Monday, September 30, 2019

Computerized Teachers Evaluation System

With the long history of Chinese civilization and education, formal teacher practice is quite new because for century’s teachers’ authority and power over their students cannot be challenged. Historically, learning was the major concern of education, but during the past decades, teaching quality has become an added concern of education. There are three reasons for evaluating teachers: to diagnose and help teacher improve teaching, to help students get better teaching quality and to provide a criteria for research on teaching itself. Efforts have been made by government and educators to improve teaching quality in theory and practice. Verities of book have introduced foreign evaluation theories and many articles have contributed to the theoretical and practical improvement of Chinese teacher evaluation system. However, there is no systematic record of the development of teacher evaluation process. Therefore, exploration into the development of teacher evaluation, its reform and problem become necessary and significant. In common, teachers are evaluated by students and administrators synthetically. The students’ evaluations are used as formation to help teachers improve their classroom training and activities, in–service students complete these evaluations at the end of their program, while pre-service students complete these evaluations each semester. With both single-choice and open-end questions, these evaluations are similar to all colleges. These evaluations by students are analyzed, and teachers are given a copy of the analysis, if several students make similar complaints about a teacher or about the way of course in taught, the teacher in question gets immediate feedback from his or her supervisor. The administrative evaluations are completed by the supervisor who is the training manager. These evaluations are done every semester. Statement of the Problem This study of the proposed â€Å"Computerized Teachers Evaluation System† (CTES) covers method, procedures and problems which correlate to the teacher’s evaluation. The main problem of this study is how to design, develop and implement a Computerized Teachers Evaluation System. The current system is not efficient to ensure its validity because these CTES are done manually. Specifically this study aims to answer the following common problems encountered during and after the evaluation: 1. Is there a need for computerized teachers evaluation system? 2. What are the common problems encountered during and after the evaluation? 3. What are the users expectation regarding computerized teachers evaluation? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using computerized teachers evaluation system?

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Gulf Real Estates

Case Problem1: Bock investment Services The goal of Bock Investment Services (BJS) is to be the leading money market advisory service in South Carolina. To provide better service for their present clients and to attract new clients, BIS developed a weekly newsletter. BIS is considering adding a new feature to the newsletter that will report the results of a weekly telephone survey of fund managers. To investigate the feasibility of offering this service, and to determine what type of information to include in the newsletter, BIS selected a simple random sample of 45 money market funds.A portion of the data obtained is shown in Table below, which reports fund assets and yields for the past 7 and 30 days. Before calling the money market fund managers to obtain additional data, BIS decided to do some preliminary analysis of the data already collected. Managerial Report 1. Use appropriate descriptive statistics to summarize the data on assets and yields for the money market funds. 2. Dev elop a 95% confidence interval estimate of the mean assets, mean 7-day yield, and mean 30-day yield for the population of money market funds.Provide a managerial interpretation of each interval estimate. 3. Discuss the implication of your findings in terms of how BIS could use this type of information in preparing their weekly newsletter. Data for Bock Investment Services Money Market Fund Assets ($ millions) 7-Day Yield (%) 30-Day Yield (%) Amcore103. 94. 104. 08 Alger156. 74. 794. 73 Arch MM/Trust496. 54. 174. 13 BT Instit Treas197. 84. 374. 32 Benchmark Div2755. 44. 544. 47 Bradford707. 63. 883. 83 Capital Cash1. 74. 294. 22 Cash Mgt. Trust2707. 84. 144. 04 Composite122. 84. 033. 91 Cowen Standby694. 4. 254. 19 Cortland217. 33. 573. 51 Declaration38. 42. 672. 61 Dreyfus4832. 84. 013. 89 Elfun81. 74. 514. 41 FFB Cash506. 24. 174. 11 Federated Master738. 74. 414. 34 Fidelity Cash13272. 84. 514. 42 Flex-fund172. 84. 604. 48 Fortis105. 63. 873. 85 Franklin Money996. 83. 973. 92 Freed om Money1079. 04. 074. 01 Galaxy Money801. 44. 113. 96 Government Cash409. 43. 833. 82 Hanover Cash794. 34. 324. 23 Heritage Cash1008. 34. 084. 00 Infinity/Alpha53. 63. 993. 91 John Hancock226. 43. 933. 87 Landmark Funds481. 34. 284. 26 Liquid Cash388. 94. 614. 64 Market Watch10. 4. 134. 05 Merrill Lynch Money27005. 64. 244. 18 NCC Funds113. 44. 224. 20 Nationwide517. 34. 224. 14 Overland291. 54. 264. 17 Pierpont Money1991. 74. 504. 40 Portico Money161. 64. 284. 20 Prudential Money Mart6835. 14. 204. 16 Reserve Primary1408. 83. 913. 86 Schwab Money10531. 04. 164. 07 Smith Barnery Cash2947. 64. 164. 12 Stagecoach1502. 24. 184. 13 Strong Money470. 24. 374. 29 Transmerica Cash175. 54. 204. 19 United Cash323. 73. 963. 89 Woodward Money1330. 04. 244. 21 Case Problem 2: Gulf Real Estate Properties Gulf Real Estate Properties, Inc. is a real estate firm located in Southwest Florida. The company, which advertises itself as â€Å"expert in the real estate market,† monitors condominium sales by collecting data on location, list price, sale price, and number of days it takes to sell Sales Data for Gulf Real Estate Properties: Give View Condominiums No Gulf View Condominiums List Price Sale Price Days to Sell List Price Sale Price Days to Sell 495. 0475. 0130 217. 0 217. 0 182 379. 0350. 071148. 0135. 5338 529. 0519. 085186. 5179. 0122 552. 5534. 595239. 0230. 0150 334. 9334. 9119279. 0267. 5169 550. 505. 092215. 0214. 058 169. 9165. 0197279. 0259. 0110 210. 0210. 056179. 9176. 5130 975. 0945. 073149. 9144. 9149 314. 0314. 0126235. 0230. 0114 315. 0305. 088199. 8192. 0120 885. 0800. 0282210. 0195. 061 975. 0975. 0100226. 0212. 0146 469. 0445. 056149. 9146. 5137 329. 0305. 049160. 0160. 0281 365. 0330. 048322. 0292. 563 332. 0312. 088187. 5179. 048 520. 0495. 0161247. 0227. 052 425. 0405. 0149 675. 0669. 0142 409. 0400. 028 649. 0649. 029 319. 0305. 0140 425. 0410. 085 359. 0340. 0107 469. 0449. 072 895. 0875. 0129 439. 0430. 0160 435. 0400. 0206 235. 0 227. 91 638. 0 618. 0100 629. 0 600. 097 329. 0 309. 0114 595. 0555. 045 339. 0315. 0150 215. 0200. 048 395. 0375. 0135 449. 0 425. 053 499. 0 465. 086 439. 0 428. 5158 Managerial Report: 1. Use appropriate descriptive statistics to summarize each of the three variables for the 40 Gulf View condominiums. 2. Use appropriate descriptive statistics to summarize each of three variables for the 18 No Gulf View condominiums. 3. Compare your summary results. Discuss any specific statistical results that would help a real estate agent understand the condominium market. 4.Develop a 95% confidence interval estimate of the population mean sales price and population mean number of days to sell for Gulf View condominiums. Interpret your results. 5. Develop a 95% confidence interval estimate of the population mean sales price and population mean number of days to sell for No Gulf View condominiums Interpret your results. 6. Assume the branch manager requested estimates of the mean selling price of Gulf View condominiums with a margin of error of $40,000 and the mean selling price of No Gulf View condominiums with a margin of error of $15,000. Using 95% confidence, how large should the sample sizes be? . Gulf Real Estate Properties just signed contracts for two new listings: a Gulf View condominium with a list price of $589,000 and a No Gulf View condominium with a list price of $285,000. What is your estimate of the final selling price and number of days required to sell each of these units? a: sample mean +/- 1. 96*(st dev/sqrt(n)) 454222. 5 +/- 1. 96*192517. 75/sqrt(40) 394560. 6312 513884. 3688 The 95% CI is ($394,560. 63, $513,884. 37). Using Excel: 59660. 7736 $394,561. 73 $513,883. 27 The 95% CI is ($394,561. 73, $513,883†¦ Case Problem 3 Metropolitan Research, Inc. Metropolitan Research, Inc. a consumer research organization, conducts surveys designed to evaluate a wide variety of products and services available to consumers. In one particular study, Metropolitan looked at consumer satisfaction with the performance of automobiles produced by a major Detroit manufacturer. A questionnaire sent to owners of one of the manufacturer’s full-sized cars revealed several complaints about early transmission problems. To learn more about the transmission failures, Metropolitan used a sample of actual transmission repairs provided by a transmission repair firm in the Detroit area.The following data show the actual number of miles driven for 50 vehicles at the time of transmission failure. 85,092 32,609 59,465 77,437 32,534 64,090 32,464 59,902 39,323 89,641 94,219 116,803 92,857 63,436 65,605 85,861 64,342 61,978 67,998 59,817 101,769 95,774 121,352 69,568 74,276 66,998 40,001 72,069 25,066 77,098 69,922 35,662 74,425 67,202 118,444 53,500 79,294 64,544 86,813 116,269 37,831 89,341 73,341 85,288 138,114 53,402 85,586 82,256 77,539 88,798Managerial Report: 1. Use appropriate descriptive statistics to summarize the transmission failure data. 2. Develop a 95% confidence interval for the mean number of miles driven until transmission failure for the population of automobiles with transmission failure. Provide a managerial interpretation of the interval estimate. 3. Discuss the implication of your statistical finding n terms of the belief that some owners of the automobiles experienced early transmission failures. 4. How many repair records should be sampled if the research firm wants the population mean number of miles driven until transmission failure to be estimated with a margin of error of 5000 miles? Use 95 % confidence 5. What other information would you like to gather to evaluate the transmission failure problem more fully?

