What does the notion of legitimacy and social contract have to do with corporate disclosure policies? Introduction In recent years, corporations have increasingly used their annual reports to voluntarily report information relating to their social actions, particularly those concerning the natural environment (Gray et al.1995). More specifically, corporations have been changing their disclosure policy towards the "triple bottom line reporting", where in addition to economic performance, social and environmental issues of the company's performance are given (Deegan 2002). This has drawn the attention of researchers, and a number of theories have been postulated as to why companies disclose such information. According to Deegan and Rankin …show more content…
The organisations have no natural right to these benefits, and in order to allow their existence, society would expect the benefits to exceed the costs to society". The society allows the corporation to operate as long as it meets their expectations. Again considering the Legitimacy Theory, the organisation should consider the rights of the public at large, not merely those of its investors. If the company fails to meet these expectations, the society would react by imposing sanctions, for example legal restrictions or high taxes, fines, demand reduction of the company's products, eliminating the supply for labour and financial capital top the business. Heard and Bolce (1981) argue that with such high social expectations, a successful corporation would react and attend to the environmental and social consequences of their activities. Thus, organisations would take various actions to ensure that their operations are perceived legitimate. They will attempt to establish congruence between "the social values associated with or implied by their activities and the norms of acceptable behaviour in the larger social system of which they are part" (Dowling and Pfeffer, p.110). M. Garcial-Ayuso et al. (1998) suggest three conditions to be fulfilled in order for legitimacy theory to represent a consistent basis for the analysis and understanding of
Because corporations are established to profit and shareholders invest money with expectations of a greater return, managers cannot be given a directive to be “socially responsible” without providing specific criteria of checks and balances to which needs to adhere. Therefore, it is imperative to the success of a corporation for managers to not act solely but rather to act within the policies of the shareholders.
When an organization partakes in “proactive behavior…for the benefit of society,” it is deemed as socially responsible (P. 155). However, prior to labeling a organization as socially responsible, it is important that we first identify what specific elements of proactive behavior constitute a socially responsible business. To begin, for an organization to be considered socially responsible on the highest level, it must take a proactive approach to doing business. This is defined as “[taking a] approach to social responsibility in which an organization goes beyond industry norms to solve and prevent problems” (P.155). In addition, it is standard for a socially responsible organization to incorporate a larger scope of stakeholders, to include external stakeholders, in their business decisions to create positive externalities, and mitigate negative ones, to benefit society as a whole.
The expectation that businesses behave responsibly and positively contribute to society all while pursuing their economic goals is one that holds firm through all generations. Stakeholders, both market and nonmarket, expect businesses to be socially responsible. Many companies have responded to this by including this growing expectation as part of their overall business operations. There are companies in existence today whose sole purpose is to socially benefit society alongside businesses who simply combine social benefits with their economic goals as their company mission. These changes in societal expectations and thus company purpose we’ve seen in the business community over time often blurs the line of what it means to be socially
Legitimacy, the first step of many steps to retaining authority.” As understood by most social scientists, political
In this paper I am going to discuss and explain my opinion on why a company Q is or is not socially responsible in the following areas company Q close a couple of stores in high crime areas, company Q started offering a very limited health conscious an organic products, company Q was approached by the local food bank for donations of day old food and company Q declined the donation request from the food bank and started throwing the food away, and company Q suspected possible fraud among its employees.
However, today, the focus on stakeholder’s (apart from the shareholders, these are customers, suppliers and employees) expectations has also grown radically. Accordingly, ethical behaviours such as meeting stakeholders’ expectation objectives, environmental objectives and corporate social responsibility, which is accountability to the society and social responsibility, have resultantly become very important. Failure to comply with ethical behaviours can causes a business to damage its brand value and its reputation, which in turn could lead to reduced profits or even losses (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014).
A corporation has its king and its barons, its courtiers and ambassadors, its loyalists and its dissident elements, its allies and its enemies. What is important to our application of his principles of statecraft to the business world is not the superficial differences but the underlying unity. Modern corporations that are successful and well-managed do not necessarily operate in harmony with the personal morality of their employees and for the general good of their communities. Similarly, firms which pollute the environment or ask their employees to lie are not always forced into bankruptcy.
Financial regulation is a critical aspect that helps the stakeholders to ensure that companies present accurate and reliable information to its stakeholders. In Dr. Jasso’s article “Sarbanes-Oxley-Context & Theory”, he addresses the Sarbanes-Oxley Act from a historical and philosophical context, where the firm is depicted by both philosophers which are Aristotle and Adam Smith. They are the leading thinkers on the concept of business and capitalism and how it impacts our society as a whole. Next, Dr. Jasso also examines the problems of market failure and information asymmetry, and he explains how these theories related to the SOX and corporation’s bad behaviors. Lastly, he analyzes the SOA from policy analyst’s perspective. Overall, the author argues that SOX is an effective and good legislation because it is a reactive policy that response to firm’s unethical and bad behaviors such as the accounting fraud on Enron, Adelphia, and Global Crossing. The author also believes that SOX will be continuing benefit the stakeholders such as the investors in the futures, and it will be cultivating good corporate ethical behaviors as well. I think that the
Sustainability reporting in the United States is still a work in progress. While more countries around the world are requiring companies to report the effects of their business activities as part of their annual report, this practice is still voluntary in the US. Even though sustainability reporting is not required, companies generally disclose sustainable information on their websites or through social media. Being social responsible builds a certain type of bond that brings internal and external stakeholders together.
publication of corporate ethics also helps firms operate in a socially responsible aspect; company executives may say one thing, and what they are actually doing is totally different than what they may have publically stated. Evidence shows that companies can be engaging in socially responsible activities and at the same time have unethical pursuits (Clancy, 2012); it is for this reason that SOX makes it mandatory for companies to define what is the right thing to do in the course of providing its services.
acceptable, right, and proper”. The government that will be discussed today is Bolivia’s. On a
Being Socially Capable implies that individuals and associations must carry on morally and with affectability toward social, social, monetary and ecological issues. Taking a stab at social obligation helps people, associations and governments positively affect improvement, business and society with a constructive commitment to primary concern comes about. Social duty is essential to a business since it shows to both shoppers and the media that the organization appreciates more extensive social issues that have no immediate effect on net revenues. The companies can make a lot of different
Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue
‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) means that the firm has wider responsibilities in relation to objectives and people apart from the owners or shareholders (Beal and Goyen 2005). These responsibilities are achieved when the firm adapts all of its practices to ensure that it operates in ways that meet, or exceed, the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. Objectives often associated with CSR include a responsibility to manage natural assets sustainably and not to pollute by chemical discharge, smell, noise, dust or other irritants; fair treatment of employees and ethical attitude towards clients. The other people include employees, customers, suppliers,
Corporate Reporting refers to the disclosure of the financial information of the company stating its true financial position. Corporate Reporting is one of the most important functions of the organisation and it also requires a higher code of ethical behaviour. It helps the shareholders in the decision of buying and selling of financial