Corporate social responsibility recognition and support for the arts: Evidence from European financial institutions

This research investigates whether financial institutions that have gained a good reputation in relation to their CSR activities also engage in significant corporate support for the arts (CSA). Using a sample composed of the 42 largest listed European financial institutions, data from 2004 to 2013 (i.e., 420 firm-year observations) and manually collected CSA disclosure information, our findings indicate that entities rewarded for their CSR initiatives are also those that engage in significant CSA. We also find that CSA disclosure reported in the social reports of financial institutions is a predictor for the attainment of a CSR award, whereas that reported in annual reports is not. Our findings suggest that annual and social reports have a different informative relevance, at least in relation to CSR initiatives in the form of CSA, for the stakeholders of financial institutions. Thus, our results provide useful insights for companies’ communication strategies showing, for example, that social reports are the best channel to communicate about CSA.     

To be or not to be corporate heritage oriented? A study of managers’ corporate heritage mindsets

Corporate heritage is a research topic in branding with managerial relevance to achieve competitive advantages. Research has mainly focussed on companies with a formal corporate heritage orientation, neglecting other companies. In this study, a novel framework has been developed for analysing managers' corporate heritage mindsets as a precondition for a corporate heritage orientation in a non-heritage-oriented company. Individual managers’ corporate image heritage depicts how managers perceive their company over time, hence revealing their corporate heritage mindset. This article proposes that two managerial mindset dimensions matter – corporate heritage recognition and stance. This abductive study combines theory and empirical findings from an industrial company with a long history, but no corporate heritage orientation. The proposed framework offers companies with a history a way to analyse whether corporate heritage could be recognised and employed. This article contributes to corporate heritage research by broadening the applicability of corporate heritage issues.     

Managing corporate community responsibility in multinational corporations: Resolving institutional duality

Addressing calls to explore how subsidiaries of MNCs operating in different institutional contexts resolve institutional duality, this paper brings together dual theoretical explanations from legitimacy and neo-institutional theory, to examine how decision-making for corporate community responsibility (CCR) occurs across ten subsidiaries operating in Sri Lanka. Using qualitative data, it shows that while subsidiaries’ implementation of local CCR conform to that of their parents at an aggregate level, those subsidiaries encountering higher levels of institutional conflict in the host-country, are sanctioned by their parent companies to de-couple their local CCR projects. These findings raise interesting questions about the dynamism in subsidiary responses to resolving institutional duality relevant for future scholarly research.     

Use of Redundant Industrial Buildings as Injections into the Cultural Sector in Norway

Prime aim is to examine the way the culture sector reuses industrial buildings to instigate cultural activities in the municipalities. The discussion of various actors’ motivation for engagement is based on results from a case study, supplemented with findings from a coarse-meshed telephone survey. At national level overarching political guidelines can be traced back to white papers concerning cultural policy, urban transformation and cultural heritage, and the municipalities’ cultural policies mirror these guidelines. What tends to decide if such initiatives are considered successful are local abilities to cross sectorial divisions and instigate cooperation between municipal planners, private entrepreneurs and NGOs.     

From Territory to Smartphone: Smart Fruition of Cultural Heritage for Dynamic Tourism Development

Augmented reality is a new technology that merges the virtual and the real worlds and offers important support in all planning processes. Using mobile devices, planning information can be implemented with smart and participative solutions for a dynamic fruition of cultural heritage [Brondi, R., Carrozzino, M., Tecchia, F., & Bergamasco, M. (2012) Mobile augmented reality for cultural dissemination, in: P. Nesi & R. Santucci (Eds), ECLAP 2012 Conference on Information Technologies for Performing Arts, Media and Entertainment, pp. 113–118 (Firenze: Firenze University Press); Hatzelhoffer, L., et al. (2012) Smart City in Practice: Innovation Lab Between Vision and Reality (Jovis). Technologies are important tools because they make a city smart by making concrete contributions to trigger dynamic processes of place-based development. Three important factors improve urban planning fruition: participation in the early stages of listening and co-design; enlightened governance and new technology. This paper (1) presents the actual possibilities and challenges of augmented reality in the field of cultural heritage, (2) describes a simulation of one case study in a neighbourhood in Cagliari (Italy), by proposing customized paths with the aim of promoting cultural tourism and (3) explains the benefits of using augmented reality in touristic and place-based processes based on the case study.     

