Επιστηµονική επιτροπή:

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2 Επιστηµονική επιτροπή: Πουλυµενάκου Αγγελική, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια ΟΠΑ Βουδούρη Ειρήνη, Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων, Επικ. Καθηγήτρια ΟΠΑ Βρεχόπουλος Αδάµ, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Λεκάκος Γιώργος, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Μούρτος Ιωάννης, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Νικολάου Ιωάννης, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Πραµατάρη Κατερίνα, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Χατζηαντωνίου Δαµιανός, Επικ. Καθηγητής ΟΠΑ Κρητικός Μανώλης, Λέκτορας ΟΠΑ Ανδρουτσόπουλος Κωνσταντίνος, Λέκτορας ΟΠΑ 2

3 Πίνακας περιεχοµένων Session 1: Εταιρική Κοινωνική Ευθύνη & Πράσινη Επιχειρηµατικότητα... 6 An Examination of the Environmental-Financial Performance Link, Under Economic Crisis: Evidence from Greece ( )... 6 The Impact Of The Economic Crisis On The Link Between CSR And Firm Competitiveness. Evidence from Greece... 7 Determinants of information disclosure of corporate environmental sites: the role of environmental performance, trust and stakeholders engagement Τα 4 C s της Πράσινης Επιχειρηµατικότητας σε Περίοδο Οικονοµικής Ύφεσης Διερεύνηση Των Παραγόντων Που Επηρεάζουν Το Επίπεδο Κάλυψης Των Κριτηρίων Βιωσιµότητας Μέσω Των Απολογισµών Εταιρικής Υπευθυνότητας Η σηµασία της χρήσης Προγραµµάτων Εταιρικής Κοινωνικής Ευθύνης Session 2: Πληροφοριακά Συστήµατα & Τεχνολογία Λογισµικού From ASP to Cloud Software-As-A-Service: An old wine in a new bottle? Semantically Meaningful Group Detection within Sub-Communities of Twitter Blogosphere: A Topic Oriented Multi-Objective Clustering Approach Charting the API Minefield Using Software Telemetry Data An Overview of Algorithms and Techniques for Basket Data Analysis Relational access to Unix kernel data structures Measuring the Occurrences of Security Bugs in Large Software Ecosystems Session 3: Εφοδιαστική Αλυσίδα & Πράσινη Διαχείριση Σχέσεις Μεταξύ Συµπεριφορικών Παραγόντων, Ολοκλήρωσης και Απόδοσης στην Εφοδιαστική Αλυσίδα Παρακολούθηση του Περιβαλλοντικού Αποτυπώµατος στην Ελληνική Εφοδιαστική Αλυσίδα Προϊόντων Ταχείας Κίνησης Πλαίσιο ανάπτυξης energy - aware πληροφοριακών συστηµάτων Εταιρική Κοινωνική Ευθύνη Και Διοίκηση Εφοδιαστικής Αλυσίδας Αναδιάρθρωση Επιχειρησιακών Λειτουργιών µέσω της RFID Τεχνολογίας- Μελέτες Περίπτωσης Ελληνικών Επιχειρήσεων Session 4: Επιχειρησιακή Πολιτική Η Εξέλιξη των τιµών των Νωπών Οπωροκηπευτικών και Κρεάτων στην Αγορά Πρωτευούσης Ο Ανταγωνισµός Τιµών Στην Αγορά Αµόλυβδης Βενζίνης

4 True values and asset prices Η διαµόρφωση των τιµών γάλακτος στην Ελλάδα Is Implied Correlation Predictable? The Impact of Board Structure on Corporate Performance in Greece Session 5 : Εφαρµογές Διαδικτύου publicspending.gr: Μια Διαδικτυακή Πλατφόρµα Διασύνδεσης, Αναζήτησης, Διάθεσης και Απεικόνισης Ανοιχτών Δεδοµένων για Δηµόσιες Δαπάνες Βιωσιµότητα και Ανάπτυξη στο µεταβαλλόµενο Τηλεοπτικό Περιβάλλον Η Πειστικότητα στο χώρο των Συστηµάτων Υπόδειξης Εντοπίζοντας Κακόβουλες Αξιολογήσεις Προϊόντων σε Κοινωνικά Συστήµατα Υπόδειξης Μελέτη Περίπτωσης Ανάπτυξης Καινοτόµων Υπηρεσιών: Επιχειρηµατικό Σχέδιο Δηµιουργίας Ηλεκτρονικής Επιχείρησης Χειµερινού Τουρισµού Εφαρµογή Κινητού Τηλεφώνου για την Ελαχιστοποίηση της Κατανάλωσης Ενέργειας Οικιακών Συσκευών Session 6: Διαδίκτυο & Μέσα Κοινωνικής Δικτύωσης AT&T vs Verizon: Mining twitter for customer satisfaction towards North American mobile operators Τα Μέσα Κοινωνικής Δικτύωσης και η Xρήση τους στην Επιχείρηση Προστασία Προσωπικών Δεδοµένων στα Μέσα Κοινωνικής Δικτύωσης Μια µελέτη περίπτωσης για το facebook Στάσεις & Αντιλήψεις των Χρηστών του Facebook: Πώς Επηρεάζουν την Πρόθεση Αγοράς & Κατανάλωσης Υπηρεσιών; Can the motivation behind Internet usage explain the frequency of use of Social Media Session 7: Βελτιστοποίηση Συστηµάτων Μεταφορών & Εφοδιαστικής Διαχείρισης The Seaside Operations of Container Terminals Problem Coordination in a Two-Node Supply Chain with Asymmetric Information Multi-Echelon and Multi-Source Vehicle Routing Problems: A Review Economic Production Quantity Models under various learning effect Μέθοδοι Βελτιστοποίησης για το Πρόβληµα της Αντιµετάθεσης Session 8: Marketing

