The firm under the spotlight: How stakeholder scrutiny shapes corporate social responsibility and its influence on performance

Since stakeholders cannot directly observe corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, companies attempt to back up their increasing sustainability claims by sending CSR signals. The environment in which signaling takes place influences the credibility of the signals. Among the factors that make up the signaling environment, the overall exposure of the company to different stakeholders (i.e., stakeholder scrutiny) has been neglected by the literature. Using signaling and stakeholder theories, we argue how stakeholder scrutiny shapes CSR signals' credibility. We empirically analyze a sample of 5762 firms across several sectors from 23 developed countries from 2013 to 2017. Stakeholder scrutiny exercises a positive effect on the credibility of CSR signals through a mediated-moderated impact of CSR (across environmental, social, and governance dimensions) on firm performance

¿Los bancos socialmente responsables son más innovadores? Evidencia empírica del efecto de la innovación y digitalización sobre la responsabilidad social corporativa en la banca europea

Digital business model innovation within the banking sector is critical in light of the rapidly-evolving environment where important shifts in consumer demand and fierce competitive pressure from new entrants prevail. Banks’ innovative efforts derive in greater transparency and access to banking services which empowers clients and fulfills stakeholders' needs. Besides, banks' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives constitute a strategy to differentiate products from competitors and build reputation. This article investigates the complementarities between innovation and CSR, and in particular how technological innovations and business model innovations through digitization improve banks' CSR. We analyze a sample of European banks listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Europe for the period 2008-2014. Our results suggest that banks' digitization enabled by business model innovations results in enhanced CSR, whereas innovations that do not transform the core business, such as technological innovative processes, do not derive in better CSR. In addition, we suggest several variables that moderate the relationship between innovation and CSR.La digitalización en el sector bancario es crítica en el contexto actual de importantes cambios en la demanda del consumidor y elevada presión competitiva debido a los nuevos entrantes en la industria. Los esfuerzos innovadores de los bancos han derivado en una mayor transparencia y acceso a los servicios bancarios, lo que permite una mayor satisfacción de los clientes y demás stakeholders. Además, las iniciativas de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) de los bancos constituyen una estrategia para diferenciar los productos de la competencia y construir reputación. El presente trabajo analiza la complementariedad entre la innovación y la RSC. En particular se investiga cómo las innovaciones tecnológicas y las innovaciones en el modelo de negocio a través de la digitalización mejoran la RSC de los bancos. Analizamos una muestra de bancos europeos incluidos en el índice de sostenibilidad Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) de Europa para el periodo 2008-2014. Nuestros resultados sugieren que la digitalización vía innovación en el modelo de negocio redunda en una mejora en la RSC de los bancos, mientras que mayores esfuerzos en innovación tecnológica no derivan en una mayor sostenibilidad. Además, sugerimos diversas variables que moderan la relación entre innovación y RSC

Beyond teaching:The extended role of informal entrepreneurship education and training in challenging contexts

PurposeWe seek to understand how informal entrepreneurship education and training (EET) processes support marginalised women in challenging institutional contexts into gainful participation in entrepreneurial activities, facilitating empowerment and emancipation.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs an inductive qualitative approach drawing on in-depth individual interviews, a focus group and observation of how female informal EET educators facilitate hands-on EET to marginalised female entrepreneurs in Uganda.FindingsWe specify a range of novel complementary practices that informal EET educators undertake during the main instructional EET stage and present the wraparound purposive work, both pre-and-post the instructional stage, they enact to support female empowerment processes for their disadvantaged learners. We then propose a grounded model capturing practices enacted by EET practitioners that illuminates ways in which informal EET can contribute to processes of empowerment and emancipation.Originality/valueOur contributions are twofold. First, we conceptualise EET educators as institutional entrepreneurs undertaking institutional work beyond core teaching. Second, we specify a range of novel complementary practices they undertake before, during and after the conventional instructional part. This illuminates how EET can contribute to processes of empowerment and emancipation. Drawing on data from a unique institutional context, we illuminate novel practices enacted by informal EET educators thereby extending both the pedagogy and the realm of entrepreneurship education with implications for grander empowerment and emancipatory outcomes beyond the development of entrepreneurial competencies

