The Governance of Voluntary Work in the Public Sector: Institutional Differences and Invariant Traits

In response to fiscal constraint and the introduction of quasi-market mechanisms into the public sector, in public policy there appears to be the acceptance of the increased use of voluntary labour in the delivery of public services. Traditional forms of governance have tended to ignore the use of voluntary labour in the public sector. The paper builds on an earlier (Hellshorm and Collins, 1999) model of concurrence between voluntary and municipal labour, by focusing onthe demand side of voluntary work. Our exploratory study uses this model to analyse two municipal organisations' mix of voluntary and municipal labour, one Italian and the other a Swedish context.The research method used to collect empirical data was semi-structured interviews of local government employees within the two sites. Thisis linked with an analysis of the institutional context of the two municipalities to inform and test the proposed model of demand for volunteer labour in local government. Resource scarcity, presence of agency for voluntary work, type of production and state rules and norm are used to analyse the institutional invariant traits. The study concludes that traditional institutional theory has ignored voluntary activities. Our case studies of actual practice indicate that different state norms and ruleson citizen rights and equal opportunities are stronger influential factors than the resources situation, in determining the demand for voluntary activities in municipalities.     

Voluntary disclosure of sustainability reports by Canadian universities

In contrast to corporate firms, voluntary sustainability reporting by universities is still in its infancy. Against this background, we have investigated which Canadian universities report their sustainability performance and what specifically is reported. Our study applies content analyses as a methodological approach to determine the relative importance of disclosure topics by using a university-specific catalogue of indicators. This unique study completely covers all sustainability reports published between 2011 and 2015 by Canadian universities and as such provides evidence and analyses of voluntary sustainability reporting by universities, which has been the subject of very little research to date. The findings show that sustainability reporting by Canadian universities diverges considerably and the range of aspects included is relatively narrow. Overall, the results show a clear focus on the environmental dimension and very weak coverage of the social dimension. The environmental orientation of many Canadian universities seems to be a result of their participation in the STARS program.     

Corporate boards, audit committees and voluntary disclosure: evidence from Italian Listed Companies

This paper investigates the interplay between governance and disclosure in an agency setting, featured by concentrated ownership and high insider shareholders representation in the board. In this context, agency conflicts happen between large controlling shareholders and minority outside investors, with risks of private benefits exploitation. We regressed a voluntary disclosure index on seven governance variables related either to the board structure and functioning. The empirical evidence is provided by the Italian stock market. Our results suggest the presence of a complementary relationship between governance and disclosure. Diligent monitoring activity is associated with greater transparency to the outside. The findings are consistent with the view that internal and external control tend to be present at the same time, since the presence of one of them reduces the incentive for the controlling shareholders to limit the other. The empirical evidence also show that larger boards are not detrimental to outside shareholders, with regard to voluntary disclosure. The study can contribute to the understanding of the relationship between governance and disclosure in a particular agency setting. They might be of interest to practitioners and regulators, insofar as they are consistent with calls for more disclosure requirements in this agency setting.     

What explains variation in voluntary disclosure? A study of the annual reports of corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange

The demand for information and transparency from listed corporations has recently increased. In spite of an increased demand for mandatory disclosures from regulators, corporations choose to voluntarily disclose additional information in order to satisfy demands from the capital market. However, the extent and content of information in those voluntary disclosures vary across corporations. The aim of this study is to explain the variation in the content of information in voluntary disclosures by listed corporations. The analyses are based on data collected from 431 annual reports from corporations listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the years 2002 and 2005. The findings support explanations from agency theory and positive accounting theory that size and the debt ratio are positively correlated with the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Corporations with a high share of management ownership disclosed less information than corporations with a low share of management ownership. The study also shows that variations in voluntary disclosures can be explained by factors derived from institutional theory and ‘international capital market pressures’. The results indicate that foreign ownership and international listing to some extent have a positive effect on the content of information in voluntary disclosures. Industry was another factor that had a significant influence on voluntary disclosures. One important finding is that regulation to some extent can stimulate voluntary disclosures; our results did not indicate an ‘unintended chilling effect’ due to too much regulation. In general, the corporations disclosed more voluntary information after the introduction of IFRS.     