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Happy Family Essay

Before we talk about the requirements that make a happy family, let’s try to define what a happy family is. What makes for family happy? Is it something material like a big house or a nice car? Is it financial stability? Is it a good paying job, vacations, a cabin by the lake? I know that at least for me, a nice job, a big house, and a nice car I could drive to my cabin by the lake would definitely make my family at least a couple of notches happier. But are those the things that really make a family happy. I think about the really happy moments in my family’s history and they all come back through flashes of smiles, hugs and laughter. I may not remember what car we had then, when I was a young little woman, but I clearly remember the times my father took me fossil hunting and how happy those times were for me having special time together. So I believe there is something more profound, something deeper, something that lasts long after the shine of the new car is gone. I do not know, and I do not think it really matters which one is more important than the other, but my belief is that the main ingredients for a happy family life are: Love, honesty, and caring. I believe that every good thing comes from some combination of those three. Love is the main ingredient, the feeling that keeps the family together in spite of anything. Love lets us forgive easier and understand each other better. It makes us care for one another, worry about one another, want to do nice things for one another. Love is the one thing that keeps the family together. Love brings about empathy, compassion for the loved one, it makes his pain our pain, his sadness our sadness and the wanting of doing everything we can do to stop his and our pain. Honesty would have to be another one of these requirements for a happy family. Being honest with our partner releases us from having to keep things secret and from the constant effort of not being ourselves. Honesty brings people together because we get to know them they way they really are, we get to know their fears and their happiness. And they also get to know about us. Children learn by watching their parents.They will learn to be host by watching thei parents being honest. Our children will then feel closer to us knowing they can be honest to us as their parents. Knowing what is really in the hearts of our family gives us and understanding of one another. And this understanding brings with it, a tolerance to everybody’s quirks and peculiarities. Finally, honesty is about truth, and teaching our kids to be honest and true makes them want to teach their children and that’s a good thing to be able to say we were responsible for. And then there is caring. So much is connected to caring. We care for the things we love, and we love the things we take care of. Theres nothing like taking the new car for that first wash; looking at how the light comes through the windows, how shiny the tires look, and how much better it drives when its clean. Just the act of caring for something brings about love. By really caring about our partner’s or children’s dreams and goals, we show them we love them. Those are the three most important thing, I think, a happy family should have; love caring and honesty. We can teach our children by being honest, caring and loving with them. If we can teach our children to teach theirs about these three things, then is not too hard to see how this could really go on for ever.This makes me hopefull of a better place in the future.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Use of coconut oil as a renewable resource in 2050 Research Proposal - 1

Use of coconut oil as a renewable resource in 2050 - Research Proposal Example The fuel triggers environmental effluence that leads to universal heating (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2005). Given the effect, the world is now moving towards the use of renewable energy and the coconut oil is emerging as a possible source. The negative effect of the petroleum oil has made policy makers and environmentalists to research on renewable fuels that is environmental friendly. Among the possible source of fuel that can be put in place by 2050 is the coconut fuel. According to Alamu and his fellow scholars, the fuel is growing in popularity and scientists are working on a research that foresee the extensive use of the oil (Alamu, Dehinbo, & Sulaiman, 2010). Countries that would benefit from the fuel will be more than the current countries that produce the petroleum fuel. Every country in the coastal region can benefit from the product. The notion is that the coconut fruit grows widely in the coastal region, and a healthy tree can produce up to 120 fruits per annum (Alamu, Dehinbo, & Sulaiman, 2010). The fuel produced from the fruit can be used to power a diesel engine and therefore become a direct adjunct to diesel (Saxena, 2014). The productivity of the fuel is increasing as the stakeholders realise the impor tance of the fuel. The south pacific region is one of the areas that has acknowledged the importance of the fuel (Namakin, 2007). In this region, industries are adopting the use of the green fuel. The production of the fruit has been heightened to reduce the cost associated with the high demand of the product. The countries in this area are using the coconut fuel to produce electrical energy according to the FAO report (FAO, n.d.). Since the petroleum oil is cannot be replenished back, the long-run cost will be high. The high cost usually makes most of the countries to spend a lot on the oil. The cost incurred in importing fossil fuel have been cut, therefore, saving on

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Portrayal of women or the experience of femininity Essay

Portrayal of women or the experience of femininity - Essay Example Sexual relationship between a man and a woman has always been a very interesting yet controversial subject, and has conventionally invited a lot of debate with respect to their respective roles in the sex. In the lack of marital commitment, the regime in sexuality lies in the hands of man, whereas the woman follows him to gain the basic level of pleasure in sex. Marriage lays the basis of morality in the physical relationship between a man and a woman, and men generally respect this fact. When a man gets married to a woman, he accepts her wholeheartedly and shares his pleasures and sorrows with her. He considers the woman as his real life partner and shares everything he has with her, including property and all bounties of life. This is portrayed in several parts of Happy Ending by Margaret Astwood. With the passage of time, the two get used to each other and can not live without each other. They may have individualistic interests, but they derive satisfaction from the fact that they are committed to each other. Their sex life is quite normal, and wives do not have to be slaves to their husband to derive sexual pleasure and physical satisfaction. They may have sex quite often or they may not have sex at all, though, in no case, does the husband supersede the wife on the ground of sex. Commitment of sexes towards each other is fundamental to their equality in sex. In the sexual relationship between John and Mary explained in the part B of Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood, Mary is enslaved to John. This part depicts the psychology of cohabiting that is increasingly becoming a practice in many modern societies. Owing to high divorce rates, and the general tensions associated with marriage, women tend to look for the right man to whom they can get married. In their attempt to avoid a displeasing marital experience, they resolve to cohabit with men, and tend to make the men love them and get used to them before both of them can enter the sacred institution of marria ge. In the practice of cohabiting, men take maximum benefit of their privileged position. They take advantage of the weakness of women and use them for physical satisfaction and that too, in the most indecent manner. Men are far more decent towards women in marital sex as compared to sex out of marriage. This can be estimated from the order in which John undresses himself to have sex with Mary in the part B of Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood. A person with shear common sense and humanity will expect any kind of decent sex to start with emotional stimulation of both the partners. Decent sex is smooth and full of fantasies, feelings, emotions, and respect of both genders towards each other. Respect is fundamental to the decency in sex. In decent sex, whoever initiates the sex seeks approval from the partner. The two enter into sex through mutual consensus and the sex is driven by acknowledgement and encouragement of each other’s sexual fantasies. In such a sex, both of the par tners would fully undress and would like to stimulate each other to the apogee of orgasm. The man in a respectful sexual relationship would like to see the body of his partner, and would appreciate the beauty of it both verbally and physically, whereas in the part B of Happy Endings, John does not show the slightest interest in looking at the body of Mary. He never asks her to take her clothes off. He doesn't take off Mary's clothes, she takes them

