Abstracts for Business & Society
Business & Society Vol. 40, No.3, September 2001
Determinants of Moral Reasoning: Sex Role Orientation, Gender, and Academic Factors
Dawn R. Elm
University of St. Thomas
Ellen J. Kennedy
University of St. Thomas
Leigh Lawton
University of St. Thomas
pp. 241-265
Mixed results regarding the role of gender in moral reasoning prompted an investigation of an alternative characteristic that may be more influential in the process: sex role orientation. We present as empirical assessment of the relationship between an individual's moral reasoning level and his/her sex role orientation, gender, and several academic factors. Our results indicate that sex role orientation is not related to moral reasoning level. Gender is related to moral reasoning in our study, women reasoning at higher levels than men. We found a positive relationship between education and moral reasoning level, and moral reasoning levels differed across academic institutions. Our results also show business students have lower moral reasoning levels than students in other fields, although this result did not reach statistical significance.
An Examination of the Influence of Diversity and Stakeholder Role on Corporate Social Orientation.
Wanda J. Smith
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Richard E. Wokutch
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
K. Vernard Harrington
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Bryan S. Dennis
University of Georgia
pp. 266-294
This article examines the extent to which diversity characteristics and stakeholder role influence individuals' corporate social orientation (CSO). Our findings indicate that one's relationship to the organization as well as diversity, gender, and race influence one's CSO. Specifically, we found that employees' greatest concern was economic whereas customers had a stronger ethical orientation. The results suggest that women as well as Black employees and customers place more emphasis on whether an organization is fulfilling its discretionary responsibilities than do males and Whites. A model using the concept of value congruence is presented to guide future research.
Board Composition and Stakeholder Performance: Do Stakeholder Directors Make a Difference?
Amy J. Hillman
Arizona State University
Gerald D. Keim
Arizona State University
Rebecca a. Luce
Texas Christian University
In this article, we examine the link between board composition and an enterprise strategy outcome, stakeholder relations. Because a firm's enterprise is set at the highest level of the organization, we expect the presence of stakeholder directors (suppliers, customers, employees, and community representatives) to be positively associated with stakeholder performance. Results from an analysis of 3,268 board members representing 250 firms are discussed in the context of both corporate governance and stakeholder management literatures.
Regulatory Pressure and Environmental Management Infrastructure and Practices
Wallace N. Davidson III
Southern Illinois University
Dan L. Worrell
Southern Illinois University
In this article, we hypothesize that the level of environmentally oriented noncompliance regulatory fines and penalties levied on companies and on their industry counterparts will be associated with the development of an environmental infrastructure and practices within these companies. We find that the presence of these regulatory actions is associated with the likelihood of companies reporting environmental policies and activities and with the presence of a separate board of directors' committee that monitors company environmental concerns. Our findings suggest that environmental regulatory pressure may serve as a driver of environmental action but is not its only determinant.
Business & Society Vol. 40, No. 2, June 2001
Building a Stakeholder Theory With a Decision Modeling Methodology
Monika I. Winn
University of Victoria
pp. 133-166
This article focuses stakeholder theory on that critical juncture where stakeholder relationships and corporate policy decisions coverage. A case study methodology is described that permits detailed analyses of multiple stakeholders' objectives; it is suitable for studies of major corporate strategic decisions that are complex, controversial, involve multiple stakeholders, and require strategic trade-offs. The methodology is applied here to the dramatic decision by a Pacific Northwest forest company to phase out traditional clear-cut harvesting methods of old-growth forests. The study's findings point to new research questions and have theoretical implications for a finer grained conceptualization of stakeholder groups, stakeholder objectives, and stakeholder issues.
Thick as Thieves: A social Embeddedness Model of Rule Breaking in Organizations
Tammy L. Mac Lean
Boston College
pp. 167-196
This qualitative study examines rule breaking in organizations by analyzing how deceptive sales practices became widespread at a major life insurance company. Using grounded theory techniques, a theoretical model is developed that illustrates the persistence and proliferation of rule breaking in organizations. Findings suggest the utility of adopting a social embeddedness perspective on rule breaking, as the mechanisms of diffusion and facilitation embedded in relationships between managers and employees enable the process whereby rule breaking becomes widespread.
Resolving Moral Dilemmas in Business: A Multicountry Study
Richard L. Priem
Margaret Shaffer
Hong Kong Baptist University
pp. 197-219
This comparative field study evaluated the choices made by U.S., Portuguese, and Hong Kong Chinese evening MBA and graduating university business students when resolving business-related moral dilemmas. The authors developed hypotheses at the country level based on Hofstede's ratings of each country's national culture dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity. The more individualistic U.S. respondents resolved the dilemmas with choices indicating less self-interest and more concern for unidentified others than did their Portuguese and Hong Kong Chinese counterparts, who are from more collectivist societies. The authors discuss implications for future cross-cultural research on business dilemmas and for cooperative interactions among managers from these and other countries.
Business & Society Vol. 40, No. 1, March 2001
Culture, Perceived Corruption, and Economics: A model of Predictors and Outcomes
Kathleen A Getz
American University
Roger J. Volkema
American University
pp. 7-30
Corruption can impede commerce and economic development, yet it seems to be tolerated in many countries. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model that integrates socioeconomic factors related to corruption. The analysis revealed that a negative relationship between economic adversity and wealth was mediated by corruption. Economic adversity was positively related to corruption, and corruption was inversely related to wealth. Uncertainty avoidance moderated the relationship between economic adversity and corruption, whereas power distance and uncertainty avoidance were positively associated with corruption. The implications of these results for enhancing the effectiveness of international agreements are discussed.
The Taxation of Married Couples: An issue Life Cycle Approach
Virginia W. Gerde
University of New Mexico
Craig G. White
University of New Mexico
pp. 31-58
The inherent conflict in the taxation of married couples versus single individuals is examined. With competing social and economic outcomes, the taxation of married couples is tied to societal values and the political environment. The authors illustrate the issue by describing three methods of personal income taxation currently used across the globe. Factors such as stakeholder interests, workforce participation, and the political environment are important in determining acceptable trade-offs. Analyzing this issue in terms of the issue life cycle, the authors conclude that in the United States the marriage tax penalty will be an enduring issue because of competing values and interests.
Signaling Positive Corporate Social Performance: An Event Study of Family-Friendly Firms
Ray Jones
University of Pittsburgh
Audrey J. Murrell
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 59-78
A firm's social performance can shape the impressions of key stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers, and investors, that influence subsequent decision making and relationships to the firm. To test this notion, we examine how a firm's public recognition for exemplary social performances can serve as a positive signal of firm's business performance to shareholders. We conduct an event study of firms named to Working Mother magazine's list of "Most Family-Friendly Companies" for the first time between 1989 and 1994. We find statistically significant, positive, abnormal returns for such firms, in particular for firms whose shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Investigating Influences on Managers' Moral Reasoning: The Impact of Context and Personal and Organizational Factors
James Weber
Duquesne University
David Wasieleski
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 79-111
Managers often face situations that challenge their ability to reason marally. A variety of factors, including the issue itself and personal and organizational influences, may affect their responses. Using Kohlberg's moral development theory and the Adapted Moral Judgment Interview technique, we examine the influences of context, age, gender, type of work, and industry membership on 308 managers' moral reasoning. No significant differences are found when considering age or gender. Differences are discovered when assessing the context of the dilemmas, managers' type of work (managerial vs. technical), and industry membership (manufacturing vs. service). Implications from our findings are discussed.
Business & Society Vol. 39, No. 2, June 2000
Firm Level Performance Implications of Nonmarket Actions
Brian Shaffer
University of Maryland
Thomas J. Quasney
University of Maryland
Curtis M. Grimm
University of Maryland
pp. 126-143
This article draws from theories of business-government relations and Austrian economies to develop a model relating firm performance to the firm's market and nonmarket actions. Nonmarket actions represent one mechanism for the implementation of firm strategies. The model is tested using an original data set covering airlines serving international routes in the North Atlantic region. Results suggest that nonmarket actions have a positive and significant impact on performance, measured in three ways: profits, market share, and capacity utilization.
