CSR Research: Responsible Corporate Leadership

RESEARCH BRIEF - Companies with women CFOs have a lower risk of stock price crash than those with men CFOs.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Tying executive compensation to corporate citizenship metrics can help improve corporate social performance.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Board-level gender diversity is associated with a higher likelihood and higher level of dividend payouts to shareholders.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Consistently embedding the importance of ethical behavior into all company policies and procedures (e.g., recruitment, training, and compensation) can reduce the risk of unethical behavior by employees across those and other areas.

RESEARCH BRIEF - When faced with a corporate reputational crisis, consumers are more likely to accept an apology that comes from a single person, especially the CEO.

RESEARCH BRIEF - A company that emphasizes performance without indicating expectations for culture in its corporate communications is more likely than firm that emphasizes long-term growth to have managers who may discriminate.

RESEARCH BRIEF - When consumers perceive a company facing a reputational crisis to be acting in its own self-interest, they are more likely to have negative feelings toward the brand and recommend that others do not use its products.

RESEARCH BRIEF - There are cross-cultural differences in social norms that influence corporate citizenship approaches.

RESEARCH BRIEF - The presence of a chief sustainability officer (CSO) increases a firm's socially responsible activities and decreases its socially irresponsible activities.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Women in top leadership positions secure their roles more quickly than their male counterparts the longer they stay at a firm when executive leadership at the firm lacks women.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Evidence from the banking industry suggests that firms with women at top executive levels are associated with better lending performance and lower default risk.

RESEARCH BRIEF - Board-level gender diversity is positively linked with environmental innovation and this impact is particularly pronounced in those firms with particularly tight margins or environmentally sensitive industries.