Ethical Scenarios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical Scenarios - Essay Example I would ask my teammate to exclude me from her deceptive behavior. By asking Stephanie to lie, she compromises Stephanie's sense of moral judgment and is put in the awkward position of telling a lie or betraying a friend. It would not be in Stephanie's interest to allow herself to be placed in that position. It is emotional extortion and I would only say that if you want to know the whereabouts of my teammate, you need to ask her. Corin is acting in their own self centered world without regards to the team. His actions are bringing the teams performance down and in doing so he has ignored the goals of the team. To achieve goals, Corin needs to set aside his personal feelings and work to achieve the teams objectives. The performance may not mean anything to Corin, but they do to the team and that's what the decision should be based on. Darcie is acting admirably in a goal based ethics system. She has two goals, the team and learning marketing. Neither goal can be achieved by dropping the class. Part of operating with goal based ethics is the concept that the goal is what is important. You may have to sacrifice other self-interest objectives to accomplish your goal. By working with the team she can accomplish both of her goals. Jerry and Samantha are correct in believing that everyone

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

A, Critically explain an account for the equitable maxim equity will Essay

A, Critically explain an account for the equitable maxim equity will not assist a volunteer and B, Critically explain an account for the differences between equitable and common law remedies - Essay Example A donatio mortis causa is where property is transferred to another in expectation that the maker will be dying soon after the item has been transferred. The transfer is conditional that the death is imminent. Such a gift is effective form the moment it has been made subject to the death of the testator soon after making the bequest. The gift is classed as an inter vivos gift such that if the testator does not die as expected the gift will be revoked. Blackstone talks of donatio mortis causa as occurring when a person ‘in his last sickness, apprehending his dissolution near, delivers or causes to be delivered to another the possession of any personal goods to keep in case of his decease’. Swinburne identifies 3 types of donatio mortis causa, these being a gift in anticipation of death, a gift moved by imminent danger which takes effect immediately and a gift where a person in peril of death gives something to the donee that only becomes the property of the donee if the donor dies. The Lord Chancellor disagreed with this stating that only the first of these was a donatio mortis causa. The Lord Chancellor made the comment that the second type would be an inter vivos gift whilst the third type would be a testamentary disposition. ‘for an effectual donatio mortis causa three things must combine: first, the gift or donation must have been made in contemplation, though not necessarily in expectation, of death; secondly, there must have been delivery to the donee of the subject-matter of the gift; and, thirdly, the gift must be made under such circumstances as shew that the thing is to revert to the donor in case he should recover’ As a result of cases such as Sen v. Headley2 the courts have adopted a different approach to the application of donatio mortis causa. The new conditions require that the gift was made in contemplation of death, rather than expectation; that the gift is made subject to the condition that it will only

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

How would allowing Capital Punishment cut down on crime in America Research Paper

How would allowing Capital Punishment cut down on crime in America - Research Paper Example It is argued that children, however, should not be subject to the death penalty—the only exception. â€Å"‘From a moral standpoint, it would be misguided to equate the failings of a minor with those of an adult, for a greater possibility exists that a minor's character deficiencies will be reformed,’ Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in the opinion for the court.†2 In that sense, juveniles should be spared, but adults should not be. â€Å"As a child psychologist, [California State Senator Leland Yee, Ph.D., has] firsthand experience with troubled children and understands that they have an extraordinary capacity for rehabilitation. The neuroscience is clear — brain maturation continues well through adolescence and thus impulse control, planning and critical thinking skills are not yet fully developed until adulthood.†3 Thus, a juvenile stands a greater chance of being offered parole or some other opportunity that is an alternative to the standar d in a corrections facility. Perhaps the juvenile might be able to enter a program with job training and a sentence reduction in return for good behavior. The main point here is that the juvenile’s actions can show growth and change if allowed time and space to flourish—while an adult has lived much of his or her life already, having made various life choices along the way, many not so wonderful. Further, the death penalty is fitting punishment for an adult, but not for a child. As Mr. Yee pointed out, the youth’s brain is still in a developing stage at age 18 and below. â€Å"Without positive interventions to redirect the youth's development, an absence common to so many of the youth who subsequently become involved in serious delinquent or criminal activity, these youth are inappropriately subjected to the ultimate sanction without adequate regard for these mitigating circumstances.†4 Not given the appropriate chance to demonstrate his or her capability to rise above and beyond the limitations placed upon him or her due to the circumstances of a bad upbringing or abuse, a youth is faced with the serious task of having to change behavior or be disciplined for it. The death penalty, therefore, seems like a good answer to deter crime in America. â€Å"In Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that courts must examine mitigating circumstances when issuing the death penalty. However, most juvenile capital offenders are represented by appointed counsel without the time or resources to sufficiently investigate such mitigating factors as psychiatric history, abuse, or mental capacity.†5 With so many youth having mitigating circumstances, the death penalty is not a viable option. Now, by law, it is definitely not an option to hand down a sentence of capital punishment to juvenile offenders. However, for mentally capable adults, the death penalty is simply a permanent solution that yields results: lower crime rates. Now, while the death penalty for youth would definitely not solve underlying issues that youth may have, this neglects the fact that youth deserve a second chance to prove their worth. Capital punishment would be fundamentally flawed as a punishment for a juvenile offender as it would be a final judgment, and there would be no retracting the punishment once it

Monday, September 23, 2019

Leadership and Management Style at Google Research Paper

Leadership and Management Style at Google - Research Paper Example According to Daft and Lane (2008, p.17), leadership develops â€Å"a compelling vision for the future and creates far-sighted strategies for producing the changes† required to achieve that vision. Thus, while leadership requires an eye on the long-term future, management calls for a focus on the bottom line and short-term results.   Shared Leadership at Google â€Å"Google’s goal is to organize the world’s information† (Duin & Baer, 2010, p.35). The company is ahead of schedule to meet its high target. The previous Chief Executive Officer at Google, Eric Schmidt has been replaced by Larry Page. In 2001 the Board of Directors of the company had brought in Schmidt to supervise the then 27-year-old founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. For one decade, Google’s management structure was described as a three-ring circus with the co-founders Page and Brin running the business behind the scenes, while Schmidt formed the public face. Currently, the three ma nagers who were equally involved in making decisions mutually agreed on Page taking the stage. Eric Schmidt stated that the earlier â€Å"triumvirate approach had real benefits in terms of shared wisdom† (Schermerhorn, Osborn, Uhlbien & Hunt, 2011, p.299) and that they would continue to discuss the big decisions among the three of them. At the same time, they decided to clarify their individual roles to ensure clear responsibility and accountability among the management and leadership of the company. The main aim is to simplify the leadership structure and speed up decision making. Thus, Larry Page leads product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths; and as Google’s Chief Executive Officer is also in charge of the company’s day-to-day operations. Sergey Brin as co-founder focuses on strategic projects and new products, while the previous CEO Schmidt â€Å"serves as executive chairman working externally on deals, partnerships, customers, an d government outreach† (Schermerhorn et al, 2011, p.299). The company’s leadership is confident that this focused approach would serve Google and its users well in the future. It is acknowledged that Page’s taking over the company’s management is at an ideal time. Google’s business is doing well, with the revenues of $29.3 billion showing an increase of 24% from the previous year, and profits rising high. However, the concern is for the future rather than for the present. There is a sense that Google’s best days may be over, with the company facing tough competition from Facebook and Microsoft, and losing top talent to younger tech shops.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example for Free

