Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Responsibility model'

Despite the globally growing interest in corporate responsibility (CR), there is little practical as wellas academic knowledge of CR practises in the media sector. The aim of this study is to make acontribution to the evolving understanding of what CR implies in the media sector by applying astakeholder approach to a case study, which is Alma Media, a Finnish media corporation. Firstly,from the corporate perspective, the objective of this study is to provide Alma Media with a CRagenda, based on the CR priorities defined in stakeholder interviews. Secondly, from a moretheoretical point of view, this study aims to evaluate the stakeholder theory as a means of definingthe CR characteristics of the media sector in Finland.The main body of the primary data is collected by 44 stakeholder interviews, supportedby participant observation at the case company. The data is structured with content analysis andanalysed according to the stakeholder categorisation of Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) in order toprioritise between the different stakeholders and their CR interests.The findings indicate Alma Media’s CR priorities are a mix of media ethics (reliability,responsible journalism, journalistic integrity), traditional CR issues (environment, personnel) andcultural responsibility (locality, citizenship). Most stakeholder demands concerns environmentalresponsibility. To understand media CR on a general, global level, further research is needed toconfirm the findings of this study and, particularly, to highlight the international differences andsimilarities in media CR.Concerning the theoretical objective of the study, the study concludes that the Mitchell,Agle and Wood model helps to identify the priority stakeholders and CR issues but fails to capturethe multi-dimensional nature of the power attribute and the role of stakeholder networks in themanagement of CR. Thus, stakeholder theory provides valuable insight into CR management butfurther research on stakeholder network models is needed.

When exploring business in China we noticed that companies behaved in a different way, Corporate Social Responsibility was seen as integrated in companies’ business models as an integral part in order for them to grow and sustain. This seemed to be a new approach to us as well as poorly discussed in the literature we had experienced. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the content of Business Model, the conceptualisation of corporate social responsibility in the Chinese context and the importance of including the concept of corporate social responsibility in firms’ Business Models. Based on the exploration, we decided to employ the hermeneutics perspective of social science. Accordingly, the research was conducted through a qualitative study with an inductive approach. Based on interviews of the respondents’ organisational and personal perspective of the Chinese context, with literature review as reference to and reflection on the findings to have in-depth understanding of the concepts, we conducted this study, which is shaped by the following major findings. Business Model and Corporate Social Responsibility are dependent on the complexity in a certain context, the studied Chinese context, and therefore need reconfiguration. Sustainability in China is assumed to move, but rather in its own direction than similar way to the development in West. The focus of Business Model is moving more towards creating value in terms of economic, social and societal rather than only considering money making. The Chinese government is seen to have political power and influence on the business market with heavy interference in the business’s direction, operation and management. As a result, collaboration with government can guide, facilitate and increase success of businesses. Business Model for Sustainability should be created on an aggregate level, where businesses should consider integrating Corporate Social Responsibility as the foundation in their business model, which is pushed and driven by the government. A business model for sustainable development in China is proposed with the two integral constituents: Corporate Social Responsibility and Politics represented by the government. Lastly, reflecting on the literature review of the studied fields respectively, it has been dragged behind the current state of the evolving world. What is happening in China, the second largest economy in the world and one of the biggest countries suggests that more intensive attention of researchers should be paid to business practice with Corporate Social Responsibility as an integral part of business model. With a focus more on the contextualisation, new dimensions or horizons of the literature development can be revealed when hidden or untouched aspects such as political influence in business are investigated. Accordingly, the heterogeneity in perspectives on conceptualisation and configuration of Business Model and Corporate Social Responsibility in the literature along with that in practice is inevitable. It is more important to see how the concepts look like and work in close connection with the context, rather than trying to shape the literature in one particular way to prove that it works in all contexts.

'The Company' had introduced 'Being Responsible' a program for the embedding of responsibility-sustainability. Corporate responsibility-sustainability here describes efforts to address entangled cares of responsibility and sustainability. The program showed potential to change the business model, which led to the research problem: 'How can responsibility-sustainability programs change business models?'In this thesis, business models are understood as three dynamically interlinked states: Logics, devices and actor networks. Business model change may happen through the embedding of responsibility-sustainability into any of these states, and through the dynamics between them. Main conceptual lenses are organizational institutionalism and actor-network theory, which are connected through a social constructionist philosophy. Qualitative methods used include an in-depth case study of The Company (104 interviews with 72 interviewees) and thematic analyses of business model descriptions (devices) of FTSE corporations (100 documents).Seven papers study distinct aspects of the research problem: Papers 1 and 2 provide a conceptual basis. Papers 3 and 4 study how the embedding of responsibility-sustainability into the FTSE100s' business model devices changed the logics they described. Papers 5-7 study embedding into The Company's business model actor network. I found how embedding of responsibility-sustainability into the three states of commercial business models happened through three processes: Blending of logics, combination of device elements and translation between actors. Such embedding of responsibility-sustainability led to misalignment and tensions between responsibility-sustainability and the dominant commercial logic. This misalignment in turn fueled the dynamics of change between logics, devices and actor networks. First, this thesis contributes to an emerging literature on the dynamics of business model logics, devices and actor networks. It makes explicit the distinction between these states and illustrates how their dynamics provide novel insight into business model change. Secondly, I showcase how actor-network theory may complement the activity systems study of business models as well as stakeholder thinking in responsibility-sustainability research. Insights into how to use devices to change business models and to embed responsibility-sustainability appear relevant for practitioners.

Ao longo dos anos, a evolução do conceito socioambiental tem se solidificado por meio de programas, conferências e diversas atividades que ocorrem no Brasil e no mundo. A sustentabilidade e a responsabilidade social passaram a ser parte integrante do cotidiano das organizações. O Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN) 1, que é o foco desse trabalho tem como parte da sua missão o compromisso com a melhoria da qualidade de vida da população brasileira e com base na missão do IPEN e na falta de instrumentos de avaliação de ações socioambientais, este trabalho tem como objetivo propor um instrumento que avalie a responsabilidade social e sirva como uma opção metodológica fortemente comprometida com o aprimoramento do Instituto. Por meio de indicadores e dimensões, construiu-se uma metodologia que busca avaliar a responsabilidade social e identificar tanto os pontos fortes como os fracos. Essa metodologia foi aplicada ao IPEN, e os resultados apresentados nesse trabalho identificaram aspectos positivos com respeito às suas ações para com o público interno e pontos a serem melhorados com relação ao seu público externo. Os resultados foram satisfatórios, no entanto, esse trabalho poderá ter uma continuidade, pois o tema é amplo e não se esgota nesse estudo. Por meio dessa pesquisa, os gestores do IPEN poderão identificar ações socioambientais viáveis que possam ser implementadas no Instituto.
Over the years, the socio-environmental concept has grown through programs, conferences and several activities that have been held in Brazil and worldwide. Sustainability and social responsibility are now an integral part of everyday life of organizations The Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN)2, which is the focus of this research, is committed to the improvement of Brazilian quality of life. Based on IPEN´s mission, and due to the lack of tools for assessing socio-environmental actions, this research aims to propose an assessment tool for social responsibility, which may also be a methodological resource committed to the improvement of the Institute. Through indicators and dimensions, a methodology to assess social responsibility and identify both strengths and weaknesses was designed. The methodology was administered to IPEN, and the results demonstrated positive aspects regarding actions towards the internal publics and negative aspects towards the external publics that require improvement. The results obtained were satisfactory. Nevertheless, as the subject of this study is a broad theme, further studies are suggested. IPEN´s board may use the results of this research as a tool to help them identify feasible socio-environmental actions to be implemented in the institute.

The purposes of this study were to examine how the use of Hellison's personal and social responsibility model (RM) within a physical education (PE) programme changed children's attitudes and behaviour, within PE and outside their PE classes. Also to determine to what extent the children were able to explain and give examples of (a) any changes that took place and (b) the concepts relating to RM. A fifteen week PE programme based on Hellison's personal and social responsibility model (RM) was carried out with a Year 3 class in a private city school. Four children from this class took part in five individual interviews. These were carried out before, during and after the programme. The results showed that the children were able to identify and describe a number of changes, in both their own and their classes attitudes/behaviour during the PE programme. They were able to describe and give examples of a number of changes that had occurred in their attitudes and behaviour outside PE. The interview data also indicated a strong link between each child's self-efficacy level and their ability to understand and act upon the virtues/skills that relate to personal and social responsibility. The children's responses during the interviews showed that they had enjoyed that PE programme and they understood the principles of RM.