How sustainable banking fosters the SDG 10 in weak institutional environments

The role of the financial sector is central in reducing income inequality – the goal of SDG 10 – by facilitating economic opportunities. However, institutional weaknesses may also undermine this effect. We argue that sustainable banking generates bidirectional trust to overcome institutional weaknesses, particularly the weak rule of law. Empirical evidence from 46 countries aggregating data of 1060 banks over 2010–2017 shows that sustainable banking lessens income inequality in weak rule of law settings. The results are robust after including the effects of bank digitalisation. This study has important implications for sustainable banking expansion into weak institutional environments and demonstrates banks’ efforts in their commitment to reducing inequality

La Responsabilidad Corporativa de Emergencia en tiempos de conmoción: Un marco para el análisis de la respuesta empresarial a la COVID-19

CSR has become omnipresent in companies today. CSR activities has been traditionally oriented to achieve an impact on stakeholders during periods of certain society calm. Nevertheless, suddenly this context broke when the epidemic of COVID-19 emerged at the beginning of 2020. This situation was especially severe in some countries such as Spain. This has required a radically different approach to CSR in order to achieve an effective response to this emergency, that we label Corporate Emergency Responsibility. We analyse the immediate social actions reported by companies operating in Spain during the 2020 COVID pandemic. We build a framework that classify the different corporate responses into four categories: Selective, Symbolic, Reactive and Supportive. We identify across the four categories the most socially effective response after a shock, that is based in strong internal dynamic capabilities, such as sense, ethics-focused and partnership building.Este trabajo ha obtenido el 1.er Premio «Estudios Financieros» 2020 en la modalidad de Contabilidad y Administración de Empresas. La Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) se ha convertido en omnipresente en las empresas de la actualidad. Las actividades de RSC se han orientado tradicionalmente hacia el logro de un impacto en los stakeholders durante periodos de cierta estabilidad en la sociedad. Sin embargo, de manera inesperada, este contexto se vio violentamente alterado cuando surgió la pandemia por COVID-19 a principios de 2020. Esta situación fue especialmente grave en algunos países como España. Para lograr una respuesta efectiva a esta emergencia, es necesario un enfoque radicalmente diferente de la RSC, que denominamos Responsabilidad Corporativa de Emergencia (RCE). Analizamos las diferentes acciones realizadas por las empresas que operan en España durante la pandemia de COVID en 2020. Para ello desarrollamos un marco de análisis que clasifica las diferentes respuestas corporativas en cuatro categorías: selectiva, simbólica, reactiva y solidaria. Identificamos a través de las cuatro categorías la respuesta más efectiva socialmente tras una emergencia, que se basa en la existencia de capacidades dinámicas internas, tales como la capacidad de detección, la orientación hacia la ética y la construcción de alianzas

¿La sostenibilidad genera valor? Un análisis de los bancos europeos cotizados en el Dow Jones Sustainability Index en el periodo 2003-2013

