Investor Capitalism

Investor Capitalism
Author: Michael Useem
Publisher:
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1996-05-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Drawing on personal interviews with top executives and money managers, this inside look at more than 20 large corporations--including IBM, ITT, AT&T, American Airlines, and General Motors--shows how the explosive growth of institutional investing is changing the way corporations are run. Charts & graphs.

Time Horizons and Technology Investments

Time Horizons and Technology Investments
Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 119
Release: 1992-02-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309046475

It is frequently argued that U.S. corporations have shorter time horizons for planning and investment than their Japanese and German competitors. This argument, though widely accepted in studies of U.S. competitiveness, has rarely been examined in depth. Time Horizons and Technology Investments explores the evidence that some U.S. corporations consistently select projects biased toward short-term return and addresses factors influencing the time-related preferences of U.S. corporate managers in selecting projects for investment. It makes recommendations to policymakers and managers about policies to mitigate negative external influences and about strategies to remove internal biases toward noncompetitive decisions.

Corporate Social Irresponsibility

Corporate Social Irresponsibility
Author: Ralph Tench
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2012-11-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1780529996

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly heated topic since the 1980s. This title proposes that the concept of Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI) offers a better theoretical platform to avoid the vagueness, ambiguity, arbitrariness and mysticism of CSR.

Watching the Watchers

Watching the Watchers
Author: Robert A. G. Monks
Publisher: Wiley
Total Pages: 364
Release: 1996-10-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781557868664

No aspect of business or finance has changed more dramatically over the past decade than corporate governance. Until recently it has been unthinkable for a shareholder resolution to be sponsored by an institutional investor, or for a resolution sponsored by an individual investor to get more than 3 per cent of the vote. Suddenly institutional investors are submitting dozens of shareholder resolutions, all with substantial support. Astonishingly, shareholders have been reponsible for the departures of CEOs from the giants of Corporate America - General Motors, weestinghouse, IBM and Kodak.

Strong Managers, Weak Owners

Strong Managers, Weak Owners
Author: Mark J. Roe
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 1996-03-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 140082138X

In this major reinterpretation of the evolution of the American corporation, Mark Roe convincingly demonstrates that the ownership structure of large U.S. firms owes its distinctive character as much to politics as to economics and technology. His provocative examination addresses essential issues facing American businesses today as they compete in the new international marketplace.

Responsible Business in a Changing World

Responsible Business in a Changing World
Author: Belén Díaz Díaz
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2020-05-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030369706

This book explores the current state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from an international perspective, the goal being to share ideas and visions for a sustainable future and to provide useful guidelines for academics, practitioners and policymakers in the context of the 2030 “Agenda for Sustainable Development” released by the United Nations. Research on CSR has evolved considerably over the last three decades. However, there are still many unanswered questions concerning the sustainability of business in an increasingly changing world, for example: If most companies consider CSR to be valuable to their organizations, why do only 15% of them systematically implement Social Responsibility initiatives? If CSR has been found to be profitable for companies, why are they so reluctant to develop an active, internal CSR policy? Why are there such significant differences in CSR adoption from country to country? Why does it take a huge crisis to make politicians react and regulate certain core CSR issues? This contributed volume answers these questions, presenting a wealth of case studies and new approaches in the process.

Sustainable Investing

Sustainable Investing
Author: Herman Bril
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2020-09-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000097994

This book tells the story of how the convergence between corporate sustainability and sustainable investing is now becoming a major force driving systemic market changes. The idea and practice of corporate sustainability is no longer a niche movement. Investors are increasingly paying attention to sustainability factors in their analysis and decision-making, thus reinforcing market transformation. In this book, high-level practitioners and academic thought leaders, including contributions from John Ruggie, Fiona Reynolds, Johan Rockström, and Paul Polman, explain the forces behind these developments. The contributors highlight (a) that systemic market change is influenced by various contextual factors that impact how sustainable investing is perceived and practiced; (b) that the integration of ESG factors in investment decisions is impacting markets on a large scale and hence changes practices of major market players (e.g. pension funds); and (c) that technology and the increasing datafication of sustainability act as further accelerators of such change. The book goes beyond standard economic theory approaches to sustainable investing and emphasizes that capitalism founded on more real-world (complex) economics and cooperation can strengthen ESG integration. Aimed at both investment professionals and academics, this book gives the reader access to more practitioner-relevant information and it also discusses implementation issues. The reader will gain insights into how "mainstream" financial actors relate to sustainable investing.