HRD university education: an international research agenda

Based on the observation that the systematic study of university-based HRD education - especially in an international comparative approach - is an important but under-explored area of scholarship, this article reports on the results of a need-sensing process among a panel of twenty-one senior HRD administrators and scholars in the United States and Great Britain. The resulting research agenda identified knowledge gaps and research needs in three broad areas: subject matter of HRD education; institutional characteristics, arrangements, and linkages; and outcomes and effectiveness of HRD education. Several categories were identified in each of the three areas and examples described. The implications of this study for research and theory building in international and comparative HRD are discussed.     

Determinants and barriers to lean implementation in food-processing SMEs – a multiple case analysis

This study explored contextual or determining factors and their impacts on lean manufacturing in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in food-processing industries. In order to get an in-depth insight into the real situation at the work floor, this study adopted a multiple-case-study research approach. The inherent characteristics of food industries, such as mandatory quality assurance requirements, low shelf life of food products, and the extremely volatile demand and supply presented barriers to lean manufacturing adoption. In addition, the challenges of ‘change’ in an SME environment are distinct from those faced by large organizations. The small size of the plant, the traditional setup, and inflexible layout make it difficult to implement lean manufacturing in food-processing SMEs. The knowledge of contextual factors influencing lean manufacturing adoption in food processing SMEs will be a contribution to current knowledge. Many studies have explored lean constructs and tools, while far fewer have explored the crucial element of actually implementing these. The study will also help practitioners to anticipate potential obstacles and take proper measures to deal with them during lean implementation.     

Unemployment,Vacancies and Unfair Dismissals

In most West European economies the annual number of grievance procedures settling individual complaints against unfair dismissals has been increasing since the 1960s. This development has very often been attributed to the enactment of legal regulations restricting the dismissal behaviour of firms. Econometric analyses using data from Germany and Great Britain show that labour market developments, namely the flow into unemployment and the vacancy rate, have a much stronger influence on the cyclical demand for grievance procedures than changes in the “legal infrastructure” of the labour market. Without denying the importance of institutional differences it appears that the individual costs of unemployment (which, ceteris paribus, rise as the flow into unemployment increases and the vacancy rate decreases) are superior predictors of the demand for grievance procedures than institutional changes strengthening or weakening employees' rights.     

Putting the First Audience First: Conducting Useful Evaluation for a Risk-Related Government Agency

The risk communication practitioner in a government agency has two essential, interdependent tasks. One is to help develop and monitor effective communication programs with various external public audiences. The other task is to do the same thing for the senior government managers whose support is a prerequisite to addressing the first audience. Hence, the second audience–the manager–is really the first. This paper addresses ways in which communication practitioners can satisfy this crucial audience. A profile of these managers suggests that they would find it highly beneficial to have more control over the public problems they encounter, especially in view of the growing pressures to do more with less and demonstrate "customer satisfaction." They would rather avoid crises than manage them. And they would rather have their bosses praise their successes than challenge their budgets or punish their perceived difficulties or failures. Communication practitioners who can help them attain such benefits will find their efforts in great demand. They would be helpful team members who provide timely insights that can make and show agency success. We offer ten ways for communication practitioners to be more useful which focus their current strengths on satisfying senior managers'needs by becoming more valuable members of the program team. By becoming more useful to the senior manager they serve both the agency and its publics.     

Die Bedeutung von Steuern in der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung: Eine international vergleichende empirische Analyse

Due to tax competition, high levels of national debt and promulgated tax avoidance strategies of large corporations, there is a growing interest of multiple stakeholders in taxation putting taxes on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda. This study empirically examines the relevance of taxes in sustainability reports of 90 corporations listed on the Dow Jones 30, DAX 30 and FTSE 100. The findings show that 54,4?% of these corporations disclose tax information in their reports. The quality of disclosure is examined using a scoring model based on the tax-related performance indicators of theGlobal Reporting Initiative Guidelines and two standards for voluntary disclosure of tax information. In most cases, disclosure practices are of low quality. However, there are a few corporations providing high disclosure quality, especially in the UK. By analyzing the determinants of disclosure, this study demonstrates that extractive companies and companies that have been object of negative tax-related media coverage tend to disclose more information. Furthermore, corporations with higher profitability and high performance in CSR rankings rather disclose tax information.     