Japanese business strategy in China

How does the Japanese approach to doing business in China differ from that of their European and American competitors? A survey of 115 foreign companies in Beijing offers some assistance in identifying the main differences. They fall into five broad categories—approaches to strategy, investment, technology transfer, trading and building local relationships. It seems that the Japanese regard China as a long-term investment and are prepared to accept low initial profits. They prefer trading rather than investing in equity joint ventures and are more adept at using Chinese cultural practices to their benefit.     

机构投资者持股与关联方占用的实证研究

近年来,一系列财务危机和舞弊事件的出现,使公司治理成为全球范围内倍受关注的研究课题。随着对这一问题研究的逐渐深入,机构投资者持股等更为广义的公司治理机制开始成为实务界和学术界共同关注的焦点。本文检验了机构投资者持股能否有效降低我国上市公司资金被关联方占用的程度。结果表明,前十大股东中存在机构投资者的上市公司被关联方占用的资金显著少于其它公司,同时机构投资者持股比例的增加与上市公司被关联方占用资金的程度呈显著负相关。以上发现意味着目前我国机构投资者已经参与到公司治理中,对公司的经营运作起到一定的监督作用。     

利益相关者、管理认知对企业环境保护战略选择的影响——基于我国上市公司的实证研究

企业对环境规制心存疑虑,担心规制增加企业成本,为此本文从战略管理层面探讨如何调动企业处理环境问题的积极性。通过对我国上市公司CEO的调研,发现管制利益相关者和次要利益相关者中的媒体是企业在环境问题上感知的主要压力;管理者越认为环境问题是商业机会以及管理者的环境意识越强,企业越有可能实行前瞻型环境战略。     

External audit and goodwill write-off

Building on agency theory, we investigate whether and how salient external auditor characteristics (size, audit fees, non-audit fees, tenure) impact on the reported goodwill write-off. We use a sample of US firms applying SFAS 142. We find that Big-4 auditors are more prone to limit underestimated write-offs rather than overestimated write-offs and that auditors require higher fees from companies underestimating the write-offs. The findings are consistent with the auditors’ preference for more conservative goodwill and earnings values, which reduce their litigation and reputation costs. This preference can converge with the managerial interest to use unnecessary overestimated goodwill write-offs for earnings management purposes (e.g. to smooth the income or take big baths). Our findings do not support the hypotheses that non-audit fees and tenure affect the goodwill write-off. Our paper contributes to prior literature on external audit and financial accounting choices. Our study suggests that leniently audited discretional fair value estimates are likely to compromise the role of auditing (and of financial reporting) as an external control mechanism. Our study can contribute to the current policy debate around goodwill accounting.     

Culture, Cosmopolitanism, and Risk Management

Most cultural approaches to risk management deal with the connections between the forms of social relations within groups and the risk concerns of those groups. According to these theories, a certain limited set of different relational forms (usually three, four, or five) lead to specific, different and conflicting, risk concerns. In contrast to these theories, cosmopolitanism is an approach to culture that focuses, not on forms of sociality, but on changes among forms—expansions and contractions in the inclusivity of forms and movement by persons from one form of sociality to another. Relative to other cultural theories, cosmopolitanism thus is much more concerned with the solution of risk management problems than with their origins. Cosmopolitanism can be thought of as a cultural continuum, with cosmopolitanism at one end and pluralism at the other. Cosmopolitan persons are more open to cultural change—and thus the solution of risk management problems. In this article, we outline our new theory of cosmopolitanism, describe a method for measuring it and present an experimental study that tests some implications of the theory. Results from the study support the theory by showing that, compared to pluralistic respondents, cosmopolitan respondents are more inclusive in their risk management judgments—that is, they express equal concern for a local and a national issue, whereas the pluralistic respondents express greater concern in the local case. We discuss the risk management implications of a cosmopolitan approach to culture.     