The Effects of Managerial Values on Social Issues Evaluation: An Empirical Examination
Mark P. Sharfman
University of Oklahoma
Tammie S. Pinkston
Andersen Consulting
Thomas D. Sigerstad
University of Oklahoma
pp. 144-182
This article suggests that due to the value-laden nature of social issues, managerial values, as a framework or schema, play an important role in the social issues evaluation process. Our data show that there is clearly a relationship between the issues managers evaluate as important and the values of those managers, with values being defined according to the Carroll typology-economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. It was apparent and the values of those managers held by the managers sampled determined how various sets of issues-community, political, and regulatory-were evaluated in terms of importance. This result suggests that the issues evaluation process, which should be objective, is not.
Responsible Care: An Assessment
Aseem Prakash
The George Washington University
pp. 183-209
Responsible Care is a voluntary code of conduct developed, enforced, and monitored by the Chemical Manufacturers Association. Voluntary codes could be designed and enforced by regulators, nonprofit groups, industry associations, and individual firms. They could vary in their scope, focusing on the firms around the globe, in a given region, within a country, or in a given industry. This article focuses on Responsible Care's self-regulatory services that pertain to establishing, monitoring, and enforcing industry-wide environmental, health, and safety standards. Employing insights from the club theory, stakeholder theory, institutional theory, and the corporate social performance perspective, it examines the demand and supply sides of voluntary codes. Finally, it discusses theoretical implications and the key challenges faced by Responsible Care in the future.
Business & Society Vol. 39, No. 1, March 2000
Regional Market Integration in North America and Corporate Social Management: Emerging Government Frameworks for Business and Public Policy
Jean Pasquero
Université du Québec à Montréal
pp. 6-23
Regional market integration is the extension of free trade among neighboring countries. Driven by powerful economic, ideological, and technological forces, it is rapidly transforming our economies. Borderless free market governance frameworks are replacing the old nation-state-centered Keynesian policies. The recent establishment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), soon to be extended to the entire Western Hemisphere, exemplifies this process. The article shows the profound consequences it holds for the institutional environment of business and for the relations between business, government, and society. These developments have a direct impact on the field of business and society, suggesting the need for a more extensive consideration of geopolitical factors in its scholarship.
A Contingency Theory of Corporate Social Performance
Bryan W. Husted
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Instituto de Empresa
pp. 24-48
This article presents a contingency theory of corporate social performance as a function of the fit between the nature of the social issue and its corresponding strategies and structures. In so doing, it integrates elements of the corporate social responsiveness, issues management, and stakeholder management literatures. The conclusion discusses the limitations of the model and suggests directions for future research.
Shareholders and the Atom of Property: Fission or Fusion
Lori Verstegen Ryan
University of Georgia
pp. 49-75
The separation of ownership and control is said to have exploded the atom of property in the modern corporation. This article suggests that if the atom ever did split, it may have recently been "fused" by a combination of shareholder activism and concentration in ownership representation. After outlining Berle and Means's seminal thesis and several rebuttal arguments, the article recounts the forces that have led to the reconcentration of ownership and control in shareholders' hands. This conclusion's impact on shareholder property rights is then examined, leading to the conclusion that Berle and Means's explosion thesis no longer holds.
Corporate Political Strategy and Legislative Decision Making: The Impact of Corporate Legislative Influence Activities
Michael D. Lord
Wake Forest University
pp. 76-93
This research assesses the relative impact on legislative decision making of several prevalent types of corporate political activities: political action committee (PAC) contributions, constituency building, executive lobbying, use of professional lobbyists, and advocacy advertising. Two separate groups of expert informants provided data on both the usage and the effectiveness of these different influence tactics. The results indicate convergent support for constituency-centered models of legislative decision making that are based on public choice theory. Further research is suggested to explore how, when, and why firms implement different mixes of these activities and what determines the effectiveness of the overall political strategies that result.
Resources, Frequency, and Methods: An Analysis of Small and Medium-Sized Firms' Public Policy Activities
Ronald G. Cook
Rider University
Dale R. Fox
Quinnipiac College
pp. 94-113
This study compared the public policy interactions over time between small and medium-sized firms. Hypotheses related to firm size, frequency of activity, and influence methods were developed and tested. Small and medium-sized firms reporting less activity but more success in influencing the public policy process than did small firms. Of the influence methods, only letter writing was significant to reported success rates. A regression analysis revealed that firm size and letter-writing variables provided the best in a linear-relationship model.
Business & Society Vol. 38, No. 4, December 1999
Regional Market Integration and Decentralization in Europe and North America: Implications for Business-Government Relations and Corporate Public Affairs
Jonathan P. Doh
American University
pp. 474-507
Regional market integration in Europe and North America has grown increasingly extensive. This integration has created institutions and structures to guide pan-continental political, economic, and social policies. At the same time, both regions are experiencing pressures of decentralization. These competing trends are transforming relationships between and among business, society, and government. This article compares the implications of political, economic, and institutional changes in these two regions for business-government relations and the structure and strategic orientation of the corporate public affairs (PA) function. This article reviews recent literature on comparative political economy, business and public policy, and corporate PA, and it presents a conceptual model and research propositions, supported by case illustrations, of how integration and decentralization affect business-government relations and corporate PA in Europe and North America.
Democracy, Regional Market Integration, and Foreign Direct Investment: Lessons From Costa Rica
Douglas a Schuler
David S. Brown
Rice University
pp. 450-473
Regional integration over the past decade has facilitated a huge flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Latin America. Less is known, however, about why these new foreign enterprises decided to enter specific markets. This study investigates three recent investments in Costa Rica: two by U.S.-based multinational corporations (MNCs) and another by an MNC based in Spain. The behavior of these MNCs is examined in their initial bargaining and subsequent operations. Through the lens of political economy, this study concludes that Costa Rica’s stable democratic institutions and formalized economic links through multilateral and regional trade investment accords constitute an advanced factor of comparative advantage that attracted foreign investment to Costa Rica and induced the MNCs to become responsive to host country interest.
Regional Market Integration and the Development of Global Norms for Enterprise Conduct: The Case of International Bribery
Duane Windsor
Rice University
Kathleen A. Getz
American University
pp. 415-449
Moving toward a possible transatlantic free trade area (TAFTA), the European Union (EU) and the United States reached an accord in December 1995 to collaborate on 150 policy issues. Regional market integration arrangements involve the acceptance of international policy regimes defining conditions for cooperation and harmonization. Because multinational enterprises (MNEs) will likely increase in size and global scope, regional and global regime development efforts for defining corporate social responsibility and performance norms will be needed. In light of these trends, this article focuses on a case study of an emerging, global anticorruption norm among countries of diverse cultures, interests, and values. Although, historically, a norm against the bribery of domestic public officials has been virtually universal, there was little prohibition against bribery by business of foreign public officials. Regionally adopted anticorruption norms require national implementation and enforcement, and they must operate globally to be effective. Implications for other norms are considered.
Business & Society Vol. 38, No. 3, September 1999
The continuing Quest for Accountable, Ethical, and Humane Corporate Capitalism: An Enduring Challenge for Social Issues in Management in the New Millennium
Edwin M. Epstein
Saint Mary's College of California
pp. 253-267
From their inception, the social issues in management (SIM) field and the SIM Division within the Academy of Management have provided venues to examine the complex, dynamic, two-way relation between economic institutions of our society and the social systems in which they operate. They have blended the normative with the scientific, the speculative with the empirical, and the philosophical with the pragmatic. The field and the Division have served, perhaps more importantly, as the conscience of management education and the Academy. Their enduring quest and raison d' étre is to foster corporate capitalism that is accountable, ethical, and humane.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a definitional Construct
Archie B. Carroll
University of Georgia
pp. 268-295
There is an impressive history associated with the evolution of the concept and definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this article, the author traces the evolution of the CSR construct beginning in the 1950s, which marks the modern era of CSR. Definitions expanded during the 1960s and proliferated during the 1970s. In the 1980s, there were fewer new definitions, more empirical research, and alternative themes began to mature. These alternative themes included corporate social performance (CSP), stakeholder theory, and business ethics theory. In the 1990s, CSR continues to serve as a core construct but yields to or is transformed into alternative thematic frameworks.
