Influences of Institutional Pressures on Corporate Social Performance： Empirical Analysis on the Panel Data of Chinese Power Generation Enterprises

Institutional theory has proved the influence of institutional pressures on organization practices and structures. Meanwhile, with the soaring use of corporate social performance （CSP）, more researchers are focusing on exploring the relationship between institution pressures and CSP which is still not completely understood yet. Against this background, the paper aims to fill the gap through generally hypothesizing that different types of institutional pressures individually and collectively affect CSP via the mediating effect of corporate environmental strategy. First, based on the previous and extensive literature review, the theoretical framework and research hypotheses are constructed. Next, canonical correlation analysis about the panel data of 51 Chinese large-scale power generation enterprises from 2004 to 2009 is made to test the relevant hypotheses. Finally, based on the data analysis results, the study draws some conclusions and policy implications for promoting the CSP of Chinese enterprises, including enhancing the steering function of government policies and industry regulations and emphasizing the intermediary role of media.

Managing Social Performance A Case of Microfinance

Global financial crises might and should be recognized as a potential chance to introduce changes in managing our business, both in financial and other important private and/or public sectors. The prevailing opinion is that a lack of corporative social responsibility is one of the major reasons that lead to global crises occurrence. Nowadays, it is crucial to use the experiences of other industries and sectors which from their very beginning managed to balance finance and social goals at the same time. Microfinance sector is exactly one such sector. This paper is organized as follows： First, we give some overview of different approaches to measuring social performance of microfinance institutions. In this part of the paper we also accent the specifics of microfinance institutions-management within the context of double bottom line. In the second part we focus our analysis on practical implementation of ＂double bottom line management in Prizma MCO, one of the world pioneers in social performance management, by using their revolutionary poverty scorecard system. Then, we analyze how these social performance data are used in decision-making and how it affects overall performance of the organization. The paper is finished with some conclusions and lessons learned.

The Enigmatic Impact of Corporate Social Responsibilities on the Economic Performance of Brazilian Companies

The financial implication of the adoption of corporate social responsibility （CSR） practices is still an obscure field of study, because studies suggest controversial results. Thus, this research aimed to examine the relationship CSR and economic performance of the companies of corporate sustainability index （ISE） of mercantile and futures exchange of Silo Paulo stock exchange （BM＆FBOVESPA）. The amount of companies allowing online access to their responses of the ISE questionnaire determined the sample of this research. Thus, for the study period from 2011 to 2012, it has been possible to access the responses of 12 companies, composing the overall sample of this research. The results of the regression analysis allow to statistically assert that for the sample used, environmental performance （EP） contributes to improving economic performance, measured by all financial metrics used： return on equity （ROE）, return on assets （ROA）, and net profit （NP）. Statistically, it is only possible to say that social performance （SP） contributes to improving NP. In terms of market metrics, none of the null hypothesis was rejected, i.e., in any cases, it has been possible to affirm, on a statistical base, that SP and EP contribute to improving the market value （MV） and systematic risk. Thus, it is understood that the stakeholder theory has potential to explain the Brazilian situation regarding the aspects of CSR and financial ones under the accounting and the shareholder theory explains this relation, when viewed with the aid of market measurements.

The Determinants of the Performance and the Sustainability of Conventional and Islamic Microfinance Institutions

The purpose of this paper is to study the factors determining the performance （organizational, social, and financial） of conventional and Islamic microfinance institutions and their impact on maintaining the sustainability of these institutions. A panel data on a sample of 333 conventional and 49 Islamic microfinance institutions （MFIs） between 1996 and 2012 of six different regions is used for this purpose and analyzes using the simple linear regression technique. The results show that the sustainability measered by operational autonomy （OSS） of Islamic MFIs （IMFIs） is sensitive to their social performance （SP）, while the sustainability of Conventional MFIs （CMFIs） is sustained by their Financial Performance （FP） measured by return on assets （ROA）. Thus, these latter seem to deviate from the main social objective focusing more on profitability. Indeed, this judgement is confirmed when the results also showed that their （CMFIs） FP is positively affected by the quality of credit portfolios which reveals the category of the targeted clients （the poorest of the poor are abandoned）. On the contrary, FP of IMFIs seems to be mainly supported by their specific source of funding through the islamic financial contracts where the results revealed that their profitabilty is positively affected by their capital structure. Moreover, the results show that the organizational performance positively affects the sustainability of the two categories of MFIs.

The Impact of Lean Manufacturing Practices on Sustainability Performance:A Natural Resource-Based View

Drawing upon a Natural Resource-Based View(NRBV),this paper aims to propose a quantitative model that could be used to investigate whether Lean Manufacturing(LM)practices/tools can improve the three aspects of corporate sustainability performance(economic,environmental,and social).This paper is based on a theoretical study to develop a new model by reviewing the literature and proposing new ideas according to the Natural Resource-Based View(NRBV).Reviewing the literature showed that there is a significant association between LM practices/tools implementation and the improvement on three aspects of corporate sustainability performance(economic,environmental,and social).This paper provides insights to manufacturing managers about the ability of LM practices to reduce cost of operations and maximize the value provided to customers.Further,it highlighted the importance of LM practices implementation to manage organizations’activities responsibly in terms of their environmental,social,and economic effects.By proposing such a quantitative model according to a NRBV,this study contributes to a broader understanding of how LM practices affect three pillars of sustainability.

BASF Issues First Report on Economic,Environmental,and Social Performance

Seven key indicators standardize and integrate transparency BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, will enhance its transparency in Greater China by reporting annually on seven key financial, social and environmental indicators: sales, number of employees,

SOEs’ performance to be evaluated by profitability and social contributions

The global financial crisis has brought stateowned enterprises (SOEs) into the spotlight. Even Western countries like the U.S. have been forced to take some measures of nationalization, a departure

Is Microcredit Targeted to Poor People？ Evidences From a Cambodian Microfinance Institution

This study extends research on the social performance of microfinance institutions. The research methodology is based on Grameen Progress out of Poverty IndexTM （PPITM） for Cambodia applied to a sample of borrowers randomly extracted from a Cambodian microfinance institution＇s loan portfolio. Dataset has been directly collected through in-house interviews. Main questions discussed here are： （1） Is microcredit targeted to poor people？ （2） Has the poverty rate of the sample changed in last six months？ and （3） What percentage of male vs. female clients is poor？ We found an average poverty likelihood of about 8.1%, estimated at the day of the interview, steady over a period of six months and not statistically different between male and female borrowers. This evidence might be related to business geographical location or targeting. Actually, PPI too much relies on asset ownership rather than on cash flows and saving capacity. Despite the general wisdom microcredit is targeted to the ＂poorest among the poor people＂, this is utterly consistent with a sound and safe （micro）banking activity, aimed at sustainable results. Here comes a call for a triple bottom line performance evaluation on microflnance institutions： economic, social and environmental effects of their activities

Continuously Performing the Consultation and Social Service Roles of Human Rights Bases

The Ministry of Education and the State Council Information Office have named Renmin University of China as one of the human rights national education and training bases. This shows the full affirmation and trust in the university＇s education, research and training work and also represents encouragement for its future work.