Exploring Strategic Positioning in the UK Charitable Sector: Emerging Evidence from Charitable Organizations that Provide Public Services

The UK voluntary sector operates in an arguably enabling policy context. Yet, other external environmental influences have posed major challenges for charitable organizations within the wider voluntary sector. This paper aims to rectify the current lack of empirical research on how charitable organizations have responded in terms of their strategic positioning to the changing external operating environment and policy context. It both explores the positioning strategies adopted by two contrasting British charities that deliver public services in different ways, and investigates the factors that have influenced their choice of positioning strategies. The cases studied extend our knowledge of strategic positioning in organizations other than commercial (for-profit) ones. The findings provide new evidence that charities have begun to strategically position themselves in response to both internal organizational factors and external environmental influences. Emerging lessons from the experiences of the case study organizations provide guidance to charity managers in planning and implementing strategic positioning in their organizations. The findings also underscore the need to develop theoretical and conceptual management models specific to non-profit organizations, such as charities.     

SSQSC: a tool to measure supplier service quality in supply chain

The objective of this research is to derive supplier service quality dimensions in the context of supply chain. Initial service quality dimensions were derived from an extensive literature review on the subject followed by refining through a series of procedures needed for scale development. Data was collected from 117 working executives of manufacturing organisations in India. The respondents were asked to assess supplier service quality in supply chain based on the perception and expectation scales. Further, data was summarised for respondents stating a high level of external service quality. Factor analysis resulted in a seven-factor structure as representative of supplier service quality in supply chain. The SSQSC tool will be beneficial to practising managers in identification of opportunities for improvements in supplier service quality.     

Innovation Management as a Post-Modern Phenomenon: The Outsourcing of Pharmaceutical R&D

The institutionalization of R&D by large, modern organizations is regarded as one of the most significant social and economic factors of the twentieth century. In recent years post-modern organizations have begun to replace bureaucratic control with market control. This approach is particularly attractive in the case of R&D employees who have been relatively successful in resisting direct managerial control. Government statistics are used to demonstrate that external R&D increased from 5% to 16% of internal R&D expenditure between 1989 and 1995. This trend is examined in the context of consolidation within the UK pharmaceutical industry, which has considerable implications for the sustainability of high-technology industry in the UK.     

Multinationals and Skills Policy Networks: HRM as a Player in Economic and Social Concerns

This paper uses an embeddedness framework to reconceptualize HRM agency over the external labour market, and in so doing bring into focus the societal implications of HRM. Drawing on qualitative data from 53 key informants in two English regions, we identify the ways in which the subsidiaries of foreign multinationals (MNCs) engage with labour market skills actors. Our findings reveal how power structures are mobilized by local economic actors to align labour market skills with MNCs’ demand priorities. We show that multinationals may seek to partially endogenize (i.e. take ownership of) the resources of local labour markets when their competitive value is redefined in social as well as economic terms, and demonstrate that the social structure of sub‐national institutional governance arrangements and firm strategic action on skills creates the conduit through which resource endogenization may occur. Theoretically, this paper identifies the social structure of networks as a casual mechanism to bridge divergent skill interests, which is mobilized when network actors have the capacity to frame fields within the social structure of the network around ideas on economic sustainability and moral interest.     

Managers' Perceptions of their Identity: A Comparative Study between the Czech Republic and Britain

After a period of more that 40 years of Communism, the Czech Republic is in the midst of an economic transformation. One aspect of this transformation is the development of a new managerial ethos, important to manage the current infrastructural changes and ensure that Czech organizations are able to compete in international markets.
This paper reports research that examines what Czech managers think about themselves and their roles, and contrasts these perceptions with those of their British counterparts. Many of the concepts and development approaches being applied in the Czech Republic are closely related to concepts and development approaches in the West and have often been accepted unchallenged even though they are being applied in very different circumstances. The focus of this research was to understand how Czech and British managers view their jobs; how their different views relate to the techniques and approaches they adopt. The method chosen was discourse analysis applied to responses from a questionnaire, interviews and repertory grid technique. Using this approach a very different kind of understanding was gained in the way Czech managers think about management than has hitherto been assumed.
The research takes a matched group of Czech and British managers and contrasts their respective views. Our findings give important new insights for management and management development practice for both the Czech Republic and Great Britain.     