Ranking Rank Behaviors: A Comprehensive Situation-Based Definition of Dishonesty
Elizabeth D. Scott
The Pennsylvania State University
Karen A. Jehn
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
pp. 296-325
Using ethical theory often applied by business ethics, this article develops a threshold definition of honesty that incorporates specific situational factors (act, actor, person affected, intention, and result) in the definition: Dishonesty occurs when a responsible actor voluntarily and intentionally violates some convention of the transfer of information or of property, and, in so doing, potentially harms a valued being. The article then further refines this definition to differentiate among various categories of dishonesty, such as theft and deceit. Ways to use the definition in research and teaching are discussed.
Understanding Research on Values in Business: A level of Analysis Framework
Bradley R. Agle
Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
Craig B Caldwell
Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
pp. 326-387
Researchers in all management specialties have discussed and investigated the important role values play in personal and organizational phenomena. However, because research on values has been performed in a wide range of social science disciplines and a different levels of analysis, much of this work has been uninformed by other work and is neither well integrated nor systematized, resulting in a great deal of confusion concerning the topic. This article attempts to add order and clarity to this area of research by proposing a framework of values research based on level of analysis and by cataloguing and reviewing the vast theoretical and empirical research in light of this framework. It concludes with a critique of the extant literature and recommendations for further research.
Business & Society Vol. 38, No. 2, June 1999
Testing the firm as a filter of corporate political action
Kathleen A. Rehbein
Marquette University
Douglas A Schuler
Rice University
pp. 144-166
This study tests an integrative model of corporate political action, the filter model, based on the behavioral theory of the firm. The filter model posits that external political, economic, and industry environments are mediated by organizational structures and resources to affect a firm’s political actions. The authors rate the filter model’s predictive power against that of an economic-based direct-effects model by examining the efforts of about 1,100 U.S.-domiciled manufacturing firms to influence trade policy. LISREL analysis demonstrates that the integrative filter model provides a superior explanation of corporate political action.
Beyond resources: The mediating effect of top management discretion and values on corporate philanthropy
Ann K. Buchholtz
Allen C. Amason
Matthew A. Rutherford
University of Georgia
pp. 167-187
Prior studies have advanced our knowledge of the individual determinants of corporate philanthropy; however, little empirical research has been conducted on how these determinants combine to influence giving. In this study, the authors develop and test an integrated model of the relationship between firm resources and corporate philanthropy as mediated by managerial discretion and managerial values. In addition, the authors offer organizational slack as an alternative measure of organizational resources. As predicted, the results show that firm resources have a positive effect on corporate philanthropy. This effect is fully mediated by managerial discretion and partially mediated by managerial values.
Some determinants of student corporate social responsibility orientation.
Brian K. Burton
Western Washington University
W. Harvey Hegarty
Indiana University
pp. 188-205
This study examines the effect of gender, Machiavellian orientation, and socially desirable reporting on the respondent’s orientation toward corporate social responsibility. A sample of 219 undergraduate students from a Midwestern university exhibited differences in orientation across gender and degree of Machiavellian orientation. Social desirability had a minimal effect on the responses.
Colloquium: Reflections on Frederick’s Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation
An Appalachian coda: The core values of business
William C. Frederick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 206-211
This article briefly characterizes the core values of business as manifestations of natural processes. They include the values of economizing, power-aggrandizing, ecologizing, techologizing, and X-factor, with each separate value cluster a response to identifiable forces of nature. The inconsistencies and contradictions between these various value systems are reconciled by resorting to two kinds of normative phenomena: the rationality and creativity found within the techno-symbolic value cluster, and a global culture of ethics.
New Values, New Conflicts: A response to William Frederick’s Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation.
Nancy Hauserman
University of Iowa
pp. 212-216
Although maintaining that Frederick’s book Values, nature, and Culture in the American Corporation (Frederick, 1995) provides a new way to think about what often appear to be competing values of business and society generally, this article raises several questions about Frederick’s theory. In particular, the author challenges Frederick’s failure to develop a clear priority system between the value clusters he defines and the utilitarian approach he uses to balance interests. The article is critical of his apparent disagreement with a concept of universal values as well as his related support of cultural relativism.
The mother-child paradigm and its relevance to the workplace
Robbin Derry
Appalachian State University
pp. 217-225
In response to Frederick’s exhortation to thoroughly examine the interaction of natural and cultural values, this article considers the mother-child paradigm proposed by Virginia Held and its potential for application to business ethics. The application of the model is done in two parts: the recognition of the centrality of the mothering person and child to our social well-being, and an application of the lessons learned from parenting to our civic roles and work environments.
Business and naturalism: A peek at transcendence?
Timothy L. Fort
University of Michigan
pp. 226-236
Bill Frederick’s work calls on business ethicists to consider religion as well as nature. Because there are naturally wired religious impulses in human beings and because of the fairness of including normative approaches meaningful for business people, Frederick suggests that the "R" in CSR should represent religion. This article takes up the theme in terms of the emerging field of naturalistic theology, particularly (although embryonically) as stated by theologian Paul Tillich. Doing so creates (a) connections between "God as Life" and nature and (b) linkages of the notions of symbol, culture, and transcendence. In addition to avoiding the so-called "naturalistic fallacy," this integration can foster ethical business behavior.
Relativism, feminism, and theology: A naturalistic response
William C. Frederick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 237-245
This article argues that the normative issues that arise (a) from business operations in other cultures, (b) from the normative outcomes of early value inculcation by parents, and (c) from a quest for transcendent meaning with the workplace can be understood best when seen within a naturalist framework. Cultural relativist, feminist morality, and theological views can only be enriched, not diminished, by tracing their kinship with nature.
Business & Society Vol. 38, No. 1, March 1999
Essay Forum
Living stakeholder theory: A tribute to the life and works of Max Clarkson
pp. 6-50
Cooperating with the disempowered: Using ESOPs to forge a stakeholder relationship by anchoring employee trust in workplace participation programs
Richard S. Marens
Andrew C. Wicks
Vandra L. Huber
University of Washington
pp. 51-82
Although researchers have begun to examine how firms manage their entire web of stakeholder relationships, the component relationships also require theoretical and empirical examination. Several studies have found that Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) have a positive impact on firm performance. The authors explain these results by hypothesizing that ESOPs, when combined with employee participation programs, forge a stakeholder relationship between management and employees. The authors offer criteria for identifying stakeholder relationships, provide background on ESOPs, analyze why they contribute to establishing such a relationship, and examine how published empirical research supports this analysis. The authors conclude by suggesting directions for future research.
Fairness and ideology: An empirical test of social contracts theory
George W. Watson
St. John’s University
Jon M. Shepard
Carroll U. Stephens
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
pp. 81-108
Although social contracts theory has been applied to organizations (Donaldson & Dunfee, 1994), rarely has the theory been tested empirically. This article uses the traditions of communitarianism and individualism to instantiate an ideal-type economic social contract. We asked 269 subjects to complete the Ideological Orientation Scale and to make judgments on eight downsizing scenarios. Using social judgment theory, we assess the direct and indirect influences of ideology on judgments of fairness. Our finding suggest that ideology indeed shapes individual’s conceptions of organizational fairness.
