Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an important practice for business across the world. Increasingly, business has recognized the interconnections that make them sustainable and successful. The increasing global and technological business environment requires that firms which develop methods to retain and enhance their competitive advantage. Today, business must manage more than simply the bottom line. Today, as business grows, it is increasingly measured on its commitment to be “socially responsible.” In that regard, business must act legally and morally in the pursuit of profit as well as developing an organizational sense of “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR).

Clearly, the community and the environment within which the business operates are increasingly viewed as a part of a holistic system. This paper provides an overview of the theory and practice of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is universally recognized and integrated into international business strategies since 2009. The 2014 Canadian government's expectations promote Canadian values, utilizing the highest ethical standards in their operations, ensuring Canadian companies doing business internationally, are recognized as ethical and responsible. Further, it also ensures that businesses that are based abroad but operate in Canada, conduct themselves in a similar manner

One business that recently entered and promptly left the Canadian marketplace is the American based business Target. This store's Canadian subsidiary, Target Canada, entered the marketplace with the purchase of a Canadian discount chain in 2011, beginning operations in March 2013. In January 2015, Target Canada filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores in April 2015 with a loss of $2.1 billion. While the financial requirements of “setting up” business in Canada was more costly than the Target and Target Canada executives may have anticipated, the Canadians' response to Target's leaving included statements to the effect that, Target Canada did not understand Canadians who pride themselves in not being Americans. This article discusses CSR as practiced in Canada and the rejection of businesses that adhere to a non- Canadian identity while operating in Canada.

Abstract

Due to sector importance, size and strong growth rates, Aerospace and Defense (A & D) companies need to engage appropriately with stakeholders and communicate effectively their corporate policies, strategies and actions. As a result, in recent years, they have faced greater scrutiny and calls to produce sustainability reports. They rely on internationally recognized frameworks to create such reports. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is one of the most trusted guidelines, being the nearest thing that exists to a standard for responsible management reporting. However, it is unclear whether it effectively fulfills its mission. The present paper explores the disclosure and information content of the top revenue-generating companies in the A&D industry. Results show that, there is a need for further development of the GRI guidelines in a sector-specific fashion, together with higher detail and specification in firms' disclosure of information, to achieve overall greater transparency.

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly more important for firms in today's global marketplace and effective communication of CSR initiatives is vital towards enhancing a company's reputation and its sales revenues. With this consideration, the reputations of firms in the Aerospace and Defense (A & D) industry worldwide, in conjunction with their use of social media were examined to validate a link between the use of social media to communicate CSR activities and a firm's reputation ranking. The methodology involved a qualitative content analysis of the online and social media presence of the top 20 A & D companies from the Deloitte Toche Tohmatso Limited (DTTL) 2014 Global A& D financial performance study. Data from six indicators of CSR: environment, community relations, diversity, employee relations, human rights, and client comments, was examined. According to the findings, firms utilizing social media for CSR communication should expect improved reputation ratings. All top 20 A & D companies publish at least four CSR indicators on social media platforms. The conclusion reached is that, while CSR content via social media can lead to higher reputation ratings, companies need to strategically choose the ideal number of CSR indicators, to position themselves in the global marketplace.

Abstract

The doctrine of Maximizing Shareholder Value (MSV) has been largely viewed as a definitive tool for measuring the performance of the executives of public corporations. Countless business students have been taught that, the sole goal of the firm is MSV, despite the fact that, Jack Welch called this goal the “dumbest idea in the world”. This paper reviews the literature and examines the evolution of this corporate mantra and exposes its potentially disastrous effects on shareholders, employees, customers and the nation. It concludes that, the construct of MSV is a decoy for pursuing higher share price and contends that, corporate profit-making and corporate social responsibility are not incompatible goals. Thus, it proposes that corporations should stop promoting this doctrine as a sacred objective of management and that business schools should discontinue teaching it as the optimum measure of management performance.