Business sustainability is a fundamental concern amongst business leaders and it is imperative that business defines an environmentally and socially sustainable path to financial prosperity. This focus on sustainable business practices has been caused by the perceived contribution of businesses to undesirable conditions such as environmental and social degradation including global warming and the global financial crises. This study suggests that a leadership style that differs from leadership that is currently causing business unsustainability is needed in order to achieve the goal of sustainable business practices. This study therefore proposes a new kind of leadership, called conscious leadership. The main contribution of the study is to increase the achievement of sustainable business practices by investigating the importance of conscious leadership in achieving this objective. Convenience sampling was used to select senior managers and directors from mainly JSE listed companies. This resulted in a total of 371 usable questionnaires (317 from listed companies and 54 from unlisted companies) being received. A quantitative approach was adopted to investigate whether conscious leadership would be related to increased sustainability competencies and more effective sustainability-related corporate governance and whether these in turn would increase sustainability behaviours which would generate sustainable business practices as measured by financial, social and environmental performance. Regression analyses were conducted to investigate the hypothesised relationships among these variables. Pearson correlations and descriptive statistics were also calculated. The empirical results showed that respondents in this study regarded conscious leadership, not as a separate construct, but as a way they governed their businesses. The empirical results showed that corporate governance and systems thinking competency had a strong interactive relationship and should therefore be cultivated within business firms. Corporate governance (including conscious leadership) and systems-thinking competency were positive influencers of employee relations, equal opportunities and workforce diversity. The empirical results however showed that corporate governance (including conscious leadership) had a negative influence on profitability. The present study cannot argue for the discouragement of corporate governance (including conscious leadership), as measured in this study, because reduced corporate governance would decrease healthy employee relations and the latter would decrease the achievement of equal opportunities and workforce diversity in these firms. A decrease in healthy employee relations would decrease profitability. The most important finding of this study is that senior managers and directors of big business firms, mostly JSE-listed companies, regarded conscious leadership as an important part of corporate governance. Corporate governance that includes conscious leadership must be developed to higher levels in business firms, so that the negative and not-significant relationships to profitability as viewed by lower and high conscious leaders respectively can be changed to positive relationships.

Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka två företag med olika ägarförhållande och vinstintresse, för att se om de skiljer sig åt avseende vad de prioriterar att kommunicera av sitt CSR-arbete till sina intressenter, samt vilka CSR-kategorier företagen väljer att arbeta med. Vår avsikt är att undersöka om och hur ägarförhållande och vinstintresse kan bidra till att forma företagens CSR-strategier. Området är intressant att undersöka då ägarförhållande och vinstintresse som bidragande faktorer till att forma CSR-arbete och kommunikationen av detta är relativt outforskat.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University
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The purpose of this study was to explore Team Support, an in-school youth development program designed to facilitate high school student-athletes' acquisition of personal and social responsibility by using physical activity. The first research question sought to determine the fidelity of Team Support to Hellison's Personal and Social Responsibility model, the model it purported to implement. The second research question assessed if Team Support was perceived to be an appropriate intervention for teaching personal and social responsibility to the student-athlete participants. For the first research question, a protocol adherence rating scale was created to gather quantitative and qualitative data on approximately 110 student-athletes and 19 advisors. For the second research question, qualitative data were gathered through 2 focus groups of 8 student-athletes each, 12 individual interviews with student-athletes, 9 individual interviews with advisors, and participant observer notes to explore student-athletes and advisors' perceived social, emotional, and academic outcomes of student-athletes' participation in Team Support. The study employed descriptive statistics and thematic analyses to answer its research questions. The results of the investigation yielded short term and long term implications to urban youth, sport practitioners, school counselors, users of Hellison's model, school administrators, and other educators.
2031-01-02

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) handlar om hur företag kan ta ansvar för det samhälle som de verkar inom och innefattar såväl miljöansvar som socialt ansvar. Det är ett högaktuellt ämne som diskuterats länge, men som fick fart under 50-talet. Som ett resultat av diskussionen har trycket på att företag ska bedriva ett CSR-arbete ökat från såväl kunderna och konsumenterna som från andra intressenter som påverkas av företagets arbete. För att hantera de ökande förväntningarna kan företag implementera CSR i deras affärsmodell.Syftet med studien är därför att skapa förståelse för hur CSR kan implementeras i ett företags affärsmodell. För att uppfylla syftet har en kvalitativ studie utförts. Den empiriska datan samlades in genom telefonintervjuer hos ett företag som ligger i framkant med sitt CSR-arbete. Den teoretiska referensramen syftar till att skapa förståelse för de aspekter av CSR som är särskilt relevanta för ett företags affärsmodell. Den teoretiska referensramen täcker miljö- och samhällsansvar, kommunikationsstrategier, CSR-initiativ, intressenter, CSR-kommunikation, konkurrensfördelar samt motivationsfaktorer. För att ett företag ska kunna implementera CSR i sin affärsmodell krävs ett noga genomtänkt arbete inom samtliga delar av företagets affärsmodell. I ingen av affärsmodellens beståndsdelar får CSR-aspekten ignoreras, eftersom CSR-arbetet bör vara integrerat i samtliga delar av affärsmodellen. Detta innebär inte att företaget inte kan välja att lägga mer fokus på specifika delar av affärsmodellen. Företaget bör däremot känna till att det kan uppstå problem om en del av affärsmodellen är alltför bristfällig, eftersom alla delar av affärsmodellen hör ihop. Ett företag bör dessutom ha en god kommunikation med deras intressenter och resten av marknaden, ta ansvar för samhället och miljön, känna till deras konkurrensfördelar och kontinuerligt arbeta med olika CSR-initiativ.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about companies and their responsibilities towards the society in which they operate. The term covers societal- as well as environmental responsibilities, which are topics that have been discussed for a long time, especially since the 50’s. As a result of the discussion, consumers, customers and other stakeholders have increased their expectations on corporate responsibilities. To better cope with the increasing expectations, a company can implement CSR into their business model. This led to the purpose of the paper, which is to create an understanding of how CSR can be implemented into a company's business model. To fulfill the purpose, a qualitative research has been conducted. The empirical data was gathered through phone interviews and the interviewed company was chosen for being known for their CSR. The chosen theoretical framework covers aspects that are considered to be connected to the components of a business model. The theoretical framework covers societal- and environmental responsibilities, communication strategies, CSR-initiatives, CSR-communication, competitive advantages and motivational factors. A company needs to dedicate a considerable amount of time into evaluating and deciding on how to implement CSR into each component of their business-model. None of the components of a company's business model can be left out from the CSR work that the company wishes to conduct. If one component is inadequate, the whole company can be affected since all the components are well connected. However, the company can still decide on which parts of the business-model they want to put emphasis on. The company should have a good communication with their stakeholders and the rest of the market, take responsibility for the society and the environment, know their competitive advantages and continuously work with different CSR-initiatives.

Companies’ responsibility beyond just making profit has been given extra focus in recent years. The debate on whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a choice or a necessity for global companies made us interested in the subject and the research on how companies actually deal with the issues. The implementation of CSR within an organization is an important element for companies today.

The purpose of our dissertation was to identify and explore the different steps in the CSR implementation process, with the intention to create an alternative CSR implementation model that could be utilized by organizations as guidelines when implementing CSR within their organization. Primarily a theoretical review was conducted and a CSR implementation model was created. From this model nine propositions were developed and tested in our empirical analysis.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Swedish companies and one CSR expert.

The main findings show that the CSR implementation process is a complex process that needs to be integrated in every part of the organization and in the daily activities in order to be successful. The CSR implementation process should also be seen as an ongoing and never-ending process, rather than a strategy implementation with an evident beginning and ending.

