Academic literature on the topic 'Environmental performance and corporate profitability'

ABSTRACT Corporate social responsibility or CSR is an investment for companies for the growth and sustainability (sustainability) of the company, it’s no longer seen as a means of cost needed as a means to gain profits and company commitment to support the creation of sustainable development. This study discusses the main problems, namely the Influence of Management Ownership with Institutional Ownership, Profitability and Environmental Performance (Environmental Performance) on Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures (Empirical Study of Mining Companies for the 2015-2017 period). The object in this study is the annual report on mining sector companies. This data contains financial reports and other data that support this research. Data obtained during the research are processed, analyzed and further processed on the basis of the theories that have been studied. Corporate Social Responsibility, related to the positive and significant profitability of Corporate Social Responsibility disclosures, related to Environmental Performance on Corporate Social Responsibility disclosures, a Relationship between Managerial Ownership, Institutional Ownership, Profitability and Environmental Performance is needed simultaneously on Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia. Mining Company on the Indonesia Stock Exchange Keywords: Management Ownership, Institutional Ownership, Profitability, Environmental Performance and CSR Disclosure. ABSTRAK Tanggung jawab sosial perusahaan atau CSR merupakan investasi bagi perusahaan untuk pertumbuhan dan keberlanjutan (sustainability) perusahaan, bukan dilihat lagi sebagai sarana biaya melainkan sebagai sarana meraih keuntungan serta komitmen perusahaan untuk mendukung terciptanya pembangunan berkelanjutan. Penelitian ini difokuskan kepada masalah pokok yaitu Pengaruh Kepemilikan Manajemen serta Kepemilikan Institusional, Profitabilitas dan Kinerja Lingkungan (Environmental Performance) Terhadap Pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility (Studi Empiris Perusahaan Pertambangan periode 2015-2017). Objek dalam penelitian ini adalah Laporan tahunan pada perusahaan sektor pertambangan. Data tersebut meliputi laporan keuangan serta data lainnya yang mendukung penelitian ini. Data yang diperoleh selama penelitian diolah, dianalisis dan diproses lebih lanjut dengan dasar teori yang ada dan dipelajari. Sehingga hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh antara Kepemilikan Manajerial terhadap Pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility terdapat pengaruh antara Kepemilikan Institusional terhadap pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility, terdapat pengaruh positif dan signifikan Profitabilitas terhadap pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility, terdapat pengaruh antara Kinerja Lingkungan terhadap pengungkapan Corporate Social Responsibility, terdapat pengaruh antara Kepemilikan Manajerial, Kepemilikan Institusional, Profitabilitas dan Kinerja Lingkungan secara simultan terhadap Corporate Social Responsibility pada Perusahaan Pertambangan di Bursa Efek Indonesia Kata Kunci: Kepemilikan Manajemen, Kepemilikan institusional, Profitabilitas, Kinerja Lingkungan dan Pengungkapan CSR.

While there is growing consensus on the benefits of going green, the relative benefits of revenue-enhancing and cost-cutting effects of environmental practices over performance have remained a more conservative and less explored phenomenon in corporate management studies. The present study investigates the two parallel mediation effects of cost-saving and revenue generation on profitability through environmental management practices. A bootstrap method is employed to make a statistical inference of the causal mediation effects. The data collected from the lodging industry in Antalya/Turkey revealed that the revenue-enhancing and cost-cutting effects of environmental participation have a positive impact on profitability, while no difference was identified in the strength of the indirect effects. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate a complementary effect of cost reduction and revenue enhancement for green profit.

