دانلود رایگان ترجمه مقاله روابط مدیریت، پایداری اجتماعی، اعتبار و عملکرد مالی (نشریه Sage 2018)

روابط مدیریت، پایداری اجتماعی، شهرت و عملکرد مالی: بررسی تجربی شرکت های ایالات متحده آمریکا

Management, Social Sustainability, Reputation, and Financial Performance Relationships: An Empirical Examination of U.S. Firms

Abstract

With growing evidence of positive relationships between social sustainability and financial performance, there is a critical need for understanding how innovative organizations integrate sustainability and tie theory to practice. The research in this study uses a sample of Fortune 500 firms simultaneously listed in the Newsweek Green rankings, The Corporate Knights Global 100, and the 100 Best Corporate Citizens lists. The analysis from this purposeful sample of leading firms reveals positive relationships between the management of sustainability practices leading to improved social sustainability performance and firm financial performance constructs. The results of this study advance construct and item development involving sustainability management and social sustainability practices while testing relationships to measures of financial performance. Further advances in the field and opportunities for future research involve testing larger cross-sector samples, the development and measurement of social sustainability practices from secondary sources, longitudinal studies, and the evolving nature of organizational performance measurement.

1 Introduction

Not too long ago, there was virtually no debate in scholarly or management circles over the relationship between environmental practices and firm performance. It was simply taken as a fact that pursuing sustainability goals was antithetical to sound business strategy and, quite possibly, a violation of the fiduciary duty of managers to shareholders (Bower & Paine, 2017; Friedman, 1970; Stout, 2012). Ironically, this same kind of debate is now taking place with the benefits of social sustainability practices. For the purposes of this study, social sustainability involves undertaking social analysis and assessment, enabling the identification of social opportunities, as well as the mitigation of social impacts and risks (Social Development, 2013).

Prior conventional wisdom held that any investment in improved environmental performance would contribute to penalties such as increased lead times, reduced quality, or increased costs—all of which reduced profits and decreased returns to stockholders (Walley & Whitehead, 1994). However, Michael Porter at Harvard challenged these entrenched beliefs and sparked a debate with a focus on “America’s Greening Strategy.” This debate increased theoretical and practical interest in the possibility that profitability and sustainability were not mutually exclusive goals. Ultimately, this brought about a dramatic shift in manufacturers’ attitudes toward a new management paradigm enabling environmental management practices (Porter, 1991). This debate has now extended beyond environmental practices into emerging social sustainability practices.

According to Porter, pollution was simply waste and organizations investing in environmental practices to reduce waste will have better performance. As a result, radical change has come about in management’s views on waste, the need for pollution reduction, and better environmental management. Engaging this same logic, social management practices provide new opportunities to reduce waste in the workforce. These social practices in governance and disclosure provide a new opportunity for research. The research presented in this study is one attempt to understand the evolving sustainability paradigm. In doing so, we are trying to understand organizational culture and opportunities for engaging workers to enhance the social performance and the reputation of the organization. The key to understanding these relationships can be elusive given the difficulties in measuring social practices.