Dual-class shares,external financing needs,and firm performance

Whereas the agency theory predicts that dual-class shares decrease firm performance, the stewardship theory predicts that dual-class shares increase firm performance. The cumulative findings on the performance consequences of dual-class shares have been weak and/or inconclusive. Because endogeneity is a constant challenge in empirical corporate governance studies, this study uses a unique law change in Switzerland as a source of exogenous variation in the fraction of firms with dual-class shares. Controlling for firm fixed effects and time-varying confounders, we find that dual-class shares neither harm nor benefit firm performance on average. However, dual-class shares increase firm performance if the firm requires external finance and dual-class shares decrease firm performance if the firm does not require external finance. External financing needs mitigate the agency costs between controlling and minority shareholders and create a context in which dual-class shares facilitate firm-specific investments instead of private perquisites. The study’s results have both managerial and policy implications.     

Enhancing the Quality of Reporting in Corporate Social Responsibility Guidance Documents: The Roles of ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative and CSR‐Sustainability Monitor

The intent of this article is to review the phenomenal growth of Corporate Social Responsibility reports published by large corporations around the world. The reports provide companies with an opportunity to inform large segments of society about the impacts of their business operations on the environmental, socio‐political, and governmental (regulatory) aspects of a society. The mostly voluntary nature of these reports, however, places the burden on the corporations creating them to (a) provide an adequate amount of information, (b) cover all the major issues that are relevant to the company and industry, and (c) provide measures of assurance as to the accuracy of information. In this article, we compare and examine three institutional approaches that have played an important role toward improving the quality and consistency of these reports. The institutions involved are ISO 26000, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)‐Sustainability Monitor. We intend to show their different approaches to guiding CSR reporting, and assess their relative strengths and limitations.     

Entry and exit of makes in the automobile industry, 1895–1960: An international comparison

The historical patterns of the entry and exit of makes in the automobile industries of France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States are examined. The findings, covering over 3000 makes of passenger vehicle, show great similarities in these patterns, despite the substantial inter-country differences in market size, economic conditions and institutional arrangements. The results justify the conclusion that the evolution of basic technologies, as described in a number of theoretical and empirical studies, is the most important force in shaping the long-term development of industries and markets.     

Public planners and business investors—Why can't they collaborate?

Effective long-range investment plans covering international asset management will take into account not only the business environment but external factors, especially political and regulatory uncertainties, which can dampen profits and cash flows anticipated over the economic life of the projected investment. Although financial concession packages promoted by development agencies tend to compensate for some of these costs arising from uncertainties, this approach to industrial development is fraught with obstacles. A closer examination of one such program reveals why concessioned firms are leaving or failing, despite numerous advantages, and why the developement agency may be unable to offset future adverse trends.     

Governance of sustainable supply chains in the fast fashion industry

This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility behavior on the sustainability performance of focal companies and their partners in fast fashion supply chains. The attributes of sustainability and the mechanism of sustainability governance of the fast fashion supply chain are also discussed. From the perspective of strategic corporate social responsibility, we first analyze the motives for adopting sustainability governance in fast fashion supply chains, and identify seven competitive sustainable attributes of the fast fashion product based on sustainable development theory. Then, by establishing a sustainability governance framework, we identify seven factors that affect the sustainability governance decision-making and evaluate the efficiency and legitimacy mechanism of sustainability governance from internal and external perspectives. Finally, we explore the application of the governance mechanisms via a case study based on H&M’s seven sustainability commitments. The findings suggest that the core influence and centrality of a corporation should be strengthened from the perspective of internal governance, and stakeholders should collaborate to achieve sustainability governance throughout the entire fast fashion supply chain from the perspective of external governance.