<p align="justify">The paradigm of a company that was originally only oriented to profit has shifted to the tripple bottom line, namely not only concerned with economic interests, but also commitment to the environment (planet) and people (people). This study aims to determine the effect of profitability and funds on Corporate Social Responsibility on corporate value and to determine environmental performance as a moderating variable on the relationship of profitability and funds of Corporate Social Responsibility to the value of the company. The population in this study are companies included in the SRI-Kehati Index 2013-2016. The sample of research is 12 companies taken by purposive sampling technique. Data analysis method used is multiple linear regression analysis and Moderate Regression Analysis (MRA). The results showed that profitability has a positive and significant effect on firm value. Conversely, Corporate Social Responsibility funds have no effect and insignificant to the value of the company. While environmental performance is significantly able to moderate the relationship between profitability and Corporate Social Responsibility funds to company value.</p>

Abstract. This study aims to discuss the effect of corporate governance which consists of the size of the board of commissioners, audit boards, institutional ownership, managerial ownership, media exposure, environmental performance, financial ratios consisting of leverage, size, profitability to disclosure of corporate social responsibility. The population in this study are Mining Companies that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during the 2013-2017 period. Sampling used in this study using the census method using a total of 21 companies so that the number of studies in the study as many as 105 studies. The data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression analysis using SPSS Statistics 22. The results show that media exposure and profitability are positively related to corporate social responsibility disclosure, while the size of the board of commissioners, audit committe, institutional, managerial ownership, environmental support, leverage and size, do not represent the disclosure of corporate social responsibility.Keywords: Corporate Governance; Media Exposure; Environmental Performance; Financial Ratios Abstrak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh good corporate governance yang terdiri dari ukuran dewan komisaris, komite audit, kepemilikan institusional, kepemilikan manajerial,media exposure, kinerja lingkungan, rasio keuangan yang terdiri dari leverage, size, profitabilitas terhadap pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah Perusahaan Pertambangan yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) selama periode 2013–2017. Pegambilan sampel yang digunakan didalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode sensus dengan menggunakan seluruh populasi sebanyak 21 perusahaan sehingga jumlah observasi dipenelitian ini sebanyak 105 pengamatan. Teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah analisis regresi linier berganda dengan menggunakan SPSS Statistic 22. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa media exsposure dan profitabilitas berpengaruh positif terhadap pengungkapan corporate social responsibility, sedangkan ukuran dewan komisaris, komite audit, kepemilikan institusional, kepemilikan manajerial, kinerja lingkungan,leverage dan size,tidak berpengaruh terhadap pengungkapan corporate social responsibility. Kata Kunci: Corporate Governance; Media Exposure; Kinerja Lingkungan; Rasio Keuangan

ABSTRACT This study aims to determine the effect of environmental performance, auditcommittee, profitability, Leverage, and company size to corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure measured by CSR index based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4. The population of this study are manufacturing company listed on IndonesianStock Exchange in 2016-2018. Data collected by documentation method and literature study. Sampling using purposive sampling method, and obtained 18 companies in each period. Sources of data obtained from annual reports of companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016-2018. The analytical method for this study uses multiple regression analysis with SPSS 16.The result of this study showed that environmental performance and company size has positiveeffect to CSR disclosure. Audit committee and profitability has not effect to CSR disclosure, while Leverage has negative effect to CSR disclosure.Keywords: Corporate Sosial Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure, environmental performance, auditcommittee, profitability, Leverage, and company size, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4.

Green bonds are a financial tool that has been vigorously promoted in the global green finance field in recent years. Since 2013, the global issuance of green bonds has seen explosive growth. China's green bond market has made great progress, rising to the top tier of global rankings. In this paper, Chinese listed companies that issue green bonds are used as the research object to explore the impact of green bond issuance on companies, including the impact of the announcement of green bond issuance on companies’ stock prices, as well as the impact of green bond issuance on companies’ financial performance and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The empirical results indicate that announcements of green bonds issuance have a positive impact not only on companies’ stock prices, companies' profitability, and operational performance, but also on innovation capacity, and can improve companies' CSR. Overall, the issuance of green bonds has a positive impact on companies, can contribute to environmental improvement, promotes CSR and value creation, and helps to attract investors to some extent.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the economic, environmental, social, and corporate governance component of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and the Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) in the European banking sector. The empirical analyses, based on panel data, are performed on a sample of 70 listed European banks (EU28) over the period 2011-2015. The main results show a significant and positive relationship between the aggregated CSP measure and the average profitability of banks&#39; assets and market capitalization. Furthermore, the social component positively affects the average return on assets and equity; the economic component is positively associated with the performance of prospective profitability and market capitalization; finally, the environmental component is positively associated with the ROAA. Sustainable banks, in line with the stakeholder Theory, through ethical and social policies, might increase their financial and economic performance.