5 Ανάπτυξη Πρότυπων Τρισδιάστατων Διαδικτυακών Καταστηµάτων και Μελέτη της Επίδρασής τους στη Συµπεριφορά του Καταναλωτή Branding Greece Via Sustainable Development Η Χρήση των Social Media από τις επιχειρήσεις & η αποτελεσµατικότητα τους στη Συµπεριφορά του Καταναλωτή Ψηφιακό Μάρκετινγκ: Εκσυγχρονισµός Στον Κλάδο Των Βιβλίων The mediating role of self-concept discrepancy in the relationship between values and personal based motivation of luxury service consumers Η τεχνική του Gamification ως µέσο αύξησης πρόθεσης συµµετοχής καταναλωτών σε προσφερόµενες υπηρεσίες Session 9: Ανθρώπινοι Πόροι & Οργανωσιακή Ψυχολογία Ο Ρόλος του Οργανωσιακού "Δούναι και Λαβείν" στην Ψυχική και Σωµατική Υγεία των Εργαζοµένων Job Satisfaction and Well-being in Shipping Industry. The role of Human Resource Management in the frame of Corporate Social Responsibility The Role of Organizational Culture And Its Contribution To The Professional Identity Of ASPAITE Students Προνοητικότητα Και Αναζήτηση Εργασίας The Multiple Roles of HR Manager in Employees Use of Work-Family/Life Policies: A Multi-Level Approach Development of a Video-based Situational Judgment Test and its Validation in Comparison with the Paper and Pencil test Session 10: Καινοτοµία & Ανταγωνιστικότητα Entrepreneurship in the Public Sector: The Impact of Identification and Decision Making and the Moderating Effect of the External Environment Η Διαχρονική Εξέλιξη Της Παρουσίας Μια τυπολογία των επιχειρήσεων έντασης γνώσης στην Ελλάδα Οικονοµία και µέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης Καινοτοµία και ανταγωνιστικότητα Ενισχύοντας την επιχειρηµατολογία της χώρας για την προσέλκυση κοινοτικών πόρων Ανάλυση Δικτύων Γνώσης

6 Session 1: Εταιρική Κοινωνική Ευθύνη & Πράσινη Επιχειρηµατικότητα An Examination of the Environmental-Financial Performance Link, Under Economic Crisis: Evidence from Greece ( ) Eirini Papanikolaou 1, Giorgos Papagiannakis 2 Athens University of Economics and Business Lately, businesses realize the importance of having an environmental strategy not only as a part of their social responsibility but also as a key to their success. Literature shows a weak, but consistent positive link between environmental strategy and valuable economic outcomes, in form of cost efficiencies, quality improvements or increased reputation, among others. This connection though has not yet been examined in economic environments under crisis. Such a research could be of interest, since nowadays there are such circumstances not only in Europe but also globally. It would give us the opportunity to provide evidence on whether an environmental strategy can truly offer firms enduring and resistant competitive advantage. The purpose of this study is to contribute to this gap in the literature, by testing the link between companies financial performance and their environmental strategy, during a hard economical period, such is the period of for Greece. From 2008, right before the crisis, we have completed questioners from 120 Greek productive companies regarding their environmental initiatives. By following their performance during the next four years from secondary sources and categorizing the companies depending on the sector in which they operate, we can analyze this data with multiple regressions to test our theoretical hypotheses. The contribution of this paper is to examine whether the win-win premise of the business-natural environment relationship holds under severe economic crisis. The results of this research will be useful to the international literature and to the business practice. 1 fab_irini@hotmail.com 2 gpapagian@aueb.gr 6