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty

Exit, Voice, and Loyalty
Author: Albert O. Hirschman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1970
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780674276604

An innovator in contemporary thought on economic and political development looks here at decline rather than growth. Albert O. Hirschman makes a basic distinction between alternative ways of reacting to deterioration in business firms and, in general, to dissatisfaction with organizations: one, “exit,” is for the member to quit the organization or for the customer to switch to the competing product, and the other, “voice,” is for members or customers to agitate and exert influence for change “from within.” The efficiency of the competitive mechanism, with its total reliance on exit, is questioned for certain important situations. As exit often undercuts voice while being unable to counteract decline, loyalty is seen in the function of retarding exit and of permitting voice to play its proper role. The interplay of the three concepts turns out to illuminate a wide range of economic, social, and political phenomena. As the author states in the preface, “having found my own unifying way of looking at issues as diverse as competition and the two-party system, divorce and the American character, black power and the failure of ‘unhappy’ top officials to resign over Vietnam, I decided to let myself go a little.”

Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate

Proceedings of the 24th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate
Author: Gui Ye
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 2252
Release: 2021-06-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9811588929

This book covers various current and emerging topics in construction management and real estate. Papers selected in this book cover a wide variety of topics such as new-type urbanization, planning and construction of smart city and eco-city, urban–rural infrastructure development, land use and development, housing market and housing policy, new theory and practice of construction project management, big data application, smart construction and BIM, international construction (i.e., belt and road project), green building, off-site prefabrication, rural rejuvenation and eco-civilization and other topics related to construction management and real estate. These papers provide useful references to both scholars and practitioners. This book is the documentation of “The 24th International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate,” which was held in Chongqing, China.

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review
Author: Pedro Matos
Publisher: CFA Institute Research Foundation
Total Pages: 82
Release: 2020-05-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1944960988

This survey examines the vibrant academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact (e.g., carbon emissions), social impact (e.g., employee satisfaction), and governance attributes (e.g., board structure). The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. One active area of research at present involves assessing portfolio risk exposure to climate change. This literature review focuses on institutional investors, which have grown in importance such that they have now become the largest holders of shares in public companies globally. Historically, institutional investors tended to concentrate their ESG efforts mostly on corporate governance (the “G” in ESG). These efforts included seeking to eliminate provisions that restrict shareholder rights and enhance managerial power, such as staggered boards, supermajority rules, golden parachutes, and poison pills. Highlights from this section: · There is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues and their materiality. · The ESG issue that gets the most attention from institutional investors is climate change, in particular their portfolio companies’ exposure to carbon risk and “stranded assets.” · Investors should be positioning themselves for increased regulation, with the regulatory agenda being more ambitious in the European Union than in the United States. Readers might come away from this survey skeptical about the potential for ESG investing to affect positive change. I prefer to characterize the current state of the literature as having a “healthy dose of skepticism,” with much more remaining to be explored. Here, I hope the reader comes away with a call to action. For the industry practitioner, I believe that the investment industry should strive to achieve positive societal goals. CFA Institute provides an exemplary case in its Future of Finance series (www.cfainstitute.org/research/future-finance). For the academic community, I suggest we ramp up research aimed at tackling some of the open questions around the pressing societal goals of ESG investing. I am optimistic that practitioners and academics will identify meaningful ways to better harness the power of global financial markets for addressing the pressing ESG issues facing our society.