This article examines if Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR hereafter) leads to improved performance in the European banking sector. Additionally, it seeks to answer whether this relationship is stable over economic cycles. This paper provides evidence on the link between CSR and performance in the banking sector, including data from 2003 to 2013. Corporate Sustainability or CSR is measured by the membership of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI). In addition, it focuses on the effect of CSR over economic returns in comparison to other studies that estimate the impact of CSR on stock prices. Even though there is a vast amount of literature linking CSR and CFP, this is not the case for the banking sector. Most studies have been done over multiple industries, and very few are specifically set on the banking sector. This industry is increasingly focusing on boosting its public image and client perception, especially after the recent economic crisis and management scandals. A shift in reputation is needed and CSR may be an interesting tool to recover public confidence in the short term. In the medium term, CSR is an essential key strategy to survive and a source of competitive advantage, leading to improved returns as suggested by our results. Our findings suggest that CSR policies do have a positive contribution to banks’ returns. In other words, the adoption of policies that focus on social responsibility directly improves European banks performance. We also take into consideration the effects of the financial crisis on the relationship. Our results have implications in terms of banks’ management and stakeholder approach to these institutions.Este artículo examina si la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC en lo sucesivo) conduce hacia una mejora del rendimiento en el sector bancario europeo, pretendiendo además determinar si esta relación es estable durante los distintos ciclos económicos. Este documento proporciona evidencia sobre la relación entre la RSC y el rendimiento en el sector bancario, incluyendo datos desde el 2003 hasta el 2013. La sostenibilidad corporativa o RSC se mide por la pertenencia al Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI). El artículo se centra, además, en el efecto de la RSC sobre la rentabilidad económica en comparación con otros estudios que estiman el impacto de la RSC en el precio de las acciones. Aunque existe una gran cantidad de literatura que vincula la RSC y el ROAA, este no es el caso para el sector bancario. La mayoría de los estudios se han realizado sobre múltiples industrias, pero muy pocos se han dedicado específicamente al sector bancario. Esta industria está inmersa en una campaña destinada a mejorar su imagen y la percepción de sus clientes, en especial después de la crisis financiera y los escándalos relacionados con la gestión de ciertas entidades. Es necesaria una mejora de la reputación de la industria, y la RSC puede constituir una vía interesante para recuperar la confianza del público en el corto plazo. En el medio plazo, la RSC es una estrategia esencial para la supervivencia de cualquier negocio, una fuente de ventaja competitiva, además de un detonante de mejoras en los resultados económicos, tal y como indican nuestras conclusiones. Las conclusiones de nuestro análisis sugieren que las políticas de RSC tienen un impacto positivo en los retornos de los bancos. En otras palabras, la adopción de políticas que se centran en responsabilidad social mejoran directamente el desempeño de los bancos europeos. También tomamos en consideración los efectos de la crisis financiera en dicha relación. Nuestros resultados presentan implicaciones interesantes a tener en cuenta tanto por los equipos gestores de estas compañías como por el resto de partes interesadas, o stakeholders

¿Son los bancos responsables más capaces de afrontar los retos de la digitalización? Un análisis de la banca internacional

This article analyzes the combined effect of digitalization and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) over the banking sector. Digitalization and efforts towards sustainability can transform the nature of Banks by simultaneously reducing their size and increasing their boundaries. CSR contributes to overcome the negative consequences of digitalization that hinder its transformational potential. In particular, digital transformation entails certain drawbacks such as the liability of newness, opportunistic threats, reduced switching costs for clients and the negative image derived from labour substitution by technology. We confirm our hypothesis over a simple of 109 international banks. Our results suggest that the complementarities between digitalization and CSR can definitely contribute to overcome the drawbacks associated to digitalization, leading towards productivity gains. In addition, the complementarities allow to differentiate and face the competition from new entrants.En este trabajo analizamos el efecto conjunto que ejercen la digitalización y la responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) sobre la banca. La digitalización y los esfuerzos decididos hacia la sostenibilidad son capaces de transformar la naturaleza de los bancos, reduciendo simultáneamente su tamaño y ampliando su cartera de negocios. La RSC contribuye a superar algunas de las consecuencias negativas de la digitalización que dificultan su potencial de transformación. En particular, la transformación digital conlleva ciertas dificultades como son la desventaja de lo nuevo, las amenazas de oportunismo percibidas por los clientes al operar en un entorno virtual (sin oficinas), la facilidad con la que los clientes pueden cambiar de proveedor financiero (costes de cambio) y la mala imagen derivada de la sustitución de empleos por tecnología. Nuestra hipótesis se confirma empíricamente con una muestra de 109 bancos multinacionales. Los resultados sugieren que la complementariedad entre la digitalización y la RSC en la banca puede constituir una forma efectiva de afrontar las desventajas de la digitalización, generando como resultado ganancias de productividad. Adicionalmente, dichas complementariedades suponen una estrategia de diferenciación frente a la amenaza competitiva de los nuevos entrantes tecnológicos

Finding immunological differences to help diagnosis and early treatment of Kawasaki Disease and MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children)