The pulp & paper industry in CSR disclosure has been heavily criticized because it often advertises itself but does not match performance. This research is generally intended to know the effect of profitability and environmental performance on the disclosure of social responsibility on the pulp & paper and wood industries listed on BEI 2010-2013. The research method used is the method of causality research using two data collection techniques, namely through literature review and secondary data collection. The results obtained are as follows: 1. Profitability in the pulp & paper and wood industry in BEI 2010-2013 is not good because the average every year always suffered losses, 2. Environmental performance in the pulp & paper and wood industry in BEI 2010-2013 Is good enough, 3. Disclosure of responsibility on pulp & paper and wood industry in BEI 2010-2013 is good enough, 4. There is a positive effect of profitability on corporate social responsibility disclosure, 5. There is a positive influence of environmental performance on the disclosure of social responsibility company. From these results can be concluded that based on regression calculation results obtained a positive effect between profitability and environmental performance on corporate social responsibility disclosure.

Industrin gör att samhället utifrån det ekonomiska system som det verkar i, fungerar. På samma gång står industrin för stora delar av de växthusgasutsläpp som värmer upp jorden och den globala kris som det innebär. Att företag mäter sina utsläpp, jobbar för att sänka de, genomför klimatpositiva åtgärder, klimatanpassar och jobbar förebyggande blir av vikt för att kunna minska på utsläppen såväl globalt som lokalt. Ett företag drivs utifrån olika faktorer så som att vara lönsamma på olika vis. I den här studien, som är ett samarbete med Hagainitiativet, undersöks vad 102 svenska börsnoterade företag anser om sitt klimatarbete och hur det påverkar företagets lönsamhet. Företagen svarar även på hur de menar att politiska beslut och Covid-19-pandemin påverkar deras klimatarbete. Material inhämtades med hjälp av kvantitativ metod, webbenkät.  Studien visar på att företagen över lag ställer sig positiva till att engagera sig i klimatfrågan och menar att klimatarbetet får positiva effekter för företagets lönsamhet. Allra starkast tycks synergin vara mellan klimatarbetet och en positiv effekt för varumärket samt för attraktiviteten som arbetsgivare. När Hagainitiativets enkätsvar från 2019 jämfördes med svaren från denna undersökning i 2021, svarar fler att klimatarbetet får en positiv effekt för företagets lönsamhet och färre att det får en negativ effekt. Det klimatpolitiska läget samt Covid-19 skulle kunna presentera en del av förklaringen till varför.  Resultaten indikerar på att det finns ett flertal frågor som hade varit intressant att ställa framöver för att få mer information om vad företagen gör, vad de inte gör och varför. Att ytterligare fördjupa förståelsen kring de uppfattningar som finns kan vara en del av det som krävs för att bana vägen framåt för företag att kunna jobba för hållbar utveckling och på samma gång uppnå en god lönsamhet.
The industry keeps society spinning in its current system. At the same time, it accounts for large parts of the greenhouse gas emissions which are heating up the earth and is responsible for the global crisis that it entails. Companies measuring their emissions, working to reduce them, implementing climate-positive measures, adapting to climate- change and working preventively is important to reduce emissions both globally and locally. For a company to survive, it runs based on various factors, such as being profitable in different ways. This study, which is a collaboration with the Hagainitiativet, examines what 102 Swedish listed companies think about their climate work and how it affects various profitability aspects of the business. The companies also respond to how they believe that political decisions and the Covid-19 pandemic affect their climate work. Materials were obtained using a quantitative method, web survey.  The study shows that companies in general are positive about getting involved in the climate issue and believe that their responses to climate change result in positive effects on the company's profitability. The synergy seems to be strongest between climate responses and a positive effect on the brand and the attractiveness as an employer. When the questionnaire from Hagainitiativet in 2019 were compared to the responses from this survey in 2021, more companies answered that climate work has a positive effect on the profitability and fewer that it has a negative effect. The climate policy situation and Covid-19 could present part of the explanation for why this is.  The results indicate that there are several questions that would be interesting to ask in the future to get more information about what companies do, what they do not do and why. Further deepening the understanding of existing perceptions, can be part of what is required to pave the way for companies to work for sustainable development and at the same time achieve profitability.