7 The Impact Of The Economic Crisis On The Link Between CSR And Firm Competitiveness. Evidence from Greece Solon Magrizos 3, Eleni Apospori Athens University of Economics and Business 1. Introduction 1.1 Prologue When the global economic crisis hit Greece with a time lag, the country found itself in the most difficult position in its recent history. Amongst rumors of Greece s departure from the EU zone, economic bankruptcy or IMF intervention, researchers surveyed six of the biggest commercial banks excelling in CSR implementation to investigate the success linked to these activities. While perhaps not representative of the entire services sector in the country, the banking sector is an ideal candidate to investigate due to its strong dominance in Greece and the Balkans, and due to its powerful CSR efforts. After the relevant literature investigating the business benefits of CSR was reviewed, the research questions were formed and semi-constructed interviews were scheduled with the targeted banks. 1.2 The Greek banking system Until recently, the Greek banking system (1987) operated under strict state control. However, in the last 25 years, financial institutions were deregulated and the Greek banking system went through a substantial degree of privatization and internationalization [14]. Therefore, the way Greek banks operate has changed drastically. After recognizing the importance of improving servicesdelivery and of more efficient resource allocation, they changed their operations and marketing policy [8]. Unsurprisingly, the big consumer banks became some of the biggest spenders in implementing and communicating their CSR strategies. Of the seven Greek companies included (in 2009) in the FTSE4Good European Index, five are banks [20] In Greece there are currently4 62 commercial banks operating; however, despite this large number, just six of them dominate the national banking system representing about 80 percent of the total banking market ([3] p.1008). The banking sector is one of the few (if not only) sectors in Greece that remained profitable when the economic crisis hit Greece. While, in 2009 the y-o-y profitability in the banking sector unavoidably declined by 42%, the net interest margin stood at 2,6% - twice the European average. ROE and ROA also remained above their respective European averages5. 3 solonas@gmail.com 4 31/12/2010. Source: National Bank of Greece. 5 All data for the first nine months of All data taken from the speech of Eleni Louri, vice president of the Greek national bank Accessed here : 7

8 2. Literature Review Perhaps the largest debate regarding CSR is whether it is linked to financial benefits. This is echoed in the numerous studies trying to establish a link between a company s social and financial performance. Despite the vast amount of literature dealing with the matter [12, 9, 23] are some of the most cited) results are still largely inconclusive. At some levels, a positive relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance has been established. However, the payoff from socially responsible programs is not guaranteed and may take time [23]. The most recent and complete review is by [12].In a metaanalysis of the results from 167 studies of the relationship between financial performance and socially responsible business practices they find that there is a weak but positive link between Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance, even if it is more likely for the public to punish an evildoer than reward a responsible company. Their main finding is, interestingly, that managers who dedicate corporate resources to social performance do not seem to be imposing a direct cost on their shareholders. In other words, investing in CSR is not profitable but it is not harmful either. CSR just pays for itself. [17, p24] Based heavily on [25], (Table 1, p249) overview of CSR benefits and the previous systemizations of [18], there are four areas of business benefits in which a socially responsible company could benefit: Brand Value. Positive effects on company image and, reputation and market access. Human Capital. Positive effects on employee motivation, retention, and recruitment, learning and organizational development Revenue increases from higher sales and market share: Access to capital through Socially Responsible Investments 2.1 Brand value The main arguments for corporate benefits of CSR are based on the social identity theory [21] and the assumption that individuals generally strive for a positive self-concept. The argument then is that if a company is perceived as socially responsible, it will be perceived as having attributes with which consumers will want to identify themselves [7,13]. Keeping in mind that consumers feel closer to some companies and brands than to others [6], Bhattacharya and Sen s [2] argument that consumers who identify with companies are more likely to be loyal to them makes sense. In other words, companies who are socially responsible generate an image that consumers identify with and are therefore more likely to stay faithful to the companies, try their new products, go out of their way to find the company s products, recommend the companies, or even pay a premium to get its products. 2.2 Human capital Corporate success depends largely on workforce quality; therefore, firms are becoming more and more interested in attracting the best workers to their companies. One way for a firm to become an attractive place for employees is through its CSR activity. [9] and [25] show that more applicants will pursue jobs at firms with a positive CSP performance, will attempt to interview with such firms, and will have a higher probability of accepting a job offer from these firms. Turban and Greening [22, p658] demonstrated empirically that a firm s CSP may provide a competitive advantage in attracting applicants. 8

9 But the sheer number of applicants attracted is not the only benefit companies can quantify from being responsible. A few researchers have pointed out that socially-responsible companies are much more likely to grow and retain loyalty and commitment to the organisation [11,15] and keep employee morale high [16]. 2.3 Revenue increases from higher sales and market share Of course, higher sales can come indirectly through the increase in brand value, but they can be achieved directly too. For example, when a company links a specific product to some cause, or when it enters a new market because of its CSR activity. (e.g. a t-shirt made from organic wool is produced because it is better for the environment, and the company simultaneously enters the niche market of people allergic to normal wool) 2.4 Access to capital An interesting motivating factor for CSR activities around the globe is Socially Responsible Investments (SRI), meaning that the more a company is perceived as socially responsible, the more likely people will want to invest in it. The purpose of socially responsible investing is dual: To let people invest in funds that reflect their own beliefs and values, and to persuade companies to become more efficient regarding their ethical, social and environmental performance while punishing the evildoers [5]. [1] for example, have found that the actions of green investors can encourage companies to change their environmentally-unfriendly practices either by investing in the green companies or by short-selling polluting ones. Thus, many companies change their behavior hoping to attract investments. The reasoning behind this expected investment attraction is twofold; The prospective investor is either ethically oriented and he invests in a responsible company because of the values this company represents, or he/she is simply profit oriented and sees the company s CSR activity as a way to hedge against corporate scandals [10] since a company that is (perceived as) socially responsible, is more likely to be viewed positive in an event of a scandal. Whatever the reasoning behind it, today, SRI is a large and complicated movement. According to the Social Investment Forum, $2.29 trillion in assets was socially managed in 2005 [4]. 3. The survey and the results Six of the biggest banks in Greece were contacted and a semi structured interview was scheduled with their CSR manager (when such a position existed) or the head of the department under which the bank s CSR activities fall. The banks surveyed were: Alpha bank, Bank of Cyprus, Emporiki Bank, Eurobank, Peiraios Bank, and Marfin Egnatia Bank. All six are commercial banks, members of the Hellenic network for CSR and traded in the Greek stock exchange. They are among the biggest companies in Greece. Four of them were at the time of the survey (first semester of 2010) among the top ten and the other two in the top thirty companies traded in the Athens Stock exchange in terms of capitalization. Based on the literature review, three parts of questions were asked: Firstly regarding the banks business benefits from CSR, secondly regarding the evaluation of CSR s Return on Investment (ROI) and finally regarding the economic crisis. 9

