientation.
Findings
Empirical results showed that knowledge sourced from engagement with internal and external stakeholders contributes to a firm's sustainable innovation orientation, but that this knowledge has to be managed by the firm internally in order to be converted into new ideas for innovation.
Research limitations/implications
Since the present study represents one of the first attempts to characterize stakeholder‐driven innovation in a quantitative way, there are some limitations related to the used database that should be addressed in future research.
Practical implications
The results show the importance for companies of connecting the business functions of stakeholder engagement and innovation, and find flexible mechanisms to combine access and transformation of relevant stakeholder information.
Originality/value
The main contribution of the present research is to prove quantitatively that engagement with different stakeholders is a valid mechanism for promoting sustainable innovation within firms. This is done with a unique dataset, the SAM Group database. In addition, the present study will advance understanding on firm's sustainable innovation processes by framing this phenomenon as an organizational capability.
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Silvia Ayuso, Mercè Roca and Rosa Colomé
The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the role of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to sustainable supply chain management, i.e. how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop understanding of the role of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to sustainable supply chain management, i.e. how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is integrated in their relationship with customers and suppliers.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from a survey of CSR requirements among 410 Spanish SMEs, the paper examines the extent to which SMEs receive social and environmental requirements from diverse customer typologies and the extent to which they pass on such requirements to different supplier typologies.
Findings
Based on survey results, it is concluded that large businesses are the most demanding customers in terms of the CSR requirements imposed to their SME suppliers. In turn, SMEs are able to transfer the requests received from their (larger) customers to their own suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
The data are confined to companies located in a particular region (Catalonia in Spain), which questions its generalizability to other geographical contexts.
Practical implications
The research shows that small and medium companies can be effective in spreading the CSR requirements received from large companies through the supply chain.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to research on sustainable supply chain management from the SME perspective and offers a systematic analysis of the CSR activities of SMEs, both as suppliers and buyers. In addition, it proposes a rigorous way to measure the CSR‐related supply chain pressure.
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Silvia Ayuso, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Joan Enric Ricart
The purpose of this research is to attempt to gain a deeper understanding on the firm's ability to integrate stakeholder insights into the process of organizational innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to attempt to gain a deeper understanding on the firm's ability to integrate stakeholder insights into the process of organizational innovation from a sustainable development viewpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the early stage of empirical research on the topic, an exploratory case study was used of two Spanish companies that have successfully learned from stakeholder dialogue and have generated innovations that are beneficial both for the company and for sustainable development in general.
Findings
The evidence from the two case studies suggests the existence of two simple capabilities – stakeholder dialogue and stakeholder knowledge integration – for generating innovations in accordance with stakeholder needs. Whereas stakeholder dialogue leverages organizational resources that promote two‐way communication, transparency and appropriate feedback to stakeholders, stakeholder knowledge integration relies on non‐hierarchical structures, flexibility and openness to change.
Research limitations/implications
The fact that the two companies studied are rather special cases of companies without shareholders might limit the results of the present research. Thus, future research could explore sustainable innovation as a response to the demands of other kinds of stakeholders and refine, validate and test the concept of dynamic capability identified in this paper.
Originality/value
The paper sheds some light on the under‐researched issue of linking stakeholder dialogue and sustainable innovation, and thus contributes to open the “black box” of dynamic capabilities and advance in the understanding of this fundamental organizational concept.
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Anura De Zoysa, Nobyuki Takaoka and Yuqian Zhang
This paper aims to examine the impact of three key factors — corporate social responsibility (CSR) awareness, CSR affordability and CSR management system (CSRMS) sophistication—on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of three key factors — corporate social responsibility (CSR) awareness, CSR affordability and CSR management system (CSRMS) sophistication—on the CSR performance of Japanese firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Using responses to 36 items developed on the Global CSR standard of ISO26000, two CSR indexes were constructed to assess the CSR management system sophistication and performance of Japanese firms. The relationship between the three key variables (CSR awareness, affordability and management system sophistication) and CSR performance was then examined through a partial least squares (PLS)-based structural equation model. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 146 firms.
Findings
The results of the study found a positive relationship between CSR performance and three exogenous variables (CSR awareness, affordability and management system sophistication). Furthermore, the study found that CSRMS sophistication played a mediating role in the relationship between CSR performance and firms' CSR awareness and affordability.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to examining the CSR practices of a major province in Japan, which may hinder the generalisation of the findings to the rest of the country. Moreover, the data used for assessing the variables in this study were self-reported by the participating firms, in addition to being cross-sectional. The findings of this study clarified areas that policymakers, including Japan's business associations–Keidanren and Keizai Doyukai, and other relevant parties need to focus on for further improving CSR performances of Japanese firms.
