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Sustainability Assurance on the Biggest Cooperatives of the World: An Analysis of Their Adoption and Quality

Sustainability Assurance (SA) is increasing worldwide. Cooperatives are highly susceptible to CSR but there is an interesting research gap regarding SA in them. We use mixed research methods (statistical and content analysis) to study SA practices of the top 300 cooperatives worldwide. Paradoxically, our results show scarce or late SA adoption, and country-level and sector sensibility do not affect SA adoption significantly. Conversely, country-level and sector sensibility influence the choice of the assurance provider. Finally, findings reveal that country-level and industry factors, and also the assurance provider, do affect assurance statements quality.

EL CAPITAL RELACIONAL DE LAS COOPERATIVAS DE CRÉDITO EN ESPAÑA: UN ESTUDIO CUALITATIVO DE SUS INTANGIBLES SOCIALES MEDIANTE EL ANÁLISIS DELPHI

Especialmente en el caso de las cajas de ahorro, el capital social ha sido recurrentemente utilizado para explicar la aportacion que ciertas entidades bancarias realizan al desarrollo economico y social de sus territorios de actuacion. Las cooperativas de credito, como organizaciones singulares en nuestro sistema financiero, poseen unos intangibles de caracteristicas particulares. Asi, la reputacion corporativa, las relaciones sociales, con la administracion o con los medios de comunicacion y el ejercicio de la responsabilidad social les confieren unas caracteristicas especificas y unos rasgos concretos que merecen ser estudiados. Mediante el analisis Delphi, este trabajo trata de identificar las singularidades del capital social de estas entidades, donde destacan –como fortalezas- una gran proximidad y la participacion del socio y -como debilidad- la reputacion de estas entidades. Los intangibles sociales cuentan con una importante valoracion en las cooperativas de credito, especialmente el ejercicio de la responsabilidad social (un claro sintoma del compromiso de estas entidades). La potenciacion del capital social de las cooperativas pasa por amplificar la politica de comunicacion, especialmente por lo que se refiere al uso del Fondo de Educacion y Promocion Cooperativa (FEPC). En este sentido, el camino emprendido por las cajas de ahorro, resulta un ejemplo a seguir.

Corporate governance and business ethics in the European Union: a cluster analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying differences in European Union (EU) country approaches to corporate governance and business ethics given the conformity imposed by the EUs recent standardization directives.Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a multivariate statistical analysis, involving a two‐stage procedure where hierarchical and non‐hierarchical methods are used in tandem, using data from the 27 EU countries and 38 factors from the economic freedom of the world (EFW) index. This method is suitable for structured statistical data and allows for identification of groups that share similar characteristics – in this case among 38 criteria.Findings – Despite the call for standardization by the EUs Transparency Directive, countries within the EU are adapting their governance and ethics practices, according to their own technical, cultural, and political process, creating unintended changes to the directive, especially in the implementation phase. The paper fin...

Caracterización del business capital de las cooperativas de crédito a través del análisis Delphi

Las cooperativas de credito, organizaciones singulares en nuestro sistema financiero, poseen intangibles de caracteristicas particulares. Asi, los valores de la cooperativa y de sus miembros, la estructuracion del capital, las actitudes del personal o su proximidad a los clientes de su ambito operativo les confieren unas caracteristicas especificas que merecen ser estudiadas para gestionar sus ventajas competitivas y ofrecer informacion relevante para la toma de decisiones. Mediante el analisis Delphi, este trabajo trata de identificar las singularidades del business capital de estas entidades. Las singularidades del sector cooperativo de credito muestran que dentro de los intangibles relacionales estas entidades tienen debilidades significativas en aquellos mas ligados al negocio bancario. El business capital representa el conjunto de intangibles criticos en el negocio financiero y -por ello- las cooperativas de credito necesitan desarrollar politicas que permitan corregir sus debilidades y competir en la exigente industria bancaria actual.

