Naslov
Shareholder Engagement Impact on Companies' Success in Croatia: Minority Report

Autori
Omazić, Mislav Ante ; Rubčić, Alen

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, ostalo

Knjiga
Rethinking Corporate Governance

Urednik/ci
Tipurić, Darko ; Vrdoljak Raguž, Ivona ; Podrug, Najla

Izdavač
Pearson Education

Grad
London : Delhi

Godina
2014

Raspon stranica
124-135

ISBN
978-1-78273-686-8

Ključne riječi
Shareholder Activism; Corporate Social Responsibility; Corporate Reputation

Sažetak
Free flow of information, social media, activist movements, democratization of media and even governmental actions initiated inevitable change regarding problems that companies did not consider as their own business responsibility initially. Through further social pressures, invoking of ethics and morality, the importance of socially responsible business rises, and many companies are already reporting on corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues, along with their regular annual reports (Porter, Kramer, 2006). This basically means that proacting (anticipating, planning and initiating) is more practical and less costly than simply reacting to social problems once they have surfaced (Carroll, Buchholtz 2009). On parallel basis, except perhaps among day traders and other short-term profiteers, more and more shareholders do enjoy feeling good about companies in which they invest (Sisodia, Wolfe, Sheth, 2007). Since they want good returns but they also want to invest in companies they truly admire, better reputation management is an another important argument for the integration of CSR especially in the context of improving company's image, building innovation capacities and strengthening its brand position. Although some studies that have examined the relation between social reputation and consumer preferences or share performance did not provide unambiguous conclusions, there is evidence suggesting that companies operating in accordance with the principles of social responsibility are achieving better results (Bird, 2007). As Croatia became the 28th member state of the European Union, that process itself creates many opportunities along with new challenges and threats for Croatian companies to consider. Among other things it also opens a huge market, brings new competition, and allows access to a huge investors’ community. Croatian companies must not only comply with EU regulations and standards, they must reinvent their own competitiveness and strive for corporate governance excellence. Socially responsible investors are keen on CSR integration and reporting in corporate governance, and companies must therefore apply international standards and guidelines for sustainability and CSR, along with maintaining and improving relationships with their shareholders. When setting goals for EU within so called Lisbon Agenda strategic framework, European policy makers made special appeal on CSR, seeking from business in meeting such goals. Through CSR model they want to promote society’s interests and a route to sustainable and inclusive recovery (EC Employment and Social Affairs, 2013). In that sense Croatian companies must not only comply with EU regulations and standards, they must reinvent their own competitiveness and strive for corporate governance excellence. Companies with CSR integrated in the corporate strategy and regular operations will be more responsible towards their shareholders and their activism and rights as well – and better relationships with shareholders should have a positive effect on company performance (performance on the stock exchange). Hereby we define shareholder activism as a proactive strategy through which the shareholders can assert their power as company owners in order to influence the corporate behavior and fulfill a specific interest.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

POVEZANOST RADA