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PBL#1: Learning IssuesWhat is environmental disclosure?What is
corporate social responsible behaviour?What is the research
process?What is a theoretical framework?What is a research concept
or research variable?What are the different types of research
variables?What is meant by the operational definition of a research
concept?What is a hypothesis?
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Environmental Disclosure.. backgroundEnvironmental reporting
guidelines for Malaysian companies were published in 2003 by ACCA
in collaboration with the Department of Environment, MOSTI.In 2005,
ACCA published Sustainable Reporting Guidelines for Malaysian
companies and the guidelines were endorsed by MOSTI and Bursa.In
2006, Bursa published a social responsibility framework to guide
social corporate responsibility (CSR) or sustainability reporting
by all public-listed companies. The CSR items disclosed are
voluntary and companies are not required to explain reasons for not
conducting any CSR activities.
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CSR Information ItemsHuman resource development, health &
work safety Product safety and quality Energy savingEnvironment
protection and waste preventionSocial & community
contributions
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Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) BehaviourExamples of socially
irresponsible corporate behaviour are deceiving customers,
swindling investors, exploiting and even brutalizing employees,
putting consumers at risk, poisoning environment, cheating
government etc (Vogel, 1992).Socially responsible corporate
behaviour is exactly the opposite, and generally reflects
maintaining standards of honesty & integrity, and not solely
philanthropy.
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The Research Process
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Theoretical FrameworkA theoretical framework represents how a
theory explains the nature of relationship between one (or more)
concept(s) or variable(s) and another, and the reason why such
relationship exists. It is a logically developed and described
network of associations among concepts/variables deemed relevant to
the research problem and identified through literature review,
interview and observation.The framework forms the basis for
development of testable hypotheses in a research study.
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Basic Features in a Theoretical FrameworkClearly defined
variables that are relevant to the research A conceptual model that
describes the realtionships between the variables.A clear
explanation for each expected relationship in the model.
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Research Concepts and VariablesResearch constructs are images or
ideas specifically created for a theory-building and/or research
purpose.Research concepts are constructs derived by mutual
agreement from mental images. Example: employee motivation,
customer satisfaction & audit quality.Research variables are
logical sets of attributes (example: high or low) that can vary at
different situations for the same object. The variable can be a
discrete (male or female) or continuous (income )Every variable
must have two important qualitiesThe attributes composing it should
be exhaustive (key attributes)Attributes must be mutually exclusive
(either total assets or total employees or total sales)
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Research ConceptsObjects include persons, strategic business
units, companies, countries, restaurants and so on. It is
determined by the unit of analysis. Examples of characteristics or
attributes (abstract)of objects examined are:Persons morale or
motivation, SBU - interdependency, Companies - organizational
effectiveness, Countries - ethnic diversity, Restaurants - service
quality.
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ConceptualizationConceptualization is the mental process whereby
fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are made more specific &
precise, i.e., the process which we state what we specifically mean
when we use those particular terms in research.Conceptualization
processes a specific agreed-on meaning for a concept for the
purposes of research.
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Operationalization Operationalization is the development of
specific research procedures that will result in empirical
observations representing those concepts in the real world.An
operational definition specifies precisely how a concept will be
measured that is, the operations we will perform. It is a working
definition for the purpose of the enquiry. For example: loan
decision quality is defined /measured by number of installments
defaulted.
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Measurement of Variable Attribute is a characteristic of a
variable (example: Gender: male/female, Ownership: local/foreign
)Dimension is a specifiable aspect of a concept. For example,
Affection or care dimension, knowledge dimension & responsive
dimension in service quality concept; Accuracy dimension, relevance
dimension & timeliness dimension of information quality
concept.Indicator is a specific proxy measure to reflect the
presence of a variable.Responsive dimension: time interval taken to
satisfy requestCan be substitutable or not substitutable
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Achievement Motivation Concept
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Types of VariablesFour main categories of variable:Dependent
variableIndependent variableModerating variable Mediating
variable
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Dependent & Independent VariablesDependent variable (DV)Is
of primary interest to the researcher. The goal of the research
project is to understand, predict or explain the variability of
this variable.
Independent variable (IV)Influences the DV in either positive or
negative way. The variance in the DV is accounted for by the
IV.
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Example of DV & IV in the Cross-cultural study
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Moderators Moderating variable : Moderator is qualitative (e.g.,
gender, race, class) or quantitative (e.g., level of reward)
variable that affects the direction and/or strength of relation
between independent and dependent variable.
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Moderating Variable
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Mediating VariableMediating variable surfaces between the time
the independent variables start operating to influence the
dependent variable and the time their impact is felt on it.It helps
to explain the influence of the independent variable on the
dependent variable.
ICT adoptionUser satisfactionOrganizational performance
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HypothesisA proposition that is testable using empirical data.
It is an empirical statement concerned with the relationship among
variables.Must be developed from the theory (theoretical
framework)Good hypothesis:Must be adequate for its purposeMust be
testableMust be better than its rivals (alternative
theory/explanation)A hypothesis can
be:DirectionalNon-directional
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HypothesisNull Hypothesis: H0Set up to be rejected in order to
support an alternate hypothesis.It states that there is no
significant relationship between the variables examoned
Alternate hypothesis: H1The opposite of null hypothesisA
statement expresses the (expected) relationship between the
variables examined.
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Hypothesis statement:H1: Poor service quality is positively
related to high incidence of customer switching
H2 Switching cost moderates the relationship between service
quality and incidence of customer switching.
Service qualitySwitching cost
Customer switching
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Hypothesis Statement:H1: Service quality enhances corporate
performance
H2: Customer satisfaction mediates the relationship between
service quality and corporate performanceCustomer
satisfactionService quality
Corporate performance
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Research Design for the Environmental Reporting Study
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Theoretical Framework for Research Study on Environmental
Reporting Organizational factors:
Ownership structureCompany SizeLeverageMarket Competition
Corporate Performance
Underlying theories: Institution theory; stakeholder theory;
scare resource theory; proprietary cost theory; signally theory
Extent & quality of CSR reporting
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HypothesesH1: Ownership structure is associated with the extent
(& quality) of CSR reportingH2: Larger companies are associated
with higher extent (& quality) of CSR reportingH3: High
corporate leverage is associate with lower CSR reportingH4:
Intensity of market competition is associated with extent (&
quality) of CSR reporting.H5: Higher extent (& quality) of CSR
reporting is associated with higher corporate performance.
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Operational DefinitionOwnership structure: GLC, Institutional,
Family-owned.Leverage: Debt/equity ratioCompany size: annual sales,
total employees or total assetsMarket competition: H-indexCorporate
performance: cost of capital, Tobin-Q, ROI or relative
performance
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Analytical Method Descriptive statisticsCorrelation
analysisCluster analysisRegression analysis
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