The present research identifies corporate reporting-performance inconsistency as a major issue that undermines the current practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The inconsistency manifests in that companies either avoid disclosing negative information in their CSR reports or use vague and empty expressions to cover their CSR inaction. In most situations, instead of providing a complete and balanced picture and causing companies to re-examine their own CSR behaviour, CSR reporting has been declining into a strategic corporate communication tool that primarily serves firms’ own interests. Such a problem greatly challenges the fundamentals of CSR and raises hard questions as to the reliability of private regulation and corporate self-regulation pertaining to CSR reporting. Taking Canada as a field of research, the present study combines theoretical with empirical research methodology in order to thoroughly investigate the problem of the CSR reporting-performance inconsistency and provide a plausible solution to it from a law and regulation perspective. The main empirical research methods it takes are qualitative interviews and documentary analysis. In particular, the present research builds on the literature and empirical observations to explain the inconsistency and identify the regulatory gaps that currently exist in CSR reporting. As a side issue, it also questions the primary purpose of the CSR reporting regime, suggesting that CSR reporting should be used to transform irresponsible corporate performance and serve broader public goals. Inspired by the reflexive law literature and the empirical evidence, the present research develops a concrete model of “reflexive law plus” to address the CSR reporting-performance gap. “Reflexive law plus”, as named by the present research, is a refined form of reflexive law, in the sense that it is faithful to the fundamentals of the reflexive law theory, yet incorporates regulatory design components that can better catalyze and consolidate the self-referential capacity of the companies involved in CSR reporting. The present research holds that “reflexive law plus” provides a sound solution to remediate the inconsistency because it is pertinent to the regulatory circumstance in which CSR reporting is situated.
Law, Peter A. Allard School of
Graduate

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents a recent manifestation of the shifting of Role of Business in Society (RBiS). This thesis aims to study the development of and negotiation of various RBiS among various governance actors as manifested in CSR practices. In so doing, it reveals the heterogeneity of CSR practices over time as a contrast to the rigid and simplistic delineation of CSR practices; the institutionalisation of CSR into business strategy that so far has been perceived as a black box in the CSR literatures; and the co-constructed dynamic exchanges between perspectives of RBiS and their respective supporters, which I have called a relational perspective on governance and RBiS.This research employs a single case study research strategy with a qualitative multi-methods design as the synthesis of multiple instruments each pertain to particular level of analysis i.e. institutional, organisational, and individual. The research methodology is intentionally designed to operationalise a multilevel analysis of CSR and longitudinal insights on CSR. As such, the research methodology is offered as one of contributions in this research.The thesis finds that longitudinal insights matter, in order to understand various CSR practices as responses to external crises and situations, which at the same time, serve as an arena for negotiating interests between related parties in particular political-economic-social-environmental contexts. The thesis reveals processes of incorporating CSR into business strategy. Particularly, it demonstrates how businesses mobilise external resources and internal resources to meet shifting domains of responsibility through various investment inputs, to achieve a range of CSR outcomes. CSR practices, as situated within changing understandings of RBiS, reflect the negotiation between various interests, in relational perspective, linked to the perceived effectiveness of government as the guardian of wider public interests. The thesis argues that a simplistic view of CSR and RBiS as suggested by much of the available literature is partial and provides inadequate accounts and explanations of the burgeoning of CSR practices; in particular in appreciating the various competing interests and perspectives which are brought to bear during processes which continually shape and (re-) shape CSR practices; as well as the variety of mechanisms and practices through which CSR is incorporated into business strategy.I conclude the research by offering a proposition to examine and understand CSR. I propose to see CSR as a dynamic heterogeneous temporal and contextual tool incorporated by businesses through multi-avenues into corporate strategy as a result of negotiation of interests of various alliances of governance actors.

Corporate responsibility is increasingly involved in corporate reputation, and so, in the economic success of a company. Car fleet operating companies are exposed to criticism and, as a direct result of this many corporate protagonists responsible for the operation of car fleets are developing measures to decrease CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. A second trend is the increasing usage of image-generating marketing actions in the worldwide ‘information society’. For various reasons, these image campaigns do not always lead to the expected improvements in corporate reputation. The crucial question is, how do these marketing actions, in the name of corporate social responsibility, relate to corporate reputation? The objective of this research is to establish rules for these relationships and to derive a new stakeholder approach to optimise corporate reputation regarding car fleet management marketing. First of all this study examines theoretical evidence in preparation for further empirical studies on the behaviour of sustainable car fleet management. With this in mind, the thesis looks at empirical evidence about the factors deemed necessary for successful responsible car fleet operation and its marketing. After conducting an online survey with more than 300 respondents, a multiple-embedded-case study with three cases, six supplementary cases, and several stakeholders represents the main part of this work. As a result, this work depicts, through three models, and via a new stakeholder approach (a combination of the three), the relationships of certain main types of firm with main types of fleet as well as the main types of marketing to support corporate reputation. Unexpected findings regarding the suitable intensity of communication to internal and external stakeholders have emerged. This approach successfully supports the design of sustainable car fleet management and a suitable arrangement of the marketing approach.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis investigates the gap between rhetoric and reality in how organisations use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for marketing and brand differentiation. The rhetoric reality gap is the gap that develops between what organisations say they do and what they actually do. In terms of CSR, this gap is present as the phenomenon of greenwashing, whereby organisations embellish claims about their social and environmental activities. This leads to sceptical consumers and the discrediting of CSR activities in general. Left unmanaged, the gap presents significant reputation risk. However, the identification of the gap also has the potential for driving the organisation towards more responsible business practices. Previous research focused almost exclusively on organisations' CSR activities and the resultant outcomes and not on the views and judgments about CSR found inside organisations. A shift in focus towards the organisational sensemaking around CSR may better explain the dynamics of the rhetoric and reality gap. Basu and Palazzo's process model of sensemaking for the study of CSR, describes the cognitive, linguistic and conative aspects of sensemaking along seven dimensions to produce a CSR profile of organisations. The thesis uses Basu and Palazzo's model to study CSR in the food retail sector. Comparative case studies were undertaken in three of the largest retailers in South Africa in which various people involved with CSR were interviewed after Basu and Palazzo's (2008) model was operationalised. Thereafter a content analysis of the observed outcomes of organisations' CSR activities was undertaken. The observed outcomes were produced by analysing the organisations advertising strategy, website, use of social media, awards won, integrated reports and media reporting. Combining the content analysis with an analysis of the interviews produced a CSR profile for each of the cases which served as the basis for comparison. It was found that the rhetoric and reality gap of the organisations involved in this study could be explained by the organisations’ CSR profiles. The implications for the management of the rhetoric and reality gap varied between organisations. The success of the classification of the case studies meant that Basu and Palazzo’s model is able to produce a CSR profile for an organisation which can be linked to the observed CSR outcomes. In addition particular CSR profiles can explain the origins of specific rhetoric and reality gaps and how best to manage it.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis ondersoek die retoriek en realiteitsgaping wat ontstaan uit organisasies se Korporatiewe Sosiale Verantwoordelikheidsinisiatiewe (KSV). Die retoriek en realitietsgaping is 'n verskil tussen wat organisasies sê hulle doen en wat hulle werklik doen. In terme van KSV is die gaping teenwoordig as die fenomeen van "greenwashing", waar organisasies hulle bydraes tot sosiale en omgewingsake oordryf. Dit lei tot skeptiese verbruikers en maak KSV-aktiwiteite verdag in die algemeen. As hierdie gaping nie bestuur word nie, kan dit bydra tot merkbare reputasie risiko vir organisasies. Die gaping is nie net 'n risiko nie, maar het ook die potensiaal om organisasies na meer verantwoordelike besigheidspraktyk te dryf. Vorige navorsing oor KSV fokus op organisasies se KSV-aktiwiteite en die uitkomste daarvan en nie op die sienings en oordele oor KSV binne organisasies self nie. Organisatoriese singewingsteorie verskuif die fokus na hoe organisasies sin maak oor KSV en kan die aard van die retoriek en realiteitsgaping beter beskryf as hoofstroom navorsing. Basu en Palazzo (2008) se proses-model van singewing vir die studie van KSV beskryf die kognitiewe, taal en konnatiewe aspekte van singewing oor sewe dimensies om 'n KSV-profiel van organisasies te ontwikkel. In die tesis word Basu en Palazzo se model geoperasionaliseer om KSV in die Suid-Afrikaanse voedsel kleinhandelsektor te bestudeer. Vergelykende gevallestudies is onder drie van die vier grootste kleinhandelaars in Suid-Afrika onderneem waartydens onderhoude met sleutelpersone betrokke by KSV gevoer is. Daarna is 'n inhoudsanalise van die waargenome KSV-uitkomste in elke geval onderneem. Hierdie uitkomste is die resultaat van 'n analise van advertensie-strategieë, webblaaie, gebruik van sosiale media, toekennings, geïntegreerde verslagdoening en media-dekking. Die KSV-profiel is saamgestel deur die inhoudsanalise met die analise van die onderhoude te kombineer. Daar is gevind dat die retoriek en realiteitsgaping van die betrokke organisasies deur die KSV-profiele verduidelik kan word. Die implikasies vir die bestuur van die gaping het gevarieer tussen die drie organisasies. Die sukses van die klassifikasie van die gevallestudies beteken dat Basu en Palazzo se model 'n KSV-profiel kan produseer wat met waargenome KSV-uitkomste verband hou. Verder kan spesifieke KSV-profiele die oorsprong van spesifieke gapings verduidelik en beginpunte bied vir die bestuur daarvan.

