Corporate social responsibility: The disclosure-performance gap

As increased stakeholder pressure requires companies to be transparent about their CSR practices, it is essential to know how reliable corporate disclosure mechanisms are, testing the gap between corporate social responsibility claims and actual practice. This study benchmarks corporate social responsibility policies and practices of ten international hotel groups of particular importance to the European leisure market. We found that corporate systems are not necessarily reflective of actual operations, environmental performance is eco-savings driven, labour policies aim to comply with local legislation, socio-economic policies are inward looking with little acceptance of impacts on the destination, and customer engagement is limited. Generally larger hotel groups have more comprehensive policies but also greater gaps in implementation, while the smaller hotel groups focus only on environmental management and deliver what they promised. As the first survey of its kind in tourism, both the methodology and the findings have implications for further research. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd

Convergence of corporate governance models in the context of globalization

The article examines the impact of globalization on the development of corporate governance. The basic concepts of globalization and the factors influencing the development of the modern world economy are analyzed. The process of liberalization of the business environment, development of scientific-technologocal progress and the development of global financial markets have a decisive influence on the activities of transnational corporations, turning them into global companies. These companies operate worldwide and the scope of their operations exceeds the size of the national income of many countries. Global business structure and international nature of the operations determine the need to develop harmonized standards for the implementation of the activities of large companies. Special attention in the paper is paid to the problems of corporate governance, which mostly determines the important corporate decisions and therefore the effectiveness of business development. The article presents the analysis of the main stages in the development of international regulation in this area and trends of improvement in theis area. The study examines the basic models of corporate governance, explains the process of convergence under the influence of contemporary processes of globalization, highlights the main factors of harmonization of corporate governance systems. Special attention is paid to the state of the Russian corporate sector and areas of improvement of corporate governance in Russian companies taking into account the contemporary processes of convergence of the models. The present study allows to conclude that there is an active process of harmonization of corporate governance systems, and to maintain the competitiveness and efficiency the large corporations are to improve the system and practice of corporate governance taking into account modern trends. There is a constant search for new forms of governance, management and leadership in big business, and the Russian public companies have to take into account the best practices of leading corporations and harmonised standards of international organizations in the field of corporate governance in order to maintain and improve competitiveness on the national and international markets

Corporate governance –assessments and objectives regarding the implementation and assimilation process in Romania

At international level, corporate governance has been shown great interest – from governments, stock exchange authorities, investors, companies and public in general. This interest is natural, considering the fact that it is necessary to strengthen the way companies are managed, as a guarantee of economic growth and financial stability, and to increase trust in capital markets. This need is more acute in the countries that have recently entered the economic systems based on a market economy, as is the case of Romania. Implementing efficient mechanisms of corporate governance that lead to transparency and efficiency, that clearly define the responsibilities and the rights of the ones competent in managing, supervising and applying legal provisions requires the precise understanding of the corporate governance principles and of the key elements of a proper framework for the management entities. The present paper has as objective to assess the steps made by Romania in this field, starting with the issues regulated at national level related to the rights of the shareholders and their fair treatments, the responsibilities on organizing the internal control, the internal audit and the audit committee, as well as the issues related to offering reliable information and insuring transparency. At the same time, this paper aims at pointing out some limits of the regulating process and of the practical actions of the companies in this field, as well as certain objectives related to the implementation of corporate governance principles.audit committee, corporate governance, independent manager, internal audit, internal control, transparency.

Reflections on the EU objectives in addressing aggressive tax planning and harmful tax practices Final Report. CEPS Report November 2019

This Report analyses the EU’s instruments to tackle aggressive tax planning and harmful tax practices. Based on desk research, interviews with stakeholders and expert assessments, it considers the coherence, relevance, and added value of the EU’s approach. The instruments under analysis are found to be internally coherent and consistent with other EU policies and with the international tax agenda, in particular with the OECD/G20 BEPS framework. The Report also confirms the continued relevance of most of the original needs and problems addressed by the EU’s initiatives in the field of tax avoidance. There is also EU added value in having common EU instruments in the field to bolster coordination and harmonise the implementation of tax measures. One cross-cutting issue identified is the impact of digitalisation on corporate taxation. Against this background, the Report outlines potential improvements to the EU tax strategy such as: making EU tax systems fit for the digital era; leading the international debate on tax avoidance; enabling capacity building in Member States and developing countries; strengthening tax good governance in third countries; ensuring a consistent approach at home and abroad; achieving a level playing field for all companies; and increasing tax certainty and legal certainty

From Share Value to Shared Value: Exploring the Role of Accountants in Developing Integrated Reporting in Practice

