Andrew Millington

The contribution of corporate social responsibility to organizational commitment

This study investigates the relationship between organizational commitment and employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a model that draws on social identity theory. Specifically, we examine the impact of three aspects of socially responsible behaviour on organizational commitment: employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility in the community, procedural justice in the organization and the provision of employee training. The relationship between organizational commitment and each aspect of CSR is investigated within a model that distinguishes between genders and includes a set of control variables that is drawn from the commitment literature (Meyer et al., 2002). The analysis is based on a sample of 4,712 employees drawn from a financial services company. The results emphasize the importance of gender variation and suggest both that external CSR is positively related to organizational commitment and that the contribution of CSR to organizational commitment is at least as great as job satisfaction.

Gender and Ethnic Diversity Among UK Corporate Boards

This paper investigates the ethnic and gender diversity of the corporate board of UK companies, placing particular emphasis on links to board size and industry characteristics. We employ a novel dataset that covers a large sample of UK PLCs and describes a director’s gender, ethnicity and position held. We find both ethnic and gender diversity to be very limited, and that diversity is somewhat less pronounced among executive positions. We find significant cross‐sector variation in gender diversity, with an above average prevalence of women in Retail, Utilities, Media and Banking, while such variation in ethnic diversity is considerably less pronounced. Our evidence suggests that a close proximity to final consumers plays a more significant role in shaping board diversity than does the female presence among the industry’s workforce. We argue that this shows that board diversity is influenced by a firm’s external business environment and particularly an imperative to reflect corresponding diversity among its customers.

The Effect of Stakeholder Preferences, Organizational Structure and Industry Type on Corporate Community Involvement

This paper analyses the relationships between corporate community involvement activities, the organizational structures within which they are managed, the firms industry and evolving stakeholder attitudes and preferences in a sample of 148 U.K. based firms who have demonstrated a clear desire to be socially responsible. The research highlights significant associations between the allocation of responsibility for community involvement within the firm, its industry and the extent of its community involvement activities. Consistent with the view that managerial structures may play a significant role in the implementation of community initiatives, the results identify significant variations in community involvement policies across alternative organizational forms. However, important similarities in corporate community policies across alternative structures are also shown to exist suggesting that corporate community involvement activities may be influenced by the preferences of societal stakeholders.

Corporate Reputation and Women on the Board

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of corporate reputation, derived from the assessments of managers and market analysts, of a sample of large UK firms. Along with the influences of a variety of firm attributes, we find a reputational effect associated with a female presence at board level. This effect varies across sectors and demonstrates the influence of a firms stakeholder environment in determining whether a female presence on the board enhances or harms the reputation of the firm. The pattern that emerges indicates that the presence of women on the board is favourably viewed in only those sectors that operate close to final consumers. We argue that the nature of this effect reflects an imperative for equality of representation that highlights the need to reflect gender diversity among customers.

An empirical examination of the relationship between business strategy and socially responsible supply chain management

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the effect of business strategy on socially responsible supply chain management (SR‐SCM).Design/methodology/approach – This study draws on data from 178 UK‐based companies, and 340 buyer‐supplier relationships. A novel data collection approach is used, which minimizes social desirability and common methods bias, to capture socially responsible supply chain management. The data are analysed through a set of OLS regressions.Findings – Business strategies significantly influence socially responsible supply chain management. Low‐cost producers largely neglect their social responsibilities in the supply chain. In contrast, firms pursuing differentiation strategies are considerably more engaged with these issues, partly because they have better supply chain processes.Practical implications – Practitioners should carefully consider the fit between strategic position and level of engagement with SR‐SCM, since our results emphasise the relationship between SR‐SCM and business s...

Is Philanthropy Strategic? An Analysis of the Management of Charitable Giving in Large UK Companies