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Aristotle’s two magnificent Children: Ethos the Spiritual Motivator, and Logos the Blunt Persuader Among the multiple appeals from Aristotle, there lies rhetorical analysis. Applying Aristotle’s appeals to present day advertisements breaks down all the aspects and qualities of each advertisement, thus identifying motive behind the color scheme to the emotion or lack of, behind the script. There are two different types of styles of writing that I’m going to talk about in this paper, Ethos and Logos. In this specific ad, there are examples of Pathos and Ethos used in order to have a successful advertisement. â€Å"Rhetorical approaches are concerned with the use of reason in efforts to persuade an audience, but not only with reason: they also consider the personal qualities, characteristics and skills of speakers† (Ellis). After looking at the ad for a long time and analyzing it, it’s clear that Figure Weight Loss means business. In this paper I am going to focus on the different aspects of Ethos and Logos and how they apply to the ad itself in broad terms, a side story of a girl named Shannon, and their three keen promises to make it safe, effective, and affordable for each client. In literary terms, Ethos can be referred to as a spirit that motivates ideas and customs, and it could also be traced back to times of economic change in ancient Palestine. In other literary terms, Logos means that you as the writer are persuading through reasoning. Even though that the advertisement isn’t a big one and is in a small reach magazine, it still packs a tremendous amount of meaning. When I was flipping through magazines I was getting bored because nothing was really eye appealing that’s when I decided to open up a Reach magazine because they usually have something or some things that are appealing and fun to look at. I was almost done flipping through the pages and I saw my two most favorite colors combined in such a unique way I didn’t even care what the ad was about, I stopped. Tying in with ethos, the advertisement the three physicians at the bottom right hand corner look serious and they give that sort of sense that it is okay to come to their place because they mean business and they know what to do. Tying logos to the advertisement is easy; the people at Figure Weight Loss offer an $89 first visit and free medication for the whole first month, that sounds like some good reasoning to me. â€Å"By Aristotle the systematic and technical definitions and uses of persuasion in both texts are analyzed in depth. Parallels are then drawn between the categories of persuasion used in the two texts and Aristotles philosophical categories of ethos and logos† (Kraus). The logic and reasonable qualities of the advertisement associate with Shannon, I would say if Shannon could do it then I can, but I’ve already lost 35 pounds in less than two months. However if Shannon and I can do this, anyone can. The story about Shannon is unclear, it just shows her on the ad and says that she lost 52 pounds. It doesn’t say what she weighed when she came in or her weight when she came out. However she still dropped the weight on the system created by Medical Doctors Raimi Carrigan, Robert Grober, and Greg Weckenbrock. Shannon was probably a regular woman that was overweight and went out to search for a solace. Shannon probably heard about this through a friend or went snooping around. Anyway Shannon found the spirit that ethos provides and felt motivated enough to consult a experienced physician and get started on their program to lose weight, and to become a better person. Logos can be applied because, Shannon was persuaded not only by the doctors at Figure Weight Loss, but she was also being persuaded by herself to get her life back on track†¦ and she did. â€Å"You make a choice in your life, and it affects you life in all the ways, good and bad† (Mayer). At their location in Edgewood Kentucky, the Medical Doctor’s basically have a 3-bullet point insurance policy. They ensure that their work and style is very safe, very effective, and rather light on the wallet. They also claim that you will see immediate results, they claim that they have been the best group for weight loss since 1999, and that they have the best-certified, and best trained physicians specializing in weight loss. â€Å"Physicians endorsed significantly more stringent weight loss goals for obese female patients than obese male patients. Regardless of patient gender, physician goals exceeded the 5–10% losses currently recommended† (Dutton). Ethos has a special place here because it takes the â€Å"safe, effective, and affordable† approach, and then brings it to real life. If you are on the wrong track like Shannon was, this ad should motivate you like it did her and get you where you need and want to be. Logos also has a special spot reserved here because if other companies aside from Proactive, Gillette, or Nike didn’t have famous people endorsing them like Carrie Underwood, Clay Matthews, or Tiger Woods, than those companies wouldn’t be as successful as they are now. I’m not saying that Figure Weight Loss has the potential to ever be as big as Nike is today, but they have Shannon, a living example of Figure Weight Losses’ success. Among the multiple appeals from Aristotle, there lies rhetorical analysis. Applying Aristotle’s appeals to present day advertisements breaks down all the aspects and qualities of each advertisement, thus identifying motive behind the color scheme to the emotion or lack of, behind the script. â€Å"Rhetorical Analysis can play in helping students to develop their knowledge and awareness about writing and in transferring their knowledge about writing to different tasks and contexts both in and out of the classroom† (Graff). Ethos and Logos come in all different shapes and sizes. Ethos motivates you through spirit and good will, while Pathos states real and actual facts that can persuade you to do great things. Works Cited Dutton, Garreth R. Comparison of Physician Weight Loss Goals for Obese Male and Female Patients. Ed. Perry G. Michael and Cutis C. Stine. EBSCO Host, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013. Ellis, Jaye. Law and the Limits of Reason: Rhetorical Approaches to Self-Determination and the Use of Force. EBSCO Host, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013. Graff, Nelson. Teaching Rhetorical Analysis to Promote Transfer of Learning. Ebsco Host, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. Kraus, Manfred. How to Classify Means of Persuasion: The Rhetoric to Alexander and Aristotle on Pisteis. EBSCO Host, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 29. Mayer, John C. John Mayer Quotes. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Creole language

