María del Mar Gálvez-Rodríguez

Drivers of Twitter as a strategic communication tool for non-profit organizations

In view of the increased impact of social media, non-profit organizations (NPOs) should review their management model for stakeholder relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of factors on the use of Twitter by NPOs as a mechanism for disclosing information and dialogue with their stakeholders, and in particular: “donor dependence,” “fundraising expenses,” “organizational age,” “organizational size,” “online community size,” “network activity” and “board size.”,A content analysis of Twitter use as a strategic communication tool was conducted and a multivariable linear regression analysis was performed.,Smaller organizations and those with a larger online community are the most interested in implementing Twitter as a one or two-way communication strategy. Likewise, the NPOs with the highest degree of donor dependence strive most in the use of contents of Twitter as one-way communication mechanism.,This study contributes to a better understanding of social media implementation in the NPO sector and advances the identification of the main causes that motivate NPOs to improve their accountability through social media.,The paper’s subject is relatively innovative due to the scarce studies focussing on social media used by NPOs. In spite of the advantages offered by Twitter, few studies have specifically addressed NPOs’ current use of this platform, and fewer still have analyzed the factors that motivate them to use this tool.

Drivers for the proactive online disclosure of information in the NGO sector: the Colombian case

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze drivers for the proactive disclosure of information via the web in Colombian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as a strategy for fostering their legitimacy and responding to the institutional pressure to which they are subjected. Design/methodology/approach – The web sites of 196 NGOs from Colombia have been analyzed, first, via an Online Transparency Index that is consistent with Cronbach α coefficient and later, by performing a Tobit regression analysis. Findings – The proactive online disclosure of information in Colombian NGOs is very low. In spite of the high distrust of the resource management they receive, the financial information is the least aspect disclosed in their web pages. In addition, the larger NGOs are the entities that most disclose information via their web site. Likewise, the factors of “internationalization”, “donations”, “community services” and “dependence on voluntary work” show a positive effect on certain aspects of the onlin...

Implementing e-Services in Spanish Regional Government: A Case Study

The chapter examines and discusses the approach taken by a regional government to implement e-government as a means of providing e-services, thus enhancing accountability and performance management Specifically, the purpose of this chapter is to acquire a fundamental understanding of how e-services are adopted within regional governments in Spain and to determine precisely which factors have most impact on their adoption. Furthermore, we identify critical success factors (CSF) for innovation and the adoption of e-services in Andalusia, the most populated region of Spain. Our analysis of this case study identifies nine CSFs in the adoption of e-services in Andalusia.

Improving citizens’ online engagement via community managers: an explanatory study

ABSTRACT The role of community manager is gaining importance as the proper usage of social media becomes a key factor for achieving more active involvement of citizens in social and political issues. Focused on Spanish local governments and in line with the literature of Excellence Theory, this paper aims to analyze whether some characteristics of the community manager function are determinant in their fostering of citizens’ online engagement via social media. In particular ‘independence’, ‘having access to the dominant coalition’, ‘gender diversity’, ‘continuous training’ and ‘culture of the organization’ are the characteristics considered in this paper. As to the main findings, this study confirms that community managers have not as yet achieved their goal of embedding the use of social media by citizens as a means of establishing more direct contact with their local governments. Moreover, in line with Excellence Theory, community managers of local governments should be aware of the importance of having direct access to key managers of the organization in order to better achieve the objectives of the organization and, more specifically, to increase citizens’ engagement. Furthermore, continuous training in issues related to social media truly helps develop the skills and potential of community managers. Likewise, an excellent communication department should rely on good professionals no matter their gender, and, in this sense, the gender of community managers is not a significant factor in their performance. However, the results of this study also reveal that in the case of public sector community managers, an authoritarian culture seems to be a determining factor for obtaining better results in enhancing citizens’ engagement.

Enhancing online information of African nongovernmental organizations through self-regulation: National experiences versus international initiatives

The information included in NGOs’ self-regulation mechanisms is crucial for fostering the good behavior and access to information of the sector. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of national self-regulation mechanisms developed in African countries versus initiatives of an international nature. The main findings show that both cases are characterized by initiatives with low levels of control (code of conduct and performance guide). Moreover, significant differences in the information they contain are identified. In this regard, national initiatives mainly present information that reinforces organizational management, while the international initiatives show a greater preference for stressing the need to improve the social mission. The demand for web disclosure is low in both cases with African self-regulations mainly calling for the reactive communication of information concerning organizational strategy. In contrast, international initiatives are more focused on promoting the proactive disclosure of information regarding the organization’s social responsibility and its commitment to improvement.

