Research on the Evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility under the Background of Low Carbon Economy

Transcription

1 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 Research on the Evaluaton of Corporate Socal Responsblty under the Background of Low Carbon Economy Xaofang Zhang 1 1 College of Management, Northwest Mnzu Unversty, Lanzhou, Chna Correspondance: Xaofang Zhang, Assocate Professor, College of Management, Northwest Mnzu Unversty, Lanzhou, Chna. Receved: July 26, 2016 Accepted: August 12, 2016 Onlne Publshed: September 2, 2016 do: /jba.v7n5p65 URL: Ths research was supported by The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Unverstes of Northwest Mnzu Unversty (Grant No ). Abstract Low carbon economy s the nevtable trend of the development of the world economy, the development of low carbon economy s closely related to the fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty. The evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty not only can let people understand the level of corporate socal responsblty and promote the realzaton of the objectves of corporate socal responsblty effectvely, but also can mprove the level of the development of low carbon economy. Based on the background of low carbon economy, ths paper puts forward the dea of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton, constructs the ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton, analyzes the applcaton of fuzzy analytc herarchy process n the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty. Keywords: corporate socal responsblty, low carbon economy, evaluaton of socal responsblty 1. Introducton In order to deal wth the realty of global warmng and realze the survval and development of human bengs, the development of low-carbon economy s an nevtable choce. Wth the rapd development of Chna's ndustralzaton, carbon emssons wll nevtably ncrease, enterprses and the country face a huge challenge to the ecologcal change and the development of the global low-carbon economy. The development of low carbon economy cannot be separated from the fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty whch can effectvely promote the development of low carbon economy. Thus, the study of corporate socal responsblty s very mportant. Under the premse of the sustanable development of socety, enterprses must adopt the strategy of corporate socal responsblty to meet the socal needs. Scholars n western developed countres have carred out deep research on corporate socal responsblty from dfferent subject areas, the same s true of Chnese scholars. The research of scholars at home and abroad manly ncludes the research on the defnton of corporate socal responsblty, the formaton mechansm and the drvng force of corporate socal responsblty, the realzaton path and the performance evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty, and the revew of research lterature on corporate socal responsblty, etc. Although many scholars have conducted n-depth study on corporate socal responsblty, but those who combned the corporate socal responsblty wth the low carbon economy are very lttle. In order to understand the performance of corporate socal responsblty, we need a method to evaluate t. Under the background of low carbon economy, the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty s dfferent from the tradtonal corporate socal responsblty evaluaton (J, T., 2010). Therefore, n order to promote the development of low carbon economy, t s necessary to study the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty under the background of low carbon economy. Under the background of low carbon economy, the selecton of evaluaton ndcators of corporate socal responsblty s more nclned to reflect the development of low carbon economy. How to set up an effectve evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty has an mportant role n promotng the development of low carbon economy. 2. The Prncples and Thnkng of Corporate Socal Responsblty Evaluaton 2.1 The Prncples of Corporate Socal Responsblty Evaluaton The evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty s based on a seres of prncples. Only under the gudance of Publshed by Scedu Press 65 ISSN E-ISSN

2 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 scentfc and reasonable prncples can we make an objectve and far evaluaton. We need to adhere to the followng prncples: Authentcty Prncple The authentcty prncple whch based on objectve facts requres the real data to evaluate. The most mportant thng of the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty s to buld a reasonable ndcator system. Although Chna has dvded the ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton n "Chna Industral Enterprses Socal Responsblty Evaluaton Indcator System (Tral)", but t does not fully meet the requrements of low carbon economc development. Therefore, we should choose the core ndcators whch can truly reflect the level of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton accordng to the actual stuaton Scentfc Prncple The scentfc prncple requres the gudance of scentfc theory. When desgnngg the evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty, we should ensure that the level s clear, the structure s reasonable, the ndcators are approprate through comprehensve consderaton, thus reflect the level of the fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty objectvely Systematc and Comprehensve Prncple The systematc and comprehensve prncple requres the gudance of the system thought. When desgnng the system of evaluaton ndcator of corporate socal responsblty, we shouldd stand n the angle of the system and select the core ndcators that can reflect the true level from numerous ndcators. The core evaluaton ndcators cannot be too much and cannot be too lttle Operatonal Prncple The operatonal prncple requres practcal operaton and measurement. When desgnng the system of evaluaton ndcator of corporate socal responsblty, we should guarantee that the selected ndcators are ratonal and the date can be collected and calculated. The calculaton method of the ndcator should be standard and regular and the selecton of evaluaton method should be operable. 2.2 The Thnkng of the Evaluaton of Corporate Socal Responsblty Under the background of low carbon economy, the thnkng of thee evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty s shown n Fgure 1. Fgure 1. The thnkng of the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty Publshed by Scedu Press 66 ISSN E-ISSN