Resumen del trabajo presentado en el 43 Congreso De La Sociedad Española de Inmunología, celebrado en León (España) del 22 al 24 de septiembre de 2022.The recent COVID-19 pandemic was first thought to spare children from health deprivation caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2. However, soon a new syndrome resembling Kawasaki Disease (KD) was reported: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The aim of this study is to provide new biomarkers for both diseases in order to facilitate diagnosis and reduce the time-lapse until treatment is provided – which will reduce the risk of developing severe cardiovascular complications. An extensive immune system characterization by flow cytometry and serum protein characterization by a multiplex technology (Olink) was performed from fresh blood samples of patients with acute MIS-C (n=19) and KD (n=10). For protein characterization we also analysed recovery samples for these groups (n=19 and n=8, respectively). Besides the already described lymphopenia in MIS-C, we found additional significant immune differences in both groups. Although lymphocyte numbers (cells/ml) were lower in MIS-C, percentages of activated T-CD4+ and T-CD8+ cells were higher compared to KD. Moreover, when comparing activated T cells in MIS-C and KD individually, regulatory T cells (Treg) showed the highest levels. These data suggest a stronger response of T cells in MIS-C, and higher Treg activity in both groups, which could reflect the response to the excessive inflammation. Ratios previously described in other inflammatory conditions were evaluated: MIS-C showed higher neutrophil/lymphocyte and Th17/Treg ratios than KD, suggesting higher inflammatory conditions in this group. In addition, monocyte and dendritic cells (DCs) numbers were decreased in MIS-C relative to KD. Parallel to these inflammatory cellular profiles, we identified increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in plasma of patients during the acute phase of the disease compared to recovery samples. Moreover, IL-6, which is one of the main cytokines involved in cytokine storm in adult COVID-19, was higher in MIS-C suggesting, again, stronger inflammatory conditions in this pathology compared to KD

Epidemiological and clinical features of Kawasaki disease in Spain over 5 years and risk factors for aneurysm development. (2011-2016): KAWA-RACE study group

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute self-limited systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology affecting mainly children less than 5 years of age. Risk factors for cardiac involvement and resistance to treatment are insufficiently studied in non-Japanese children. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology, clinical features and risk factors for resistance to treatment and coronary artery lesions (CAL) in KD in Spain. Methods: Retrospective study (May 2011-June 2016) of all patients less than 16 years of age diagnosed with KD included in KAWA-RACE network (84 Spanish hospitals). Results: A total of 625 cases were analyzed, 63% were males, 79% under 5 year-olds and 16.8% younger than 12 months. On echocardiographic examination CAL were the most frequent findings (23%) being ectasia the most common (12%). Coronary aneurysms were diagnosed in 9.6%, reaching 20% in infants under 12 months (p 900,000 cells/mm3, maximum temperature 10 days and fever before treatment ≥ 8 days as independent risk factors for developing coronary aneurysms. Conclusions: In our population, children under 12 months develop coronary aneurysms more frequently and children with KD with anemia and leukocytosis have high risk of cardiac involvement. Adding steroids early should be considered in those patients, especially if the treatment is not started before 8 days of fever. A score applicable to non-Japanese children able to predict the risk of aneurysm development and IVIG resistance is necessary

Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Confirmed and Negative Kawasaki Disease Patients During the Pandemic in Spain

Introduction: COVID-19 has a less severe course in children. In April 2020, some children presented with signs of multisystem inflammation with clinical signs overlapping with Kawasaki disease (KD), most of them requiring admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). This study aimed to describe the prevalence and clinical characteristics of KD SARS-CoV-2 confirmed and negative patients during the pandemic in Spain. Material and Methods: Medical data of KD patients from January 1, 2018 until May 30, 2020 was collected from the KAWA-RACE study group. We compared the KD cases diagnosed during the COVID-19 period (March 1-May 30, 2020) that were either SARS-CoV-2 confirmed (CoV+) or negative (CoV-) to those from the same period during 2018 and 2019 (PreCoV). Results: One hundred and twenty-four cases were collected. There was a significant increase in cases and PICU admissions in 2020 (P-trend = 0.001 and 0.0004, respectively). CoV+ patients were significantly older (7.5 vs. 2.5 yr) and mainly non-Caucasian (64 vs. 29%), had incomplete KD presentation (73 vs. 32%), lower leucocyte (9.5 vs. 15.5 × 109) and platelet count (174 vs. 423 × 109/L), higher inflammatory markers (C-Reactive Protein 18.5vs. 10.9 mg/dl) and terminal segment of the natriuretic atrial peptide (4,766 vs. 505 pg/ml), less aneurysm development (3.8 vs. 11.1%), and more myocardial dysfunction (30.8 vs. 1.6%) than PreCoV patients. Respiratory symptoms were not increased during the COVID-19 period. Conclusion: The KD CoV+ patients mostly meet pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with COVID-19/multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children criteria. Whether this is a novel entity or the same disease on different ends of the spectrum is yet to be clarified