This study investigated the effects of responsibility attitudes, locus of control and their interactions on general obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptomatology and dimensions of OC symptoms. Research subjects consisted of 385 senior high school students from Fatih Sultan Mehmet High School in Ankara. The students were given the Turkish version of Responsibility Attitudes Scale (RAS), the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), the Locus of Control Scale (LCS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Trait- State Anxiety Inventory-Trait Anxiety Form (TAI). The factor analysis of MOCI revealed three-factor solution. The factors were labeled as rumination, cleanliness/meticulousness, and checking. In order to examine possible gender differences, separate analyses of variance were conducted for the variables of general obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, and symptom subtypes. Results indicated that cleaning was the most common symptom subtype, followed by rumination and checking symptoms among Turkish high school students. Related to the gender differences, females reported more OC symptoms than males. Furthermore, females received significantly higher scores for cleaning subscale than male. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between responsibility attitudes, locus of control and their interactions on general OC symptomatology and its symptom subtypes in high school student sample. It was found that there was a significantly positive relationship between responsibility attitudes and general OC symptomatology. However, locus of control was not a significant predictor of general OC symptomatology. Furthermore, results revealed that there was a significant interaction effect of responsibility attitudes with locus of control on OC symptomatology. That is, an inflated sense of responsibility and the presence of external locus of control produced the highest OC symptoms. However, when the level of responsibility attitudes was low, externality or internality did not influence the levels of OC symptom. Related to dimensions of OC symptoms, responsibility was a weak predictor of rumination symptoms, and moderate predictor of cleanliness and checking symptoms. It was almost equally relevant for cleaning and checking symptoms. Locus of control and its interaction with responsibility attitudes only significantly predicted rumination symptoms. These results suggested that if the individual shows an overt behavior to prevent the external danger, locus of control does not play a significant role in OCD. The findings of the present study were discussed with current literature.

In this thesis I develop a critical but sympathetic reading of Paul Ricoeur’s textual model of interpretation as it is presented in his 1971 essay “The Model of the Text: Meaningful Action Considered as a Text”. My reading of Ricoeur’s essay aims to clarify some of the strengths and limitations of his project in “The Model of the Text”, and to develop the analogy between text and action in directions left largely undeveloped by Ricoeur. In particular, I argue that hermeneutic philosophy can help us elucidate the validity of interpretive claims in the human and social sciences, and also to understand the role of the objectification of action in ensuring this validity. The fixation of action as an object of inquiry opens up the possibility for interpreters to hold themselves at a distance from their pre-reflective judgements regarding the meaning of action. This allows interpreters to reflect critically upon action and to arbitrate between competing interpretations. Furthermore, the textual model allows us to recognise the description and objectification of action as an active and constitutive dimension of interpretive activity in the human and social sciences. My argument proceeds by engaging in a detailed examination of Ricoeur’s hermeneutic thought, expanding upon aspects of hermeneutic philosophy that can inform our understanding of the textual model, and by attempting to address points of disanalogy and potential objections that may emerge from the application of textual hermeneutics to the interpretation of meaningful action. Ricoeur’s textual model has the potential to provide a valuable resource for the human and social 4 sciences by inviting its practitioners to consider the interpretation of action in terms of the text and textual hermeneutics, but only on the condition that self-critique and a recognition of objectification as part of interpretive activity are incorporated into interpretive practice.

Professionalism is a term frequently used in organizations yet perceptions of what it means differ from person to person. Given its frequent use and its link to various job outcomes, such as organizational commitment (Bartol, 1979), there is a need to have a universal definition of professionalism. While there are existing models of professionalism these models are typically developed for a specific field or industry. Thus, there is also a need for a comprehensive model of professionalism that can be used across multiple fields and industries. This study worked to develop a model of professionalism that creates a comprehensive model that addresses both of these issues using eleven existing measures of professionalism as its foundation. Four dimensions of professionalism were identified via these models and defined using a combination of existing research and researcher expertise. These dimensions were divided into elements which were used as items in a measure to validate the new model. A five-factor model demonstrated the best fit and was found to have both convergent and discriminant validity.

This research responds to calls for the establishment of an overriding rationale, or raison d'être, for public relations practice. Several scholars are suggesting that the construct of legitimacy provides an overarching rationale that would link public relations practice across organisations, industries and countries (Boyd, 2000; Massey, 2001; Metzler, 1995, 2001; van Ruler & Vercic, 2005; Vercic, van Ruler, Butschi, & Flodin, 2001). However, existing public relations studies using legitimacy have focused on the communicative aspects, with little emphasis on long term and societal level effects for organisations. In seeking to accommodate these challenges, the central research question of this thesis is: Does legitimacy provide a rationale for public relations practice, and if so, in what ways? This study draws on institutional theory, with its central imperative of legitimacy, to address this question. Institutional theory considers the relationship between organisations and environments from a social constructionist perspective. Institutions created through the social construction of reality are based on shared, rational myths of legitimacy which drive organisational and social action, and with which organisations need to demonstrate compliance through their organisational ceremonies or practices. These two central contributors to legitimacy -- rational myths and ceremonies -- provide the framework guiding the study. The study was conducted around issues about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the four major Australian banks. In order to consider relationships between public relations practice and legitimacy as an institutional concept, Giddens' theory of structuration is used as a theoretical apparatus to straddle the rational myths of legitimacy at the level of institution, with public relations practice related to ceremonies at the level of action. 'Structuring moments' identified in media coverage provide sites of microanalysis of the intense social construction of rational myths of legitimacy that include organisations and publics. Through these theoretical devices, a number of guiding research questions shape the study: RQ i): What is learned about the social construction of rational myths about legitimacy by studying media coverage about CSR in Australian banking? RQ ii): What is learned about legitimacy by studying public relations practices in relation to media coverage about CSR in Australia banking? A longitudinal, qualitative, case study approach was taken to explore the research questions in this study. As legitimacy was viewed as a process of ongoing social construction, a temporal bracketing strategy (Langley, 1999) was used to examine the relationships between the level of institution and of action over the six year period of the study. Media coverage, annual and social impact reports, and interviews were used as sources of data to examine the institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility in the Australian banking industry. The findings of the study show that there is a dynamic relationship between public relations and legitimacy at both theoretical and practical levels. Through the duality of structure lens, theoretically public relations can be conceived as agency and legitimacy as structure. The influence of these two dynamically interrelated levels of agency and structure is both constituted by human agency and is the medium of the institutions (Sewell, 1992). Public relations practices, therefore, can be seen as human agency that both shapes and is shaped by legitimacy. If legitimacy represents a dominant concept of organisational success, it is also a rationale for public relations practice as an act of human agency that seeks to create alignment between organisations and publics in their environment. As such, public relations practices are not just activities. Rather, public relations practices constitute a central resource that organisations can access to exert power to create and manage their legitimacy within the broader environment. Public relations practices, therefore, are resources because they are embedded within the deep structures of society that influence organisational practice, but also are actions that allow the organisation to shape those structural arrangements. This process takes place within webs of communication and relationships between organisations and publics that form institutionalised legitimacy. This study also found that public relations practice is a balance between the demands of time and space. The traditional focus of public relations studies has been on incidents of compressed time and space, such as crises and campaigns. This study suggests that expanded periods of time and space are also integral to how and why public relations make a contribution as, over time, there were shifts to the institutional arrangements that guide public relations practices. This suggests that there is a compression of time and space as organisations and publics communicate in their relationship and an expansion of time and space to shift frames of social structures and legitimacy. It is through this juxtaposition of time and space, and across dual levels of structure, that legitimacy provides a rationale for public relations practices. The conclusions of this research make a major contribution to public relations theory by building a model for considering how legitimacy provides a raison d'être for public relations practices. As such, the model developed in this research provides a theoretical framework of how public relations practices contribute to organisational legitimacy at a societal level. The study also provides deeper insights to the role of public relations practices in managing organisational legitimacy at the level of action. In doing so, it addresses theoretical and methodological issues of the conflation of publics and environment. A number of opportunities for further research are presented by this study in understanding drivers of public relations practices and the role of inspection forums in processes of legitimacy. For practice, there are implications of taking a longer term perspective to considering the role of public relations practices, its impact on organisational success and, therefore, how it is evaluated.