3 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 Frst, select the evaluaton ndcators of corporate socal responsblty. Evaluaton ndcators can be dvded nto fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. Some ndcators whch are quanttatve value can be collected from the enterprse, but some ndcators whch are qualtatve value are dffcult to use specfc data to measure, such as corporate socal responsblty plannng, corporate socal responsblty crss management mechansm, etc. Therefore, we should use dfferent methods to evaluate the fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. Second, use the fuzzy analytc herarchy process to evaluate the fnancal ndcators and use the expert scorng method and others to evaluate the non- fnancal ndcators. Thrd, use the evaluaton results of fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators to evaluate the fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty comprehensvely. 3. The Selecton of Evaluaton Indcators of Corporate Socal Responsblty and the Constructon of Indcator System under the Background of Low Carbon Economy 3.1 The Selecton of Evaluaton Indcators of Corporate Socal Responsblty Accordng to the theory of corporate socal responsblty, ths paper dvdes corporate socal responsblty nto economc responsblty, legal responsblty, moral and chartable responsblty and envronmental responsblty (Lu, P., & Guo, H., 2009). Under the background of low carbon economy, envronmental responsblty s heaver than other responsbltes. For dfferent types of socal responsblty, the selecton of evaluaton ndcators s dfferent Indcators Related to Corporate Socal Responsblty Evaluaton The Relevant Evaluaton Indcators of Economc Responsblty The evaluaton ndcators of corporate economc responsblty are not only the fnancal ndcators but also the non-fnancal ndcators. The man fnancal ndcators that measure the corporate economc responsblty are the asset-lablty rato, the current rato, the asset contrbuton rate, the total proft, the sales value, the GDP growth rate, the turnover of current assets, the product sales rate, the gross ndustral output value above Desgnated Sze, the ndustral sales output value above desgnated sze, the cost proft margn, the per capta economc value added, the return on net assets, the R & D nvestment accountng rato, the dvdend payout rato, the earnngs per share, the net nterest rate of sales, etc. The man non-fnancal ndcators that measure the corporate economc responsblty are the corporate socal responsblty dsclosure, the corporate socal responsblty crss management mechansm, the comprehensve rsk management system, the nternal control management system, the corporate governance, the scentfc and technologcal nnovaton capacty, the promoton of ndustral development, etc The Relevant Evaluaton Indcators of Legal Responsblty The evaluaton ndcators of corporate legal responsblty also nclude fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators.the man fnancal ndcators to measure the legal responsblty of enterprses are the average wages of employees, the operatng cost rate, the tax revenue, the regstered urban unemployment rate, the asset tax rate, the tax turnover rate, the pay rate, the employee casualty rate, the product qualfcaton rate, the product return rate, the operatng cost rate, etc. The man non-fnancal ndcators to measure the legal responsblty of enterprses are the payment of socal securty and provdent fund, the safety producton management system, the labor dsputes, the occupatonal health, etc The Relevant Evaluaton Indcators of Moral and Chartable Responsblty The evaluaton ndcators of corporate moral and chartable responsblty also nclude fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. The man fnancal ndcators to measure the moral and chartable responsblty of enterprses are the employment rate, the mortalty rate of 1000 people, the employment contrbuton rate, the employee wage growth rate, the employee educaton funds rate, the socal accumulaton rate, the socal contrbuton rate, the chartable donatons, etc. The man non-fnancal ndcators to measure the moral and chartable responsblty of enterprses are the product qualty, the customer satsfacton, the suppler satsfacton, the product safety ssues, etc The Relevant Evaluaton Indcators of Envronmental Responsblty The evaluaton ndcators of corporate envronmental responsblty also nclude fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. The man fnancal ndcators to measure the envronmental responsblty of enterprses are the energy savng and envronmental protecton budget expendture, the envronmental protecton nvestment rate, the envronmental protecton funds rate, the growth rate of envronmental protecton funds, the energy consumpton Publshed by Scedu Press 67 ISSN E-ISSN