In the United States, citizens concerned with climate change and income inequity scrutinize the activities of corporations. Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have a critical role in business management, because stakeholders demand transparency in a company's operations. This correlation study, grounded in stakeholder theory, examined the relationship between environmental initiatives, CSR, and net profit for U.S. corporations. Participants included 96 companies with listing on either National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or the New York Stock Exchange, or both, with and without evidence of CSR and environmental disclosures. The multiple regression analysis significantly predicted higher net profit for companies disclosing CSR information, with the statistical evidence demonstrating the importance of environmental and social responsibility, F(2,93) = 31.650, p = .00, R2 = .405. The environmental variable was not significant at p = .651, while the CSR variable proved significant at p = .04, indicating a need for organizations to participate in CSR activities. Recommendations for further research entail exploring the return on assets, net profit ratio, and return on equity. Implications of study findings for social change include support for companies to participate in global reporting organizations and CSR activities.

The U.S. hospitality industry's profitability has been shifting to environmental management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Hospitality industries accounted for 5% of the global market in 2015 and are expected to increase by 130% in 2035. Grounded in stakeholder theory, this correlation study examined the relationship between corporate sustainability officer (CSO) CSR, CSO environmental management, and hospitality business profitability. Secondary data were collected from 97 hotel websites of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area from 2014 to 2016. The multiple linear regression combinations of CSR and environmental management (EM) measured significantly related to the profitability index, F(3, 93) = 4.67, p < .001, adj. R2 = .13. The sample multiple correlation coefficients were .36, indicating approximately 13% of the variance of the profitability index. The multiple linear regression combinations of CSR measures significantly related to the profitability index, F(2,94) = 6.05, p < .001, adjusted R2 = .11. The sample multiple correlation coefficients were .34, indicating approximately 11% of the variance of the profitability index. The linear combination of EM measures were not significantly related to the profitability index, F(2,94) = 2.91, p < .001, adjusted R2 = .06. The sample multiple correlation coefficients were .24, indicating approximately 6% of the variance of the profitability index. The implications for positive social change include the potential to identify hospitality industry leaders involved in environmental management who have a CSR to promote social change in their communities.

For almost 40 years researchers have been trying to identify the relationship between corporate environmental and corporate economic performance. Neither theoretical debate nor empirical studies investigating the relationship show conclusive results. Within a field research seminar at Technische Universität Dresden, nine students conducted a meta-analysis of 124 studies to assess different aspects of the relationship between corporate economic and corporate environmental performance. In the first part of our paper, we analyze and present the theoretical background based on a review of literature. In the second part, we test for empirical evidence. At first, the conceptual frameworks and measurement methods for corporate economic and corporate environmental performance are discussed. We also look at the impact of environmental performance on shareholder value. Thereafter, we examine the influence of time, industries and publication bias. In conclusion, our research indicates that the quality of journals merits further examination to improve results.