Originality/value
This study highlights the role CSR awareness, affordability and CSRMS sophistication play in improving CSR performance. On the one hand, it identifies the critical role CSRMS plays in mediating the relationship among CSR performance, awareness and affordability. On the other hand, it advances CSR theory providing insight for practitioners to generate positive CSR outcomes.
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Alessandro Giosi, Silvia Testarmata, Sandro Brunelli and Bianca Staglianò
Recently many European countries have incurred crises in public finance despite the fact that EU institutions have pushed the national governments toward the sustainability of…
Abstract
Recently many European countries have incurred crises in public finance despite the fact that EU institutions have pushed the national governments toward the sustainability of public finance with compulsory and voluntary rules regarding fiscal governance. This paper investigates the relations between the quality of fiscal governance and the financial virtuosity of national fiscal policy. We proposed a general framework for analyzing the fiscal governance issue and we empirically tested the correlation between the dimensions of fiscal governance and the budgetary performance of EU countries. The results showed a positive correlation between the quality of fiscal governance in the EU countries and financial surplus in the period concerned. However further investigations are needed and an effort should be made to collect uniform data on fiscal governance in the European Union.
Mohammadreza Akbari and Robert McClelland
The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship (CC) in supply chain development, by analyzing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship (CC) in supply chain development, by analyzing the current literature, contemporary concepts, data and gaps for future discipline research.
Design/methodology/approach
This research identifies information from existing academic journals and investigates research designs and methods, data analysis techniques, industry involvement and geographic locations. Information regarding university affiliation, publishers, authors, year of publication is also documented. A collection of online databases from 2001 to 2018 were explored, using the keywords “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in their title and abstract, to deliver an inclusive listing of journal articles in this discipline area. Based on this approach, a total of 164 articles were found, and information on a chain of variables was collected.
Findings
There has been visible growth in published articles over the last 18 years regarding supply chain sustainability, CSR and CC. Analysis of the data collected shows that only five literature reviews have been published in this area. Further, key findings include 41% of publications were narrowly focused on four sectors of industry, leaving gaps in the research. 85% centered on the survey and conceptual model, leaving an additional gap for future research. Finally, developing and developed nation status should be delineated, researched and analyzed based on further segmentation of the industry by region.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to reviewing only academic and professional articles available from Emerald, Elsevier, Wiley, Sage, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Scopus, JSTOR and EBSCO containing the words “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in the title and abstract.
Originality/value
This assessment provides an enhanced appreciation of the current practices of current research and offers further directions within the CSR and CC in supply chain sustainable development.
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Beatriz Guzmán-Pérez, Javier Mendoza-Jiménez and María Victoria Pérez-Monteverde
This study aims to demonstrate the derivation of social sustainability metrics that guide the decision-making of hotel managers regarding sustainability strategies based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to demonstrate the derivation of social sustainability metrics that guide the decision-making of hotel managers regarding sustainability strategies based on the case study of Hotel Tigaiga in the Canary Islands, using a noninstrumental approach of the stakeholder theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The analytic–synthetic method of integrated social value (ISV) was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders’ representatives, direct observations and relevant documents.
Findings
Metrics referring to hotel outputs valued by stakeholders and expressed in monetary terms were obtained.
Research limitations/implications
The findings cannot be directly applied to a similar hotel. Applying the ISV model to a set of similar hotels to standardize outputs and proxies is necessary.
Practical implications
The results can guide efforts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Hotel Tigaiga’s social sustainability strategies.
Originality/value
Research on measuring the sustainability of hotels in terms of generating maximum value for society is limited. This study is unique because it demonstrates the process of deriving comprehensible indicators to guide hotel managers toward social sustainability.
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Yolanda Ramírez and Silvia Gordillo
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for recognition and measurement of intellectual capital (IC) in Spanish universities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for recognition and measurement of intellectual capital (IC) in Spanish universities.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study the authors developed a questionnaire which was sent to members of the social councils of Spanish public universities in order to identify which intangible elements university stakeholders demand most. The study results served as a basis to develop a model of IC measurement for Spanish universities.
Findings
–The results of the empirical study are used to identify which intangible elements need to be measured and to define a battery of indicators.
Practical implications
This paper aims to provide a set of IC indicators to help universities on the path to presenting useful information to their stakeholders, contributing to a greater transparency, accountability and comparability in the higher education sector.
Originality/value –
Although the scientific and professional literature has provided numerous proposals for measuring and reporting a firm's IC, further research is still needed since there are few empirically supported models for the measurement and reporting of IC in universities. This need is especially relevant when considering empirical supported IC models.