我国上市公司治理结构与战略绩效的相关性研究

本文研究了我国上市公司治理结构安排的现状与代表公司战略绩效的公司价值指标的关系。在105家上市公司的相关资料基础上,具体考察了公司治理结构的股权结构、高层管理人员持股、两职兼任与分任、董监事会规模等几个方面对于公司相对价值和公司价值成长能力的影响。结果表明,我国上市公司的治理结构与公司战略绩效间存在一定的相关关系,但总体相关度低。这对于从提高公司战略绩效角度认识和改善我国上市公司的治理结构可以提供一些有益的启发。     

Managing demand variability and operational effectiveness: case of lean improvement programmes and MRP planning integration

Although a lean focus is widely popular in general manufacturing environments, there are limited studies that empirically investigate how lean improvement programmes can be integrated with a material requirement planning (MRP) system. The aim of this research is to examine if the integration of lean improvement programmes with a MRP system has a positive effect on operational effectiveness when manufacturers are experiencing high levels of customer demand variability. Based on the contingency theory perspective and using data collected from the international manufacturing strategy survey (IMSS-V), a sample of 382 international manufacturing companies are first divided into two groups based on the degree of their customer demand fluctuation. Moderated hierarchical regression is then applied to each group to empirically test the research hypotheses. Statistical results suggest that operational effectiveness significantly improves when lean improvement programmes support MRP systems as manufacturers are experiencing high levels of fluctuations in demand.     

The micro-foundations of the returnee liability: The interpersonal challenges of returnee entrepreneurs in Kenya

Although it is known that returnee entrepreneurs can contribute to technological and economic upgrading in their home countries, there is also evidence of a returnee liability where returnee entrepreneurs perform worse than locals. Apart from mismatches between home and host country institutional environments, this liability is argued to stem from interpersonal factors like cultural difficulties and the diminished social capital of returnees at home. Using interviews exploring the experiences of twenty Nairobi-based technology-enabled returnee entrepreneurs, we theorize the micro-foundations of the returnee liability: mismatched expectations, cultural tension and mutual suspicion. Returnees who sent remittances while abroad expect locals to support their return and entrepreneurial vision, but locals expect continued financial support. Returnees who had become more individualistic while fending for themselves in Western economies experience tension with the collectivism of locals, even while they seek to readjust to their home culture. The suspicion of returnees about unethical local business practices and frustration about locals’' apparent inability to value proposed innovations further complicate the ability of returnees to access local knowledge and networks. We discuss how the community support addresses these micro-foundations of the returnee liability and thus help developing countries better benefit from the knowledge and innovations of their returnees.     

Managers' Perceptual Errors Revisited: the Role of Knowledge Calibration

Insights from the stream of research on knowledge calibration, which refers to the correspondence between accuracy and confidence in knowledge, enable a better understanding of consequences of inaccurate perceptions of managers. This paper examines the consequences of inaccurate managerial knowledge through the lens of knowledge calibration. Specifically, the paper examines the antecedent role of miscalibration of knowledge in strategy formation. It is postulated that miscalibrated managers who overestimate external factors and display a high level of confidence in their estimates are likely to enact strategies that are relatively more evolutionary and incremental in nature, whereas miscalibrated managers who overestimate internal factors and display a high level of confidence in their estimates are likely to enact strategies that are relatively more discontinuous and disruptive in nature. Perspectives from social cognitive theory provide support for the underlying processes. The paper, in part, explains the paradox of the prevalence of inaccurate managerial perceptions and efficacious performance. It also advances the literature on strategy formation through the application of the construct of knowledge calibration.     

Revisiting the relationship between ownership and control in international business operations: Lessons from transition economies

This article develops a conceptual model linking two interrelated dimensions of foreign business operations in transition economies: resources committed to the entry in terms of ownership, and resources committed to control the operations. The model outlines four types of foreign operations in transition economies: 1) arm's length contractor (low degree of foreign ownership and low level of foreign control over the operations); 2) hands-on contractor (low ownership and high control); 3) brand protector (high ownership and control); and 4) market share maximizer (high ownership and low control). These types are illustrated with examples of companies in four sectors of the Russian economy: metals, textiles, oil products, and beverages.We contribute to the literature on ownership and control in foreign operations, and their linkage to resource commitment at different stages of operations. In particular, we explicate situations characteristic of transition economies where ownership and control are not positively correlated. Moreover, we illustrate that the (financial) resources committed at the entry stage do not necessarily correlate with the managerial resources committed to the operations. For example, contractual collaborations in transition economies typically require few financial resources but more managerial resource commitment than in more developed market economies. On the other hand, operations with major commitment in the form of foreign equity investment may be managed autonomously by a local manager or a minority shareholder.     