The Creole language The Creole language that will be considered during this essay will be Mauritian Creole. Mauritius is found of the African continent, in the south west of the Indian ocean. This island was visited by the Portuguese in the early 16th Century, and by the Dutch in the 17th Century. They were the ones whom first permanently settled there, however due to certain conditions on the island, such as the weather conditions which they could not adapt to, caused them to leave some years later. At this time, the French were ruling the island near Mauritius, which is called la Reunion, and therefore saw this as an advantage and took control of Mauritius in the 18th Century, and as a result it was under the French rule. The French started importing slaves from different areas, such as East and West Africa, India and Madagascar and grew in numbers quite rapidly. They settled on the island using a Creole as a means of communication. Due to the increase in the numbers of slaves, the European population diminished, which caused the Creole language to expand. Some time later during the Napoleon war Britain took over, which meant that English became the language of the government and also education. However, French was still the language used in other domains, but Creole was used the most. At the moment the population of Mauritius is around 1.2 million, whom all speak the Creole language, even though it has been known that English is the official language. In A.Richards book, he states that English is not the preferred language regardless of the fact that it has a colonial past on the island and that â€Å"beyond school and work it is rarely used.†He adds that, â€Å"the official language of Mauritius is English, although most Mauritians are more comfortable speaking French. The language of the people, however, is Creole.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Although Creole is spoken by the majority of its inhabitants, â€Å"people who want to climb the social ladder† are now choosing French or English. â€Å"This fact proves again the sociological content of pidgins and creoles. In most areas they are spoken by the lower classes and abandoned as soon as a person aspires to a higher position in society.†(M.K Adler P54) In actual fact, the pidgins of Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean areas all have â€Å"connections with each other through European colonisation and the slavery system.†(M.Sebba P169) Firstly the term ‘Creole will be taken into consideration, in order to get a better understanding of what will be explained. â€Å"This term has been appropriated by linguists to describe a particular group of languages spoken not only by Black populations in and around the Caribbean, but in many other locations world-wide.†(H.Nwenmely P15) When people from different origins came together, the only way they could communicate would be with simple vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, pidgin as a language was used, until it was expanding and therefore resulting in Creole which, â€Å"results fulfils all the communication needs of its speakers but, while the vocabulary is drawn from the dominant language, the structures which it uses are often very different, and, in many cases, derive from the subordinate languages.†(H.Nwenmely P16) Let us examine the connection between Creole and pidgin language. It can be said that there exists a strong link between Creole and pidgin because if the original language that is spoken by the native speakers is a pidgin, it has been nativised. In other words, it has become a creole language. â€Å"The idea that creole languages are nativised pidgins emerged during the late sixties and developed in the seventies.†(C.Lefebvre P14) Usually, a Creole becomes more complex and refined than a pidgin, which then results in â€Å"its vocabulary expands, its grammar stabilises and its pronunciation becomes more fixed†. (M.K Adler P14) According to C.Lefebvre, â€Å"Creoles can emerge rapidly, in this case in one generation†(P15) Pidgins are known to be more of a second language, in other words a language which is learnt throughout generations, whilst Creole is developed by children as a native language. Therefore, pidgins are â€Å"contact languages without native speak ers,†whilst Creoles are â€Å"contact languages with native speakers.†(M.Sebba P169) Nevertheless we need to remember that even though pidgins and creoles are different, they both ‘share structural features such as grammatical simplicity and small vocabularies when compared with their lexifiers. (M.Sebba P168) In general, Mauritian Creole is an easy language to be learnt as â€Å"there are no grammatical rules†andâ€Å"English, French and Indian words can be adapted by â€Å"Creolising† them.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Therefore, the speaker can utilise the language to communicate in a non-structured way, whereby the style of speaking, vocabulary, syntax, phonology or grammatical structures can be as good and as acceptable as any other language, as it is also â€Å"not formalized and as such does not have a dictionary.† (http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Mauritian:Creole.htm) One main linguistic feature which can be examined in the Mauritian Creole, is the lexifier. â€Å" Where a single language is identified as the source of the majority of the lexicon of a pidgin or creole, it is known as the lexifier†¦the lexifier often equates with the European colonisers language where there is one.†(M.Sebba P25) This language contains many words from the French language, but according to Sebba, she states that â€Å"Baker (1972) notes that more than 150 words are derived from English, more than 50 from Indian languages and several from Malagasy and Chinese.†(M.Sebba P144). It is possible to say that many words clearly origin from the French words but in the Creole lexicon, for example the French ‘le, la, l is usually connected with the noun it affects. Moreover in French, articles are frequently joined with the preposition ‘de. However, in Mauritian Creole, the sound which is produced can undoubtedly be reflected into a single word. E xamples of this could be ‘le pied in French, which in English means foot, becomes ‘lipye in Mauritian Creole. Furthermore, de leau meaning water in English, becomes ‘dilo in Mauritian Creole. As we can see, the articles which exist in the French language, ‘le and ‘la becomes part of the actual word itself. Nevertheless, some words that exist have completely changed their meanings. One example would be â€Å"gayh†, which means â€Å"to have something† in Mauritian, which originally comes from the French word â€Å"gagner†, meaning â€Å"to win something.† Phonology is another aspect which can be examined. This term can be described as the study of sounds, and in this case, the study of the sound system of Mauritian Creole. Phonology can be linked with the organs of speech (palates, alveolar ridge) and how it is used, and also it can mean the features of sound, for example accents and intonation. The sound system for Mauritian Creole is very similar to French, however it still has some obvious differences. This can be said as â€Å"the Creole does not have some of the more deeper and rounded consonants that the French does. For example, manger (eat) in Creole is written manzer and is spoken the same as the French, with the exception that the more rounded g sound in the French is flattened to sound like the s in the English word vision.†(http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Mauritian:Creole.htm) Another aspect which can be recognised is the rounded vowels which exist, such as â€Å"U† and â€Å"EU† that are pronounced as â€Å"I†, â€Å"U†, â€Å"E† and â€Å"O†, which in French are usually pronounced as â€Å"U† and â€Å"EU†. Another striking example would be â€Å"among the many phonological regularities in the derivation of Mauritian Creole words from French is the following tidy principle: French nasal vowels remain nasal†¦but when the French is followed by a word final voiced plosive (d, b, or g) the final plosive is dropped, the MC vowel is denasalised†and â€Å"m,n and ng becomes a sharply pronounced consonant.†(Seuren P100-101) The Mauritian orthography also generally follows French, but some silent letters are not taken into account, which cuts the number of ways in which the same word can be spelt. The vocabulary, in other words, the words or phrases used in Mauritian Creole is interesting to examine. M.Vaughan investigates the languages slave roots. According to her, the linguist and folklorist Charles Baissac reports how Creole uses â€Å"guetter† (to look for) instead of â€Å"regarder† (look). Similarly, â€Å"roder† (to prowl) means â€Å"chercher† (to search in French). Nouns are also important in Mauritian Creole as they do not change when they are pluralised. As a consequence, whether a noun is singular or plural can only be verified by the context. For example, the word â€Å"ban† is put before the noun in order to change the sentence to the plural form, â€Å"ban dimoune† meaning those people, whilst â€Å"dimoune† on its own would mean people. Even though the French â€Å"un/une† is equivalent to the Mauritian â€Å"en†, the way in which it can be used is different. In Creole the article â€Å"la† is used, however it is placed after the noun it changes. In French you would say, â€Å"un chat†, â€Å"le chat†, â€Å"les chats†, whilst in Mauritian you would say â€Å"en chat†, â€Å"chats-la†, ban-chats.† Whether or not the pronoun is the subject, object, possessive, male or female, there is only one word which is used to describe these. This word is â€Å"li†, which can be used to describe he, she, him, her, it or hers. There are also words which are used in sentences to indicate the tenses. For past tense, the word â€Å"ti† is used before the action, â€Å"fin† is used to mark the perfect tense, and â€Å"va† for future. The syntax of Mauritian Creole, especially the use of their question words is also interesting to note, which DeGraff explains in his book. The way in which Creole contrasts with both the English and French language is that it does not have a â€Å"subject-auxiliary inversion in connection with wh-movement.†(DeGraff P78) For example, if we directly translate the phrase â€Å"ki u ule fer dinmen?†, it would be â€Å"what you want make tomorrow?†, and in idiomatic English, â€Å"what do you want to do tomorrow?†(P78) Another example would be, â€Å"kan nu ti fer fet la?†, directly meaning â€Å"when we TNS make party DET?†and in idiomatic English, â€Å"when did we have the party?†(P78) DeGraff continues to comment that â€Å"most question words are created in Mauritian Creole by prefixing ‘ki to nouns of time, place, way and so on, which are drawn from the French lexicon.†(DeGraff P78) He then follows on by explaining †Å"such a bio morphemic way of forming wh-words appears to be typical for Creole languages.†(DeGraff P78) On the other hand, while it seems that some structural elements of Mauritian Creole are typical of creoles in general, it is important to note that Mauritian Creole is not entirely typical of Creole languages. We can take H.Wekkers opinion on this when he comments that typically â€Å"creolization is best described as a gradual process of language formation, involving a period of bilingualism in which substrate features will be transmitted.†(Wekker,H P140) He also discusses about â€Å"abrupt creolization†as a way for development when there is â€Å"extremely limited access†to the main language, but that this manner of development of a Creole language is â€Å"the exception rather than the rule.†(P141) However, we can consider that according to some theorists, Mauritian Creole is a perfect example of this kind of abrupt creolisation, whereby the language is a â€Å"radical creole.† (DeGraff P77). As a matter of fact in Sebbas book, she discusses how in 1773, it was stated in a newspaper advertisement how a lost slave did not understand the Creole language. This therefore indicates that twenty two years after the slaves were first imported to Mauritius, â€Å"an identifiable local language had developed,†(Sebba P142) which caused the slaves difficulty in comprehending. Without a doubt, this means that it can be said that this language is not essentially typical of the Creole languages in general as Mauritian Creole seemed to have developed very quickly and not necessarily derived from a pidgin language. Baker and Corne also suggest this in their book, as they believe that Mauritian Creole originated on the island of Mauritius between the years of 1727 and 1738, without ever having any connections with the pidgin languages. Moreover, they suggest that it was the slave children who created the Mauritian Creole, as when they were born in Mauritius, they outnumbered the white settlers. On the other hand of this suggestion, R ichard says â€Å"it evolved from the pidgin used by the French masters of the 18th Century to communicate with their slaves or their masters who invented the Creole language.†(A.Richards, R.Ellis, D.Shuurman P21) Therefore there is an argument which concerns to whether or not it was the slaves or their masters whom created and developed the Mauritian Creole. The fact that Mauritian Creole lacks the pidgin language, it makes it unusual and according to Wekker, it is therefore quite an â€Å"exceptional† language. (Wekker P141)