4 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 per unt output value, the waste rate per unt output value, the envronmental fnes spendng, the polluton control projects completed nvestment amount, the reducton rate of carbon emsson ntensty, the ndustral wastewater treatment, the ndustral waste gas emsson, the utlzaton of ndustral sold waste, the ndustral water consumpton, the landscapng area, the comprehensve energy consumpton, etc. The man non-fnancal ndcators to measure the envronmental responsblty of enterprses are the constructon of envronmental management system, the envronmental emergency response mechansm, the producton of envronmentally frendly products, the backward producton capacty, the equpment and process out of the stuaton, etc The Problems That Should Be Consdered n the Selecton of Evaluaton Indcators of Corporate Socal Responsblty under the Background of Low Carbon Economy When selectng the evaluaton ndcators of corporate socal responsblty, the followng ponts should be consdered: Frst, the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty of a regon should be based on fnancal ndcators. The ndcators of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton nclude both fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. In the study of the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty n a regon, we should stand on a whole pont of vew and carry out a comprehensve evaluaton. But there are too many enterprses n a regon and the dsclosure of non-fnancal ndcators s lmted, ths makes the collecton of non-fnancal ndcators s dffcult. Therefore, the research on the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty n a regon s manly based on the fnancal ndcators. Of course, when evaluatng the fulfllment of the socal responsblty of a sngle enterprse whose non-fnancal nformaton collecton s relatvely easy, comprehensve evaluaton should be carred out from fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators. Ths paper manly studes the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty n a regon, so t manly dscusses how to evaluate t wth fnancal ndcators. Second, we should select the key fnancal ndcators whose data s easy to obtan to evaluate. Among the numerous fnancal evaluaton ndcators, some ndcators have a greater mpact on the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty than the others. If we evaluate wth all the ndcators wthout selecton, t does not only affect the qualty of the evaluaton, but also ncrease the workload of data collecton, thus reducng the effcency of the evaluaton. Therefore, we should select the representatve key ndcators to evaluate and ensure that the data can be acqured Selecton of Key Fnancal Indcators of Corporate Socal Responsblty Evaluaton Based on the above two ponts, the content of the key evaluaton ndcators of corporate socal responsblty s shown n the Indcator layer n Table 1; I wll no longer repeat them here. 3.2 The Constructon of Evaluaton Indcator System of Corporate Socal Responsblty The Determnaton of Indcator Layer When desgnng the system of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton, ths paper selects three levels of ndcators: Target Layer The target layer manly reflects the fulfllment of the corporate socal responsblty of a regon, cty or ndustry. Usually, the target layer of evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty s "corporate socal responsblty evaluaton" Crteron Layer The crteron layer s developed around the target layer whch s the further refnement of the target layer. To reflect the fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty, ths paper manly constructs the crtera layer of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton from the corporate economc responsblty, legal responsblty, moral and chartable responsblty, envronmental responsblty four aspects Indcator Layer The ndcator layer s developed around the crteron layer whch s the further refnement of the crteron layer. How to choce the specfc ndcators has been dscussed above Constructon of Indcator System Accordng to the content dscussed above, the evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty that constructed s shown n Table 1. Publshed by Scedu Press 68 ISSN E-ISSN