For more than 40 years, a tremendous number of studies have empirically explored the relationship between Corporate Environmental Performance (CEP) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This study considers the relationship from a new perspective—via a qualitative research approach based on expert interviews. First, practitioners are queried for their view on the link between CEP and CFP and how to measure it. Since the vast majority see a positive relationship, this study contributes with a new form of evidence that it pays to be green. The chosen qualitative approach also allows a more detailed analysis of underlying cause-and-effect mechanisms. For instance, interviewed practitioners emphasize a direct and indirect impact from CEP on CFP. Second, the study conducts interviews with experts from research and associations (non-practitioners) and compares the viewpoints of the two interview groups. One prevalent difference refers to the fact that non-practitioners do not focus on the two impact levels. Moreover, business experts perceive the link between CEP and CFP as much less complex and reveal more pragmatically oriented considerations. The study then discusses how the interview results and identified differences can be used to direct future research and to support corporations in their move towards sustainability.

The concept of environmental management and its related issues have received heightened attention in global discussions due to climate change, global warming and other environmental challenges over the last three decades. To abate and avert these challenges, efficient environmental processes, strategies, policies, initiatives and practices have been adopted by some companies and countries. As a result, research scholars have also highlighted the financial implication of engaging in such environmental management activities and have advanced investigations to understand the relationship between corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Nonetheless, results are inconsistent and contradictory, thus, leaving a gap in the literature that calls for further examination. The primary aim of the study is to examine the relationship between CEP and CFP in listed firms in the UK. There are three sub-specific objectives strategically drafted to contribute to the existing literature on the subject matter. First, to investigate the impact of CEP (i.e., environmental operational performance (EOP) and environmental management performance (EMP)) on corporate financial performance (i.e., accounting-based and market-based measures) in the various sectors from 2009 to 2015. Second, to investigate the non-linear relationship between environmental operational performance and corporate financial performance in the carbon and non-carbon intensive sectors. Lastly, to explore the extent to which EOP mediates the relationship between environmental management performance and CFP. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the study used a sample size of 196 listed firms on the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) All-Share Index from the year 2009 to 2015. The secondary data examined in the study was sourced from ASSET4 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Companies‘ Annual Reports and DataStream. To begin with the analysis, an econometric model was developed to establish the correlation between the dependent variables (i.e., financial performance indicators) and the independent variables (i.e., EOP and EMP) with the use of Stata statistical tool. After which, the panel data regression fixed effect was utilised to explore the actual relationship between CEP and CFP. The descriptive results from the analysis indicate that financial and industrial firms are the most dominant sectors represented in the sample. Despite its dominance in the sample, some existing studies seem to validate the opinion that including financial firms in analysis such as this would invalidate the final results due to their different reporting styles. In order to examine and provide empirical evidence regarding those arguments, the study further investigated the CEP-CFP relationship exclusively and inclusively of the financial sector. After such exploration, it was found that indeed excluding and including financial firms from the overall study sample did have significant impact on the overall results. For instance, when financial firms were included in the sample, ROS was not statistically significant in relation to any of the EOP measures. However, upon exclusion of the financial firms, scope 1 emissions were found to be significantly and positively associated with ROS. These results provide confirmatory evidence that indeed including/excluding financial firms in studies relating to environmental performance has to be done with the necessary caution. The panel regression tests also revealed that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, which is a measurement proxy for EOP, should be examined in their separate scopes and not together. The results support the multi-dimensional construct hypothesis emphasised in this study. It was also found that each scope of GHG emission affects accounting and market-based financial performance measures differently. Furthermore, grouping firms into carbon-intensive and non- carbon intensive showed a different perspective of the EOP and CFP relationship. In other words, a non-linear relationship was found for most of the EOP measures including Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, resource use reduction and water consumption when tested with the financial performance measures. Additionally, when the mediation effect was tested, it was discovered that only the two scopes of GHG emissions out of the four environmental operational performance measures employed in this study mediated the EMP and CFP relationship. Regarding the EMP and CFP relationship, environmental policies, monitoring, processes and management systems were found to be signifcantly related with CFP. It was also discovered that scope 1 fully mediated the association between environmental policies, monitoring, management systems and Returns on Assets (ROA), Returns on Capital Employed (ROCE) and Stock Price. Likewise, scope 2 also demonstrated a full mediation effect on the relationship between environmental policies, monitoring, management systems, processes and Stock Price, ROCE and Returns on Sales (ROS). The study contributes knowledge to existing literature and studies in a number of ways. First, the segregation of total GHG emissions into the individual scopes has brought additional insights into the policy development of GHG emissions reduction. For instance, there is evidence that scope 1 emissions are positively related to ROS whereas scope 2 emissions have a significant adverse impact. However, when financial firms were included in the sample, scope 2 showed a positive link with financial performance while scope 1 rather revealed a negative association with CFP. This suggests the need for the various sectors to advance different policies if they expect to improve their financial performance. Furthermore, the results enrich the literature on non-linear relationships between environmental performance and CFP. The current study‘s distinction of the non- linear relationship between carbon intensive and non-carbon intensive firms will help inform management in those sectors on the specific operational performance to focus on and how to utilise such relationship for enhanced performance. Lastly, the study contributes to the CEP literature by indicating the interrelationship between environmental operational and environmental management performance. Such mediated association will help researchers to appreciate the need to use both dimensions of CEP in order to ascertain the robust relationship that exists between both performances.