Friday, September 20, 2019

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies

Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Relationship Between CSR and FTSE 100 Companies Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In todays business world the phrase corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a relevant and frequently discussed topic. By definition it is the non-profit activities engaged by a business concern that aids the society, economy and the environment. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has defined CSR as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community, and the society at large.† (WBSCD, 2000) Modern business concerns place CSR in high priority. In the fifth global CEO survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers World Economic Forum concluded that 70 per cent of chief executives around the world have the opinion that corporate social responsibility is fundamental in the process of profit making in the business. In the Western European region, 68 per cent of the big companies have joined the triple bottom-line performance namely the economic, social and environmental factors along with financial performance whereas in the United States, this figure is 41 per cent (PricewaterhouseCoopers/BSI Global Research Inc, 2002). However 80 per cent of the company managers in the US are of the opinion that CEOs status is a factor of major influence on corporate reputation, although interestingly this value is just 56 per cent in the UK. According to Business in the Community, more than 70 per cent of business leaders believe that incorporating responsible business activities makes busin ess concerns more competitive and profitable. (Hancock, 2006) 1.1 Why was this topic selected? If the topic doing research to find out if there is a relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate financial performance (CFP) of a company is able to find out with positive outcome and relationship between the two, then it may be an eye opener to various entrepreneurs to the various financial benefits CSR can bring about to business. This is so especially in the medium and small scale industries, which are yet to fully utilise the CSR in their business routines. From a common person point of view, when large corporations and business concerns take part in community relief and environment friendly activities, it makes a whole lot of difference to the society and the environment. So it is greatly beneficial for humankind to explore and bring out to light the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the firms financial performance. 1.2 Background of CSR: Many of the ideals and customs of the corporate social responsibility have references dating back to the 19th century. But it was during the 1960s and 1970s in the United States that there was resurgence in the mindset of people towards this phenomenon. It was during this period that various modern policies of civil regulation were invented. This includes the social audits, social investment funds, voluntary codes of conduct, recognitions for social and environmental activities and more commonly the use of corporations as potential places for political activity. During that period there were many protests and demonstrations like the boycott of Dow Chemical in 1970. There was also a campus-led movement pressuring firms to retract from South Africa in the 1970s which was similar to the challenges faced by the corporations having investments in countries like Burma and Sudan. Since the 1990s many companies form America and Europe that have headquarters either in the United States or Europe have taken aboard some voluntary standards for employment states, environmental activities and also regarding human rights. These fresh measures have since then became standardised in many companies, corporations and other agencies. These new measures have been monitored and reported. These initiatives that were not heavily legal have since been the standard setter for what is known today as corporate social responsibility. Some of the fresh changes that were brought about by this civil regulation were: (1) A positive reduction in the amount of children hired for labour every year. A massive improvement in health and safety in various factories around the world which provide the large firms with products including shoes, clothes, toys, etc. (2) A cut down in the production of wood from endangered forests and animal habitats, which were used to manufacture furniture for United States and Europe. (3) Providing reasonable prices for some agricultural producers like coffee growers for their products. (4) A considerable decrease in the emission of greenhouse gases especially in the wake of the greenhouse effect. (5) A withdrawal of firms from Burma in the wake of the human rights abuse in that country. (6) Some more recent examples are the lowering of prices of drugs for AIDS and other diseases. After that companies have come forward and set examples of CSR initiatives for other companies to follow, even when there is no restriction on them in the countries concerned to limit their activities. For example Home Depots policies regarding environment have helped in the sustaining of some of the rainforests in the South America. The government of Chad cannot be trusted in handling their oil reserves properly. So ExxonMobils efforts to keep an eye on its royalty payments means that at least some of the money is not wasted. Indonesia does not have adequate policies to protect the environment. Therefore Chevron Texacos activities have protected the fragile ecosystem in Papa New Guinea. Having discussed that, it must also be said that the effectiveness of codes, such as the UN Global Compact, Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights, the Equator Principles, etc, are not very effective. The improvements are likely to happen, particularly if the monitoring and other measures are effectively carried out. One of the most outstanding obstacle standing in the way of these social changes is of course the cost factor. Many corporations do keep cost aside for these activities, but most of them have not found to be adequate. This is one of the reason researches have to be carried out that point to the connection between CSR and CFP, because CEOs and managers should be aware of the possibilities created by CSR on the firms reputation and financial activities. So that firms can spend more time and money on their CSR and hence create good value for them, their stakeholders and ultimately the society. Today even countries in the developing world have started to demand bet ter working conditions and environmental safety for their environment. In countries like India people have been protesting against big companies for their discrimination. For example there has been a recent outbreak of protests in India against soft drink manufacturer Coca Cola for their indiscriminate usage of underground water and also its contamination, since underground water is a major source of drinking water through wells in many parts of India. CSR is also a factor that is good for a society regardless of it being located in developed or underdeveloped countries. It is a universal phenomenon that is advantageous. This contributes to its popularity and prominence. Some countries practise CSR ideally in their manufacturing hubs located in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some others stick to bringing about local changes and prosperity. For example the constructing of a school, university or a hospital is considered as a valuable contribution to the society. The company benefits from these activities because they indeed sow the seeds for future graduates who may become skilled employees for them. Also environmental activities earn sympathy and support from local authorities who may reduce taxes and other duties for the company on the basis of their humanitarian concerns. Later on in the 1990s there were protest against companies like Nike and Shell, and since then the importance of CSR has grown significantly. In 2005 a search on Google for â€Å"corporate social responsibility† would yield 30000 sites. There are more the 15 million pages on the internet with address dimensions of CSR. This is including 100,000 pages based on corporate websites. In 2005 Amazon had more than 600 books on the subject. More than 1000 business concerns have created and adapted signed codes of conduct which clearly states their individual stand on issues such social, environmental, animal rights and human rights. The numbers of firms that issue reports on CSR initiatives have gone up to 2000 in the year 2005.in the country of United States there were more that 200 social mutual funds in 2005, and they saw their revenues increase tenfold over a span of 10 years. Global organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank and the Organizat ion for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), vigorously endorse the phenomenon of CSR. These governing bodies regularly monitor, advice, and award the efforts and initiatives taken by the companies every year. In the last two decades various charitable organisations have also sprung up, which work together with companies, and aids in their activities. Previously CSR was used only to address internal business ethics and policies. Nowadays this narrow view of CSR has changed and evolved into a variety of issue. Today a companys social venture could include initiatives to uplift education, poverty, unemployment, animal rights and other basic needs for community development. Some companies pursue more specific goals like aids relief, cancer research, disability support etc. For example firms established in the automobile industry may come up with safety programmes for motorists. Today in many countries, households have the chance to invest their money in various non-monetary savings and investments. In many countries, which are listed in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), special banks offer facilities in savings account where the customers are assured that the money will be used for environmental sustainability programmes, or to help some entrepreneurs, who find it hard to get money from other institutions. The target group for these investments have generally been women and minorities. Today the impact of CSR has grown so much that people even in countries like South Africa and Brazil has the opportunity to invest their savings in socially responsible initiatives that checks the CSR of the firms in which they invest (International Finance Corporation (IFC), 2003). Many companies contribute for the conservation of the environment by finding new methods for recycling and elimination of non-biodegradable compounds etc. Therefore modern businesses have realised the increasing acceptance of socially responsible companies in the minds of people, so much so that it has become a trend to undertake social initiatives by the business enterprises. 