10 3.1 Business benefits In the first section of the survey, the respondents were asked if they have noticed a positive change to the bank s image by their customers due to their CSR implementation, or whether their CSR activities helped them attract prospective employees of higher quality and number. They were also asked if they CSR actions helped them enter new markets/ acquire more customers and if they gained any benefits due to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) through investors seeking to invest solely in socially responsible companies. Many of the surveyed banks mentioned a change in their customer base due to their CSR activities. Customers require the company with which they work with to have a social and an environmental profile, not just a business and economic profile (bank 1) When a customer has two credit cards in their wallet, we aspire that they will choose ours also due to our CSR activities but in order for him to have it there, we also need to be good at what we do (bank 3). both our personnel and customers appreciate and count in their decisions the social profile of the bank and this makes our bank more attractive than its competitors (bank 6). On the other hand, they also stated that this change in the behavior of their customers is hard to measure. The most common measure is external surveys the banks carry out to evaluate the loyalty and satisfaction of their customers, but even then it is very hard to isolate the cause of these attributes: we measured our customers loyalty and it scored very high, possibly due to CSR bank1 it would be very very difficult to attribute the loyalty of our customers only due to our social profile. It certainly plays a role. Anyway, I don t know how it could be measured. The only indication is probably the number of awards that we get. Obviously, such recognition will have positive effects on our reputation, but I cannot say to what extent (bank 4). Most banks surveyed agreed that the employers of a socially responsible company are more loyal to it. Our employees feel better working for a socially responsible company. Perhaps they are more loyal too (bank 1) When you do your business responsibly, you gain the respect and the loyalty of your workers (bank 2). The number of employees leaving this bank is very small, much smaller than the sector s turnover (bank 6). Companies with CSR actions attract more prospective employees too. We often receive mail of people aware of our CSR actions and interested to come to us (bank 6). While the feeling of the CSR manager was positive, most respondents agreed that there is no clear way to measure employee commitment because of the CSR implementation. Nevertheless, the banks measure the percentage of the employees that are aware (70% in bank 1, 80% in bank 5) and participate in the CSR actions (15% in bank 1), the employee turnover (bank 6) or the percentage of the employees that appreciate the banks CSR actions (85% in bank 3). Finally it is wrong to believe that CSR alone will attract and retain good employees. Consider the view of the CSR manager in bank 4: Employees want to come work for us because we give them 3 extra salaries per year. Is that not CSR? Or because we never pressure our employees to work late. Because we give them private health insurance. And a private pension fund. They will come for these benefits, not for our recycling! No, they are not more loyal. If they find somewhere better, they will go. They will not stay for our recycling program, but for our good Corporate Governance in general Regarding investors who are interested in the social profile of companies, almost all banks agreed that there is a great interest but only from investors from abroad since SRI is not at all widespread in Greece. Only one respondent reported their personal opinion that investors are not interested in CSR (bank 6) and one more said that the investor who care are the minority (bank5 ). CSR manager from bank 4 describes the link between CSR and the price of the market share of a certain company: The price of the market share of a company will be affected by CSR because CSR builds the name and the image of a company. IR (investor relations) is very closely linked to CSR and therefore the price of the market share is very much affected by CSR. When this is understood by other companies in Greece, their actions will change vastly 10

