Companies that raise prices might expect some unhappiness from customers, especially if the price increase is seen as deliberate profit-taking. The reaction to Marks & Spencer doubling the price of hand sanitizer during Covid is one example of a price hike consumers found particularly objectionable. The backlash from customers was compounded by the fact that […]
When a company has committed a transgression against one or more of its stakeholders, and wishes to rebuild the stakeholders’ trust and confidence, it engages in ‘moral repair’. For example, a mining company in South Africa wanted to make amends to the families of striking mine workers killed by police during the strike. The company […]
Read More… from Making Amends: The Two Levels of Moral Repair
Building on his own research, and other studies and theories developed by researchers in the field of ethics and morality, RSM professor Muel Kaptein offers a framework that answers the question: when should companies change their ethical norms. Ethical norms are the rules, policies and procedures of a company put in place to ensure the […]
Read More… from When Should Companies Change their Ethical Norms?
More than ever before, employees are asking the companies they work for to take a stand and become actively involved in supporting environmental and social causes. The increasingly visible activism and social engagement of employees is in large part due to changes in technology and culture. On the technology front, internal messaging boards and personal […]
Read More… from Respond to Employee Activists With Clarity and Consistency
The world of business, and society at large, accepts the need for greater diversity at the highest levels of business, government and other domains. This general consensus, however, has not translated into full-scale change. Research into the influence of descriptive social norms on the behaviour of corporate decision makers offers some new understanding into why […]
Read More… from How Diversity Social Norms Let Companies Off the Hook
Governments, companies and consumers all generally agree on the importance of recycling for environmental reasons. The challenge is turning awareness into action. Governments and non-governmental organizations are taking steps to encourage consumer recycling through public service announcements and public policy, while companies are attempting to make more of their products from recyclable materials. Consumers, however, […]
Read More… from To Inspire Recycling, Describe the Product to Come
According to the World Trade Organization, the products and services purchased by the government account for 15-20% of developing countries’ GDP. Putting aside the relative handful of defence contractors with their multi-billion contracts, how can companies break into the B2G sector? The surprising answer from one academic researcher is a firm’s corporate social responsibility activities. […]
Read More… from How CSR Can Lead to Lucrative Government Contracts
GHG-intensive firms in the energy and industrial sectors are the source of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions recognized as the major cause of climate change. Not surprisingly, these firms are under pressure, notably from stakeholders and regulatory agencies, to reduce GHG emissions. Does this pressure have an impact on the environmental-friendly efforts and strategies of […]
Read More… from Stakeholder Pressure Leads to Significant Environmental Strategy Adoption
In their research, Afshin Mehrpouya of HEC Paris and Imran Chowdhury of Pace University explore the mechanisms, and importantly the assumptions behind the mechanisms, involved in transforming social responsibility (CSR) into financial performance (CFP). A closer look at those assumptions reveals why socially responsible behaviour is not always reflected in better financial results. They first […]
Read More… from Doing Good’ Does Not Always Improve the Bottom Line
‘Greenwashing’ is a new term that describes the actions of companies whose corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities prove to be more window-dressing than action. Two Michigan Ross professors, Jun Li and Di (Andrew) Wu used a set of databases as proxies to answer a complex and important question: Does corporate social responsibility really benefit society? […]