1.3 Reason for doing good: There are many opinions that reason the indulgence of business companies in non profit initiatives. But the commonplace one would be that the companies perform good activities because good things and image are preferred by the masses. The public argue that these activities impress the investors, business analysts, business partners and the potential customers. The whole picture will look good in the companys annual reports and maybe even the company may have some luck in the courtroom and the parliament. This ultimately gives a vital boost to the companys brand image and reputation. There are many distinct and underlying advantages for business concerns. The distinct advantages clearly give the business a boost in monetary terms, hence being a direct contributor to financial performance. The underlying advantages may not directly save money for business, but they indirectly become advantageous to the business and eventually bring about financial gains thereby affecting its performance. For example Chiquita a global leader in the manufacturing of bananas decided to follow an environment friendly approach which saved them more that $5 million in 2002 compared to the year 1997. The trick behind this was the implementation of smaller quantity of agrichemicals and the adoption of a paller recycling program which actually saved them more than $3 million a year. This however was only the tip of the iceberg. Chiquita had bigger, but much more discreet advantages, by adopting a more socially responsible image. The company which was previously a target of media backlash w as going through a period of damaged company reputation which was a threat to its business functioning. They turned this around with their environment friendly approach and activities. This change in policy also created a sense of pride among the employees and helped in developing a more open and clear communication with the media. These developments will ultimately increase the financial performance of the companies by ensuring their smooth functionality. A frequently referenced study is by the University of Southwestern Louisiana, called â€Å"the effect of published reports on unethical conduct on stock prices† confirmed that publicity about unethical corporate conduct reduces stock prices for a minimum period of six months. From a truly customers point of view, it can be said that in todays marketplace there are a lot of alternative choices for customers when deciding to by a product in the criteria of product, price and distribution channels. Researchers have shown that consumers base their purchase on reputed companies, that indulge in fair trade and other sustainable business practices including concerned about the society in which they operate, provided the price and quality of the products remains similar. As an example if a consumer had an option of two products that have similar qualities and price tags, the consumer would prefer the product that was produced by a ‘greener company (green being symbolic of the community welfare and environmental efforts of the company). 1.4 Aims of the project: This project aims to answer the following issues: 1) Is there a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company? In addition the relation between the size of a company and the CSR is observed. 2) If there is a relationship, is the relationship positive or negative? 3) Discuss the various relationships between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. (CSR is measured by the value taken from the Business in the Communitys Corporate Index ratings and CFP is measured by the changes in stock prices before and after being rated in the Index ratings). 4) Evaluate the relationship between CSR and CFP in the FTSE 100 companies. 1.5 Structure of the dissertation: The introduction part of this dissertation includes a description about the aims and objectives of the research and the reasons for choosing this topic. It also contains a brief insight into the background of CSR and some of the previous researches conducted on this topic. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the various studies and researches conducted on this topic from the period between 1977 until recent times. The literature review also tries to bring out various points of view of different researchers and lays the foundation for this study. Chapter 3 or the methodology section discusses the various modes of data collection used in this research to arrive at the appropriate conclusion. This research utilises the share prices of a sample of 20 companies in the FTSE-100 for representing CFP and also their comparative ratings in the BITCs Corporate Index ratings to show the value of CSR. Alternatively questionnaires were distributed to obtain some qualitative data. Then in chapter 4 comes the primary research section which uses first hand data available regarding the companies to try to find a solution to the questions imposed in this study. It also discusses the 2 styles of data collection namely positivist and phenomenological styles. Chapter 5 consists of the discussion and conclusion section to analyse and compare the previous information collected in literature review and primary data research to arrive at a final conclusion regarding the topic. The result maybe positive or negative, nevertheless a result should be arrived at as per the available information and also so that possible recommendations can be given for further references and studies. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Studies explaining the different aspects of CSR-CFP relationship: According to Peloza (2006), the CSR and CFP can be analyzed from four perspectives In the above figure show the conflicting side against the knack of CSR as a provider to the firms financial ambitions. The far left depicts the antagonists of CSR who are of the opinion that any money spend by the firm on CSR are a complete negation to the firms economic gains, whereas in the extreme right are the supporters of CSR who claims it as a supporter of the firms financial goals. In the vertical axis separates the above two different views of CSR on the basis of a long term and short term approach. The long term managerial viewpoint on CSR involves a longitudinal approach to the evaluation of the effect of social schemes and the short term is for a static, cross-sectional perspectives that directs more on immediate effect or do not openly consider the time aspect. There are various arguments against CSR that can be shown on the 1st quadrant. Margolis and Walsh projected three main categories of these objections to CSR on the basis that it clashes with the business financial motives. According to them one of the explanations that opponents of CSR give is that the firms benefit society more when they create maximum profits for their shareholders. Another opinion was that individual shareholders should be the deciders of investing in social initiatives; the firms should only focus on achieving maximum profits for its shareholders. Finally they express concern that many shareholders are not aware of the social initiatives of the firm and are not given opportunities to have their say in them. The antagonists claim that the firms may make wrong decisions regarding the allocation of resources for social responsibility and hence they are not eligible to perform it. In quick contrast to all this, quadrant 2 depicts the protagonists of CSR claiming that it helps in the realization of the firms financial objectives. Various studies were conducted in relating to this quadrant. At first a value or positive CSR is paired with a firms performance indicator such as the stock price. Then a negative amount of CSR (for example harmful waste disposal) is paired with an amount of firms financial performance. The result in each of these cases was a positive relationship between the two. This is supported by a meta-analysis conducted by Orlitzky et. al in 2003 and other various studies conducted over the past 30 years, which generally discovered a positive connection between CSR and CFP. Also negative CSR has been associated with negative impacts on share prices. For example Shell Oil Company suffered a setback in share prices after an oil spill in 2001 in Nigeria. This is caused due to the negative CSR. A large number of researchers have favoured a short- te rm view of the time factor. They argue that majority of the firms expect to get positive returns on their investments in the same year. Former Chrysler CEO Bob Eaton once said that the organizations have a common goal of getting constant year-in and year-out profits from their companies in their portfolios. They do this because the shareholders everywhere follow a common rule: â€Å"if they are not satisfied, they sell† (Reich, 1998). According to Werbel and Wortman (2000) suggest that firms use these initiatives to temporarily ward off negative media coverage. However when we consider the ability of CSR to affect CFP in a bad way, several investigators are of the opinion in extending the short term perspective to a long term one. Taking the case of quadrant 3, even though the impact of environmental regulations on the business is only a limited one, still there would be a long term effect in the form of productivity slowdown Stavins (1994). Also there is an argument that when a firm takes up a social initiative, its competitors will start to match its actions and hence it will result in a competition which will prove to be costly and a subsequent decrease in profits. The researchers say that nowadays it has become a trend among big companies so much that every large companies are expected to do some investments in socially responsible activities by their customers; hence making it as a sort of tax. Nowadays researchers are beginning to consider CSR as complimentary to CFP taking into consideration the long term perspective as depicted in quadrant 4 in the According to the researchers the social objectives need not necessarily be in conflict to the economic objectives, but rather be a supplement to it. For example if a company funds a school or university in its locality, it actually paves the way for future employees that are well educated and support and develop the companys cause and also at the same time changing the social climate in the locality for the better. Another long term advantage that companies can muster by indulging in social responsibilities is the building up of reputation. A good reputation has always been associated with positive financial returns. Bhattacharya and Sen (2004) are of the idea that CSR builds a large pool of goodwill that firms can rely upon in times of crisis. Similarly McWilliams and Siegel (2001) say that positive CSR produces a reputation that a company is reliable and honest. 