Does the Environment Matter? Mapping Academic Knowledge on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in GEM

Abstract Environmental factors determine several features of society, but are becoming increasingly relevant in the entrepreneurship process. In recent years, entrepreneurship has been expanding worldwide and implies an exponential role of the environment. Accordingly, research into this phenomenon has also increased: contributions have rocketed, including increasingly complex and sophisticated analytical frameworks and empirical studies. This research aims to offer, through a bibliometric analysis, a comprehensive picture of research into entrepreneurial ecosystems using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor database published in Web of Science journals during the period 2004–2016. A bibliometric analysis allows us to identify both the leading authors and journals that contribute to the progress made by the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems. We expect our analysis to be useful to both junior and experienced scholars. The results show that the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature has a relatively high impact, as well as a high demand of related journals (an indicator about the quality of studies).

Analisis bibliométrico de la integración de la competencia “ética y responsabilidad profesional” en el ámbito de la docencia de la Dirección de Empresas

The global economic, ecological and social crisis leads to education to provide commitment regarding sustainable development and social responsibility. In recent years, business ethics is expanding worldwide, implying an exponential role of education (among other ways, developing generic competences within the curricula). Accordingly, research into this phenomenon has been also rising: contributions have rocketed, including increasingly complex and sophisticated analytical frameworks and empirical studies. This investigation offers, through bibliometric analysis, a comprehensive picture of empirical research on Business Ethics in Strategic Management Education published in Web of Science journals over the 1995-2017 period.

SUSTAINABILITY ASSURANCE ON THE BIGGEST COOPERATIVES OF THE WORLD: AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR ADOPTION AND QUALITY: SUSTAINABILITY ASSURANCE ON THE BIGGEST COOPERATIVES OF THE WORLD

Sustainability Assurance (SA) is increasing worldwide. Cooperatives are highly susceptible to CSR but there is an interesting research gap regarding SA in them. We use mixed research methods (statistical and content analysis) to study SA practices of the top 300 cooperatives worldwide. Paradoxically, our results show scarce or late SA adoption, and country-level and sector sensibility do not affect SA adoption significantly. Conversely, country-level and sector sensibility influence the choice of the assurance provider. Finally, findings reveal that country-level and industry factors, and also the assurance provider, do affect assurance statements quality.

Sustainability assurance in Spanish non-listed companies

In the last decades, sustainability reporting has experienced a noteworthy proliferation in the international arena. However, there is a lack of accountability and transparency, which have promoted that companies adopt assurance on sustainability reports to gain credibility. Spain is a worldwide leader in sustainability reporting but there is few contributions on Spanish non-listed companies about the determinants that influence the assurance adoption. In this line, we analyse what factors are associated with the adoption of assurance and the choice of assuror. The findings indicate that assurance and assuror are significantly associated with company size and industry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ICBM.2015.1352

CSR assurance in sensitive sectors - a worldwide analysis of financial services industry

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting and assurance has achieved a great relevance, and the financial services industry is a CSR-sensitive sector, which needs to increase user confidence in the credibility of their reported activities. Our aim is to analyse assurance practices in this sector. Thus, we study what factors are associated with the adoption of assurance and choice of assuror, and whether the type of assurance provider affects characteristics of assurance. The findings indicate that the financial services industry leads the adoption of assurance, which is associated with the country and listing status, and different characteristics by type of provider. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/ICBM.2015.1351

Financial Resources in Rural Development – An Analysis of Relational Capital in Credit Cooperatives

Rural areas have chronic difficulties in accessing financial resources. Besides their structural weaknesses, these areas have to add the financial constraints that threaten rural development. In many parts of the world, numerous official reports show lack of rural access to formal financial services, the main reasons being excessively conservative bankers and lack of interest in rural credit (for example, loans to poor farmers). In addition, the harsh conditions of informal lenders (in particular, high interest rates) become a form of usury.