Every actor of the society has its own expectations about the companies. Shareholders are interested in the maximization of the profitability, managers are interested in sustainability, and partners are interested in fulfilment of the business ethics. And the company with well-structured CSR policy should be able to meet expectations of all stakeholders. This can cost large part of the company's resources. It can potentially impact on company’s profitability whether positively or negatively. Using the quantitative research method we tried to explore the impact of CSR policy on the short-term profitability. Our research question is composed as:What is the relationship between CSR and short-term profitability?The main purpose of this study is to analyze and present positive or negative links between CSR policy and corporate financial performance (CFP) using different profitability indicators. We analyzed impact of weighted average CSR score and environmental rank on the short-term profitability.The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of different theories, such as stakeholder theory, shareholder theory, agency theory, legitimacy theory and etc.The research conducted in accordance with the functionalist research paradigm, the objectivist ontological and positivist epistemic research philosophies using the deductive approach. Our result indicates that there negative relationship between CSR performance and short-term profitability. Also we found that CSR policy can negatively impact on return on assets. This in turn could have negative implications on shareholders and stakeholders. No positive correlation between CSR policy and profitability observed. All in all, the expenses on CSR policy have a negative impact on indicators of financial performance.

Academic studies of Bangladeshi Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) have identified issues of Corporate Governance relating to ‘crony capitalism’ and political influence. The thesis combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The research employs conventional econometric panel estimation and a novel method of estimating efficiency using a non-parametric bootstrapping technology. The results reveal significant performance differences. To understand the causes underlying the differences in revenue efficiency and profitability, multiple lenses from theories of Corporate Governance are adopted to design semi-structured interviews. Twenty in-depth interviews from a sample of banks, both managers and board members and industry stakeholders are supplemented with documentary analysis. The quantitative findings reveal a performance gap between 1st Generation PCBs and 2nd and 3rd Generation PCBs in terms of Efficiency and Profitability. 1st Gen PCBs perform worst whereas there is no statistical difference between Gen 2 and Gen 3 PCBs. Moreover, there is no sign of catch-up or improvement for the 1st Generation PCBs. The research demonstrates that an increasing amount of 1st Generation banks’ Non Performing Loans is the main reason for this performance gap. The interview data relate the performance gaps to inadequate Corporate Governance. The research identifies family dominated boards that have encouraged crony capitalism and featherbedding of employees resulting in excessive Non Performing Loans and higher overhead costs. Also, these 1st Generation banks are excessively large in terms of employees, rural branches and remittance earnings leading to a culture of invulnerability to takeover.

