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Building a European Portrait of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Building a European Portrait of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting
Building a European Portrait of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Building a European

Portrait of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

FRANCESCO PERRINI,Bocconi University,Milan

This article offers an original overview of non-?nancial disclosure on Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR)by concentrating on information released through corporate social,environmental and sustainability reports.It compares and con-trasts corporate social disclosure practices among ninety European companies with respect to the amount and kind of information released (CSR themes and topics ),by stakeholder-based catego-ries.The paper draws on the assumption that corporate social disclosure can be considered as the most direct expression of the companies’atti-tudes and behaviours regarding social responsibil-ity.The principal ?nding of this study is:?rms’disclosure is currently restricted to speci?c CSR themes.The resulting corporate socially responsi-ble portrait is linked to seven major themes that are:operational ef?ciency,maximum safety,envi-ronmental protection,quality &innovation,open dialogue,skill development,and responsible citizenship.

ó2005Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserved.

Keywords:Corporate social responsibility,Social,Environmental and Sustainability report,Non-?nancial reporting,Stakeholder engagement,Non-?nancial disclosure

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)–a concept where-by companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations and interac-tions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (CEC,2001),increasingly calls for companies to pu-

rsue their objectives by shifting to stakeholder-inclu-sive strategic thinking (Freeman and Liedtka,1997).Over the last ?fty years,the concept of CSR has chan-ged its focus many times –from an initial,vague awareness of the relationship between companies and their social-environmental reference context to an out-and-out identi?cation of rules of conduct and management tools.Non?nancial reporting has grown up together with the evolution of the concept of CSR,relying on the assumption that the former can be derived from the latter,thus meaning ‘‘social responsibility’’in the sense that the company is held accountable for its action.Indeed,key players in the ?nancial and consumer markets are asking compa-nies to demonstrate their ability to improve corpo-rate processes and day-by-day operations both socially and environmentally.This implies that if companies want to obtain their stakeholders’trust and build a good reputation in the market (Brammer and Pavelin,2004),they must give concrete evidence that they are committed to continual,long-term improvement (Preston,1981),also identifying,moni-toring,and reporting all social,environmental,and economic effects of its operation on society at large.

As a result,although an unquestionable business case for social responsibility is still lacking,compa-nies are paying growing attention to the importance of demonstrating commitment to CSR by providing clear and veri?able data and information,similar to more traditional ?nancial documents.In other words,even if uncertainty and skepticisms do exist (Salzmann,Ionescu-Somers and Steger,2004),CSR reports are becoming a more permanent feature of the business landscape.

doi:10.1016/j.emj.2005.10.008

European Management Journal Vol.23,No.6,pp.611–627,2005

ó2005Elsevier Ltd.All rights reserved.

Printed in Great Britain

0263-2373$30.00

Starting from these premises,our study tackles cor-porate socially responsible behavior by focusing on a stakeholder-based approach,using social and envi-ronmental reporting practices to examine the role of information in organization-society dialogue and relationship.In so doing,the paper attempts a map of corporate propensity towards certain areas of CSR disclosure,in order to establish the emphasis practitioners place on each of the CSR domains. The assumption underneath is clear:an increasing number of multinational corporations(MNCs)as well as small-and medium-sized companies now claim their social and environmental reporting prac-tices as evidence of their adherence to CSR and sustainable development concepts.As such,report-ing-based analyses represent the right way towards an overall comprehension of what practitioners con-sider ef?cient and appropriate socially responsible behavior(Vogel,2005).

Dealing with information drawn from a content analysis of ninety MNCs’social,environmental and sustainability reports,this contribution aims at answering this question:what is current prioritiza-tion in terms of CSR behavior?

Our review of CSR performance reports was not meant to be comprehensive or exhaustive or to mea-sure quantitatively socially responsible initiatives or actual socially responsible corporate behavior. Rather,in an attempt to answer the question above, the review sought to:

a)Determine whether a univocal CSR portrait

exists(Schwartz and Carroll,2003),and

b)What its dimensions and related prioritization

are.

In so doing,we identify MNCs’practices and classify these practices along the lines of speci?c CSR and sustainable development themes.