Recent evidence suggests that the level of philanthropic donations made by large UK businesses has grown significantly over the last 20 years (Arulampalam & Stoneman 1995, Campbell et al. 2002). The most recent statistics indicate that the largest 100 UK firms collectively contributed over d630m in 2002/3, a rise of 26% on the previous year, and that the proportion of profits given to charities by these companies approximately doubled between 2001 and 2003. The growing importance of corporate philanthropy is reflected in the proliferation of recent articles in the academic literature, many of which chart the chronological development of corporate philanthropy in the United States or the United Kingdom or examine the correlates of philanthropy (Arulampalam & Stoneman 1995, Moore 1995, Himmelstein 1997, Adams & Hardwick 1998, Saiia 2000, 2002, Bartkus et al. 2002, Campbell et al. 2002, Porter & Kramer 2002, Saiia et al. 2003, Siefert et al. 2003). A variety of motivations for firms making philanthropic donations have been advanced in the existing literature (see Siefert et al. 2003: 195– 196 for a useful overview). Among the alternative motivations identified in the literature for philanthropy are the maximization of managerial utility that is derived from association with good works, the altruistic desire for companies to return some of the wealth generated through economic activities to their communities, and economic motives that originate in the desire to enhance worker productivity and goodwill among consumers (Navarro 1988, Young & Burlingame 1996, Saiia et al. 2003). Within these alternative motivations, a central path paints philanthropy both as a way for companies to demonstrate their social responsiveness to the communities in which they operate (Wood & Jones 1995, Berman et al. 1999), and as an activity that stimulates goodwill towards companies within those communities. Earlier work has argued that corporate philanthropy influences the perceptions of the firm in the eyes of a variety of stakeholders including investors, customers, suppliers, actual or potential employees, and the voluntary sector (Smith 1994, Himmelstein 1997, Saiia et al. 2003). Existing research into the motivations for corporate philanthropy provides mixed evidence concerning the degree to which philanthropy is The first two authors are, respectively, Lecturer and Reader at the School of Management, University of Bath, UK. The third author is Lecturer in Economics, Department of Economics, University of Reading, UK.

Stakeholder pressure, organizational size and the allocation of departmental responsibility for the management of corporate charitable giving

Based on new survey evidence, this article analyzes the allocation of departmental responsibility for the management of corporate charitable giving within a sample of large U.K. companies. Several qualitatively different forms of management are identified, and a model of the determinants of the choice among these forms is estimated. The findings indicate that the allocation of internal responsibility for the management of corporate giving is significantly influenced by the extent and type of managerially perceived stakeholder pressures, organizational size, and industry characteristics. The evidence indicates that, given the firm is sufficiently large to delegate the management of its charitable contributions, the choice over the location of control is largely a function of the nature of the prevailing forms of stakeholder pressure experienced by the organization.

Supplier performance and selection in China

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the availability and performance of different types of supplier in China.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on a survey of the purchasing behaviour of 75 western firms with manufacturing facilities in the eastern seaboard region of China and 167 separate supply relationships with foreign‐invested and indigenous Chinese suppliers.Findings – The results suggest that, while the availability of indigenous suppliers is limited, private Chinese enterprises have the flexibility and potential to perform well if both the supplier and buyer are willing to make significant investments, especially in the areas of workforce training and quality procedures.Practical implications – Firms should treat state‐owned enterprises with caution, carefully considering whether they have the willingness and flexibility to respond to investment.Originality/value – This should prove beneficial to both supplier and buyer companies based in China, both now and in the future.

Socially responsible supply chains:Power asymmetries and joint dependence

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse the role of relational power/dependent asymmetries and symmetries in shaping socially responsible supply chain management, whilst also examining how these issues are moderated by geographical distance between buyer and supplier.Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on data from 339 buyer‐supplier relationships, and the authors use a set of regression models to test their hypotheses.Findings – Joint dependency positively influences socially responsible supply chain management, whilst supplier power constrains it. Both joint dependency and buyer power become increasingly important determinants of socially responsible supply chain management as geographic distance increases.Research limitations/implications – Further work is needed to examine the conditions under which organisations will exercise their power advantage or their joint dependence position to improve socially responsible processes in the supply chain, as there may be situations where the ...

Human resource barriers to partnership sourcing in China

Building on previous research on both buyer–supplier relations and human resource management in the PRC, interviews with managers in each of 47 UK-owned PRC subsidiaries were undertaken. The majority of firms are actively pursuing close and cooperative relationships with local suppliers, but there are substantial human resource barriers to the establishment of partnership sourcing arrangements. Grounded analysis reveals key HR barriers to partnership sourcing in the form of difficulties in staff recruitment and retention, problems in cross-cultural communication, poor working practices in supplier firms, and corrupt staff behaviour. This paper describes and analyses these problems, discusses measures that are being taken in an attempt to overcome the problems, and comments on the progress being made towards ‘ideal type’ partnership sourcing arrangements.