Master Thesis in Marketing,SchoolofBusinessandEconomicsat Linnaeus University, spring 2012 Authors: Sophie Lindgren and Amanda Tuvhag Title: Corporate Social Responsibility – A successful business strategy or just a trend? Purpose: First of all, this thesis wants to describe managers’ expectations regarding customers’ perception about their retail stores CSR initiatives and furthermore their implemented CSR initiatives. Secondly, to describe customer awareness and engagement towards retail stores CSR initiatives. Finally, to compare the results from retail store and customers, in purpose to identify possible gaps between these two. Research questions:RQ1: What expectations regarding customers’ perception of retail stores CSR initiatives do manager of such stores have and how do they perform CSR activities? RQ2:    How aware are customer regarding retail stores CSR initiative and what level of engagement do customer have concerning retail stores CSR activities? Method:    The empirical material is based on both a quantitative and a qualitative investigation. The quantitative investigation is the main study and contains of a customer survey whereby the collected sample consist of 150 respondents. A pilot study have been conducted in order to improve the intension of the survey. Further, the qualitative investigation contains five in-depth semi-strucutred interviews with local store managers of the selected retail stores. Conclusion: Customer thinks retail stores CSR initiatives are important, but they seldom support them. Retail store expect customers to value CSR products/action low in relation to other factors, but retail store are engaging themselves in several CSR actions. Keywords:    Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), marketing strategy, business ethics, sustainability, reputation, food industry, retailers, gap-model, perception, customer, retail store industry, expectation, environmentally certified, ecological products, fair trade.

The main objective of this study was to examine the vulnerability factors of Obsessive Compulsive Symptomatology (OCS) in a non-clinical sample. On the basis of Salkovskis&rsquo
cognitive model of OCD, the present study aimed to investigate the role of perceived parental rearing behaviors, responsibility attitudes, and life events in predicting OCS. Furthermore, the mediator role of responsibility attitudes in the relationship between perceived parental rearing behaviors and OCS was examined. Finally, the specificity of these variables to OCS was evaluated by examining the relationship of the same variables to depression and trait anxiety. Analysis of covariance results showed that subjects with higher OCS scores perceived their mothers&rsquo
and fathers&rsquo
rearing behaviors as more overprotective than the subjects with lower OCS scores. The results of the regression analysis showed that perceived mother overprotection, responsibility attitudes and life events significantly predicted OCS. Furthermore, responsibility attitudes mediated the relationship between perceived mother overprotection and OCS. The predictive role of perceived mother overprotection was found to be OCS specific. On the other hand, for depression, perceived mother rejection and father emotional warmth, and for trait anxiety, perceived mother emotional warmth had significant predictive effects. While responsibility attitudes were found to be a common predictor for OCS and trait anxiety, its mediator role was OCS specific. OCS, depression and trait anxiety were all significantly predicted by life events. The results of the study were discussed within the relevant literature, and limitations of the study, suggestions for future studies, and clinical implications of the findings were presented.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.
Thesis research directed by: Education Policy, and Leadership. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

Private organizations are facing organizational field pressures which need to be addressed from an economic and ethical point of view in order to be sustainable in the long term. The present research study analyzes the role of the Pharmaceutical Industry as a provider of a social good and its responsibility towards its organizational field and stakeholder network. On the one hand it is argued that the mentioned industry should be profitable in order to make investments in research and development; while on the other hand, the industry must demonstrate engagement in the social sphere because of the good it commercializes, human health care. The Role of Organizational Policies, Codes and Structure will also be studied in order to deepen the understanding of the organization strategy towards Corporate Responsibility Practices.

This research project presents a case study of AstraZeneca Sweden Corporate Responsibility practices. In this study an Analytical Framework is developed based on institutional theory, the stakeholders' model, deliberative democracy model and business ethics. The mentioned framework will contribute to the understanding of AstraZeneca's Corporate Responsibility practices. The role of the company towards the demands from the outside world that causes the organization to respond and act will be addressed as well as the role of Policies, Codes and Organizational Structure in the Corporate Responsibility practice of the organization. We argue that the managerial response should be based upon a deliberative engagement method, in which all the interest parties are included in the decision making process.

The study is supported by two interviews which were conducted with key actors and extensive secondary data.

Since the mid 1990s, the momentum behind Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has increased. CSR has become an important issue at political, academic and business level. Already since the beginning of the last decade, commentators have suggested that CSR seems to differ between European countries and that said differences appear to be shaped by the country context. Nevertheless, in general, so far, only few empirical cross-country studies have been conducted. In addition, said studies focused mainly on the comparison between Europe as a region and the US. The latter are biased by the selection of only few specific European countries, which are regarded as a proxy for Europe as a whole. Hence, said studies deliver partially contradictory results, since they do not consider that CRS is supposed to be Non-Pan-European. Moreover, cross-country studies of international character, going beyond that regional comparison, have been rather superficial in view of CSR issues to be investigated. And finally, only recently, cross-country research in CSR has started to establish a systematic link between CSR patterns and the country specific institutional context. Also in view of the latter, the focus has been set on the comparison between countries of Anglo American/Saxon tradition and Europe, considering again some specific European countries as a proxy for the region as a whole.

Given that lack in the literature, the following explicit calls for empirical cross-country research of CSR in Europe have been formulated: First, to explore differences in view of CSR; and second, to find out if country specific institutional mechanisms are influential in shaping said differences.

Hence, the dissertation aims at filling this gap and to answer said calls for research by presenting a cross-country research involving two European countries, Germany and Spain. The research aims at exploring differences in view of a variety of CSR issues and at finding out if the national institutional contexts are influential in shaping said differences.

The dissertation consists of five main parts. In part one, the introductory part, the following is pointed out: motivation, main theoretical frameworks of CSR and main CSR issues in CSR literature. Moreover, a detailed overview on the research design of the three papers, which form part two, three and four, is provided.

In part two, which is composed of one paper, differences in view of CSR concepts and CSR drivers (analytical framework) between Germany and Spain are explored. The methodology applied was a questionnaire-based postal survey among the 500 largest companies in both, Germany and Spain.

The results of the study suggest important differences between the two countries over the analytical framework. In comparison to Spanish companies, the German ones seem to be more attached to the "sustainability" concept of CSR, whereas the Spanish companies favour to a major extent the CSR concept, formulated by the EC and the "Triple Bottom Line" concept. In view of CSR drivers, the results imply that German corporations are to a major extent than their Spanish counterparts driven by secondary stakeholders, whereas corporations in both countries seem to be equally pressured by primary stakeholders to become engaged in CSR. In addition, the findings suggest that CSR in Spain seems to be more "voluntary", whereas, in Germany, it seems to be more "regulated". The analysis of the results with regard to "expectations on positive internal" and "positive external effects" as drivers to CSR suggests a "more competitive advantage centred" approach to CSR among Spanish companies than among German ones, where the corresponding approach is "less competitive advantage centred". And finally, the findungs further suggest, that the country context seems to be influential in shaping most of said differences.

Part three, which consists of one paper, deals with CSR reporting, which is assumed to deliver insights into the institutionalization of the leading reporting guidelines in CSR, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, CSR agendas and the communicated rationale behind CSR. The methodology applied was quantitative contents analysis of CSR reports. As sample served companies of the utility industry, listed in the main stock indexes in Germany and Spain.

The findings of the study suggest that the institutionalisation of the GRI indicators is low in the corporations investigated in both countries. But, it is especially low in German firms. With regard to CSR agendas, the focus of corporate activities appears to lie among German corporations on those attached to environmental responsibilities, whereas Spanish corporations appear to have in this regard a mixed approach, related to their economic, environmental and social responsibilities. But, in contrast to their German counterparts the economic responsibilities are more emphasized. With regard to the communicated rationale behind CSR, German corporations seem to be driven by normative reasons, the Spanish to a major extent by instrumental ones. And finally, the findings imply that the country context seems to be influential in shaping most of said differences.

