A firm’s action determines the type of media coverage it receives. For example, good CSR firms, in general, get favorable and positive media coverage. Through Cahen, Chen, and Chen’s detailed research, it is true that there is a causal relationship between CSR performance and favorability of media coverage. So, a way to maximize firm performance is to do CSR-related activities in order to boost a firm’s media image, and a firm with a better reputation is known to attract more customers. Also, a better media image resulted in higher firm value.

I agree with the authors’ findings because I believe news influence people’s view toward a company. For example, if I switch on the TV and found out that a company was donating money or helping the environment, I would more likely buy their products. But, if a firm is involved in some shady business, I would not be their customer. So, media coverage has its advantages and disadvantages. But, a company that is socially responsible will become more and more popular through reporting of the business press. In conclusion, almost all firms benefit from good media coverage, and to get that advantage, firms should have CSR.  

Reference: Cahan, Steven F., Chen, Chen, Chen, Li, & Nguyen, Nhut H. (2015). Corporate social responsibility and media coverage. Journal of Banking & Finance, 59, 409.

The employee’s attitude towards his/her firm has a negative effect on their performance. So, employee cynicism reduces the performance of a firm through three types of organizational cynicism. They include employee questions the integrity of the firm, detests the firm because of personal reasons and attacks the firm in the public. In order to prevent employees’ action from ruining the firm’s image, which leads to a loss in profit, a firm should invest in CSR. According to Reynaud, CSR reduces employee cynicism because it causes their employee to trust the firm and their coworkers.

CSR efforts may include creating a safer and more comfortable environment should be established for employees because it increases positivity and commitment to the firm. The more appreciation a firm show to their workers, the more work they are willing to do. When people think about CSR, they usually think about donating to charity, something out of the workplace. But, benefitting its workers is another form of CSR, which also improves a firm’s performance. If a firm treats its employee well enough, the employee would be grateful and in return work harder in return. I agree with the author because employees have the power to influence on what others think about the firm. The reputation of the firm is in the hands of its employee.  

Reference: Reynaud, E. (2018). How Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility Affects Employee Cynicism: The Mediating Role of Organizational Trust. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-15.

In the twenty-first century, almost everyone can access news and information through their devices. Firms know that whenever the media gives plenty of attention to something, it will become trending and influential on people’s decisions. For example, there is countless news on employees mistreating customers, and as a result, people would boycott the business. So, firms became warier of their position and surroundings because there is a chance their misdeeds or CSI can be recorded and broadcasted through the media. Firms would less likely to perform CSI since it can hurt their profits if their misconducts are exposed. Also, a firm’s CSR or charities are spread across social media as well. By using media, firms could make the world know about their actions in improving the community or environment to potentially attract more customers. In conclusion, media attention lowers chance of firms committing CSI, and improving chances of firm’s CSR.

Firms receiving that are receiving a lot of attention from media would less likely to be irresponsible because people are watching, and the wrong move can harm their performance. According to stakeholders theory, a firm’s duty is to maximize profits. In order to maximize profits, firms need to act according to the public’s expectations. I agree with Zyglidopoulos. It is obvious firms want the public to know about their good side and hides their bad side. So, when firms perform CSR, they want the media to spread the news about their responsibility because having a good reputation improves firm performance.

Reference: Zyglidopoulos, Georgiadis, Carroll, & Siegel. (2012). Does media attention drive corporate social responsibility? Journal of Business Research, 65(11), 1622-1627.

The stakeholder approach is a management philosophy which prioritizes the growth of stakeholder’s equity in an organization. Those who support the stakeholder approach view CSR as something good, and on the other hand view CSI as something bad. As many may know, CSR is an action taken by an organization to help out society, and hopefully, it can improve the reputation and performance of the organization in return. So, through the stakeholder approach, marketing managers and others view the performance of CSR as having a benefit on both society and the organization, a win-win situation. But, CSI, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, the opposite of CSR, are misdeeds companies perform that hurts society in order to achieve benefits, usually short-term. Companies perform CSI secretly, but in the modern day, where technology is everywhere, it is easier to expose their misdeeds and spread the news than before.

The authors, Price, and Sun, means that companies should prioritize CSR over CSI because not only is CSI unethical, it is going to hurt or even destroy a company once the public finds out about the wrongdoings. For example, the Enron scandal, the corporation hid their financial losses while lying about the increase in profit by not falsely reporting their situation. Their stock surged and Eron expanded, it also obtained many facilities, but once the public found out about the losses in profit, the stock price went from an all-time high of $90.56 to $0.26. Employees lost their jobs and retirement funds. The company went bankrupt. So, this article’s message is don’t rely on CSI.       

