How Does Reciprocity Affect Undergraduate Student Orientation towards Stakeholders?

5987Nowadays, students are more aware of the impact of companies on their stakeholders and the need for properly handling their expectations to operationalize corporate social responsibility. Nevertheless, little is known about how certain individual traits may relate to their stance on the issue. This exploratory research contributes to stakeholder theory by analysing the e ect of the individual’s decision-making process, including the consideration of their social preferences, on their orientation toward stakeholder management. Here, we draw upon a theoretical model for resource-allocation decision-making consisting of reciprocal and non-reciprocal components. Our data, from undergraduate students enrolled in di erent degrees, were collected through a questionnaire and two social within-subject experiments (ultimatum and dictator games). Thus, our results show that the presence of a reciprocal component when decisions are made is positively linked to an instrumental orientation toward stakeholders. In addition, a greater non-reciprocal component in the decision-making process corresponds to a more normative orientation.S

¿Cómo se percibe la dirección socialmente responsable por parte de los altos directivos de empresas en España? = How is socially responsable management perceived by top managers of companies in Sapain?

32-49La Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) constituye un elemento estratégico de la empresa de gran importancia en la actualidad y los altos directivos juegan un papel preponderante en su formulación e implementación. Dada la trascendencia de las percepciones como determinantes del comportamiento, surge el interés por conocer cómo perciben los directivos el papel de la RSC. Con este propósito, realizamos un estudio empírico sobre 324 altos directivos españoles. Los resultados obtenidos revelan la existencia de dos grupos de directivos según la relevancia concedida a la RSC, encontrándose diferencias significativas entre ellos a partir de las características de sus empresas pero no de las personales. La positiva valoración que en general realizan los directivos encuestados permite prever una mayor presencia de la RSC en la toma de decisiones estratégicas.S

Taking Advantage of Students’ Passion for Apps in Sustainability and CSR Teaching

779The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using mobile apps combined with traditional methods for teaching sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to undergraduate students. Although previous papers stated the importance of apps, they showed no conclusive results, and there are few studies analyzing their importance in management training, and particularly in sustainability management. To achieve our main goal, drawing upon the action learning system, we designed and implemented several training sessions combining traditional methods and apps. The effectiveness of teaching methods was assessed with two surveys (pre- and post-training) with questions about sustainable consumption, lifestyle, and CSR management. The results demonstrate that students found this type of learning beneficial, showing an increase in their commitment to social and environmental issues. These findings underline the potential for apps in teaching sustainability at undergraduate levels in combination with more traditional methods.S

¿Cómo influyen los altos directivos en las prácticas de RSC?: análisis del efecto mediador del papel percibido de la ética y la responsabilidad social

Partiendo del enfoque Agencia-Stewardship, este trabajo trata de estudiar la importancia de los altos directivos para la implantación de la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC). En concreto, se propone que el perfil directivo se relaciona con las prácticas de RSC, y que dicha relación está mediada por la relevancia concedida a la ética y la responsabilidad social en la actividad empresarial. Tras un análisis de mediación a partir de las encuestas realizadas a 149 directivos en España, los resultados muestran que los directivos descritos como servidores, frente a los agentes, tienden a asignar más importancia a la ética y la responsabilidad social y a promover la implantación de prácticas de RSC. Asimismo, los resultados apoyan la existencia del efecto mediador sugerido. Este trabajo avanza en la investigación existente acerca del papel de los altos directivos como determinantes de la RSC y abre nuevos caminos para abordar esta cuestión de forma empírica

Essential Micro-foundations for Contemporary Business Operations: Top Management Tangible Competencies, Relationship-based Business Networks and Environmental Sustainability