The relationship between social and financial performance: Repainting a portrait
Ronald M. Roman
Sefa Hayibor
Bradley R. Agle
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 109-125
A primary issue in the field of business and society over the past 25 years has been the relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance. Recently, Griffin and Mahon (19997) presented a table categorizing studies that have investigated this relationship. Motivated by concerns with this table, as well as a desire to account for progress in research in this area, the authors reconstructed it. The authors present a portrait of this relationship that is (a) substantially different from that shown in the Griffin and Mahon table and (b) more consistent with the latest research on the topic.
Painting a portrait: A reply
John F. Mahon
Boston University
Jennifer J. Griffin
The George Washington University
pp. 126-133
This is a reply to the Research Note by Roman, Hayibor, and Agle in this issue. In this reply, the authors offer some constructive criticism of their analysis in an attempt to continue and further the debate on the relationship between corporate financial and social performance.
Business & Society Vol. 37, No. 4, December 1998
Creatures, corporations, communities, chaos, complexity: A naturological view of corporate social role
William C. Frederick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 358-389
The corporation’s social role is usually presented as a cultural phenomenon in which the corporation learns socially acceptable behaviors through voluntary social responsibility, government regulations/public policies, and/or acceptance of ethics principles. This article presents an alternative view of corporation-community relations as a natural phenomenon based on complexity-chaos theory and a biological-physical conception of corporate values. Corporation and community are depicted as interacting nonlinear adaptive systems having unpredictable futures, the corporate social role is depicted as largely indeterminate, and competing values are depicted as key factors driving change in corporation-community linkages. Normative duties of corporate and community leaders are described.
Modeling industry political dynamics
John F. Mahon
Boston University
Richard A. McGowan
Boston College
pp. 390-413
The purpose of this article is to extend from the business and society research focus on corporate political strategy and to factor this emphasis into business strategy thinking. The approach taken is to incorporate business and society concepts into a model that parallels Michael Porter’s well-known Five Forces Model of business strategy. The applicability of the parallel model for practitioners and academics is then illustrated by using the model to analyze the television violence issue.
25 years and going strong: A content analysis of the first 25 years of the Social Issues in Management Division proceedings
Virginia W. Gerde
University of New Mexico
Richard E. Wokutch
Virginia Tech
pp. 414-446.
Using content analysis, the authors categorize all Social Issues in Management (SIM) Division papers and abstracts (636) from 1972 through 1996 by subject matter and methodology. Showing the development of the field over time, the authors integrate their findings into previous SIM frameworks. Adaptation to the changing business environment is apparent in the subject matter. Although terminology and context (such as employee rights concerning electronic mail) may have changed, the topics are similar. Nevertheless, evolution in the SIM field is apparent. Methodology has become much more sophisticated as researchers use existing and newly created databases and more rigorous techniques – such as event studies and meta-analysis.
Differences in ethical beliefs, intentions, and behaviors: The role of beliefs and intentions in ethics research revisited
James Weber
Duquesne University
Janet Gillespie
Elmhurst College
pp. 447-467
Using Azjen’s Theory of Planned Behavior and Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, we look at individual beliefs (What should I do?), intention (What would I do?), and actual behaviors (What did I do?) and the rationale used in each instance. Of the 12 hypotheses, 10 are strongly supported and 2 are moderately supported. This data set shows that significant differences exist between belief and action, belief and intention, and intention and action; the rationales used to support belief, intention, and action differ from on another. Implications for academic research and managerial practice are discussed and research limitations are examined.
Business & Society Vol. 37, No. 3, September 1998
Constructing an ethic for business practice: Competing effectively and doing good
Jeanne Liedtka
University of Virginia
pp. 254-280
This article argues for a new direction in business ethics research. A number of widely discussed concepts popular in the business world today appear to converge around a set of practices that imply a new ethic capable of linking the competitively effective with the morally good. Seizing this opportunity requires that ethicists redirect their attention away from a traditional focus on applying existing moral theories to business practice and adopt instead a "constructivist" focus that works backward from these best practices to construct a new ethic that supports them.
Socially responsible investing: Growing issues and new opportunities
R. Bruce Hutton
Louis D’Antonio
Tommi Johnsen
University of Denver
pp. 281-305.
Socially responsible investing (SRI) is the practice of making investment decisions on the basis of both financial and social performance. The SRI movement has grown into a $1.185 trillion business, accounting for about 1 in 10 U.S. invested dollars. Not surprisingly, the industry has suffered severe growing pains along the way in the form of issues of credibility, demand, and performance. And to date, the product itself has been limited to equity investing. This article explores these critical issues and whether socially screened bonds can perform as well as or better than unscreened bonds. If so, whole new sets of opportunities are open to the social investor bent on making a buck and a difference.
Determining best practice in corporate-stakeholder relations using Data Envelopment Analysis: An industry-level study
Catherine Lerme Bendheim
Sandra A. Waddock
Samuel B. Graves
Boston College
pp. 306-338
This article presents a study of corporate-stakeholder relationships using an empirical technique called Data Development Analysis (DEA) to assess company "best practices" with respect to five primary stakeholders at an industry level of analysis. Five key stakeholder domains are considered: community relations, employee relations, environment, customer (product category), and stockholders (financial performance). These data reflect the relationships between companies and these five primary stakeholders; these relationships are considered to be important elements of corporate social performance. About 15% of companies, on average, are found to be operating at the multidimensional "best practices frontier" that DEA establishes. Differences in treatment of stakeholders within industries and between industries are observed.
Business & Society Vol. 37, No. 2, June 1998
Do corporate PACs restrict competition? An empirical examination of industry PAC contributions and entry
Thomas J. Dean
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Maria Vryza
Household International, Inc.
Gerald E. Fryxell
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
pp. 135-156
Corporate political action committee (PACs) play a prominent role in the political strategies of U.S. organizations, and the ability of firms to influence political outcomes is highly controversial. To the extent that PACs enable groups of firms to pursue corporate agendas at the expense of the social good, they promote socially suboptimal outcomes. This study examines the impact of corporate PACs on entry restriction in manufacturing industries and finds a negative relationship between corporate PAC spending and the entry of new firms. Results suggest that PACs are used to shape industry structure to the economic benefit of incumbents.
The myth of the trusting culture: A global, empirical assessment.
Kelly Strong
Michigan Technological University
James Weber
Duquesne University
pp. 157-183
Recent studies suggest that trust is culturally determined and that differentials in trust exist globally between cultures. The trusting culture may be an artifact given that there is little empirical support for such a notion. The results of an international survey of 122 business leaders failed to reveal significant differences in trust between cultures.
A nonidealists’s guide to dispute resolution.
Victor L. Rosenberg
Northeastern University
Patricia C. Kelley
University of Washington at Bothell
Ralph D. Kidder
Boston University
pp. 184-220
Regulation theories focus primarily on the behavior of regulatory agencies. In this article, the authors elevate the level of analysis to study the disputes these agencies address. This change of analytic level has two advantages. First, it highlights the importance of other forms of dispute resolution. Second, it provides for specific dispute resolution strategies. The article uses systems and behavioral theories as the underpinnings of a broad model of societal regulation that offers strategies for avoiding and managing societal disputes.
Business Ethics and Corporate Policy
Edwin M. Epstein
Saint Mary's College of California
pp. 7-39
This article reviews the development of business ethics and corporate social policy from the perspective of a long-time major in the field.
Moving to CSR4: What to Pack for the Trip
William C. Frederick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 40-60
The study of Social Issues in Management (SIM) has exhausted its primary analytic framework based on corporate social performance (social science),business ethics (philosophy), and stakeholder theory (organized science),and needs to move to a new paradigmatic level based on the natural sciences. Doing so would expand research horizons to include cosmological perspectives (astrophysics), evolutionary theory (biology, genetics, ecology), and non-sectarian spirituality concepts (theological naturalism, cognitive neuroscience). Absent this shift, SIM studies increasing irrelevance for scholars and business practitioners.
Essay Forum: Voice From the Scholarly Generations of Business and Society
Donna J. Wood
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 60-112
A total of 36 Business ad Society scholars from five intellectual generations answer questions about the field's biggest challenge and their own motivations.