Reference: Price, & Sun. (2017). Doing good and doing bad: The impact of corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility on firm performance. Journal of Business Research, 80, 82-97.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a policy in businesses that aims to help improve the society and/or the environment, even though it is not required of them by law or obligation. While CSR is optional, there are intensive debates whether firms should incorporate it into their system. There are two sides to a society’s view on CSR. One group, the business-focused, believes that a firm’s only duty is to aim for high profits in order to satisfy its stakeholders, while not breaking any laws. The other group, society-focused, believes that companies have the responsibility to involve itself in philanthropic activities to give back to society. Although CSR is nonmandatory, many agree it is against society’s moral and ethical code by keeping wealth to themselves.

I agree with the author of the book, Okpara(2013) that CSR is not required of firms, but society expects powerful firms to be charitable. I love the fact that Okpara convinces leaders of the 21st century and potential ones to utilize CSR as a catalyst for a company’s growth, instead of mocking firms without CSR policies. I, personally, do not view wealthy companies that do not implement CSR as selfish because it is their choice and I would probably keep all the profits. But, I and most of the population are attracted to companies who engage in charity.

Reference: Okpara, John O. ; Idowu, Samuel O. (2013). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Should firms invest in CSR? There were many research on effects of CSR on firm performance in the past and found out that CSR, in general, provides unstable outcomes on performance. It is unclear whether CSR improves or undermines firm performance. No firm is the same and not every firm is in the same situation, so there would be a lot of unpredictabilities. But, firms in a competitive market or environment receive more benefits from CSR investment than firms in lower competitive area. In a competitive scene, customers usually prefer firms that provide goods at low prices and other factors. CSR might drive customer’s attention away from pricing and make them focus on the social values of the firm instead, and of course, firms with good reputations to attract more customers.

Basically, CSR could be used as a marketing device to improve a firm’s prestige, which results in more profit. I agree with the author that CSR can have a positive impact on firm performance.  For example, I experience pleasure being a customer of Wells Fargo, knowing their generosity– they promised to donate some amount of their earnings each year. Sometimes, people favor firms that help our society over other firms because it feels like the customers themselves are doing the helping by supporting the firm financially. In conclusion, CSR does not improve every firm, but only ones that are in a competition with other firms.        

Reference: Kemper, Schilke, Reimann, Wang, & Brettel. (2013). Competition-motivated corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1954-1963.

The demand for corporate social responsibility is increasing. It may seem like a positive thing, but there is more to it. More and more companies are providing the public with CSR reports, but it’s hard to rely on it because CSR reporting is optional and not regulated by the government. The world largest companies’ reports in 2014 showed they were in poor quality and even contrasting to other reports. Because of this, stakeholders are suspicious and distrustful. To combat this problem, another firm that is relevant and renowned promises to issue CSR reports truthfully. However, this method called external assurance is still young and unpopular.

So, here is an advice, don’t trust CSR reports completely. Misuse of CSR can harm a company, but it can also benefit from it if used correctly. For example, a company’s reputation increases, which results in trusts from its stakeholders and authorities, allowing financial freedom. The CSR-sustainability monitor report is undoubtedly significant to my research because the Weissman School (2016) identified a notable problem from the modern day and mentioned a possible solution. The author made good use of data through extensive research instead of his/her personal view on CSR–he/she was unbiased. I agree with the author that CSR can be profitable or ruin depending on the situation, but CSR is definitely trending.  

Reference: Baruch College Zicklin School of Business Weissman Center for International Business (2016). Report on the Scope and Quality of CSR Reports from the World’s Largest Companies (2016 edition.). New York. NY: Baruch College.

Bo Ming Wang

Eng 2150

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/bomingwang

I love stocks

Before I was enrolled at Baruch College, I struggled to find my major. I was clueless about what I wanted to study and focus on. For example, in middle school, I wanted to be a policeman; In elementary school, I wanted to be an artist; in junior high school, I wanted to be a doctor; in high school, I wanted to be a teacher. I was so puzzled. Some people say follow your heart, but then there are many subjects I love equally. Realistically, if I really did listen to that advice, I would have multiple occupations. Keeping this in mind, I went on a mission to find another field I felt enthusiastic putting my heart into, and in return, be able to provide me with a stable and long-lasting career.