In part four, which contains one paper, differences in the understanding of CG in view of its links to CSR are explored. Currently, scholars discuss the link between CG and CSR and their relational models in the theoretical literature. Hence, to explore the understanding of CG and its links to CSR ,an analytical framework was elaborated, based upon said current theoretical debate. The methodology applied was qualitative contents analysis, conducted in the framework of a web site research. The sample consisted of corporations listed in the main stock indexes in both countries.

The findings suggest differences between the two countries with regard to the understanding of CG and its links to CSR and the corresponding relational models. In Spain the understanding of CG seems to be to a major extent linked to the "narrow view" of CG, implied by a major focus on shareholders only in view of corporate responsibilities. In contrast, among German corporations the view appears to be "broad", including other stakeholders than exclusively shareholders in this regard. In addition, the results suggest, that the relational model favoured by German corporations consists of CSR being considered as a part of CG, whereas the Spanish companies seem to relate CG to CSR or at least consider both, CG and CSR, as complementary constituents. And finally, the findings suggest that most of the exposed differences seem to be shaped by mechanisms of the traditional national CG systems.

In the final main part, part five, the overall conclusions of the dissertation have been formulated. These can be summarized as follows. From an overall perspective the three essays contribute to fill the lack in the literature as already pointed out. They constitute an original answer to the calls for research expressed in this regard. Moreover, they contribute to increase the knowledge on differences in CSR between European countries. And furthermore, through paying attention to country specific institutional mechanisms, they enhance the understanding of said differences induced by the country context or country specificity of CSR. In addition, the three essays have raised important implications for managerial practice, public policies, international and (supra) national institutions and for further research. In view of the implications for managerial practice, the findings suggest to sensitize practitioners with regard to the country specificity of CSR and to undertake corresponding measures in e.g. corporate communication, product and market strategies, employer marketing and organizational and management development terms. With regard to the implications for public policies, international and (supra) national organizations, those with regulatory power should increasingly bear in mind to handle more carefully the outsourcing of said power to private institutions, including NGOs, which play an important role in the "oluntary" regulation of CSR. In addition, those institutions, without regulatory power, which issue e.g. voluntary guidelines, should consider the country specificity of CSR and the "one size does not fit all" problem. Concerning the implications of the findings for further research these are the following: 1) to expand the CSR issues to be investigated in cross-country studies; 2) to intensify cross-country research in Europe in view of the number of countries involved; 3) to consider longitudinal approaches in cross-country research in Europe; 4) to expand said research (1-3) also to SMEs; 5) to increase the scope of institutional mechanisms to be investigated; and 6) to intensify cross-country linguistics research in view of CG and CSR. And finally, the findings of the three essays have delivered substantial contributions to enliven the debate, at academic and practitioner level, in view of the international management of CSR in terms of complexity vs. simplicity.

Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005.
Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original hard copy.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT This study project has as its main aim the development of a framework and model for the purpose of constructing a new best practice management tool, the Social Business Contract, to align, regulate and control interactive behaviour in the workplace. The tool is presented in its concept phase only and has been developed to address a perceived gap between paperless and actual, enforceable accountability for interactive behaviour on all organisational levels. The aim of the Social Business Contract is to promote corporate social responsibility, which is influenced and shaped by interactive organisational behaviour. In order to establish corporate social responsibility in line. with Good Corporate Governance principles to which the concept of accountability inherently attaches, the core of the Social Business Contract has, as its name implies, a legal character. The overriding consequence of establishing corporate social responsibility through a legal agreement is that top-down and bottom-up accountability is created and endorsed which permeates the organisation on every level. The Social Business Contract is to be an agreement between employer and employee capable of conclusion on either an individual- or a collective basis. To this end the Law of Contract and Labour Law as benchmarked against the Constitution of South Africa are relevant to this study. In developing the framework, called the Social Business Contract Framework or S.B.C.F., a five-element approach was applied. The reason for this approach is that behaviour in the workplace is regarded as the product of interactive forces comprising of psychological, emotional, ethical, social and legal elements. The purpose of the S.B.C.F. is to give structure to the Social Business Contract and to establish the parameters in which it is to function. The S.B.C.F. consists of three tiers relating to the material, functional and procedural aspects around which the Social Business Contract revolves and which also supports the characteristics inherent in and required by law. The purpose of the model that was developed, called the P.L.E.S.E.-Model, is to assess or measure how the elements referred to in the previous paragraph, fit in relation to each other so that an overall profile of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats relating to organisational interactive behaviour can be constructed. This profile would facilitate the planning of the material content that the Social Business Contract would need to address in order to bring the interactive elements into balance with one another. The Social Business Contract's validity is dependent on obtaining and managing consensus. Due to the relationship of authority that characterises the employment relationship, the Social Business Contract seeks to promote the concepts of bona fides, justice, fairness and equality in order to alleviate the potential conflicts and pressures that may result from the power differential between the parties. It also seeks to place the Psychological Contract on a legal basis, enhance the contract of employment, encourage effective organisational design and promote Good Corporate Governance on a social level. Validation for the S.B.C.F., the P.L.E.S.E.-Model and the concept of the Social Business Contract was sought through fieldwork research.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie projek, is om In raamwerk en model te ontwikkel vir doeleindes van die konstruksie van In beste-praktyk bestuursinstrument, die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak, ten einde interaktiewe gedrag in die werkplek in ewewig te bring, te reguleer en te beheer. Die instrument word slegs aangebied in konsepfase en was ontwikkel om In bemerkbare gaping tussen papierlose en wesenlike, afdwingbare verantwoordbaarheid, ten opsigte van interaktiewe gedrag op alle organisatoriese vlakke, aan te spreek. Die doel van die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak is om korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid te bevorder wat beïnvloed en gevorm word deur interaktiewe organisatoriese gedrag. Ten einde korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid daar te stel, waaraan die verantwoordbaarheidskonsep inherent gekoppel is, het die kern van die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak, soos die naam impliseer, In regskarakter. Die oorheersende gevolg wat voortvloei uit die daarstelling van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid deur middel van In regsooreenkoms, is dat In bo-na-onder en onder-na-bo verantwoordbaarheid geskep en onderskryf word wat die organisasie op elke vlak deurdring. Die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak word vooropgestel as In ooreenkoms tussen werkgewer en werknemer wat beide op In individuele en kollektiewe vlak gesluit kan word. As gevolg hiervan is Kontraktereg en Arbeidsreg soos gemeet aan die Konstitusie van Suid-Afrika, relevant to hierdie studie. In Vyf-element benadering is toegepas in die ontwikkeling van die Sosiale Besigheidsraamwerk of S.B.C.F. Die rede vir hierdie benadering is dat gedrag in die werkplek beskou word as die produk van interaktiewe kragte wat bestaan uit sielkundige, emosionele, etiese, sosiale en regselemente. Die doel van die S.B.C.F. is om struktuur aan die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak te verleen en om die parameters waarin dit moet funksioneer, vas te stel. Die S.B.C.F. bestaan uit drie vlakke verwysend na die materiële, funksionele en prosedurele aspekte waarom die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak draai en wat ook die karaktertrekke inherent aan en vereis deur die reg, ondersteun. Die doel van die model wat ontwerp is, genaamd die P.L.E.S.E.-model, is om vas te stelof te meet hoe die elemente waarna verwys is in die vorige paragraaf met mekaar ineenskakel, sodat 'n oorhoofse profiel van die sterktepunte, swakhede, geleenthede en bedreigings met verwysing na organisatoriese interaktiewe gedrag, opgestel kan word. Hierdie profiel sal die beplanning van die materiële inhoud, wat die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak sal moet aanspreek ten einde die interaktiewe gedragselemente te balanseer, vergemaklik. Die geldigheid van die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak hang af van die verkryging en bestuur van konsensus. As gevolg van die outoriteitsverhouding wat kenmerkend is van die indiensnemingsverhouding, poog die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak om die konsepte van bona fides, geregtigheid en gelykheid te bevorder, ten einde die potensiële konflik en druk te verlig wat voortvloei uit die magsdifferensiaal wat tussen die partye bestaan. Dit poog ook om die Sielkundige Kontrak op "n regsbasis te plaas, die indiensnemingskontrak te versterk, organisatoriese ontwerp aan te moedig en Goeie Korporatiewe Bestuur op "n sosiale vlak, te bevorder. Veldnavorsing ter stawing van die S.B.C.F., die P.L.E.S.E.-Model en die konsep van die Sosiale Besigheidskontrak, was onderneem.