5 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 Table 1. Evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty Target layer Crteron layer Indcator layer The asset-lablty rato (%) The current rato (%) The total proft (mllon yuan) The ndustral sales output value (mllon yuan) Economc The growth rate of GDP (%) responsblty The turnover of current assets (tmes / year) The product sales rate (%) The cost proft margn (%) The total asset contrbuton rate (%) The average wages of employees (yuan) The operatng cost rate (%) The tax revenue (mllon yuan) Legal responsblty The regstered unemployment rate (%) product qualfcaton rate (%) The asset tax rate (%) Corporate Socal The employment rate (%) Responsblty The employee wage growth rate (%) Evaluaton The publc welfare donatons (Bllon yuan) Moral and chartable The socal contrbuton rate (%) responsblty The average number of employees (person) The value of the asset value (%) The socal accumulaton rate (%) The energy savng and envronmental protecton budget expendture (mllon yuan) The comprehensve energy consumpton (mllon tons/ standard coal) The dscharge of ndustral waste water (mllon tons) Envronmental The ndustral waste gas emsson (Bllon cubc responsblty meters) The ndustral sold waste utlzaton (mllon tons) The carbon emsson ntensty (Mllon tons / bllon) The landscapng area (hectare) The wastewater dscharge standard rate (%) 4. Evaluaton of Corporate Socal Responsblty Based on Fuzzy Analytc Herarchy Process After the constructon of the ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton, t needs to be evaluated by a certan method. In ths paper, the fuzzy analytc herarchy process s used to make a comprehensve evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty. The fuzzy analytc herarchy process has manly ntroduced the prncple of fuzzy logc nto the analytc herarchy process. It overcomes the shortcomngs of the orgnal method to a certan extent and broadens ts scope of applcaton. The applcaton of fuzzy analytc herarchy process n the evaluaton of corporate Publshed by Scedu Press 69 ISSN E-ISSN

6 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 socal responsblty s as follows: 4.1 Acquston of Standardzed Data We must obtan the data of each ndcator n the ndcator system frst when usng the fuzzy analytc herarchy process to evaluate the corporate socal responsblty. The data acquston s carred out from the followng two aspects: Data Sources The Fuzzy comprehensve evaluaton needs to collect representatve ndcator data whch can reflect the evaluaton goals Standardzed Treatment of Indcators Due to the dfference of selecton method and dmenson of each ndcator data, we cannot evaluate drectly, so the data must be processed by forward and non-dmensonal treatment. 4.2 The Constructon of Fuzzy Matrx and the Determnaton of the Weght (Yang, L., 2010). The weght of evaluaton ndcator s a quanttatve representaton of the relatve mportance of each evaluaton ndcator n the evaluaton ndcator system. Whether the settng of ts value s correct and reasonable or not has a very mportant nfluence on whether the corporate socal responsblty of the area can be reflected accurately and objectvely. The specfc steps to construct the fuzzy matrx and determne the weght by usng three scales fuzzy analytc herarchy process are as follows: Frst, establsh the judgment matrx (prorty matrx) F=(f j )m n: 1 c c j f j 0.5 c c j 0 c c j In the formula, c and cj are expressed as the relatve mportance of scale f and f j. Second, the prorty judgment matrx F=(f j )m n s transformed nto consstent fuzzy matrx P=(p j )m n, specfc calculatons are as follows: m p f 1, 2,, m p j j 1 p j 2m p j 0.5 Thrd, usng the lne normalzaton to get the weght w of each ndcator, specfc calculaton formulas are as follows: m I p 0.5 1,2,, m w I j 1 j m m 1 2 I 2 I I m m 1 By usng the above calculaton formulas to calculate the weght of each ndcator, we can form the ndcator weght table, as shown n Table 2. Publshed by Scedu Press 70 ISSN E-ISSN