The Evolution of Social Issues in Management
What's In. What's Out. What's Hot, and What's Not
1994 SIM Division Chair Address, August 16, 1994, Dallas, Texas
Richard E. Wokutch
Virginia Tech
pp. 125
The field of social issues in management, the issues we study, the world in which we live, and the members of the field ourselves have undergone considerable changes in the period since the Social Issues Management Division was formed in 1972. This address is intended to highlight some of these more significant changes in an admittedly impressionistic and slightly irreverent manner. It provides editorial commentary on the development of the field over this period and offers recommendations for the future. In particular, it suggests that we should focus on those enduring issues and underlying principles that we ourselves determine to be important, but at the same time that we not forget to have some fun while we are doing so.
Managing Industrial and Environmental Crises
Daniel W. Greening
Richard A. Johnson
University of Missouri-Columbia
pp. 334-361
This study examines firms that have experience an industrial and/or environmental crisis and proposes that top management team (TMT) characteristics will affect a firm's ability to minimize the severity of these crisis events. Specifically, heterogeneity in the TMT will exhibit a curvilinear (U-Shaped) relationship with the severity of firm crises. Our results suggest that a moderate level of age and tenure heterogeneity are positively related to a firm's ability to successfully minimize the severity of crises. Variance in educational backgrounds was unrelated to crisis severity. Functional background heterogeneity exhibited a curvilinear relationship with crisis severity but was not U-Shaped as hypothesized.
Of Babies and Bathwater
Eugene Szwajkowski
University of Illinois, Chicago
Raymond E. Figlewicz
University of Michigan, Dearborn
pp. 362-386
A research forum published in Business & Society in 1995 (Issue 2) analyzed whether Fortune magazine's annual Reputation Survey (FRS) is viable as a corporate social performance (CSP) research database. We examine plausible alternative interpretations for a number of assertions and conclusions by the forum authors, including the premise for Brown and Perry's proposed transformation: that the Fortune data are confounded by the presence of a financial "halo," which biases ratings of nonfinancial attributes. Finally, we examine the appropriate roles of the two primary corporate rating systems in the context of CSP.
Business Perception of Contextual Changes
Ariane Berthoin Antal
Meinolf Dierkes
Katrin Hahner
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforshung
Science Center Berlin
A firm's ability to shape its policies to meet societal demands depends on how it perceives the opportunities and risks in its environment. The authors hypothesized that corporate culture plays a significant role in shaping organizational perceptions. this article summarizes the findings of a study on how the organizational culture of a chemical firm headquartered in West Germany affected the evolution on its social and personal policy from 1950 to 1989 given the changes in its sociopolitical environment during this period. The study shows that the culture of a company, by shaping its perceptions, plays a central role in determining the areas in which the organization is likely to be able to learn easily and those in which it is likely to resist changing its policies.
Lee E. Preston
University of Maryland, College Park
Douglas P. O'Bannon
Webster University
This research note analyzes the relationship between indicators of corporate social and financial performance within a comprehensive theoretical framework. The results, based on data for 67 large U.S corporations for 1982-1992, reveal no significant negative social-financial performance relationships and strong positive correlations in both contemporaneous and lead-lag formulations.
U.S Consumer Sensitivity to Corporate Social Performance: Development of a Scale
Karen Paul
Lori M. Zalka
Florida International University
Meredith Downes
Illinois State University
Susan Perry
Florida Atlantic University
Shawnta Friday
Florida A & M University
his study develops a scale to measure consumer sensitivity to corporate social performance (CSCSP) using the factor analysis procedure to generate a valid and reliable 11-item scale. Results from a U.S sample of M.B.A students suggest that women are more sensitive to CSP than men and that Democrats are more sensitive to CSP than Republicans. Future research can use this scale to measure the correlation between attitudes toward CSP and actual behavior.
Socially Irresponsible and Illegal Behavior and Shareholder Wealth: A Meta-Analysis of Event Studies
Jeff Frooman
University Of Pittsburgh
pp. 221-249
This article provides empirical results indicating that acting in a socially responsible and lawful manner is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for increasing shareholder wealth. It meta-analyzes27 event studies that have measured the stock market's reaction to incidences of socially irresponsible and illicit behavior. It finds that for firms engaging in socially irresponsible and illicit behavior, the effect on shareholder wealth is negative (wealth decreases), statistically significant.
Quality of Management and Quality of Stakeholder Relations: Are They Synonymous?
Sandra A. Waddock
Samuel B. Graves
Boston College
pp. 250-279
This article presents an integrative conceptual framework for linking corporate social performance, stakeholders, and quality of management, then tests this framework empirically. Results provide strong support for the hypothesis that perceived quality of management can be explained by the quality of performance with respect to specific primary stakeholders: owners, employees, customers, and (marginally) communities, but treatment of ecological environmental considerations is not a significant factor.
Industry-Specific Corporate responsibility With an International Dimension: The Case of Foreign bank Compliance With CRA
Ann B. Matador
Deborah D. Pavelka
Roosevelt University
pp. 280-295.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires U.S. banks to make loans available in low- and middle-income sectors of their communities. Vaguely worded and unevenly enforced, CRA has created a major dilemma for banks because their CRA ratings are open to public scrutiny and used by regulators in determining whether to permit a bank to expand its products, services, or geographic presence. Ironically, foreign banks doing business in the United States have been able to avoid the impact of CRA because of legal privileges that are now disappearing. As Depression era-banking laws are set aside so that American banks can regain their international competitiveness, foreign banks in the United States will be forced to comply with CRA to take full advantage of the new opportunities available in the American banking arena. Based on current evidence, it appears that CRA may be a major stumbling block in the path of future foreign bank expansion in the United States.
The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsiveness: An Exploration Study of Finnish and Canadian Forestry Companies
Juha Nasi
Salme Nasi
University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Nelson Phillips
Stelios Zyglidopoulos
McGill University
pp. 296-321.
In this article, the authors investigate the applicability and usefulness of three alternative perspectives on corporate issues management: issue life cycle theory, legitimacy theory, and stakeholder theory. Each perspective makes certain assumptions about the nature of issues management activities and certain general predictions about corporate social responsiveness. The authors test the relative applicability of the three theories through a case study of the issues management activities off our large forestry companies in Finland and Canada. The authors conclude that all three perspectives have value but differ in the level of analysis and time frame to which they apply.
The Filtering Role of the Firm in Corporate Political Involvement
Douglas A. Schuler
Rice University
Kathleen Rehbein,
Marquette University
pp. 116-139
This article develops a theoretical framework for the analysis of corporate political involvement, as mediated not only by environmental factors but also by characteristics of the firm itself. Consistent with previous research, and industry environments influence the level of a firm's involvement in politics. In addition, the authors' model takes into account as corporate structure, resources, political experience, and stakeholder dependence.
Environmental Regulation and Firm-Level Innovation: The Moderating Effects of Organizational and Individual-Level Variables
Carol M. Sanchez
Grand Valley State University
pp. 140-168
Many analysts argue that environmental regulation is a barrier to innovation in business firms. A competing view holds that environmental regulation contributes to firm-level innovation. This article attempts to partially reconcile these two views. The article argues that organizational- and individual-level variables moderate the effect of environmental regulation generally on the radicalness of innovation at the firm level. It proposes that four moderating variables--the degree to which information analysis about environmental issues is centralized, firm size, the intensity and integration of research and development (R&D) units within the firm, and whether regulation is perceived as an opportunity change the sign of the relationship between environmental regulation and the radicalness of firm-level innovation. Empirically testable propositions are presented and a regulation-innovation profile is suggested. Directions for future research and implications for practicing managers are highlighted.
