This volume is a milestone on our journey toward developing a more comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of corporate financial performance. Weare concerned with both the factors that cause the financial performance of some firms to be better than others at a point in time and those factors that influence the trajectory of firm financial performance over time. In addressing these issues, we consider theoretical and empirical work on financial performance, drawn from several literatures, as well as present the results from our own empirical study. The review of the theoretical and empirical work is contemporary; the major portion of data comprising the empirical study was collected in the early 1980s as part of the Columbia Business School project on corporate strategic planning, but some data sequences extend into the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Our goals are to improve understanding of firm financial performance by developing a more integrated framework and to develop a research agenda based on what we have learned. This volume consists of four chapters, 12 appendices that provide detailed technical support and development for various portions of the discussion and an extensive set of references. It interweaves results from published literature in various fields with our original empirical work and develops an integrative approach to the study of firm fmancial performance.

Given the increased impact of non-market forces on business reputation, there has never been a greater need to grasp corporate social performance. This book demonstrates that a holistic perspective on corporate citizenship that accommodates the importance of profits and other time-honored social values is both desirable and possible.

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Economics - Other, The Graduate Institute, language: English, abstract: There is wide-spread awareness about the fact that business has caused or aggravated many significant global crises, calling into question the sustainability of our current economy. Proponents of the emerging concept of Integrated Reporting, however, argue that corporations can reverse this trend by reporting their financial information together with information measured in CSR reports about at what costs to environment and society, also called footprint, a corporation has achieved its profits. Such opening up to disclosure, so the argument, creates incentives for corporations to reduce their footprint; and reputation and capital allocation will then reward well-performing, sustainable corporations leading to a dynamic mechanism that will contribute to sustainable development. Such an argumentation is simplistic and does not hold. Property economics establishes that within a property-based economy, corporations are faced with specific economic requirements as a result of the capitalization process, namely requirements to grow and secure profitability across time and competition. Such requirements leave corporations with no option than to subdue social and environmental considerations to their pursuit of profitability. The latter, in return, dictates that corporations use strategies like Integrated Reporting, arguing for voluntary corporate self-regulation in regards to costs imposed on society and environment, in order to shape a regulatory framework that accommodates their ability to respond to economic requirements. Corporations are moreover not likely to voluntarily report on any measure that will threaten their profitability. The concept of Integrated Reporting can not simultaneously be a corporate tool for shaping a specific legal framework that subdues environmental and social considerations; as well as a contribution to sustainable development, at least not as long as the latter is analyzed from an eco-social perspective that requires that economic interests be subdued to social and environmental considerations. Integrated Reporting can, however, play a role in informing society about the footprint of a given corporation if regulation establishes what is to be measured by corporations when disclosing their footprint.

What is the relationship between the social performance of companies and their financial performance? More colloquially, can a firm effectively attend to both people and profits as it conducts its business? This question has been investigated in no fewer than 95 empirical studies published since 1972. The authors have assembled a compendium of this research to give researchers and practitioners alike a broad overview of these 95 studies and a systematic database detailing the content of each one. This book provides a comprehensive portrait of this research literature. It begins with a broad orientation to the literature, exploring why the link between social and financial performance has been subject to continual inquiry and often heated debate. The authors then present an integrated overview of the 95 studies. Through the charts and tables, the authors illuminate the nature of the studies conducted; the data samples selected for investigation; the ways in which financial and social performance have been measured; and the overall tally of results.

Over the last few years, we have witnessed the enormous success of corporate social responsibility and business all over the world. These developments, including those in which governments foster both growth through entrepreneurship and achievement of sustainable development by creating tools for worldwide impact to reconcile business interests with the demands of communities, have been unequivocal concerning job and wealth creation. Replacing short-term visions, however, has become instrumental to business success throughout the industry. Conceptual and Theoretical Approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurial Orientation, and Financial Performance is a pivotal reference source that explores corporate social responsibility through the lens of entrepreneurship and firm performance in an effort to change the approach towards long-term growth. While highlighting topics such as risk management, stewardship theory, and CEO duality, this publication explores contributions to societal welfare and methods of business creation. This book is ideally designed for managers, executives, human resources professionals, entrepreneurs, developers, academicians, researchers, industry professionals, and students.

This insightful Research Handbook provides an overview of the complex and multifaceted nature of sustainability reporting. Bringing together over 50 researchers from across the globe, it summarises the current state of knowledge, identifies key methodological approaches and research gaps, and encourages researchers to make further meaningful contributions to this dynamic field.

Accounting sustainably involves accounting for and to the natural environment, and accounting for and to society, including groups currently oppressed or disadvantaged by unsustainable processes and practices. This book creates a compelling case for the inclusion of sustainability at the heart of accounting educational programmes, offering critical lessons and identifying risks to avoid when designing accounting programmes and courses. Accounting sustainability has moved from the side-lines of policy discourses, accounting institutions, professional accounting practices, and research activities into the mainstream. The chapters in this proposed book engage in a critical dialogue to facilitate change in accounting education for sustainability. They dispel the myth that accounting for sustainability is an oxymoron, bad for business, unrelated to practice, or contrary to professional accounting bodies’ accreditation requirements. This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education.