Shareholders and managers: Who care more about corporate diversity and employee benefits?

We test two competing theories that explain a firm’s engagement in corporate diversity and employee benefits: socially responsible investment theory and management overinvestment theory. We find that publicly-traded companies with strong shareholder rights are more likely to promote women and/or minorities to the positions of CEO and board of directors in their organizations, conduct business with women- and/or minority-owned operations, and provide better family benefits to their employees than firms with strong management power. These findings indicate that the companies with strong shareholder rights engage more actively in internal aspects of CSR activities, which supports the socially responsible investment theory rather than the management overinvestment theory. Shareholders (i.e. institutional investors) tend to integrate their social goals (i.e. internal CSR issues) and financial goals into their investments. In response to these changes, managers should engage in the internal aspects of corporate social issues more aggressively as the agents of shareholders.     

European cultures and management styles

After the establishment of the Common Market in Europe, many companies from abroad opted for a single European headquarters and searched for European managers. That leads to the question whether one can really speak of a common European management style. The article at hand examines this issue. To do this, the legal framework and Corporate Governance background of individual European countries are assessed. Furthermore, cultural differences in Europe are considered. Referring to studies of cultural dimensions in European countries, the authors propose five different cultural areas in Europe. This leads to a concluding discussion of management styles in these regions.     

Board age and corporate financial fraud: An interactionist view

Unlike past studies which have focused on either executives or boards of directors, this study takes an interactionist view to investigate the determinants of corporate financial fraud. We propose that CEOs evaluate the opportunities for financial fraud according to both situational stimuli and their own personal characteristics. As older directors are often more experienced and have more to lose if they fail in their monitoring duties, we expect them to be more capable and to have stronger motivation for monitoring CEOs closely. As such, we propose that a CEO is less likely to engage in corporate financial fraud when the average age of the board of directors increases (i.e., board age). However, when the CEO is older than the board, the CEO may attach less importance to board age when deciding whether to commit fraud. Therefore, we further propose that the CEO–board directional age difference can weaken the effect of board age. Our empirical analyses provide strong support for these hypotheses. Our study contributes to the literature on corporate governance by highlighting the often neglected roles of board age and CEO–board directional age difference in deterring corporate financial fraud.     

跨国经营海外子公司业务发展中企业的战略选择——辉瑞制药中国公司在华生产范围发展路径(1993~2002年)的启示

经济全球化给更多企业带来了跨国经营的机会与动力。本文着重分析在跨国经营中海外子公司在当地的业务范围如何演化、其发展路径通常受哪些因素的影响,而企业又可以通过做出哪些战略选择来更好地调节其发展路径。通过对辉瑞制药中国公司在1993￣2002年期间在华生产范围发展路径的描述和分析,本文提出两个观点。一是在跨国经营中企业通常面临保持公司在全球的业务整合以及适应当地市场具体条件的双重压力,当两者之间存在较大差异时,由于决策者的认知受有限理性的制约,海外子公司的业务并不会按现有文献中所提出的按母公司已有业务从强到弱顺序发展,而是呈现迂回发展的路径。二是企业可以通过对战略变量的参数的选择来调节其海外子公司的业务发展,而这样的参数调节过程有助于企业通过试探逐渐积累关于当地市场的知识,从而在跨国经营的双重压力中获取平衡。通过上述分析,本文希冀对中国企业开展国际化经营提供的启示是当企业在海外扩张中面临陌生的环境时,对当地市场的特性给予足够的关注并保持战略上的灵活性是取得成功的关键。     

Managing Socially-Responsible Buying:: How to Integrate Non-economic Criteria into the Purchasing Process

Companies are increasingly scrutinized by various audiences and are made accountable not only for their internal practices, but also for their suppliers’ behavior. Many purchasing managers and executives are not accustomed to seeing the purchasing function receive so much attention from different parties. As a result, a number of them do not know how to embrace the trend toward socially responsible buying (SRB). The present paper offers a helping hand by (1) shedding some light on the nature of SRB and (2) explaining how companies can incorporate social responsibility criteria into their purchasing decisions.