Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

A Reflection on Corporate Stakeholder Orientation: Antecedents and Assessment

El propòsit de l'empresa ha estat motiu d'extenses deliberacions acadèmiques en relació amb l'orientació de l'empresa cap als seus grups d'interès interns i externs. Els creixents desafiaments socials i mediambientals requereixen que l'empresa adopti un enfocament més ampli incloent diferents grups d'interès (stakeholders) en els seus comportaments i pràctiques. No obstant això, la majoria de les grans empreses sovint queden lluny d'aconseguir aquest objectiu. Encara que l’ investigació sobre la orientació corporativa cap als stakeholders ha rebut considerable atenció acadèmica, sabem molt menys sobre les raons per les quals les empreses adopten orientacions específiques i si s'ha abordat, tendeix a ser de manera més aviat fragmentada. El concepte de l'orientació corporativa cap als stakeholders no s'ha desenvolupat teòricament i el seu anàlisi empíric és complex perquè sovint les pròpies empreses manipulen l'orientació i generen una desconnexió entre el que realment fan i el que pretenen que fan. Aquesta tesi doctoral analitza les orientacions corporatives cap als stakeholders en diversos contextos examinant els seus antecedents, millorant la seva avaluació empírica, i aixi mateix, proporcionant claredat teòrica respecte al concepte. Amb l'adopció de múltiples teories i un enfocament de mètodes mixtos, aquesta tesi pretén tenir implicacions tant per la teoria de l’empresa com per la pràctica empresarial.El propósito de la empresa ha sido el motivo de extensas deliberaciones académicas en relación con la orientación de la empresa hacia sus grupos de interés internos y externos. Los crecientes desafíos sociales y medioambientales requieren que la empresa adopte un enfoque más amplio incluyendo distintos grupos de interés (stakeholders) en sus comportamientos y prácticas. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las grandes empresas a menudo queda lejos de conseguir esta expectativa. Mientras que la investigación sobre la orientación de la empresa hacia los stakeholders ha recibido considerable atención académica, sabemos mucho menos acerca de las razones por las cuales las empresas adoptan orientaciones específicas y si se ha abordado, tiende ser de manera más bien fragmentada. El concepto de la orientación corporativa hacia los stakeholders no se ha desarrollado teóricamente y su análisis empírico es complejo porque a menudo las propias empresas manipulan la orientación y generan una desconexión entre lo que realmente hacen y lo que pretenden hacer. Esta tesis doctoral analiza las orientaciones corporativas hacia los stakeholders en varios contextos examinando sus antecedentes, mejorando su evaluación empírica, y a su vez proporcionando claridad teórica respecto al concepto. Con la adopción de múltiples teorías y un enfoque de métodos mixtos, esta tesis pretende tener implicaciones tanto teóricas como prácticas.The purpose of a business has been the matter of a long-standing scholarly deliberation in relation to a firm’s orientation towards its internal and external stakeholders. The rising social and environmental challenges require a firm to adopt a wider stakeholder approach in its behaviors and practices, yet most large firms often fall short of this expectation. While research on assessing corporate stakeholder orientation has received considerable academic scrutiny, the reason why firms adopt specific orientations has so far been approached in a rather fragmented fashion. Corporate stakeholder orientation construct in itself remains under-theorized and its assessment is often contaminated with green-washing and corporate posturing that makes it difficult to construe firms’ de facto stakeholder intent. This doctoral dissertation is dedicated to understand corporate stakeholder orientations across multiple contexts by inquiring into its antecedents, refining its assessment, and in turn providing theoretical clarity to the construct. Adopting a multi-theoretical perspective and a mixed methods approach, this thesis aspires to have implications for both theory and practice

Government, business groups, and corporate entrepreneurial intensity during institutional transition.

With archival and perceptual survey data from 992 member firms of the largest 250 business groups in the transition economy of China, it is found that formal institutions in various forms of government influence exert different impacts on corporate entrepreneurial intensity. Institutional legacy effects in the form of government's administrative and ownership heritage have a hindering effect, while reform policy has an enhancing effect, on firms' corporate entrepreneurial intensity. As for informal institutions, cultural, strategic, and financial controls are positively related to corporate entrepreneurial intensity of group member firms. This confirms the importance of business groups as an informal void-filling institution in the transition economies. These findings enriched our understanding on the relationship between institutions and strategy during institutional transition, governance in business group, and wealth-creating entrepreneurial growth in transition economies.This dissertation aims to study the relationship between the transitioning formal and informal institutions and firm strategy during institutional transition. The central premise is that during the period when pre-existing institutions have not been fully abolished and new institutions take time to come into place, both pre-existing and emerging institutions exert different influences on the economic growth of a country via their effects on firm's corporate entrepreneurial intensity. To empirically examine this theoretical premise, this dissertation examines how government influence (as a formal institution) and the control mechanisms of business groups (as an informal institution) simultaneously influence the wealth-creating corporate entrepreneurial strategy of member firms in a business group in a transition economy

Complexities of Social Capital in Boards of Directors

The aim of the dissertation is to disentangle complexities of social capital in boards of directors through proposing new theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Although extant previous research has discussed various aspects of social capital and its association with numerous organizational outcomes, still the literature demonstrates evident shortcomings resulting from overlooking and oversimplifying its complexities. Therefore, to fill gaps in the literature, the dissertation addresses the following research question: in the context of boards of directors, how can social capital be better understood through exploration of its complexities? The dissertation comprises three empirical studies that individually address the identified gaps in the literature and combined address the aforementioned research question. In this way, the dissertation demonstrates that social capital in boards of directors is more complex than it has been assumed in previous studies and its understanding requires a novel approach to conceptualization and empirical research. The first chapter explains the topic and motivation for the dissertation. The following chapter (Chapter 2) synthetizes the previous approaches to investigating board social capital and proposes a new theoretical and methodological approach. It particularly asserts that research on board social capital may be advanced through utilizing configurational perspective and method, what is then shown on an example of the relationship between board social capital and firm performance. Chapter 3 explores social capital of board chair, which has been overlooked in previous studies. It suggests that individual social capital of board chair is as important for organizational performance as social capital of CEO and directors. Therefore, performance effect derives from combined social capital of board chair, CEO, and directors. Further, the dissertation discusses dynamics of board social capital (Chapter 4) in the context of firm expansion. It emphasizes that evolution process of board social capital is driven by multidimensional changes occurring within internal and external networks of social relationships created by board members. Evolution paths are consequently proposed for diversity and strength of external network ties, and for internal network cohesion. In light of the overarching research question, the final chapter summarizes the findings