A Model for Addressing Cross-Cultural Ethical Conflicts
Paul F. Buler
John J. Kohls
Kenneth S. Anderson
Gonzaga University
pp. 169-193
As transnational interactions increase, cross-cultural conflict concerning ethical issues is inevitable. This article presents a model for assisting decision-makers in selecting appropriate strategies for addressing cross-cultural ethical conflict. A theoretical framework for the model is developed based on the literature on international business ethics and on conflict resolution. The model is illustrated through several case examples. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
The Interface of Organizational Effectiveness and Corporate Social Performance: Opportunities for Research and Theory Development
Ran Lachman
College of Management, Tel-Aviv
Richard A. Wolfe
Western Kentucky University
pp. 194-214
Though they have much in common, the fields of organizational effectiveness (OE) and corporate social performance (CSP) have developed independently. Although both areas deal with organization-environment interactions, each focus is different: OE focuses on how an organization manages its environment for its own ends whereas CSP focuses on an organization's responsibilities to, and performance vis-avis, its environment. Scholars within the two fields, therefore, have tended to take parallel, nonintersecting paths and, thus have overlooked potential synergies. In calling attention to potential conceptual and empirical development at the intersection of OE and CSP, the authors examine similarities and differences between an organization's functional and social performance, present illustrative cases to demonstrate the benefits of considering the OE-CSP interface, and suggest guidelines for conducting research at the OE-CSP interface.
The Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Debate: Twenty-Five Years of Incomparable Research
Jennifer J. Griffin
John F. Mahon
Boston University
pp. 5-31
This article extends earlier research concerning the relationship between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance, with particular emphasis on methodological inconsistencies. Research in this area is extended in three critical areas. First, it focuses on a particular industry, the chemical industry. Second, it uses multiple sources of data-two that are perceptual based (KLD Index and Fortune's reputation survey), and two that are performance based (TRI database and corporate philanthropy) in order to triangulate toward assessing corporate social performance. Third, it uses the five most commonly applied accounting measures in the corporate social performance and corporate financial performance (CSP/CFP) literature to assess corporate financial performance. The results indicate that the priority use of measures may actually predetermine the CSP/CFP relationship outcome. Surprisingly, Fortune and KLD indices very closely track another, whereas TRI and corporate philanthropy differentiate between high and low social performers and do not correlate to the firm's financial performance.
Research in Corporate Political Action: Integration and Assessment
Kathleen A. Getz
American University
pp. 32-72
This article reviews the literature on corporate political action (CPA), integrating the perspectives of nine basic social science theories. Theoretical and empirical research grounded in these nine theories have described the characteristics of firms that engage in CPA (who), their rationale (why), and their methods (how). To a much lesser extent, the literature has also addressed how CPA changes over time (when) and the settings in which CPA is done (where). Reexamining the CPA literature this way directs us toward fundamental research questions that have not yet been addressed.
Conflicting Shareholder Interests: An Empirical Analysis of Fair Price Provisions
Chamu Sunaramurthy
University of Kentucky
Paula L. Rechner
University of Houston
pp. 73-87
This study of 258 corporations provides an assessment of the impact of institutional investors stockholding on fair price adoption decisions. In addition, the influence of board compositions, board leadership, and the interaction between these two governance attributes on such decisions is examined. The results of analysis suggest that only institutional stockholding plays a significant role.
Opening Narrow, Routinized Schemata to Ethical Stakeholder Consciousness and Action
Richard P. Nielsen
Jean M. Bartunek
Boston College
pp. 483-519
Ethical problems with stakeholder relationships sometimes occur because organizational members are operating out of narrowly scripted organizational routines that do not include an explicit ethical component. In this article we describe methods of single-loop, double-loop, and triple-loop action learning that aim at helping organizational members develop understanding that incorporate conscious ethical consideration in stakeholder relationships. We describe the extent to which these methods achieve "second-order" change in the direction of ethical stakeholder relationships, give example of the use of each of the methods, and we consider their strengths and limitations for achieving the desired change.
Preston, Post, and the Principle of Public Responsibility
William D. Oberman
University of New Mexico
pp. 465-478
This essay treats Private Management and Public Policy not only as one of the key building blocks of theory in the business and society field, but as a work of theoretical social science in the structural-function tradition. As a work in the "s-f" tradition, it shares the weakness inherent in that mode of theorizing and introduces some of its own in the attempt to translate structural-functionalism into terms relevant for management. These problems are discussed in the context of detailed analysis of the work's theoretical structure.
Managing the Interface Between the Corporation and Society: New Insight From Preston and Post
D. Jeffrey Lenn
The George Washington University
pp. 460-464
The work of Lee Preston and James Post helped to lay the foundation of one career in the field of business and public policy. They provided a theoretical framework for a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship of the corporation and society and those who are charged with its management.
Just a Classic: Assessment and Reflection Private Management and Public Policy
Jeanne M. Logsdon
University of New Mexico
pp. 454-459
This article examines the major contributions made by Preston and Post in Private Management and Public Policy from the dual perspective of a doctoral student in the late 1970's and mid-career professor in themid-1990's. It also identifies the roots of contemporary issue and concepts in the business and society field in this early book, published in 1975. Finally, four questions are raised about what is missing, unforeseen, and subject to further scrutiny. The author's assessment is that the book is both a classic in the evolution of the field and highly relevant to contemporary analysis of corporate social performance.
Private Management and Public Policy: Another Look at Interpenetrating Systems Theory
Rogene A. Buchholz
Loyola University of New Orleans
pp. 444-453
The book Private Management and Public Policy by Lee E. Preston and James E. Post has a major impact on the business and society field. The authors introduced the concept of public policy into the field as an alternative way of thinking about social issues that was different from the concept of social responsibility that was so popular in the early years of the field. The concept of interpenetrating systems theory they developed attempted to provide theoretical support for business's involvement in public policy and to deal with the problem of atomic individualism that has only recently been recognized. The field is indebted to the authors for developing the broad outlines of an alternative theory of the firm in society that offers the possibility of overcoming traditional dichotomies that have plagued the field since its inception.
Special Issue: Understanding and Changing Business and Society Relationships: An Annotated Bibliography of the 1990-1995 International Association for Business and Society Annual Proceedings
Stakeholder Management and the Avoidance of Corporate Control
Morten Huse
Dorthe Eide
Nordland Research Institute
pp. 211-243
Principles and process of stakeholder management are still conceptually at an embryonic stage. This article analyzes several principles and processes important to understanding strategic management and business ethics. Using an inductive approach with empirical data from a Norwegian insurance company, the article contributes to a description of manipulation and power dimensions of stakeholder management. The capacity of the management of large companies to circumvent control and thus accountability is illustrated. New analytic insights are presented, such as the distinction drawn between movement, ultimatum, and manipulation.
How and Why Participatory Management Improves a Company's Social Performance: Four Gainsharing Case Studies
Denis Collins
University of Wisconsin-Madison
pp. 176-210
Many of the humanistic values that CSR3 theorists would like to see embedded in business organizations are the foundations of participatory management theory. Does the institutionalization of democratic process and values--in the form of nonmanagement employees voicing their opinions on production issues and electing representatives to key decision-making teams--improve a company's social performance? This research question is examined based on the documentation of changes in stakeholder policies and outcomes at four companies operating under a Scallion-type gainsharing system for four to six years. Gainsharing's collaborative problem solving mechanisms benefited owners in terms of cost savings, customers in terms of improved product quality and service, suppliers in terms of product feedback, and production employees in terms of improved health and safety conditions, as well as a variety of other favorable changes in policies and outcomes.
Fragile and Resilient Trust and Their Roles in Economic Exchange
Peter Smith Ring
Loyola Marymount University
Pg. 148-175
Interfirm collaboration and trust are topics currently exciting research interest. The literature treats trust as a unitary concept, providing little understanding of those processes that create trust, or are employed by parties relying on trust. I suggest that two distinct forms of trust can be observed in economic exchanges: fragile trust and resilient trust. I define these kinds of trust, speculate on processes by which economic actors learn about them, and explore contexts in which they are likely to be relied upon by economic actors. I conclude with a discussion of implications for practice and scholarship.
