Suchergebnisse

Many Malaysian publicly listed companies are highly dependent upon the government and ruling political parties' patronage in order to survive and/or thrive. In fact, political involvement in the Malaysian corporate sector is so pervasive that the boundaries between business, politics and the State are often blurred. On the other hand, family‑controlled companies are highly nepotistic as they prefer hiring insiders from their closely-knit networks. This disposition limits their access to external resources. When considering the aforementioned external environment and company-owner preferences, this study argues that, political connections are more critical in family-controlled companies. Thus, the higher is the family ownership concentration, the more external linkages, networks and resources are required. With a random sample of 200 family-controlled companies listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2008, this study finds that publicly-listed companies with higher family ownership concentration do indeed appoint more independent directors who have strong connections with the government and ruling political parties and this enhances their financial performance.

Purpose - The aim of this study is to explore how senior managers of independent hotels perceive the notion of CSR through a holistic analysis of motivations of undertaking both social and environmental initiatives.Design/methodology/approach – This study conducts qualitative interviews with 22 Malaysian senior hotel managers together with ethnographic observations.Findings - Emergent themes show that CSR is a dynamic concept involving complex struggles and trade-offs between fulfilling business objectives, paying heed to personal ethical values and considering cultural norms when making decisions regarding the adoption of a range of environmental and social initiatives.Research limitations/implications - Our study contributes to legitimacy theory by highlighting that, in the absence of pressure from key stakeholders for responsible initiatives, managers still proactively engage in CSR initiatives. More surprising still is that they set expectations instead of simply aligning or responding to the key stakeholders' pre-set demands. Meanwhile, the uniqueness, size and purposeful selection of the sample, limit the applicability of the findings to wider geographical and cultural locations.Practical implications – While Malaysian hotel managers are willing to employ CSR practices to demonstrate their commitment to their employees as well as the local communities where they operate, it is equally important that they utilize other media (such as their websites or social media) for both promotional and legitimacy building purposes. Within the context of growing tourism for economic development, the Malaysian government can develop more effective strategies, rewards or incentives for encouraging businesses to undertake and improve CSR adoption for sustainability of this industry.Originality/value - By extending the scope of CSR studies beyond firm performance issues, we attempt to show the wider set of motivations and contexts considered important in determining hotel engagement in CSR programs.