博士
國立體育大學
體育研究所
102
Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model (TPSR) aims to help students take responsibility for others and themselves. TPSR is a popular research issue in sport pedagogy, moreover, the effects of TPSR were supported by numerous studies. Based on the outcomes of previous studies, this research aimed to determine why TPSR may boost positive effects as well as how to enhance its effects. Study 1 was to examine the appropriateness of the items and factorial structure of Students’Responsibility in Physical Education Scale (SRIPES) ; Study 2 was to examine the student responsibility model based on the framework of self-determination theory; Study 3 was to examine the effects of TPSR on students’psychological need satisfaction; Study 4 was to examine the effects of supported-strategy which was integrated into TPSR on students’responsibility. Finally, the results of study 1 supported the reliability and validity of SRIPES. In the study 2, structural equation modeling analysis showed that perceptions of teacher support were positive predictors of students’satisfaction of their psychological needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. The three needs were positive predictors of autonomous motivation, in turn, autonomous motivation positively predicted student responsibility. The results of study 4 indicated that integrating supported-strategy into TPSR can enhance students’effort, self-direction, and following class rules. However, there were no significant effects on respect, helping others, and cooperation. According to the results of these 4 series studies, suggestions were offered to make greater contributions to the theory and the practice applications of TPSR.

碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
體育學系
106
The purpose of this study was to explore the personal and social responsibility into the physical education, the influence on students’ responsibility and peer relationship. Participants were 8th graders (12 males and 16 females) with rude behavior in a comprehensive junior-senior high school in the Taipei City. Data was collected through participant observation, interviews and questionnaires to record students’ behavior before and after the course. Results showed that 1. There were significant differences for respect and cooperation; however, no significant differences were found for effort, self-direction, helping others and following class rules. 2. TPSR makes students more respect for others, more curriculum participation and effort, but need to strengthen in self-direction and leadership because they were vulnerable to peer influence. 3. After the class, they had a positive improvement in class and individual student peers. 4. TPSR could enhance the interaction between peers, but also effectively improve the division of small groups. Conclusion and Suggestion: The integration of TPSR curriculum can effectively improve the students' responsibility behavior and peer relationship. The study recommended that teachers should consider the characteristics of students while design the curriculum. After the teacher's empowerment, teachers should be managed from the side to help students achieve their own Claim.

碩士
東吳大學
國際經營與貿易學系
100
The purposes of this research are to integrate strategic corporate social responsibility theories (SCSR) and to formulate a SCSR analytical model. The model includes SCSR contents, antecede factors, and performance. With Chughwa Telecom as a studying case, this research demonstrates the SCSR analytical model’s application. The findings are as follows: (1) the contents of a company’s SCSR can be analyzed with four criteria: intent, focus, commitment, activity; (2) external factors such as growing affluent lifestyle, globalization, and widespread advanced technology influence a company’s SCSR; (3) factors within a company, such its resources, core capability, and branding also affect its SCSR, 4) financial, organizational, and/or societal stakeholders are influential in determining a company’s SCSR; (5) a company with well-planned, well-executed SCSR will sustain competitive advantage, build new business, and bring more profits to its stakeholders.

碩士
國立交通大學
資訊管理研究所
83
This thesis is to develop an accounting system architecture based upon the multilayer responsibility model of TMN. The design of this system meets the TMN requirements, such as flexibility, reusability, and scalability. So, the proposed architecture can be used as a platform for developing an integrated accounting management system. This thesis also suggests a data collection algorithm to solve the real-time requirement of future accounting systems. The X.400 message handling system（MHS） service accounting system is developed to show the feasibility of the proposed accounting system architecture.

碩士
淡江大學
國際商學碩士在職專班
97
In this study, we analysis competitive advantages of corporate social responsibility (hereafter CSR)implementing in corporations from business model perspective. Research method is semi-structured interviewing. Investigating Business Model elements from 3 cases, this study tried to find out differences effects for corporations, which implement CSR and for other corporate, which does not. Research result also found that corporation with CSR has competitive advantages as follows: 1.They have better executive ability to practice CSR if a corporation has an individual CSR department.2.CSR leads OEM factory to deliver core value of Quality.3.Energy saving from supply chain leads to cost saving.4.Brand buyers is a key factor for OEM factory to implement CSR. 5.CSR benefits to factory and staffs.The factory, which implements CSR, will have a better chance to get orders from brand buyers. 6.Regardless motivation (by force or volunteer) of CSR implementation, the buyers trust factories with CSR even more.

碩士
國立暨南國際大學
資訊管理學系
101
Over the past two decades, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has received worldwide attention. Publication of CSR Reports has become the trend for domestic and foreign enterprises. In the constantly changing competition environment, it will be focus of public attention that how enterprises to play the role of corporate citizenship and to achieve a balance in profit, environmental and charitable activities. However, most of previous quantitative studies of CSR concentrate on traditional statistic approaches. The data mining technique has not been widely explored in this area. Thus, this investigation proposed a hybrid data mining CSFSC model integrating data preprocessing approaches, a classification method, and a rule generation mechanism. The data preprocessing approaches include Correlation-based Feature Selection(CFS), Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) and Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering algorithm. The One-Against-One Support Vector Machine (OAOSVM) method was employed as a classifier for performing multi-classification task. The rule-based learning algorithm C5.0 was utilized to generate rules from the results of OAOSVM model. CSR data collected from China’s Listed Firms in 2010 were employed to examine the performance of the proposed model. The empirical results showed that the designed CSFSC model can yield satisfactory classification accuracy as well as provide rules for decision makers. Therefore, the presented CSFSC model is a feasible and effective alternative in analyzing CSR.

碩士
國立中央大學
高階主管企管碩士班
102
This paper explores the application of the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM) to the formulation of strategies for SCSR (Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility) in corporations, assisting corporations to gain competitive advantages through corporate social responsibility. SAM was created during the 90s in order to bridge the gap in terms of objectives, competences between business and IT professionals to achieve competitive advantages. The present study applies SAM to SCSR-SAM (Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility SAM) to align development on business strategies and corporate social responsibilities. This paper proposes a new framework to represent alignment in a way that multiple strategies and pathways can be recognized, favoring dialogue and coordination, and provides a path to competitive advantages through corporate social responsibility.

碩士
樹德科技大學
經營管理研究所
104
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now prominent and evident more than ever due to the emphasis laid on businesses regarding environmental, social and ethical issues. Given a lack of studies that have explored the integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management within supply chain operations reference (SCOR), the purpose of this study is to identify the discrepancies in how CSR management (CSRM) be incorporated into SCOR, including issues with the hierarchical representation of CSRM processes, metrics, best practices and skills. Analytical hierarchy analysis (AHP) was used to analyze the coverage and integration of CSRM within SCOR. Therefore, this research aims to establish a performance evaluation framework with application of SCOR model using AHP method for evaluating CSR performances in food supply chains and can enables companies to analyze and improve their supply chain CSR operations by linking business processes, performance metrics, practices and people skills into a unified structure. These may be potentially helpful for embedding CSRM processes within other SC processes, visualizing CSR performance metrics in a SC’s value hierarchy and integrating SCOR’s CSRM with organizational enterprise CSRM. Application of SCOR model in the development of a performance evaluation framework for CSRM in supply chains enables us to account for indirect relationships and the complex interactions existing among the CSR variables in supply chain.

碩士
國立中央大學
企業管理學系在職專班
104
In recent years, major food safety scandals have occurred frequently in Taiwan, which includes food contamination and poisoning, illegal additives, fake labeling and counterfeiting, such as DEHP found in drinks and pastries in 2011, followed by tainted starch products and counterfeit olive oil in 2013 and culminating in waste-oil scandal in 2014. The series of incidents have crushed consumer confidence of the food safety. Each event violated consumers' rights, however, consumers can hardly claim for compensation due to lack of proof of purchase. The purpose of this study was to develop "Corporate Social Responsibility Card" which is issued by a non-profit organization and to build a cloud-based database system that integrate and store long-term cross-seller transaction records and product information. So that consumers can easily obtain the proof of purchase for claim if a similar incident occurred again and ensure of the implementation of substantial compensation by seller. The functionality and purpose of CSR Card are different from the other cards currently on the market. Therefore, assess CSR Card by the nine building block of "Business Model Canvas" (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010): value propositions, customer segments, channels, customer relationships, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, cost structure and revenue streams, and the result shows that CSR Card is able to defend consumers’ rights and implement corporate social responsibility by food sellers.