Overcoming the Separation Thesis: The Need for Reconsideration of Business and Society Research
Andrew C. Wicks
University of Washington
pp. 89-118
In his presentation at the 1993 Society of Business conference, Ed Freeman offered a provocative explanation for why the normative core of business and society (B&S) research is perceived as fundamentally at odds with the pervasive wisdom on business and the academic literature on management (e.g., "business ethics is an oxymoron"). He termed this explanation the separation thesis. This article explores the possibility that the separation thesis captures a pervasively held view about corporations, even among B&S researchers. To support this claim, the author looks at whether three value dichotomies, which provide the conceptual underpinnings of the separation thesis, are prevalent in the literature. The article provides evidence from the literature in ethics, corporate social responsibility/performance, and wider management issues to support its claims, and then looks at alternative possibilities for developing inquiry to avoid the pitfalls of these value dichotomies and, therefore, the separation thesis.
A Postmodern Feminist Perspective on Organizations in the Natural Environment: Rethinking Ecological Awareness
Kelly C. Strong
Michigan Tech University
pp. 62-78
Concern over the natural environment has been a persistent problem for industrialized society. One possible reason for the enduring anxiety over the condition of the ecosystem may be that the masculinist perspective dominant in business education, research, and practice does not allow us to envision sustainable solutions. This manuscript traces the rise of masculinist hegemony in organizational science and counters with a postmodern feminist alternative that may provide more workable, long-term solutions to environmental degradation. Examples of changes in business language and heuristics that may be derived from such a postmodern feminist perspective are discussed.
Missing the Forest of Trees: A Critique of the Social Responsibility Concept and Discourse
Marc T. Jones
University of Otago
pp. 7-41
This article critiques the concept and discourse of social responsibility in terms of theoretical coherence, empirical salience, normative viability, and power/knowledge implications from a Marxist institutionalist perspective. The social responsibility concept and discourse is found to be problematic along each of the above dimensions. The basic point can be stated succinctly: The concept and discourse of social responsibility are viable only in the absence of historically grounded understanding of capitalist political economy. At the same time, however, the article argues that social responsibility constitutes an influential ideology with material implications for stakeholder groups.
Shaping the External Environment: A Study of Small Firms Attempts to Influence Public Policy
Ronald G. Cook
Rider University
David Barry
University of Auckland
pp. 317-344
Using a qualitative, grounded theory approach, this study examined the public policy interactions of small firms. The small firms' cognitive understanding and sensemaking approaches to government are revealed through an examination of successful and failed influence attempts. Embedded in these attempts, a set of factors (Issue Characteristics and Influence Process) were discovered, which affect the outcome of an influence effort. Issue Characteristics reflected attributes chief executive officers (CEO's) looked for when examining an issue and include Issue Impact, Issue Clarity, and Issue Image. Influence Process factors focus on how influence is acquired and exercised, and include Issue Champion, Persistence, and Coalition Development.
Implementing Multilateral Regulation: A Preliminary Theory and Illustration
Kathleen A. Getz
The American University
pp. 280-316
A theory of implementation for multilateral regulation of business is introduced. Four types of implementation actors (international organizations, states, non-governmental organizations, and business associations) and three implementation tasks (communicate, monitor, and sanction) are identified. The ease of implementation is affected by issues and events that occur early in the life cycle of a policy. Ten propositions are put forward regarding the effects of problem definition and policy formulation on implementation. The theory is illustrated with the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
Theoretical Foundations of Public Policy: A Pragmatic Policy
Rogene A. Buchholz
Sandra B. Rosenthal
Loyola University of New Orleans
pp. 261-279
Many theoretical developments in the business and society field do not pay enough attention to the policy environment in which business functions and through which corporate behavior is largely shaped to respond to social problems. Part of this problem may be due to the lack of a firm philosophical foundations for public policy providing legitimacy for the concept in relation to the market system. American pragmatism offers such a foundation and overcomes many of the tensions between the market and public policy by putting the concept of the individual and community in proper perspective.
Influencing Managers to Change Unpopular Corporate Behavior Through Boycotts and Divestitures: A Stock Market Test
Wallace N. Davidson III
Southern Illinois University
Dan L. Worell
University of Texas at Arlington
Abuzar El-Jelly
University of Khartown, Sudan
pp. 171-196
In this research, the authors present a model that demonstrates that motivating managers to change unpopular or irresponsible corporate behavior may be required when the stakeholders desire such a change. Using agency theory, they then test part of the model and demonstrate why it may be necessary for an organized protest to impact on share prices before managers chose to change the behavior. Investors' reactions to announcements to product boycotts and stock divestitures made over the 23year period 1969-1991 were examined. Announcements about boycotts were associated with significant negative market reactions, whereas divestiture announcements resulted in no significant market responses. From a pure stock market perspective, boycotts appear to be a more effective tool in influencing managers to change a company's behavior.
A Structural Analysis of Corporate Political Activity: An Application of MDS to the Study of Intercorporate Relations
Colleen B. Mullery
Humboldt State University
Seven N. Brenner
Nancy A. Perrin
Portland State University
pp. 147-170
During the past 2 decades, business has become increasingly active in the political process, and scholars continue to debate the extent to which this activity is organized. This fundamental issue is addressed by using multidimensional scaling to structurally analyze political action committee (PAC) campaign contributions within the context of resource dependence and class cohesion theories. Results indicate that resource dependence theory can better explain the forces that drive business participation in the U.S. public policy process. Both theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
A Test of Environmental, Situational, and Personal Influences on the Ethical Intentions of CEO's
Sara A. Morris
Old Dominion University
Kathleen A. Rehbein
Jamshid C. Hosseini
Marquette University
Robert Armacost
University of Central Florida
pp. 119-146
A national survey of CEO's on manufacturing firms was conducted to identify factors explaining CEO's intentions to engage in two questionable business practices: soliciting a competitor's technological secrets and making payments to foreign government officials to secure business. Drawing on research in corporate misconduct, ethical decision making, and strategic management, the authors analyzed ethical intentions by looking at hostile environmental conditions, opportunity-rich situations, and/or personal characteristics. Based on response to scenarios, their findings suggests that the ethical intentions of CEO's may be more affected by the decision-maker's predisposition than by environmental pressures or organizational/situational characteristics.
Management and Four Stakeholder Politics: Corporate Reengineering as a Crossroads Case
Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr.
Bucknell University
The concept of corporate reengineering provides a rich opportunity to consider certain political implications of using the stakeholder concept. By showing the ethical incoherence of corporate reengineering, as the concept is advocated by Michael Hammer and James Champy, I make the point that the stakeholder concept can be interpreted as a means for advocating just human communities. A new conception of Business and Society as Community Studies is one consequence of this argument.
Business and Society/Business Ethics Courses: Twenty Years at the Crossroads
Denis Collins
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Steven L. Wartick
University of Missouri-St. Louis
pp. 51-89
This article uses a historical perspective for reviewing the evolution of Business and Society/Business Ethics courses at business schools and programs in the United States. The study carefully reviews the findings of 11 major studies relating to the role and number of Business and Society/Business Ethics courses in business school/program curricula. Included in these 11 studies are the results of the 1990 survey on curricula and faculty conducted by the Curriculum Development Committee of the Academy of Management’s Social Issues in Management Division. The study reveals that business schools/programs experienced a period of growth in Business and Society course offerings between 1973 and 1986 but a decline between 1986 and 1990 at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. A brief look at alternative futures for Business and Society teaching and research is offered at the end of the article.
The Unexplored Territory Linking Rewards and Ethical Behavior: A Review and a Diagnostic Model
Nancy B. Kurland
University of Southern California
pp. 34-50
Rewards research typically examines how well incentives increase employees’ productivity. By comparison, research in business ethics research focuses more on employees’ ethical behavior than on their productivity per se. Yet, despite the bounty of literature in these two areas, little research specifically (a) links incentives to (un)ethical behavior and (b) focuses on relationships other than that between the employee-employer. This article reviews this neglect in detail, urges that future research address these gaps, and proposes a diagnostic model for use by scholars to guide this future research and by practitioners to implement rewards in their organization.