The corporate reporting landscape has evolved in the last 20 years from financial reporting to sustainability reporting to “integrated reporting.” The corporate reporting history abounds with different attempts at integrating sustainability accounting with financial accounting (e.g., the Corporate Report 1975 and the “Triple Bottom Line” concept) and thereby attempting to report in an integrated manner. The first corporate integrated reports appeared in 2002, but the new trend remained in the margins. Since 2010, the IIRC (International Integrated Reporting Council) has led the work on building the first Integrated Reporting (IR) framework, published in December 2013. The accounting profession has played a crucial role in pushing the idea of integrated reporting forward. Now it is looking at how it can best participate in IR corporate practice. This report is aimed at accountants who would like to get involved more closely, or even drive, the IR efforts within their company. We begin with an overview of the origins of IR combined with calls for its development, emphasizing the role of the accounting profession in the development of this new corporate reporting framework. Then we discuss the benefits of IR, centered on the holistic thinking it can foster in companies, enabling them to reconsider sustainability challenges and leveraging a stakeholder-inclusive approach to corporate reporting. We then focus on the involvement of accountants within the implementation of IR. Finally, we elaborate on today’s challenges for IR, which include developing a materiality matrix, designing a project mode for the first IR publication process, designing integrated information systems, and navigating the legal environment surrounding IR. The report is based on participative observation within a leading multinational company—pilot of the IIRC—semi-structured interviews with international experts and other multinational companies on their IR journey, as well as documentary evidence collected from 2011 to 2015

Impact of International Environmental Management System on Sustainability Index benchmarking for Small and Medium Enterprise

Sustainability is becoming an important tool towards our better future. More and more companies are looking into sustainability as their prime focus. Sustainability encompasses responsibilities towards social, energy, water, pollution and economic factors. Sustainability is the ability to sustain. One of the key factors considered for Sustainability Index (SI) is the implementation of international environmental management system, typically ISO 14001 system. As per Malaysian government estimates, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute 37 per cent in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Malaysia by 2010.The objective of the study is to understand the impact of international environmental management system implementation by SME on sustainability index benchmarking. Positive and negative impacts besides concerns for implementing ISO 14001 management system were evaluated. Major barriers were identified as training, resources and cost. Recommendations for implementing environmental management system for SMEs include integration of management systems, eco-mapping, greening of supply chain and corporate reporting. Implementation of environmental management system has a strong bearing on the sustainability index benchmarking. (Abstract by authors

Information systems evaluation in context–impact of the corporate level

The paper presents the results of a doctoral research related to Information Systems evaluation in context. The authors propose changes in the context, the new level of contextual analysis was added: the system context located between the internal and external context. The system context reflects the fact that the case companies are business units and parts of the corporations and IS evaluation is influenced by the corporation, Three levels of context analysis can be used in case of IS evaluation in complex structures, such as corporations or supply chain

The Role of Corporate HR Funcitons in MNCs: The Interplay Between Corporate, Regional/National and Plant Level

The HR literature has been abundant in providing typologies of the roles of HR professionals in their organisation. These typologies are largely related to the changing nature of HRM over time, and the context in which empirical work was carried out. In this paper we focus on the context of the increasing internationalisation of firms and how this has an effect upon modern-day typologies of HR roles. We explore these roles by focusing on the way in which HRM practices come about. Especially in a MNC setting of increasing internationalisation of firms the issues of coordination, shared learning and standardisation versus leeway for adapting to the local context (customisation) are prominent. These issues present themselves both at the corporate and regional level and at the national and local (plant) level. On all these levels HR practitioners are active and find themselves amidst the interplay of both (de-)centralisation and standardisation versus customisation processes. This paper thus explores the way in which HR practices come into being and how they are implemented and coordinated. These insights help us understand further the roles of international corporate HR functions that are being identified. Our data is based on 65 interviews, which were held (as part of larger study of HR-function excellence) with HR managers, line managers and senior executives of six multinational companies in eight countries from September to December 2004. This data reveals new classifications of processes by which HR activities are developed, implemented and coordinated, both in terms of who is involved and how these processes are carried out

What role does corporate governance play in the intention to use cloud computing technology?

This paper aims to investigate the factors which promote the adoption of cloud-based technology. It strives for a better understanding of the impact of corporate governance on the adoption of this technology. This study concentrated on executives in companies where the use of cloud computing may give a competitive advantage. The main contribution of this work is to propose a model for the influence of corporate governance and other factors that determine the adoption of this technology. A questionnaire was prepared after taking into consideration the reviewed literature. The sample consisted of 164 technology companies from Southern Spain that already use the new economic models for digital solutions. The methodology used to analyze the structural model was the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results of the survey showed the influence of Corporate Governance and the procedures and practices of the organization on the adoption of cloud computing and the associated business model. This study aims to point out the importance of corporate support and Knowledge Management for the correct and successful adoption of this technology and to show the effects on the new business model of billing for the use of available resources. View Full-Tex