This study focuses on the topic of CSR and profitability and extends the current literature on the topic by examining the relationship between CSR and profitability from a game theory setting. Specifically, this study implements game modelling and develops two parts of analysis on the topic of CSR and profitability. The goal of part one analysis is to investigate competing CSR firms in comparison with competing non-CSR firms. The part two analysis is to study a CSR firm and a non-CSR firm that compete in the same market in two scenarios. In scenario 1, the CSR firm and its non-CSR counterpart compete for profitability. In scenario 2, the CSR firm is operating to optimize its defined welfare objective; whereas the non-CSR operates for a maximized profit level. The solutions to the models complemented with a detailed analysis reveal that the CSR could actually gain strategic and competitive advantages over its non-CSR counterpart in both defined scenarios. However, this study does not intend to advocate a positive relationship between CSR and profit performance. The positive relationship is qualified, and whether or not the relationship is positive, as this study shows, is dependent on the firm’s tactics.

Thesis (D.B.A.)--Boston University PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
This is a longitudinal study using KLD, EPA TRI and Compustat data to address several questions about the relationships between corporate environmental strategy, financial performance, and environmental performance in a sample of companies operating in the so-called "dirty" industries in the USA from 1991 to 2005. There have been numerous publications on sustainability over the last 35 years, but there is a dearth of research providing evidence in support of the theories and views advanced. The literature has focused on two issues: the relationship between corporate environmental strategy (ES) and environmental performance (EP) and the relationship between environmental performance and financial performance (FP). The preliminary research described in Chapter 2 of this dissertation explores several fundamental research questions. Building on this exploratory work are three chapters, each being a more tightly focused and rigorous study of several quite specific research questions: Chapter 3 deals with caveats for researchers using KLD data; Chapter 4 explores the relationship between corporate ES and EP in light of advances made in Chapter 3; and Chapter 5 deals with heterogeneity in the ES-EP-FP-Slack system. Chapter 6 summarizes the findings of both the preliminary and principal research and outlines future research possibilities.

The concern for the natural environment began a long time ago. Throughout the previous two decades, the globe appealed for proactive ecological management. The term eco- friendly or environmentally friendly is also widespread nowadays, relating to laws, activities, products, services etc., theatre having, minimal, reduced or not having negative impact on eco- systems and the environment. Environmental performance is the relationship between the organization and the environment. Current writing on environmental management recognizes that with a specific end goal to accomplish environmental sustainability objectives, associations can use proper human resource management practices to motivate their employees. To this end, incredible endeavors have been made to investigate what drives workers to participate in proecologic practices that help their organization to turn green and be sustainable. Additionally, a number of studies demonstrate that there is a connection among the green activities, organizational performance and corporate profitability within any association. The main purpose behind this thesis is to extend our understanding of how the concept of green management can be positioned as part of the human resource function. The motivation is to highlight the importance of building sustainable and eco-friendly business, and to gain knowledge of the outcomes after adopting Green human resource management in the organizations.

The rampant changes marking modern manufacturing are driven by: (a) excess manufacturing capacity and the consequent increase in competition, and (b) rising environmental awareness and legislation. This green legislation (WEEE, EuP, RoHS, etc.) has arisen in an attempt to resolve the inherent conflict between a number of competing needs: (1) environmental requirements and constraints, (2) consumer demands and (3) industrial profitability constraints. Consequently, modern industries seeking to maintain corporate profits while complying with new legislation have begun to shift from product delivery to through-life service support. That is, companies supply products and continue to maintain them throughout the product’s lifetime. Industrial profitability in such a paradigm requires technological adaption and innovation as well as enhanced product performance control. All these changes and requirements are dictating change in design approaches and practices. This paper presents a new design methodology and supporting tools to analyze and improve product design, while taking into account environmental impact and the selling-of-services business paradigm. The analysis is based on dynamic product models aimed at extending life span while reducing complexities and internal interdependencies by means of component periodicity planning and uncoupling activities.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.