Systematics and CSR: The Theory and Processes of Normative Referencing
Barry M. Mitnick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 5-33
This article examines the theoretical status of the three CSR models of William C. Frederick. Using the method of systematics, it disaggregates the elements of the three models and suggests one integrative means of re-sorting them. The article argues the need to develop a theoretical logic to understand behavior in this area and supplies one in the form of the beginnings of an explicit theory of normative referencing. The processes of normative referencing, including implementation, normative administration, normative commitment, normative instruction, normative implementation, normative administration, normative outcomes production, normative accounting, and normative adjustment are described.
Changing Institutional Rules: The Evolution of Corporate Philanthropy 1883-1953
Mark Sharfman
University of Oklahoma
pp. 236-269
Corporate philanthropy is considered to be an integral part of corporate social performance; however, this was not always the case. At one time, the use of corporate funds for philanthropy was illegal. This article uses institutional theory to examine the evolution of corporate philanthropy from its illegal status to the time when it became both legal and expected behavior on the part of business firms. Because institutional rules rarely change as dramatically as did those governing corporate philanthropy, an examination of these changes provides a unique opportunity to begin development of more generalized theory concerning change in the institutional structure of business.
Determining an Industry's Political Effectiveness With the U.S. International Trade Commission
Kathleen Rehbein
Marquette University
Stefanie Lenway
University of Minnesota
pp. 270-292
This study extends previous empirical work on the payoffs associated with an industry's political investments by examining the political strategies and tactics employed by industries involved with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). In using a comprehensive framework of regulatory decision making to analyze the ITCU's decision making process, the authors also find that industries facing relatively low costs of collective action are able to secure affirmative decisions from ITC commissioners.
Toward a Substantive Definition of the Corporate Issue Construct: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature
Seven L. Wartick
University of Missouri St. Louis
John F. Mahon
Boston University
pp. 293-311
This article works toward a more meaningful answer to the question, What is a corporate issue? The article builds from existing literature in business strategy, public policy, and business and society. It synthesizes and integrates this literature and then expands the major points. The result is a reformulated definition of the corporate issue construct that enhances theory building and research activities in the area of issue management.
Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes of Undergraduate Business Students Compared to Non-Business Students
Raymond Benton Jr.
Loyola University Chicago
pp. 191-211
To learn how business students perform on objective measures of environmental knowledge and attitude in comparison to other students, business administration students were compared to non-business students on the Environmental Attitude and Knowledge Scale (EAKS). Business students were not less environmentally knowledgeable, but they did demonstrate less concern for the environment, less willingness to act in environmentally friendly ways, and reported behavior that was less environmentally oriented. Men evidenced greater knowledge than women, but women evidenced greater concern.
An Empirical Investigation of the Scope of a Firm's Enterprise Strategy
William Q. Judge Jr.
Hema Krishnan
University of Tennessee
pp. 167-190
This article investigates the scope of a firm's enterprise strategy which is defined as the range of stakeholder satisfaction realized by a firm at a particular point in time. We found that prior profitability and several of the firm's grand strategies were correlated with enterprise strategy scope. Furthermore, environmental munificence was found to have a curvilinear relationship with enterprise strategy. Overall, this study refined and extended our understanding of enterprise strategy and stakeholder management.
From CSR1 to CSR2: The Maturing of Business-and-Society Thought
William C. Frederick
University of Pittsburgh
pp. 150-164
This 1978 paper outlines a conceptual transition in business and society scholarship, from the philosophical-ethical concept of corporate social responsibility (corporations' obligation to work for social betterment) to the action-oriented managerial concept of corporate social responsiveness (the capacity of a corporation to respond to social pressure). Implications of this shift include a reduction in business defensiveness, an increased emphasis on techniques for managing social responsiveness, more empirical research on business and society relationships and constraints on corporate responsiveness, a continued need to clarify business responsibilities, and a need to work toward more dynamic theories of values and social change.
Business and Society, Vol. 33 No. 1, April 1994
Social Issues in Management Research: Experts Views, Analysis, and Commentary
Archie B. Carroll
University of Georgia
pp. 5-29
This article reports the findings, analysis, and commentary on survey results of academicians in the Social Issues in Management (SIM) field. The three major themes guiding the study were (a) current and future research in the SIM field, (b) strengths and weaknesses of research in the SIM field, and (c) research versus management practice in the SIM field. A number of specific questions were posed: What are the current topics on which you are conducting research? What topics do you see as most important for the balance of the 1990's? What recent articles will most impact SIM research in the 1990's? What are the strengths and weaknesses of current SIM research? What topics will be most relevant top practicing managers? What recommendations do you propose for bridging the gap between SIM research and management practice? The experts' responses were categorized and discussed so that current and future scholars might have a basepoint for evaluating future research. The analysis and commentary concludes with a SIM research framework for the1990's.
CEO Stakeholder Attitudes and Corporate Social Activity in the Fortune 500
Linda D. Lerner
Tennessee Technological University
Gerald E. Fryxell
University of Tennessee
pp. 58-81
Various corporate social activities were regressed on self-report measures of stakeholder-orientation from 220 CEO's from large Fortune 500industrial and service firms. Overall, the relationship between who CEO's say is important and corporate activities toward those stakeholders is much weaker than anticipated. Of the expected relationships, only corporate philanthropy was positively related to CEO community orientation. The few other significant findings were less straightforward. Return on equity (ROE) of the company was related to the CEO's customer orientation rather than the CEO's stockholder orientation, and liberal HRM programs were positively associated with a CEO's stockholder orientation rather than employee orientation.
Transaction Costs, Norms, and Social Networks: A Preliminary Study of Cooperation in Industrial Buyer-Seller Relationships in the United States and Mexico
Bryan W. Husted
Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey
pp. 30-57
This qualitative study looks at the complex relationship of transaction cost, norms, and social networks through a comparison on industrial buyer-seller relationships in the United States and Mexico. Despite arguments by transaction-cost theorists that the nature of cooperation in business in largely a function of the nature of investments in transaction assets, this article illustrates several cases where the economic logic is attenuated and mutual orientation develops as the social structure promotes greater trust either because of shared norms or network ties. It also suggests that asset specificity may at times be a product of the social structure in which the transaction in embedded. The article develops theoretical propositions and suggest directions for future research.
Business & Society, Vol. 32 No. 1 Spring 1993
Collaboration for Social Problem-Solving: A Process Model
Jacqueline N. Hood
Jeanne M. Logsdon
Judith Kenner Thompson
pp. 1-17
A Typology of Issue Evolution
Barbara Bigelow
Liam Fahey
John Mahon
pp. 18-29
Managing Corporate Legitimacy: Public Affairs Activities, Strategies and Effectiveness
Martin B. Meznar
Douglas Nigh
pp. 30-43
Corporate Codes of Ethics: Purpose, Process and Content Issues
Gary R. Weaver
pp. 44-58
Business & Society, Vol. 31 No. 1, Spring 1992
Business and Society in Transition
Donna J. Wood
Philip L. Cochran
pp. 1-8
Business, Ethics and Society: A Critical Agenda
R. Edward Freeman
Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr.
pp. 9-18
Strategic Issues Management: An Integration of Issue Life Cycle Perspectives
John F. Mahon
Sandra A. Waddock
pp. 19-32
The Relationship Between Intense Media Exposure and Change in Corporate Reputation
Steven L. Wartick
pp. 33-50
The Impact of U.S Sanctions on Japanese Business in South Africa: Further Developments in the Internationalization of Social Activism
Karen Paul
pp. 51-58
An Institutional Approach to the Recompositon of Europe
Jean Pasquero
pp. 59-76