Corporate ethics as a factor for success – the measurement instrument of the University of Agricultural Sciences (BOKU), Vienna

Abstract

Over the past decade, a growing number of companies have recognized the business benefits of corporate social responsibilities policies and practices. Their experiences are bolstered by a growing body of empirical studies which demonstrate that corporate social responsibility has a positive impact on business economic performance, and is not harmful to shareholder value. There are six key responsibilities or dimensions of corporate social responsibility: costumers, employees, business partners, the environment, communities and investors. Corporate social responsibility is really how to manage these six responsibilities. Companies employing such a new values-based business approach have found that it c an improve financial performance, increase employees' motivation and commitment to work, and enhance customer loyalty and corporate reputation. The Model in use (theoretical language), created with the reference to the theoretical background of business ethics, is able to explain the impact of CSR with the help of a bundle of dependent variables such as • Financial Performance, • Employee Commitment and Motivation, • Costumer Loyalty, • Risk, • Operating Costs and • Brand Image and Reputation. Measuring CSR effects a dditional benefits: Improved stakeholder relationship, improved standing among investors, reduced internal operating costs, better internal coordination, identification of non-financial aspects, better defined priorities, improved compliance and identification of potential liabilities. The "BOKU Approach" defines the independent variables (objective language) for the CSR working model and shows the way to measure (correspondential language) the independent variables by auditing using a "reduced design", austriacism and a "mystery" shift to enhance the acceptance rate. It has been referred to as "caring capitalism" in contrast to "financial

The Effect of Financial Crisis in Corporate Social Responsibility Performance

“…The social cohesion, structure and stakeholder expectations is constantly changing over time (Kitchin, 2002), especially in economic downturn. Companies, probably, increase their performance in order to gain not only the most common benefits that may arise from CSR implementation such as economic performance (Schiebel and Pochtrager, 2003) employee satisfaction (Fafaliou et al 2006) and increased sales (Weber, 2008) but also the lost trust in businesses and capital markets (Decker and Sale, 2009). Trust between companies and stakeholders becomes more important than ever for business survival as the trust barometer index since 2007, pre financial period, declined dramatically until 2010 in most developed countries (Edelman Trust Barometer, 2010).…”

Logistics service providers and corporate social responsibility: sustainability reporting in the logistics industry

“…increased employees' loyalty, motivation and commitment to work and, thereby, improved productivity. It can also improve the work environment, with reduction in injuries and lost workdays (Schiebel and Pochtrager, 2003), as well as the external relations and performance of suppliers (Carter and Jennings, 2004).…”

Corporate social responsibility performance in the Greek telecommunication sector

“…Th ere are many proposals regarding the stakeholders to whom the companies should pay attention. Schiebel and Pochtrager (2003) mention that companies are responsible to six groups of stakeholders: customers, employees, business partners, the environment, communities, and investors. Graafl and et al (2004) recommend six groups of stakeholders, namely: employees, suppliers, customers, society at large, shareholders, and competitors.…”