From this edition, the Financial Stability Report will have fewer pages with some changes in its structure. The purpose of this change is to present the most relevant facts of the financial system and their implications on the financial stability. This allows displaying the analysis more concisely and clearly, as it will focus on describing the evolution of the variables that have the greatest impact on the performance of the financial system, for estimating then the effect of a possible materialization of these risks on the financial health of the institutions. The changing dynamics of the risks faced by the financial system implies that the content of the Report adopts this new structure; therefore, some analyses and series that were regularly included will not necessarily be in each issue. However, the statistical annex that accompanies the publication of the Report will continue to present the series that were traditionally included, regardless of whether or not they are part of the content of the Report. In this way we expect to contribute in a more comprehensive way to the study and analysis of the stability of the Colombian financial system. Executive Summary During the first half of 2015, the main advanced economies showed a slow recovery on their growth, while emerging economies continued with their slowdown trend. Domestic demand in the United States allowed for stabilization on its average growth for the first half of the year, while other developed economies such as the United Kingdom, the euro zone, and Japan showed a more gradual recovery. On the other hand, the Chinese economy exhibited the lowest growth rate in five years, which has resulted in lower global dynamism. This has led to a fall in prices of the main export goods of some Latin American economies, especially oil, whose price has also responded to a larger global supply. The decrease in the terms of trade of the Latin American economies has had an impact on national income, domestic demand, and growth. This scenario has been reflected in increases in sovereign risk spreads, devaluations of stock indices, and depreciation of the exchange rates of most countries in the region. For Colombia, the fall in oil prices has also led to a decline in the terms of trade, resulting in pressure on the dynamics of national income. Additionally, the lower demand for exports helped to widen the current account deficit. This affected the prospects and economic growth of the country during the first half of 2015. This economic context could have an impact on the payment capacity of debtors and on the valuation of investments, affecting the soundness of the financial system. However, the results of the analysis featured in this edition of the Report show that, facing an adverse scenario, the vulnerability of the financial system in terms of solvency and liquidity is low. The analysis of the current situation of credit institutions (CI) shows that growth of the gross loan portfolio remained relatively stable, as well as the loan portfolio quality indicators, except for microcredit, which showed a decrease in these indicators. Regarding liabilities, traditional sources of funding have lost market share versus non-traditional ones (bonds, money market operations and in the interbank market), but still represent more than 70%. Moreover, the solvency indicator remained relatively stable. As for non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the slowdown observed during the first six months of 2015 in the real annual growth of the assets total, both in the proprietary and third party position, stands out. The analysis of the main debtors of the financial system shows that indebtedness of the private corporate sector has increased in the last year, mostly driven by an increase in the debt balance with domestic and foreign financial institutions. However, the increase in this latter source of funding has been influenced by the depreciation of the Colombian peso vis-à-vis the US dollar since mid-2014. The financial indicators reflected a favorable behavior with respect to the historical average, except for the profitability indicators; although they were below the average, they have shown improvement in the last year. By economic sector, it is noted that the firms focused on farming, mining and transportation activities recorded the highest levels of risk perception by credit institutions, and the largest increases in default levels with respect to those observed in December 2014. Meanwhile, households have shown an increase in the financial burden, mainly due to growth in the consumer loan portfolio, in which the modalities of credit card, payroll deductible loan, revolving and vehicle loan are those that have reported greater increases in risk indicators. On the side of investments that could be affected by the devaluation in the portfolio of credit institutions and non-banking financial institutions (NBFI), the largest share of public debt securities, variable-yield securities and domestic private debt securities is highlighted. The value of these portfolios fell between February and August 2015, driven by the devaluation in the market of these investments throughout the year. Furthermore, the analysis of the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) shows that all intermediaries showed adequate levels and exhibit a stable behavior. Likewise, the fragility analysis of the financial system associated with the increase in the use of non-traditional funding sources does not evidence a greater exposure to liquidity risk. Stress tests assess the impact of the possible joint materialization of credit and market risks, and reveal that neither the aggregate solvency indicator, nor the liquidity risk indicator (LRI) of the system would be below the established legal limits. The entities that result more individually affected have a low share in the total assets of the credit institutions; therefore, a risk to the financial system as a whole is not observed. José Darío Uribe Governor