Cuili Qian

Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Financial Performance A Competitive-Action Perspective

We attempt to provide a more nuanced view of the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm financial performance using a competitive-action perspective. We argue that competitive action should be considered as an important contingency that determines the effects of CSR activities on firm financial performance. Using data for 113 publicly listed U.S. firms in the software industry between 2000 and 2005, we found that socially responsible activities (positive CSR) enhance firm financial performance when the firm’s competitive-action level is high, whereas socially irresponsible activities (negative CSR) actually improve firm financial performance when the competitive-action level is low. By introducing competitive action as an important contingency, this study contributes to the literature on CSR and strategic management.

The stakeholder enterprise: Caring for the community by attending to employees

A core issue in stakeholder theory is how firms can engender joint interests among competing stakeholders. We draw on theories of normative influence and reciprocity to identify how firms positively influence the relations between their internal and external stakeholders. We propose that firms can send credible corporate signals, such as philanthropy and sustainability reporting, to exert social influence on employees, but that employees’ own treatment by their firm and career prospects are also important in shaping their behavior toward the external community. We investigate these arguments in the context of Chinese firms’ donation behavior following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Empirical analysis shows that the credibility of corporate signals differs. Sustainability reporting that adheres to global standards has a direct bearing on employees’ behavior. In contrast, corporate giving by itself has no general influence on the willingness of employees to donate. However, firms that have either positive employee relations or have employees with superior career prospects and make donations to earthquake relief stimulate their employees to make their own donations too. In so doing, firms gain from the efforts of internal stakeholders to serve external stakeholders. We discuss the implications of our study for stakeholder theory and, in particular, the jointness of stakeholder interests.

CEO International Experience and Firms’ Temporal Orientation in a Transition Economy

In this study, we address the question of why CEOs with international experience adopt a longer temporal orientation in transition economies. We propose a theoretical framework that links CEO international experience with firms’ temporal orientation during institutional transitions. We highlight the importance of social context, and illustrate that CEOs with international experience tend to have a longer temporal orientation because pro-market reforms reduce their perceived uncertainty of utilizing their knowledge to help firms attain better performance. In addition, we suggest that reform speed and firms’ adaptive capability are salient factors affecting the reduction of uncertainty of CEOs with international experience to benefit from pro-market reforms. Our empirical findings in the Chinese context provide evidence that CEO international experience is positively related to firms’ long-term temporal orientation. The faster reform speed and foreign investors’ involvement strengthen the positive impact of...

The Pressure of Being Celebrated - An Investigation of Firm Responses toward a Celebrity Event

While most researchers claim that celebrity serves as valuable intangible asset to a firm, we examine the possibility that celebrity may become a liability to the firm. Drawing on research in celeb...