11 3.2 R.O.I. The second part of the questions explored the balance between CSR spending and CSR benefits whether the surveyed banks realized financial gain or loss from their CSR activity and if they measured somehow these results. The banks were equally divided in two groups. The first group of respondents said that all CSR projects beneficial for the company. ( the bank would not keep a CSR department if it was not profitable bank5, all CSR actions bring profit to us! bank 4) or should be ( ideally all CSR actions should be a win win situation bank 3) profitable for the company; otherwise CSR would be mistaken for charity. The second group of companies agrees that CSR could have business benefits but this should not be the only goal of the company (bank 6) and focus more on the ethical gains (bank 1, bank 2) from CSR: We don t expect a financial benefit from every action we do. When we give to an NGO an X amount of money, we don t expect to gain specifically from this action bank2 Regarding the measures themselves, most banks point out the lack of tools to measure the return on investment (if seen as such) from the money spent on CSR actions but most stated that there is a general feeling (bank 1, bank 4) that CSR helps the business- I don t know if CSR works, if it profitable. But I know that we could not afford not doing it (bank 3). The measures used are: the consumer awareness and involvement in CSR actions (bank 1), the relative cost of advertising (bank6) or the CSR-related products sold (bank 5). Other respondents discussed the long-term return on investment of CSR ( we measure ROI on CSR actions in a 3 year plan (bank 4), Our bank is 100 years old. Public trust is gained over time, not on a occasional basis (bank 2)). 3.3 Economic crisis The six respondents from the banks were also asked about the economic crisis. Specifically, the explored issues were whether the crisis has affected the implementation of their CSR actions and whether they believed CSR could help overcome the crisis. The banks were almost equally divided in two groups. First group of answers said that the crisis strongly affected the budget for their CSR actions. These were the companies that were also negative on the notion that CSR can be a solution to the economic downturn. The crisis affected our budget and our CSR activities. We implemented no new actions. Our main concern is to keep all our employees on the payroll (bank 1). I don t know if CSR could be a tool to overcome the crisis, I know that it may well be the victim of the crisis (bank 3). The second group of the respondents included the ones that reported no budget for CSR actions and said that their strategy remained unaffected. Those were also the companies that saw CSR as a possible tool to overcome the economic downfall. Exactly because what we do is very specific, the crisis had no influence on our CSR actions (bank 6) Companies that see CSR as a Marketing and PR tool will be affected from the crisis since they will have to limit their budget. Our company had no budget for CSR activities and therefore our CSR efforts were affected by the crisis much less. We focus on the important aspects of CSR. We are implementing four new actions with a limited cost, this year. Maybe CSR is a safety cushion against the negative implications of the crisis. But most certainly it is n important tool necessary for the sustainability of every company (bank 2) Yes, CSR is an opportunity to come out of the crisis. Nothing has changed in our CSR plan. On the 11

12 opposite, we took advantage of the new conditions created to promote green products and green entrepreneurship and grew our business. In each crisis there are winners and losers. We want to come out of it stronger. The sustainability of a company is very important but we need to examine at what price this sustainability is accomplished. We want to be sustainable, we want to be profitable but we want to do it in a way that respects the environment and the society (bank 5) 4. Conclusions In summary, the interviews show that there is a clear business case to be made regarding CSR. While the benefits are not always clear and not always easily measured, all the surveyed banks reported that they have gained business or financial benefits from their CSR involvement. Either through monetary savings (e.g. energy efficiency), productivity increase (more loyal and motivated workforce, access to capital etc) or sales increase (more satisfied and loyal customers, access to new markets etc) the CSR outcomes were reportedly outweighing the cost to implement CSR actions. It should be noted that even when the surveyed managers were unable to measure CSR benefits they all stressed the importance of CSR in their business. Therefore, CSR has the potential to evolve from a trend to the proper way of Corporate Governance and a tool to come out of the economic crisis, but it will do so only for those firms that manage to integrate it to the core of their business activity. Companies do not have the luxury to choose whether they will adopt the actions and values it stands for or not. The evidence from the banking sector in this paper makes a strong case for it. References [1] Barnea, A., R. Heinkel, and A. Kraus (2005). Green investors and corporate investment. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 16 (3), [2] Bhattacharya, C. B. and S. Sen (2003). Consumer-Company identification: A framework for understanding consumers' relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing 67 (2), [3] Chatzoglou, P. D., Diamantidis, A. D., Vraimaki, E., Polychrou, E., Chatzitheodorou, K., (2010). Banking productivity: an overview of the Greek banking system. Managerial Finance 36 (12), [4] Cochran, P. L. (2007). The evolution of corporate social responsibility. Business Horizons 50, [5] de Colle, S. and J. York (2009). Why wine is not glue? the unresolved problem of negative screening in socially responsible investing. Journal of Business Ethics 85 (0), [6] Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research 24 (4), [7] Giacalone, R. A., K. Paul, and C. L. Jurkiewicz (2005). A preliminary investigation into the role of positive psychology in consumer sensitivity to corporate social performance. Journal of Business Ethics 58 (4), [8] Giokas D., (2008) Cost efficiency impact of bank branch characteristics and location: An illustrative application to Greek bank branches. Managerial Finance, 34 (3), pp