2.2 CSR in stakeholder theory: Stakeholder theory suggests that a company must not only try to meet the demands of its shareholders, but also those with the lesser explicit, or implicit claims (Gornell and Shapiro, 1987). Stakeholder theory also brings to light that implicit claims like product quality are actually less costly to a firm than the demands of its shareholders which are more explicit. The low social responsibility of the company may place doubt in the minds of its shareholders about the ability of the company to fulfill its implicit claims, and hence the shareholders may demand more explicit claims which may prove costly to the company. For example if the firms manage to evade from its environmental responsibilities (dumping of waste, usage of recyclable materials, etc), the government agencies and officials may impose strict regulations like duty, fines etc on the company. These circumstances may raise doubts in the minds of implicit stakeholders, who may question its efficiency. On the contrary soci ally responsible and environmentally friendly companies may be favored by the government and they might even get a reduction or exemption from certain taxes and duties on account of their actions. 2.3 CSR as insurance cover: Another important aspect that consolidates the positive relationship between CSR and the financial outcome of a company is the conceptualization of CSR as kind of insurance for the business which is especially helpful in the time of a crisis. CSR may help the company to create a good impression among the government authorities and helps the company to evade government impositions. This is difficult to evaluate when examining the relationship between CSR and financial performance, even though it indirectly affects the financial outcome. Davidson and Worrell (1992) advocated that the losses incurred by the firm due to a dent in their reputation is much higher than the physical costs incurred from actual event itself, such as product recall. Also in the same manner Blacconiere (1997) and his co-workers conducted various studies, and found out that firms with active environmental activities had a lower reduction in market value. A research carried out around the Seattle riots in 1999 against the WTO meetings came up with two conclusions. The research was conducted on 400 firms across a cross section of firms and found out that firstly there is a noticeable industry effect where companies with negative CSR ratings suffered incrementally over companies from neutral industries. They also concluded that once the industry effect has been removed, the positive outcome of the CSR ‘insurance is distinct. Specifically companies that had negative CSR had to undergo a stock market decline of double the times that of companies that were known for the CSR activities. Researchers have previously argued that firms with good name and status can overcome crises. For example is the Tylenol tampering in the 1980s, were Johnson Johnson suffered lesser economic problems, when compared with companies with bad reputation (Fombrun, et al. 1996). Fombrun (2001) also says that reputations have considerable concealed value that acts as a storage house of goodwill. During the time of crises they act to minimise the moral and financial damage to the company. Jones et al. (2000) have conducted a study taking taken a large number of companies to find out if their reputations can help them during a crisis. They discovered that firms in the better part of the Fortune Magazines annual survey of the ‘Most Admires Firms in America experienced lower market valuation losses in the stock market plunge that took place in 1983(SP 500 went down 7 per cent on that day), than the companies that were in lower part of Fortunes ratings. The capital in socially responsible investment funds have greatly increased in the last ten years. In 1990, only seven US firms issued their annual reports citing their social performance. But by 2004, 745 of these reports were release due to the increasing pressure on the corporate managers to do so. (corporateregister.com) These developments clearly brings to light not only the incremental profits by increasing sales, but also the capability of CSR to maintain sales and stock prices in the time of crisis. 2.4 Major studies done to evaluate CSR-CFP relationship: Researchers Sandra Waddock and Samuel Graves (1997) of Boston College made a study on two aspects of the topic: (1) Whether there is a positive or negative relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance of a company, or if no relationship exists at all between them. (2) If the exists a relationship then, whether the financial performance was due to the previous practises of CSR or if CSR was a succession as a result of high financial performance. Waddock and Graves (1997) utilised the data collected from and independent research organization. The data was collected of all the companies in the SP 500. The data was calculated for each companys CSR performance based on a rating scale that integrated eight important attributes of CSR namely environment performance, staff diversity, staff relations, community relations, product features, military contracts and involvement in South Africa. The above attributes were then ranked according to their relative significance. This scaling method involving eight aspects of community welfare solved the problem of measuring the largely diverse CSR activities, which was faced by previous researchers. Waddock and Graves studied the links between CSR and CFP of 469 firms during the year 1989 through 1990. The firms were from different sectors of business industries including hospitals, aerospace, mining, publishing and utilities. The study made use of different figures of finance like return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS) and return on equity (ROE). The analysing of data from two consecutive years meant that the duo researchers could test the slack resources theory, which tests if better CFP leads to a better CSR in the consecutive year. The theory which finds out if a good CSR leads to improved financial performance, was called the good management theory. This theory was studied with CSR data in the year 1990 and compared with the CFP figures of 1991, therefore with a time lag of one year. The following results were unearthed from the survey: (1) The slack resources theory was found to be true. CSR of the firms were increased by the precedent financial success of the firms. (2) The good management theory was also proved as fine CSR activities contributed to the firms financial performance when measured using ROS and ROA. They came to the conclusion that the correlation between CSR and CFP can be attributed to a virtuous circle, in which both of them are mutually correlated. It is difficult to predict whether the cycle starts with CSR or CFP, but it is evident in the investigation that they are mutually correlated. Meta-Analysis: A prominent study conducted by Marc Orlitzky and Frank L. Schmidt titled â€Å"Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis,† was awarded the Moskowitz Price by the Social Investment Forum. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. The research was conducted by examining 52 studies that were published between 1972 and 1997, that contained a total of 33,878 observations. This Meta analysis utilises statistics to evaluate results of each different studies and adjust for the statistical errors. The Orlitzky Meta analysis concentrates on four major hypotheses: (1) In various industries and study contexts, CSR and CFP are normally positively linked. (2) Between CSR and CFP there is a bi-directional causality. (3) CSR is positively connected with CFP because of two reasons: (i) CSR boosts managerial proficiencies and organizational efficiency and supplies to knowledge about the companys political, technological, social, market, and other environments. (ii) A positive status and goodwill is created among the companys external stakeholders through CSR. (4) Most of the differences in results of some studies are due to statistical or methodological errors. The researchers then selected studies that carried out a quantitative assessment of the connection between CFP and CSR by taking into account at least one characteristic of firms economic performance, and met the given description of CSR. The CFP in this study is calculated by dividing into three forms namely accounting based, where accounting outcomes determine a firms efficiency; market-based where the investors returns are the determinant of market value and finally the survey results that shows the subjective estimates of a firms current position. While CSR is normally measured from CSR rating indexes, social audits, CSR disclosures and the organizations codes and values. The findings of the research were phenomenal. The researchers claimed that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and CFP across various industries and other study contexts. The following were their conclusions: (1) CSR had a stronger connection with CFP when using the accounting measures of analysis than when market-based measures where used. (2) Environmental development as CSR affects CFP of a company to a lesser extent when compared with other aspects of CSR. (3) The relation between CSR and CFP could be described as a virtuous circle in which a higher CFP motivates the companies to spend more on CSR, and a good spending on CSR will allow the firms to become more successful, hence increasing their CFP. The message of the research to the managers of companies were that money spend CSR is a good investment for the development of CFP. The research also found out that the managers use CSR as a tool for building reputation as previous studies have established that there is scope for reputation development through CSR. The disadva