Papel do conselho de Administração na ética empresarial em países da América Latina

In the present paper, we analyze the ethical values promoted in the codes of ethics of Latin American organizations, and the influence of the composition of the Board of Directors (BD) in this regard is identified. In particular, the presence of gender diversity, independent directors and foreign directors in the BD. The study was conducted on the 100 largest listed companies in Latin America. The results indicate that the companies studied elaborate codes of conduct with ethical values that enhance the relationships with their stakeholders. However, prevailing the establishment of values that protect the organization from the employee, and the imposition of sanctions. On the other hand, the regression analysis indicates a positive and significant influence of women and independent directors of the BD in the content of codes of ethics however, the effect of foreign directors in this respect is negative. The research findings allow advance the sparse literature on business ethics in the Latin American context.RESUMEN El presente trabajo analiza los valores eticos fomentados en los codigos de etica en las empresas latinoamericanas, e identifica la influencia de la composicion del Consejo de Administracion (CA). En particular, la presencia de diversidad de genero, consejeros independientes y extranjeros en el CA. El estudio, realizado sobre las 100 empresas cotizadas mas grandes de Latinoamerica, muestra que las empresas estudiadas elaboran codigos de conducta con valores eticos que mejoran las relaciones con sus stakeholders . No obstante, prevalece el establecimiento de valores que protegen a la organizacion del empleado y la imposicion de sanciones. Por otro lado, la regresion efectuada indica que la presencia de mujeres y consejeros independientes en el CA afecta de manera significativa y positiva al contenido de los codigos de etica, mientras que la presencia de consejeros extranjeros incide negativamente. Los hallazgos de esta investigacion permiten avanzar en la escasa literatura existente sobre la etica empre-sarial en el contexto latinoamericano.

EL ROL DEL CONSEJO DE ADMINISTRACIÓN EN LA ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL EN PAÍSES DE LATINOAMÉRICA

In the present paper, we analyze the ethical values promoted in the codes of ethics of Latin American organizations, and the influence of the composition of the Board of Directors (BD) in this regard is identified. In particular, the presence of gender diversity, independent directors and foreign directors in the BD. The study was conducted on the 100 largest listed companies in Latin America. The results indicate that the companies studied elaborate codes of conduct with ethical values that enhance the relationships with their stakeholders. However, prevailing the establishment of values that protect the organization from the employee, and the imposition of sanctions. On the other hand, the regression analysis indicates a positive and significant influence of women and independent directors of the BD in the content of codes of ethics however, the effect of foreign directors in this respect is negative. The research findings allow advance the sparse literature on business ethics in the Latin American context.RESUMEN El presente trabajo analiza los valores eticos fomentados en los codigos de etica en las empresas latinoamericanas, e identifica la influencia de la composicion del Consejo de Administracion (CA). En particular, la presencia de diversidad de genero, consejeros independientes y extranjeros en el CA. El estudio, realizado sobre las 100 empresas cotizadas mas grandes de Latinoamerica, muestra que las empresas estudiadas elaboran codigos de conducta con valores eticos que mejoran las relaciones con sus stakeholders . No obstante, prevalece el establecimiento de valores que protegen a la organizacion del empleado y la imposicion de sanciones. Por otro lado, la regresion efectuada indica que la presencia de mujeres y consejeros independientes en el CA afecta de manera significativa y positiva al contenido de los codigos de etica, mientras que la presencia de consejeros extranjeros incide negativamente. Los hallazgos de esta investigacion permiten avanzar en la escasa literatura existente sobre la etica empre-sarial en el contexto latinoamericano.

The role of the board of directors in corporate ethics in Latin American countries

In the present paper, we analyze the ethical values promoted in the codes of ethics of Latin American organizations, and the influence of the composition of the Board of Directors (BD) in this regard is identified. In particular, the presence of gender diversity, independent directors and foreign directors in the BD. The study was conducted on the 100 largest listed companies in Latin America. The results indicate that the companies studied elaborate codes of conduct with ethical values that enhance the relationships with their stakeholders. However, prevailing the establishment of values that protect the organization from the employee, and the imposition of sanctions. On the other hand, the regression analysis indicates a positive and significant influence of women and independent directors of the BD in the content of codes of ethics however, the effect of foreign directors in this respect is negative. The research findings allow advance the sparse literature on business ethics in the Latin American context.RESUMEN El presente trabajo analiza los valores eticos fomentados en los codigos de etica en las empresas latinoamericanas, e identifica la influencia de la composicion del Consejo de Administracion (CA). En particular, la presencia de diversidad de genero, consejeros independientes y extranjeros en el CA. El estudio, realizado sobre las 100 empresas cotizadas mas grandes de Latinoamerica, muestra que las empresas estudiadas elaboran codigos de conducta con valores eticos que mejoran las relaciones con sus stakeholders . No obstante, prevalece el establecimiento de valores que protegen a la organizacion del empleado y la imposicion de sanciones. Por otro lado, la regresion efectuada indica que la presencia de mujeres y consejeros independientes en el CA afecta de manera significativa y positiva al contenido de los codigos de etica, mientras que la presencia de consejeros extranjeros incide negativamente. Los hallazgos de esta investigacion permiten avanzar en la escasa literatura existente sobre la etica empre-sarial en el contexto latinoamericano.