13 [9] Griffin, J. J. and Mahon, J. F. (1997) "The Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance Debate", Business & Society, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp [10] Hiß, S. B. (2004). Corporate social responsibility: A myth? the example of the round table codes of conduct in Germany. Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation [11] Maignan, I., O. C. Ferrell, and Hult (1999). Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and business benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27 (4), [12] Margolis, J. D., H. A. Elfenbein, and J. P. Walsh (2007). Does it pay to be good? A meta-analysis and redirection of research on the relationship between corporate social and financial performance. Working Paper Harvard University [13] Marin, L. and S. Ruiz (2007). I need you too! corporate identity attractiveness for consumers and the role of social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics 71 (3), [14] Noulas A., Glaveli N., Kiriakopoulos I., (2008) Investigating cost efficiency in the branch network of a Greek bank: an empirical study. Managerial Finance, 34 (3), pp [15] Peterson, D. K. (2004, September). The relationship between perceptions of corporate citizenship and organizational commitment. Business Society 43 (3), [16] Porter, M. E. and M. R. Kramer (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review 84 (12), [17] Reinhardt, F. L., R. N. Stavins, and R. H. K. Vietor (2008). Corporate social responsibility through an economic lens. Rev Environ Econ Policy 2 (2), [18] Schaltegger, S. and M. Wagner (2006). Integrative management of sustainability performance, measurement and reporting. International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation 3 (1) [19] Sen, S., C. B. Bhattacharya, and D. Korschun (2006). The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: A field experiment. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 34 (2), [20] Skouloudis A., Evagelinos K., Moraitis S., (2010) CSR and an evaluation of Social Corporate Reporting in Greece. Aegean University. [21] Tajfel, H. (1982). Social identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge University Press. New York [22] Turban, D. B. and D. W. Greening (1997). Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. The Academy of Management Journal 40 (3), [23] Wartick, S. L. and P. L. Cochran (1985). The evolution of the corporate social performance model. The Academy of Management Review 10 (4), [24] Webb, D. J. and L. A. Mohr (2005). The effects of corporate social responsibility and price on consumer responses. Journal of Consumer Affairs 39 (1), [25] Weber, M. (2008). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR. European Management Journal 26 (4), [26] Wright, P., S. P. Ferris, J. S. Hiller, and M. Kroll (1995). Competitiveness through management of diversity: Effects on stock price valuation. The Academy of Management Journal 38 (1),

14 Determinants of information disclosure of corporate environmental sites: the role of environmental performance, trust and stakeholders engagement. Maria Boura 6 Athens University of Economics and Business The purpose of the present research is to investigate the information disclosure of corporate web sites and the factors that affect it. It draws upon evidence from 96 corporations listed in the Athens Stock Exchange, all of which have corporate sites. Corporations have a choice as to whether to disclose little or no information at all in their site, or to disclose more and substantive information about their environmental actions. This choice is modeled in the analysis as an ordered logit model with five categories, ranging from zero when nothing is reported about environmental issues to four when full comprehensive information is disclosed in all aspects of environmental activity. Specific criteria are defined for classifying companies in the five categories. The sample includes companies in all categories. Measure about other variables were obtained through questionnaire. Hypotheses are formulated drawing upon signaling and stakeholders theories. Companies with high environmental performance are likely to disclose more information content in their sites. They have more to say as they undertake more advanced and comprehensive environmental activities. Also companies with reputation of trustworthiness are more likely to opt for more advanced environmental content, as they want to preserve and enhance their permutation. Regarding stakeholder engagement two opposite effects may exist. On the one hand companies with high stakeholder orientation may disclose more information in their site, in an attempt to satisfy various stakeholder groups. On the other hand, dialogue with and /or engagement with stakeholders on environmental issues in itself constitutes an alternative mode of communication, with high in information richness, substituting for or making less important the use of site. Which of these effects dominates will be shown by the analysis of the data. In the analysis we use different measures related to total stakeholder orientation as well as to separate stakeholder groups (customers, suppliers, employees). The model also controls for the size of the firm and its age and sector. Size is expected to have positive effects on disclosure, as larger firms are more visible and are more influenced by the desire for social acceptance. Older firms are also more known and may have more experience, therefore disclosing more information to maintain their reputation. Regarding sector, dirty firms are more likely to use their site to disclose more information. Controls for the business environment and financial performance are also used. 6 mboura@aueb.gr 14

15 Τα 4 C s της Πράσινης Επιχειρηµατικότητας σε Περίοδο Οικονοµικής Ύφεσης Κάρολος Κωνσταντίνος Παπαδάς 7, Γεώργιος Αυλωνίτης 8 Οικονοµικό Πανεπιστήµιο Αθηνών 1. Introduction In recent years, governments, NGO s and agencies have been informing the citizens about the harmful consequences of human activity on the environment. Environmentalists are highly concerned about the increase of CO2 emissions, excessive water usage, industrial pollution and depletion of natural resources. In this light, corporations, as active members of society, need to address their impact on the environment and begin using environmentally friendly means of production. Sustainable development seems to be a key strategy for businesses as the market is becoming more and more competitive due to the global financial crisis. The development of peoples' ecological consciousness as well as the emergence of other top environmental issues make businesses set new priorities. Managers realize the need for green entrepreneurship that offers three important advantages: low costs, additional profits and business development. In addition, green entrepreneurship could offer an important competitive advantage through product or service differentiation. Academics argue that innovation is the key to progress during recession periods and sustainable development can constitute such innovation (Nidumolu et al., 2012). 2. The Research Issue There are a number of studies in corporate environmentalism and its consequences on business performance (Banerjee 2002; Menguc & Ozanne 2003; Menon and Menon, 1997) as well as in environmental/green marketing and its advantages (Miles and Covin, 2000). However, no research effort has been devoted to the development of an integrated model of green entrepreneurial strategy that could guide research in the area. As green marketing becomes an essential tool for a sustainable business strategy, companies should implement specific activities in their business in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Toward this aim, the extant literature on green marketing could be evaluated and summarized, in order to delineate the organizational prerequisites for a successful green entrepreneurial strategy. The present paper develops a conceptual framework, which presents the major pillars of green entrepreneurship. 3. Literature Review Synthesizing the received view from the literature that focuses on corporate environmentalism, environmental/green marketing, four pillars were uncovered as the organizational prerequisites a company should satisfy in order to achieve green entrepreneurial excellence, namely Commitment, Culture, Corporate Environmental Performance, and Communication (4 C s). 3.1 Commitment Menon & Menon (1997) introduced the term enviropreunerial, in order to describe a strategic perspective that focuses on environmental change as an opportunity to create competitive advantage. Today, this relationship between environmental orientation and competitiveness forms a new way of competition and several best practices in several industries come to confirm this fact. In this vein, 7 kpapadas@aueb.gr 8 avlonitis@aueb.gr 15

