Bindu Arya

Institutional Reforms and Investor Reactions to CSR Announcements: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

This study contributes to the limited established empirical research on the impact and relevance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the capital markets of emerging economies. We conducted an event study to demonstrate how the timing of CSR announcements by firms that have aligned their strategies to newly instituted social regulations in South Africa influenced stock prices. Using a unique dataset of publicly listed South African enterprises that undertook CSR initiatives during the ten year period from 1996 to 2005, we found that investor reactions to CSR announcements concluded during the late phase of institutional reforms are viewed positively by investors. Furthermore, CSR announcements of substantive monetary value result in significantly higher shareholder returns.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Legislation in South Africa: Codes of Good Practice

The South African government has been active in promulgating specific corporate social responsibility (CSR) regulations since 1994 directed at the economic empowerment of historically disadvantaged Black people. Government laws have sought to involve corporations in promoting social cohesion and in addressing problems of historical exclusion of Black communities from the mainstream economy. This objective of transformation within the economy culminated in the release of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act in 2003. The Department of Trade and Industry finalized the Codes of Good Practice on February 9, 2007, to clarify and ensure consistency in the implementation of socially responsible behavior in one area, empowerment of historically disadvantaged Black people (other areas of CSR do not display this consistently) within organizations across industry sectors. In this article, the authors discuss the key principles of this legislation, approaches to monitoring and measuring Codes of Good Practice implementation, and their implications for social-change initiatives in local and multinational enterprises that operate in South Africa.

Structural Versus Individual Perspectives on the Dynamics of Group Performance: Theoretical Exploration and Empirical Investigation

This study contrasts the structural perspective with the individual perspective in explaining group performance in a dynamic setting. The authors argue that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive but have different predictive powers at different group stages. Results from 45 project groups show (a) group structures provide stronger performance predictions at the later stage, whereas individual-based attributes do so at the earlier stage, and (b) different group structures and individual-based attributes provide distinctive insights at respective stages. This indicates the need to explore the potential bridge between the two perspectives in advancing group studies.

Transformation Charters in Contemporary South Africa: The Case of the ABSA Group Limited

Over the past decade, strategy and international business scholars have increasingly turned their attention to assessing how alterations in institutional arrangements in former centrally planned economies influence enterprise-level strategies. Little is known about the strategic responses of organizations operating in countries going through institutional transformation related to social issues. Since the first democratic elections in 1994, the South African government has focused on addressing the inequalities of the past through what is known as Black Economic Empowerment (empowerment of historically disadvantaged black people). In this paper, we investigate the approach used by the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) Group Limited, one of the top four banks and an important player in the South African financial services sector, in formulating and implementing strategy to ensure successful and sustainable organizational transformation. A key component of ABSAs Black Economic Empowerment strategy is incorporation of transformation as a business imperative and not merely as a compliance requirement.

Understanding employee thriving: the role of workplace context, personality and individual resources

Thriving at work is a positive psychological state in which employees experience both learning and vitality. In this study, we investigate the direct effect of employee experiences of a negative workplace behaviour, namely, incivility, on thriving at work. In addition, we examine the direct effect of an individual-level attribute (prosocial motivation) on employee thriving at work. Utilising a sample of 187 bank employees, our study finds a negative association between incivility and employee thriving and a positive association between prosocial motivation and thriving. We also find that psychological capital mitigates the negative relationship between incivility and thriving at work while psychological capital enhances the positive association between prosocial motivation and thriving at work. Our study highlights the importance of considering both workplace and individual-level attributes that energise employees. Implications for human resource development and suggestions for future research are presented.

Personality and pay satisfaction: exploring the influence of organizational justice and gender in South Africa

Abstract This study contributes to the limited established empirical research on the impact and relevance of individual-level personality variables, specifically the broad dispositional trait, core self-evaluations, on the pay satisfaction of historically disadvantaged individuals. In light of recent inquiries which document the important causal role of personality attributes in the emergence of fairness perceptions, this study examines the mediating role of justice perceptions on the relationship between core self-evaluations and pay satisfaction. Using a sample of historically disadvantaged individuals from South Africa, our results show that organizational justice perceptions fully mediate the relationship between core self-evaluations and pay satisfaction. Furthermore, this study finds that gender moderates the relationship between core self-evaluations and pay satisfaction such that self-confident historically disadvantaged females are more satisfied with their pay than their male counterparts.

Social Performance Learning in Multinational Corporations: Multicultural Teams, their Social Capital and Use of Cross-Sector Alliances

Multinational corporations (MNCs) confront complex challenges to continuously achieve higher levels of social performance across diverse country and cultural contexts. Yet many MNCs have reactive strategies toward corporate social responsibility (CSR). Such strategies do not leverage multicultural team diversity for dynamic learning. Meanwhile, cross-sector alliances between MNCs and not-for-profit entities present a rich opportunity for MNC learning. Multicultural teams often lie at the core of such initiatives in MNCs, although they have been, at best, a peripheral concern of CSR research and theory. We redress this gap in the CSR literature by integrating theory on social capital and the external team perspective and applying this to the CSR context. Our analysis has practical implications for MNCs as well, suggesting further extensions.

Nourishing the bliss: antecedents and mechanism of happiness at work

This study examines the effect of psychological contract breach (PCB) on employee happiness at work while also assessing the intervening influence of thriving on this relationship. In addition, we investigate the impact of relational resources on employee happiness and thriving at work. The survey generated 131 responses yielding a response rate of 53% and with the help of regression model and Conformatory factor analysis results are deduced. Our study contributes to the PCB literature by highlighting the negative impact of unmet expectations and promises on employee happiness at work, through their impact on employee ability to thrive at work. Our results also suggest that support from colleagues at work can boost employee thriving and happiness. Implications for research and practice are presented.

The Drivers of Collaborative Success Between Rural Economic Development Organizations

The nonprofit literature has directed attention to exploring how features of the broader structure of exchanges within regional collaboration networks impact the dynamics and outcomes of a single partnership. This study examines how partners’ relative positions within a collaboration network impact their interdependence and collaborative success. Our analysis of 298 collaborations between 98 economic development organizations operating in an economically distressed rural region demonstrates that social network properties—structural embeddedness and relative centrality—have substantial effects on exchange partners’ collaborative success. We also investigate whether network effects are mediated by the two dimensions of interdependence, mutual dependence and power imbalance. Together, our theorizing and results speak to the driving factors of collaborative success in a context where collaboration is particularly vital.