Tag: Business Administration

Understanding CSR Portfolio Configurations of Indian Firms Affiliated to Business Groups (Prof. Pooja Thakur-Wernz)

1 student is sought for a project on “Understanding CSR Portfolio Configurations of Indian Firms Affiliated to Business Groups” with Prof. Pooja Thakur-Wernz that will begin on 6/1/24 and last for 10 weeks

Project Description:

This project proposes to examine the determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditures as well as the CSR portfolio configurations of Indian firms that are affiliated to business groups. CSR in India is an interesting research setting as India is the first country to mandate CSR spending for firms that meet a certain size and profitability threshold. As part of this recent legislation, that came into effect in 2013, firms are required to spend at least 2% of their profits on CSR (Gatignon & Bode, 2023). Interestingly, there is no penalty for not meeting this 2% requirement (Gatti et al., 2019). However, as part of this legislation, firms are required to provide detailed information on their CSR activities in their annual reports. In my prior research on this topic, I found that ownership is an important determinant of the total amount spent on CSR as well as the configuration of the firm’s CSR portfolio. In this follow-up research project, I want to focus on one specific type of firm, those affiliated with business groups, and understand the dynamics between firms within the same business group as well as those across business groups. Business groups (BGs) are a set of private-sector firms under common control but with different sets of owners that generally take coordinated actions. Affiliation with a BG serves as an internal market of financial and human capital, products, and technology for affiliated firms. BGs are more prominent in emerging markets than in advanced countries as they help overcome institutional voids (i.e., overall informal institutions with weak enforcement and protection of rules and regulations). Firms affiliated with a BG face pressures to confirm to the overarching strategic decisions taken by the group, including those related to CSR, however, they also have to be distinct from the other affiliated firms within the group due to differing pressures from various stakeholders as well as industry- and market- specific competitive pressures. This project proposes to refine the current understanding of the trade-off between conformity and distinctiveness for firms affiliated with business groups.

Prerequisites

Understanding of basic data collection and statistical analysis. Tasks the student will work on: Data collection from the CSR disclosures in the Annual Reports of firms affiliated with business groups in India. Subsequently, the student will help with the clean-up of the collected data and will help with preliminary data analysis using STATA, a statistical software.

Special Comments

During summer, the student will be able to do this work remotely, if needed. The student has an option to continue working on the project in Fall 2024 as part of a Directed Research course. If the student is engaged and makes significant contributions to the manuscript, during the research process, they may be to invited join as a co-author.

Project Information

Estimated Start Date: 6/1/24

Estimated End Date: 8/9/24

Maximum number of students sought: 1

Contact Information: Prof. Pooja Thakur-Wernz (pthakur-wernz@wlu.edu)

Independent vs. Institutional Recovery Narratives on YouTube and TikTok (Prof. Michelle Cowan)

2 students are sought for a project on “Independent vs. Institutional Recovery Narratives on YouTube and TikTok” with Prof. Michelle Cowan that will begin on 6/3/2024 and last for 8 weeks

Project Description:

When dealing with mental health, people often turn to recovery stories to help them understand what to expect when dealing with issues such as addiction, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. However, scholarship suggests that disparities between optimistic, linear health narratives and lived experience can create distress and shame among those whose experience does not match dominant storylines about recovery. This research project looks specifically at recovery narratives told online on YouTube and TikTok. Research assistants will identify narratives related to substance-use disorder and/or eating disorders and learn how to perform a discourse analysis of those stories. The goal is to examine differences and similarities between recovery narratives posted by independent content creators and recovery narratives posted via institutional accounts (e.g., treatment centers, recovery organizations).

Prerequisites

None. An interest in health communication, addiction, recovery, discourse analysis, or marketing communication is preferable.

Special Comments

Process: During the first two weeks, I will provide training in basic discourse analysis coding while assistants begin sourcing and categorizing stories online. The third week will be focused on data collection and coding at the assistants’ own pace. During the fourth week, we will reexamine our methods and perform code checking to adjust our codes. The final four weeks will involve more coding and analysis as we begin to locate one conference and one journal we would like to submit our work to. Toward the end of the project, we will begin to write up our findings. Most of the work is self-guided at the assistants’ own pacing. We will meet once per week, with additional meetings as needed. The work and the meetings can be completed entirely online, but if assistants are in Lexington for the summer, we can meet in person occasionally. Expected end product: The coded online stories will result in a conference presentation and journal article, potentially coauthored with my research assistants, targeted for a journal I will work with my assistants to select as part of their training. This could be a journal similar to Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, or Information, Communication, and Society. However, in the short term, students will write a research report documenting their SRS activities and will be encouraged to present at the Fall Showcase with a poster they could perhaps also present at a larger conference. Growth opportunity for students: Ideally, my research assistants will be interested in medicine, health, communication, marketing, or qualitative research. They will receive instruction from me in developing coding protocol themselves based on theory around health communication and discourse analysis. They will gain firsthand experience analyzing content and offering their own evaluations of how personal recovery stories differ from institutionally-sponsored narratives. This project provides opportunities to critique and complicate institutional discourse around health and the business of treatment. In addition, they can work with me to select a conference to propose to as well as a journal, which gives them experience pitching ideas for a particular professional audience.

Project Information

Estimated Start Date: 6/3/2024

Estimated End Date: 7/26/2024

Maximum number of students sought: 2

Contact Information: Prof. Michelle Cowan (mcowan@wlu.edu)

CEO Political Ideology and Organizational Outcomes (Prof. Justin Davis)

1 student is sought for a project on “CEO Political Ideology and Organizational Outcomes” with Prof. Justin Davis that will begin on 6/3/2024 and last for 4 weeks

Project Description:

The CEOs of large listed U.S. companies often make substantial personal contributions to political candidates. This is known because of the Federal Election Campaign Act which requires the collection and reporting of all contributions of $200 or more to political candidates. Management and finance researchers have discovered numerous connections between a CEOs political ideology (measured with publicly available political contribution data) and firm-level outcomes such as corporate social responsibility and performance. I seek to contribute to this active line of research, in which new connections are even recently being made (Bhandari and Golden, 2021; Chandler et al., 2023; Weng and Yang, 2023). My plan for the project involves an initial literature review and development of a research methods study, in which I will publish access to a program I have developed for collecting CEO political contribution data. I believe this is necessary because, to my knowledge, such a program does not exist. This leads researchers to develop such a program individually, resulting in a lack of replicability and access. Upon completion of the research methods study, I plan to continue the project studying novel connections between the political ideology of executives and firm-level outcomes.

Prerequisites

Special Comments

Project Information

Estimated Start Date: 6/3/2024

Estimated End Date: 6/28/2024

Maximum number of students sought: 1

Contact Information: Prof. Justin Davis (jdavis2@wlu.edu)