碩士
國立臺北科技大學
環境工程與管理研究所
97
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been considered as a key to achieve sustainability for an enterprise and a main strategy to enhance its competitive advantage. However, CSR involves too many issues; for one, enterprises may have diminished competitive advantage if they do not have a suitable CSR decision-making mechanism to implement their CSR strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to construct a systematic decision-making model for enterprises to prioritize their CSR strategies in order to achieve sustainability. In this study, an extensive literature review was conducted, and 11 factors which will affect the implementation of corporate social responsibility were identified; these are competitive advantage, enterprise development, company reputation, greening the supply chain, product and market differentiation, reducing environmental footprint, human resource performance, operational risk, stakeholder demands, and the welfare of the community. An expert questionnaire was administered to explore the interrelations among these 11 factors by using a novel decision-making tool, the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL). After which, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) was adopted to determine the weighting of each criterion for the proposed decision-making model. Finally, a Taiwanese electronics company was selected as the case company to explore the suitability and efficacy of the developed model by testing its proposed CSR actions against the 11 weighted decision-making factors. Based on the case study, the most important consideration among 11 factors was competitive advantage, and it was followed by enterprise development and company reputation. The most important driving factors was greening the supply chain and followed by reducing environmental footprint and market differentiation. The case company also identified 5 strategies, namely corporate governance and accountability, environmental protection and energy saving, stakeholders involvement, international participation to sustainable development, and social welfare. Among them, the most important strategies are environmental protection and energy saving and stakeholder involvement, and their relative importance weightings are 0.598 and 0.454, respectively. The decision-making model for implementing CSR developed in this study should be able to assist enterprises to identify the considerations for the strategic CSR but also to adopt the most suitable strategies for companies.

碩士
東吳大學
會計學系
104
In recent years, sustainable development and social responsibility have become important issues around the globe. This paper proposes a novel integrated model for risk assessment model of assurance on corporate social responsibility reporting (CSR) and illustrates the practical application of such a model through a case study. This model first applied the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach to deal with the interdependencies existing among the criteria of organization requires, and then integrated the DEMATEL, the analytic network process (ANP), and the zero-one goal programming (ZOGP) method to select an optimal portfolio of risk assessment of assurance on CSR. This integrated model enables the auditors to obtain the fitting assurance portfolio and achieves the desired spiritual value. The research methodology of this paper mainly involves: reviewing the relevant literature on CSR development, including reporting benefit, guideline introduction, and assurance development; clarifying the interrelated relationships of CSR assurance and preparation guideline; identifying the CSR preparation alternatives in which auditors may consider to focus when they perform assurance work; constructing an ANP model in order to calculate the importance weights of the different CSR preparation alternatives; formulating a ZOGP model, which uses the weights obtained from the ANP model and considers the obligatory and flexible goals with different priorities, interdependencies and constraints on resources, that enables auditors to optimize their scarce human resources; and conducting four case studies in order to illustrate how the proposed methodology works. This paper provides auditors with an integrated decision-support methodology, which will assist them in allocating their limited human resources for different CSR preparation alternatives in a more efficient way. The proposed methodology does not only consider the constraints on human resources and priorities of the goals that need to be satisfied but also show the deviations from the desired goals. Therefore, this paper is of benefit to auditors as it offers an efficient and convenient tool that allows auditors to optimise scarce human resources.

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
行銷與流通管理所
95
Abstract There was many studies demonstrated that keeping old customers could bring a lot of benefits for enterprises. The basic condition of maintain customer relationship is to reduce service failures. But the majority failure studies in service focused on traditional channel, so it’s a very important issue to understand the service failures on virtual channel. The study base on service triangle to develop a conceptive model, and go through the customer complaining data to explore the condition of service failures, responsibility and service gaps on virtual channel. The study uses Critical Incident Technique(CIT) to be the methodology, researcher collect 175 cases, include 312 service failure incidents, and then uses CIT according service process of TV shopping to classify service failure, responsibility, service gaps and the order of service failures. The results of study shows that “customer service problem” is the most familiar service failure, and “signing factories” cause the most failures and multiple failure incident. Researcher use Gap model to examine service failure incidents in addition, discovering the gap between “Translation of perceptions into service-quality specifications” and “Service delivery”(Gap3) is the most familiar service gap. The virtual channel enterprise can use the study to understand the service failure issue of TV shopping industry and avoid the negative effect bring by service failures.

碩士
國立臺北大學
合作經濟學系
95
Most of prior studies assume a direct linkage between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP), and the linkage has not been demonstrated convincingly. Therefore, we consider stakeholders’ behavior on investigating the CSR-CFP relationship, since stakeholder behavior might be driven by stakeholders’ willingness to encourage companies with CSR or punish companies without CSR, and the willingness is influenced by the moral value. In order to realize the CSR-CFP relationship, therefore, our study considers the stakeholders’ moral value, the willingness to engage in either supportive or deleterious behavior, and the transformation from the willingness to behaviors or actions. Moreover, we also attempt to explore the relationship between the willingness and cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede. By empirically testing data for 2003 from three “high-involvement” industries—automobile, finance, and technology, and three stakeholder groups—consumers, employees, and shareholders, the results are as follows. First, the stakeholders in automobile industry embrace “self-enhancement”, but we cannot recognize this in the other two industries. Second, in automobile and technology industries, consumers’ willingness is transformed into their actions but shareholders’ actions don’t correspond with their words. The CSR-CFP relationship is affected mostly by consumers’ willingness in automobile industry, and by shareholders’ willingness in finance industry. Finally, in countries with higher long-term orientation cultures, stakeholders have greater willingness to engage in either supportive or deleterious behavior.

碩士
國立東華大學
國際企業學系
100
This thesis mainly uses a mathematical model to evaluate decision making regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment under the assumption of a decision variable: fluctuating merchandise price. The thesis presents the real options model, and assesses the whole firm value, the latter of which is derived from the real operating income as well as the potential strategic value at two stages (i.e. at the traditional operating stage and at the corporate social responsibility entering stage). The thesis further takes into account external changing circumstances and the occasional contingent incidents working against corporate social responsibility strategies. Moreover, the extensible discussion of this thesis utilizes game theory to analyze the decision-making of two competing firms with dissimilar levels of national social consciousness in the international market. The results show that contrary to the traditional viewpoint, the extremely positive correlation between the incremental price (decision variable) and the switching cost (adverse event) will result in a lower entry threshold. This thesis can provide decision makers with a reference when adopting decision-making criteria, considering the optimal entry point for corporate social responsibility, and grasping the difference between before-CSR and after-CSR stages in order to attain consistency between financial economics, environmental economics, and social responsibility.

碩士
環球科技大學
觀光與生態旅遊系環境資源管理碩士班
107
This study aimed to explore the positive and negative effects brought about by the application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to business model, using Yunlin Gukeng Coffee Company as the target company. Results showed that the target company was careated not only based on profit, but also on solving problems of local coffee farmers and providing feedback to communities. Apart from sustaining quality products and services, the company cares for the local farmers more than other entities, thus extending its CSR. Furthermore, it regarded farmers, communities and the environment as its own responsibility, hoping to establish the international platform for Taiwan Coffee. To sum up. CSR is like a double-edged sword for a company. Before the anticipated profit materialized, the company has built up pressure from cost and cash flow. However, as time gone by, the comopany’s image and value accumulated and unexpected benefits emerged as a result. Not only the target company has gained great advantage in the providers, but also developed the rhythm of internationalizing Taiwan Coffee.

碩士
逢甲大學
工業工程與系統管理學系
103
Internet has been the most modern broadcast and media in this generation. E-commerce technology has also matured gradually. Internet transaction has become the the market for human consumption, but recent years, meet consumer and Industry，. The purpose of the research is to aim the enterprise which has E-commerce. Using surveys to gain different experts’ opinions. Establishing principles and weight to the E-commerce with AHP. The research showed that principles that most people chose were different from enterprises. Labour working hours、Occupational Safety are not important to be focused and the most important problem is controlling toxic objectives in Environmental Protection. In view of recent days, the issue of food security crisis, with this study, attempts to arouse hope to launch e-commerce businesses for corporate social responsibility for environmental protection seriously, and made clear that the responsibility and obligations of e-commerce companies in the industry environment should be assumed, can effectively the reference and guidance.