16 Corporate Environmental Responsibility agenda can offer environmental benefits for society and produce a competitive advantage for companies (Porter and Claas van de Lindee, 1995; Porter and Kramer 2009). Additionally, the development of an environmental corporate policy allows for environmental consideration to be integrated into all company decisions. The building of an environmental leadership at the top level of the organization could help toward that aim and communicate the long-term commitment to environmental actions (McDaniel and Rylander, 2007). 3.2 Culture The environmental-friendly culture of an organization is partly related to the stakeholders recognition of the importance of environmental issues as well as to their willingness to undertake efforts to develop green strategies. These strategies may affect marketing strategies and lead to greener solutions (Banerjee 2002; Crane 1998). For instance, co-operative alliances with environmental organizations or consumer groups indicate the development of initiatives that minimize their environmental impact. Furthermore, such alliances can improve company s corporate image, assuming consumers believe that these activities represent attempts of firms to become more environmentally responsible (Mendleson and Polonsky 1995). Therefore, if sustainability is to be achieved, companies need to make changes in research-and-development, production, financial and marketing strategy (Kotler, 2011). Green practices can, also, offer important benefits through cost saving advantages such as carbon reduction, renewable energy etc. (Porter and van de Lindee, 1995; Lash and Wellington, 2007). Thus, companies that have an environmental orientation are likely to achieve high levels of employee commitment, increased capabilities, and, ultimately, increased firm performance (Cronin et. al 2011; Maignan and Ferell 2001; Pujari et. al 2003). The engagement with the employees for developing the green culture inside the organization is very important too. Education and training on environmental awareness should pervade the organization while developing environmental advocates for the environmental planning (McDaniel and Rylander, 2007). Finally, recruiting and retaining the right kind of people is significant for developing the green culture. Recent research suggests that 75% of workforce entrants in the U.S. regard environmental commitment as important criterion in selecting employers (Nidumolu et al, 2011). Therefore, people who are satisfied with their employer s positions on environmental issues would be very committed at their work. 3.3 Corporate Environmental Performance Companies know their strengths and weaknesses in terms of financial and marketing resources but they lack information in environmental terms, which affects their corporate environmental performance. The highest environmental impact of a product is related to activities of the supply chain which means that a total re-evaluation of its components is required (Peattie, 1999). Efforts to reduce, recycle and reuse materials can improve the corporate environmental performance as well as deliver social and economic benefits to companies (Cronin, 2011). Except from the supply chain, the improvement of the corporate environmental performance requires a drastic change in marketing practices. An investigation of possible innovative solutions that can highlight the green profile of products could improve the environmental performance. A green marketing approach tends to develop a sustainable competitive advantage via the adaptation of traditional marketing that includes environmental issues in the development of product, promotion, place and price (Miles and Covin, 2000; Kotler 2011). This change can be initiated through the following greening of the 4 Ps: Green Product: Ashley (1993) argues that 70 percent of a product s environmental harm is designed into the product and the associated production process. Thus, companies need to examine the initial stages of the production process. For products, this can be achieved through eco-friendly packaging. To design sustainable products, companies have to understand first consumer concerns and re-examine product lifecycle (Nidumolu et al, 2011) For services, 16