7 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 Table 2. Indcator weght dstrbuton table Target layer weght Crteron layer weght Indcator layer weght C11 w11 B1 W1 C12 w12 C13 w13 C21 w21 B2 W2 C22 w22 C23 w23 A 1.. C31 w31 B3 W3 C32 w32 C33 w33.. C41 w41 B4 W4 C42 w42 C43 w It s should be noted that we need to consult some authortatve experts to determne the relatve mportance of evaluaton ndcator and ts rankng based on expert opnon n determnng the weght of the ndcator. Then, use the method of fuzzy analytc herarchy process to calculate the weght of each ndcator n the ndcator system wth the help of Excel. Under the background of low carbon economy development, there s no doubt that the weght of envronmental responsblty should be greater than or equal to the others when determnng the weght of the socal responsblty of the crteron layer. 4.3 The Calculaton of the Comprehensve Evaluaton Score of Fnancal Indcator When usng the fuzzy analytc method to carry on comprehensve apprasal, standardzed data of each ndcator s multpled by ther respectve weghts and then totaled, thus can calculate the comprehensve evaluaton score Z. Specfc calculaton formula s as follows: Z= [Crteron layer weght ( ndcator layer weght Standardzed data)] = W W j C j After calculatng the comprehensve score of the fnancal ndcator evaluaton by usng the above formula, we can carry out a comprehensve evaluaton around the evaluaton goal. 4.4 Comprehensve Evaluaton of Fnancal Indcators and Non-fnancal Indcators The fulfllment of corporate socal responsblty s reflected by the fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators, ths paper focuses on the evaluaton methods of fnancal ndcators of corporate socal responsblty, dd not ntroduce the non-fnancal ndcator evaluaton concretely. Although ths artcle has not specfcally ntroduced the non-fnancal ndcator apprasal method, the nfluence on the evaluaton results of corporate socal responsblty cannot be neglected. When evaluatng the corporate socal responsblty of an area, we can choose the representatve non-fnancal ndcators and evaluate t by usng an expert scorng method. Then, combne the evaluaton results of fnancal ndcators and non-fnancal ndcators to make a more objectve and accurate evaluaton. 5. The Concluson Low carbon economy s the nevtable choce for the development of the global economy. The development of low-carbon economy s closely related to the promoton of corporate socal responsblty, and the promoton of corporate socal responsblty can effectvely promote the development of low carbon economy. Ths paper manly studes the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty. The paper analyzes the selecton crtera and method of Publshed by Scedu Press 71 ISSN E-ISSN

8 Internatonal Journal of Busness Admnstraton Vol. 7, No. 5; 2016 evaluaton ndcators and constructs the evaluaton ndcator system, and dscusses the applcaton of corporate socal responsblty evaluaton method by usng fuzzy analytc herarchy process. By usng ths method, we can know more objectvely and accurately the performance of corporate socal responsblty n a certan regon or country n a specfc tme. The study of ths paper can not only play a gudng role n the practce of corporate socal responsblty, but also can enrch the theory of corporate socal responsblty. However, Chna has not yet ntroduced a set of effectve corporate socal responsblty evaluaton standard system, the ndex selecton of the corporate socal responsblty evaluaton, the determnaton of the weght, evaluaton crtera and so on has not yet been made unform provsons. Ths makes the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty n our country s stll n the exploratory stage, whch s the drecton of my further research n the future. References Hong, X., & Yang, X. (2011). Constructon of evaluaton system of corporate socal responsblty n Chna: a case study of Lsted Companes n Shangha and Shenzhen two ctes. Journal of Northeastern Unversty (Natural Scence Edton), (11), J, T. (2010). Corporate socal responsblty n the perspectve of low carbon economy-nterpretaton and analyss. Economc Research Gude, (31), 217. Lu, P., & Guo, H. (2009). Revew on the evaluaton of corporate socal responsblty. Productvty Research, (13), Xu, H., & Zhu, X. (2012). Evaluaton ndcators of corporate socal responsblty from the perspectve of low carbon economy. Chnese Soft Scence, (1), Yang, L. (2010). Research on evaluaton ndex and method of corporate socal responsblty n Chna Takng lsted companes of Shanx Provnce as an example. Master s degree thess of Northwestern Unversty, (6), 34. Zhang, L., Ma, X., &L, M. (2013). Research on the evaluaton system of corporate socal responsblty under the background of low carbon economy. Research on Scence and Technology Management, (5), Zhao, H., & Sun, J. (2012). Constructon of evaluaton ndcator system of corporate socal responsblty based on Industry. Journal of Tongj Unversty (Natural Scence Edton), (4), Publshed by Scedu Press 72 ISSN E-ISSN