I found what I was searching for while I was on vacation in China. That year, I became interested in finance, specifically the stock market aspect of finance, which was first introduced to me by my uncle.  I remember that my uncle would always babble about the fluctuations of stocks’ value, but I did not pay much attention to him because it sounded too complex and crazy to me, at first. He personified stocks. Somewhere along the lines of “How could you betray me. I placed my trust in you.” and “I love myself. I knew you would grow.” To be honest, I found it peculiar that every few minutes, he would check his computer like he was possessed or addicted. I expressed disinterest until I found out that he earns money by following a simple process of buying and selling stocks. I was shocked at how he was able to secure sufficient income to support his family and purchase almost anything he wanted while staying home looking at charts. It made me curious. So, in my free time, I developed a habit of performing research on simple guidelines for beginners. I was thrilled but the hype in me quickly dissipated as soon as I found out that I failed to meet a requirement. I needed a guardian’s consent to participate in the stock market. Too bad I was not eighteen at that instant. As a result, I gave up on it because my parents did not approve of me investing in something so risky. But, at eighteen years old, I began stock trading on Robinhood app to get a taste. I was mediocre; I did not win or lose money.My lack of skill made me want to improve even more because I want to be the best in everything.

Luckily, in my senior year of high school, I was reintroduced to stocks in my economics class. My economics teachers separated the class into teams of three and made us play a stock market simulation game on iPads. In this game, teams were given ten thousand dollars to purchase stocks, and the team with the highest net worth at the end of the year wins real money. The competitive and serious nature of the game was lovely. I remember it like it was yesterday when my teammates and I debated over whether spending the last thousand on Apple or Facebook. Things got heated, but like true gentlemen, we fought with words and reason, with no malice involved. This shows how engaged and absorbed I was. Although my team did not win, I learned a great deal and absolutely enjoyed the experience. I always believed that I was solely motivated by the financial aspect and would take any job that promises high salary, but I was wrong. This game was influential; it made me realize how much I enjoyed stock trading. Companies sell stocks to raise money, and buying them is technically financing their business. If the value of a stock I bought increases, that means I assisted the company’s growth. I love to see things I put trust in bloom.

Finance, in general, is the study of money management, which is a must. Wealth management is an essential skill for everyone to learn, and mastery in this would improve judgment on financial decisions, buying, saving, and investing is an example. Plus, in a financial center such as New York, I would get more opportunities to learn from prominent professionals. Also, I like to look at the suitability of a major that is relevant to me. I was taught by my parents and teachers to build on my strengths. Since I excel at math, it is sensible to select a major that is related to it. Of course, finance is not only about math. In order to be involved in finance, one needs a plethora of skills, including problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills. In my honest opinion, a finance degree is perfect for me because I have these skills in my arsenal. One time, when I was a cashier in a retail store, I was on my shift and a violent customer came and demanded a return on a product, but this store had a no-return policy. So, for some reason, the ruthlessly angry man mocked my ethnicity and my family, and even worse, the manager was absent. I had the option of cursing him and potentially be fired or endure the abuse and come out unscathed. I held my head high and maintained eye contact because I was not intimidated by him. Of course, I kept my cool and politely explained to him our policy, and I told him to wait for the manager if he had additional problems. When facing a difficult problem, I do not panic, rather, I take a calm and timely approach to generate as many solutions as I can, and in the end, I would take the best option. I also possess a strong and reasonable mind; I would not allow any of my emotions to influence my decision-making. Although I might not be a powerful speaker, I can positively communicate things loud and clear–currently in speech class and will continue to improve.  

Baruch College’s most popular major is finance. It is not surprising since financial knowledge is in demand in almost every part of the world. Finance is one of the fundamentals of, ranging from, something small like managing a business to something massive like investing in the world’s well-being, for example, technology. Technology accelerates everything–education, food production, health, and finance contributes to the widespread of technology. Financial professionals have an unimaginable impact on the corporate world. They can eliminate stagnant behavior and promote the growth of an organization, and I want to join them. Recently, I am performing research on corporate social responsibility, a policy in which a corporation helps society and environment. Managers usually use CSR as a marketing device to attract consumers in highly competitive industries. If I grasp the concept of CSR, I hope to gain the ability to effectively invest and utilize CSR to benefit my employers.