17 companies should demonstrate their environmental concerns by using renewable energy and other eco-friendly supplies (Polonsky and Rosenberg 2001; Kotler 2011). Green Price: Green products are often more expensive than the traditional ones. However, companies can justify the pricing of the products based on their eco-friendliness (Kotler, 2011). This can be also facilitated through donations to environmentally friendly organizations. Green Place: The location of production, the distribution facilities and the selection of sustainable distribution channels can affect positively the corporate environmental performance. Today s digital era makes that even easier and more effective than ever (Kotler, 2011). Green Promotion: Promotion needs to communicate substantive environmental information to consumers related to corporate activities. Green communication can be used to communicate activities such as sponsorships (Polonsky and Rosenberg 2001). Again, the online tools of communication can be proved to be very effective in improving corporate environmental performance (Kotler, 2011). In general, considering a green strategy as an innovative one, companies can develop effective ways to reduce waste, create new packaging and production processes, and develop better ways to deliver products and services to consumers (Cronin 2011; Coddington 1993; Mirvis 1994). On the other hand, such major changes in a company require changes in consumer s behavior which are very difficult to be achieved in the short term (Rosenberg and Polonsky, 2001). 3.4 Communication A major task for a company is to communicate its green profile and products. Today, this becomes even more difficult than ever due to the appearance of greenwashing. Telling the truth is the only way to communicate effectively the green benefits of products. Sustainable communication is a long term ideal which embraces honesty between an organisation and its publics (Prothero et al, 1997). Information should be comprehensible though, because if consumers do not adequately understand company s claims they may over-react and perceive it as a greenwash (Prakash, 2002). Therefore, clear distinctions should be made between products manufactured in an environmentally sensitive manner, environmentally responsible packaging and environmentally sensitive product characteristics (Davis, 1991). In order to use persuasive and clear arguments, companies need to get verified by a third, independent party and be certified for their corporate environmental performance. Finally, websites and social media are effective tools of communication for a green company (Biloslavo and Travncevic, 2009). Today, the growth of social media offers the opportunity to engage a direct dialogue about green products and services, and educate consumers. In other words, companies need to consider how much to shift their communication from print to online (Kotler, 2011). 4. Conceptual Framework Synthesizing the received view from the literature, the following Green 4 C s model is developed, presenting the environmental imperatives in order for a company to achieve sustainable excellence and obtain the positive effects of such a strategy. 5. Methodology A quantitative survey focusing on studying the attitude and behaviour of Greek consumers towards companies green marketing efforts was carried out in order to examine the extent to which 17

18 the 4 C s of Green Entrepreneurship are reflected in the views of the consumers. The survey was conducted using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (C.A.T.I.) facilities of the Athens Laboratory of Research in Marketing of the Athens University of Economics and Business. The final sample comprised of 700 consumers. 6. Results 6.1 Commitment Our findings confirm the need for a long term company commitment to environmental practices, as 95 percent of consumers believe that the environmental protection is a social issue that all entities, including corporations, should care for. Moreover, 93 percent of consumers form positive attitudes towards companies that undertake corporate environmental responsibility action (see Table 1). 6.2 Culture Consumers strongly believe that companies can contribute to environmental protection through the reduction of emissions and toxics as well as through the use of recycled materials (see Table 2). This reflects the need for a corporate environmental culture that should pervade all the stakeholders in a company. 6.3 Corporate Environmental Performance Consumers seem to be receptive enough for new green marketing tools, due to their increased knowledge regarding companies green efforts. Our findings show that 21 percent of Greek consumers are able to name companies that are green. Of those, 27 percent report the use of recycled materials and promotional campaigns for environmental issues as the top environmental actions of companies * (see Table 3). Moreover, 59 percent of the interviewees know green products and 39 percent of them assume that these products protect the environment due to their recycled and physical materials * (see Table 4). 6.4 Communication Our findings show that 75 percent of consumers believe that most of the companies claim about their greenness and it is extremely difficult to find which one is telling the truth (See Table 5). Additionally, 83 percent of consumers assume that certifications are very important for persuading them about the environmentally-friendliness of the product (See Table 6). Furthermore, 40 percent of the sample use websites and online communication in order to get information about green companies and products (see Table 7). 7. The Effect of Economic Recession During the last decade, green entrepreneurship has been dramatically increased, mostly in developed economies. However, today s economic recession constitute a threat for managers who wish to implement the aforementioned 4 C s strategy. Taking into account that corporate environmental performance redefines the relationship between companies and society, this threat could become an opportunity. Companies could increase their corporate environmental performance in order to build trust with those consumers who are aware of the environmentally-friendly companies. In general, the dimension of the economic recession effect on the 4 C s could be explored further in future researches. 18

19 8. Conclusions & Implications In conclusion, according to the Green 4 Cs model, it could be argued that a new approach to green entrepreneurship is emerging. Companies need to consider carefully the elements of their green entrepreneurial strategy and re-examine their tactics in Commitment, Culture, Corporate Environmental Performance and Communication. Commitment means that top leadership is dedicated to an environmental philosophy in line with business performance. This philosophy should pervade all stakeholders by creating a Culture with environmental-driven values and vision. Following this, Companies will acquire knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses in terms of their Corporate Environmental Performance. Finally, Communication methods will have to change by telling the truth, using credible arguments and engaging a direct dialogue with consumers about sustainable development. Although, this preliminary research work remains conceptual at present, it may pave the way for later studies to follow and empirically test the proposed framework on the business performance. This offers exciting opportunities for researchers and practitioners to undertake pioneering work in the implementation and assessment of an entrepreneurial orientation success model with an overall positive effect on company s results and, most importantly, on the societal welfare. Finally, this research offers a good opportunity for researchers to explore in depth the effect of economic recession on green entrepreneurship efforts. Appendices Table 1: Environmental Consciousness Table 2: In what ways, a company can contribute to environmental protection? 19

20 Table 3: Companies environmental actions Table 4: In what ways, a product can contribute to environmental protection? Table 5: How you perceive the communication messages of companies? 20