Although various studies have emphasized linkages between firm competencies, networks and sustainability at organizational level, the links between top management tangible competencies (e.g., contemporary relevant quantitative-focused education such as big data analytics and data-driven applications linked with the internet of things, relevant experience and analytical business applications), relationship-based business networks (RBNs) and environmental sustainability have not been well established at micro-level, and there is a literature gap in terms of investigating these relationships. This study examines these links based on the unique data collected from 175 top management representatives (chief executive officers and managing directors) working in food import and export firms headquartered in the UK and New Zealand. Our results from structural equation modelling indicate that top management tangible competencies (TMTCs) are the key determinants for building RBNs, mediating the correlation between TMTCs and environmental sustainability. Directly, the competencies also play a vital role towards environmental practices. The findings further depict that relationship-oriented firms perform better compared to those which focus less on such networks. Consequently, our findings provide a deeper understanding of the micro-foundations of environmental sustainability based on TMTCs rooted in the resource-based view and RBNs entrenched in the social network theory. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings, and we provide suggestions for future research

CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

La percepción de la responsabilidad social de la empresa por parte de la alta dirección = Top managers’ perception of corporate social responsibility

304 p.La presente investigación analiza el papel que juegan los altos directivos y sus percepciones como determinantes del comportamiento de la empresa y, en concreto, para la implementación y desarrollo de prácticas de responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC). El marco teórico se encuadra a partir de aportaciones de la teoría de los Mandos Superiores, la teoría de los Stakeholders, el enfoque Agencia-Stewardship, las teorías de la Acción Razonada y del Comportamiento Planificado, entre otras. Se pone de manifiesto la necesidad y la relevancia de analizar factores relacionados con aspectos psicológicos y cognitivos de los altos directivos , ya que constituyen importantes antecedentes de su conducta y, dada su destacada posición en la empresa, de las acciones desarrolladas por esta última. Se revela que el sector general de actividad al que pertenece la compañía condiciona decisivamente el nivel de prácticas de RSC desarrolladas. Y finalmente, se muestra que los propietarios o accionistas, a través del grado de concentración de la propiedad, pueden influir significativamente en el nivel de implicación en materia de RSC. De esta manera, se sugiere que la consideración simultánea de los dos grupos con mayor poder para la efectiva implementación de la RSC, los altos directivos y los propietarios, puede mejorar la capacidad explicativa de los modelos de análisis en este camp

Propiedad y control en la puesta en práctica de la RSC

Dado el creciente interés que la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) está suscitando en el ámbito empresarial, tanto en el plano académico como en el profesional, el objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en el papel que accionistas y directivos pueden jugar a la hora de incorporar acciones socialmente responsables a la empresa. Con este propósito, a partir de una muestra de 128 empresas españolas de gran tamaño se estudió el efecto de la concentración de la propiedad sobre el desarrollo de prácticas de RSC, así como la posible intervención moderadora en dicha relación por parte de sus directivos. Los resultados del análisis de regresión realizado sugieren que una mayor participación en el capital por parte del primer gran accionista puede derivar en un mayor compromiso con la RSC. Por otro lado, se observó que esta relación puede verse afectada por cómo los altos directivos perciben el papel de la RSC en la empresa

How Does Reciprocity Affect Undergraduate Student Orientation towards Stakeholders?

Nowadays, students are more aware of the impact of companies on their stakeholders and the need for properly handling their expectations to operationalize corporate social responsibility. Nevertheless, little is known about how certain individual traits may relate to their stance on the issue. This exploratory research contributes to stakeholder theory by analysing the effect of the individual’s decision-making process, including the consideration of their social preferences, on their orientation toward stakeholder management. Here, we draw upon a theoretical model for resource-allocation decision-making consisting of reciprocal and non-reciprocal components. Our data, from undergraduate students enrolled in different degrees, were collected through a questionnaire and two social within-subject experiments (ultimatum and dictator games). Thus, our results show that the presence of a reciprocal component when decisions are made is positively linked to an instrumental orientation toward stakeholders. In addition, a greater non-reciprocal component in the decision-making process corresponds to a more normative orientation