The article is structured as follows:?rst,it will pro-vide an explanation of our methodology and de-scribe the main characteristics of the method used as a conceptual framework to analyze the reports. In the second and main section,the article deals with the results of the analysis of the non-?nancial reports issued by ninety acknowledged‘‘socially responsi-ble’’companies.Results are presented by stake-holder-based categories(we will discuss later why we chose a stakeholder-based model)and,within each of them,by CSR themes and topics.We con-clude this paper by pointing out the current corpo-rate convergence on speci?c CSR issues and discussing the implications of its?ndings on future research.In this sense we also make some proposals for introducing a common and standardized CSR ‘‘language’’(Donaldson,1992)in order to overcome the comparability gap among social evaluation and reporting practices.The Study:Objectives,Sample and Method

The present study deals with a sample of companies with advanced experience in CSR issues and com-prises ninety European companies(Figure1and Appendix A).They have been grouped by industry using the FTSE TM Global Classi?cation Systems. They are all publicly listed companies and med-ium/large in size.All of them publish a social,envi-ronmental or sustainability report and are included in the Ethical Index Euroòlaunched in2000by E.Capital Partners,an Italian independent advisory company.

We chose to focus on European companies because we believe there is a strong uniformity in how they report their CSR activities.This originates from the fact that social and environmental reporting pro-cesses were initially created as internal communica-tions,primarily to support the relationship between the company and trade unions–a key feature of the European workforce.This is in contrast to the emergence of social and environmental disclosure in Anglo-Saxon countries,which evolved more as a way of managing external pressure groups,most often environmental groups.

The analysis of the corporate social and environmen-tal reports was conducted by using a checklist instru-ment that categorizes corporate social disclosure into a multi-criteria grid,with a wide-ranging coverage of CSR issues and in agreement with the stakeholder theory(Clarkson,1995;Donaldson and Preston, 1995;Freeman1984;Freeman and Liedtka,1997; McWilliams and Siegel,2001)and the Triple Bottom Line approach(Elkington,1997;Norman and Mac-Donald2004).

More speci?cally,this grid has been drawn on a set of key CSR performance indicators–the Social State-ment–that represents the core of the‘‘Corporate Social Responsibility–Social Commitment(CSR-SC)Project,’’promoted by the Italian Government,and of?cially presented to EU Partners in2003,to give a tangi-ble contribution to‘‘CSR promoting campaign devel-oped at the European level.’’1This framework, which places a strong emphasis on stakeholder involvement,aims in brief at providing guidance and‘reference points’on key issues of the CSR agen-da,and thus contributes to enhancing the transpar-ency and credibility of CSR practices and tools. The Social Statement is a document that maps stake-holder-based CSR performance indicators,through which enterprises’process of social,environmental and economic performance evaluation can be volun-tarily supported and enhanced.In fact,the tool spe-ci?cally aims at supporting the process of systematic social and environmental data collection and self-evaluation.This process was not meant to

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

replace public or private‘‘acknowledged’’initiatives on CSR,but rather to be a supplement to these pro-jects.In other words,the set of indicators aims at monitoring the commitment and the activities car-ried out by enterprises within the subject of CSR, helping them to communicate to their stakeholders regularly and accurately.To have an idea of how the CSR-SC Project compares to many other impor-tant CSR instruments,Figure2shows how key clas-si?cation features are included in each of them (Zadek,2002;Tencati,Perrini and Pogutz,2004). Consistent with previous studies(Epstein,Flamholtz &McDonough,1976;Preston,1981;Guthrie& Parker,1990;Niskala&Pretes,1995;Gray,Kouhy &Lavers,1995;Adams,2002),the unit of analysis for our research was sentences,each of them being classi?ed into one of eight stakeholder-based catego-ries:(1)Human resources;(2)Shareholders and ?nancial community;(3)Customers;(4)Suppliers;

(5)Financial partners;(6)Public authorities;(7)Com-munity;(8)Environment.

The choice to adopt a stakeholder-based approach is aligned with a shift from a‘trust me’culture,where stakeholders place implicit and explicit faith that cor-porations will act in their best interests,to a‘tell me’culture,in which stakeholders want to be reassured that organizations will do what is morally right(Sus-tainAbility and UNEP,1999).This process has fur-ther evolved towards an‘involve me’culture,in which companies ask their stakeholders to help them in understanding the right way to be effectively responsible(Cumming,2001).The context described above can therefore be enhanced by the spread of a common stakeholder-based approach in reporting: companies and stakeholders must be aware of what information needs to be used in order to achieve an optimal truthful disclosure,and this can be done only by starting from a shared CSR knowledge base.

There are many bene?ts of a stakeholder-based ap-proach.First,it allows each individual stakeholder to immediately recognize her/his role and weight within the company’s strategies and operations, making it possible for them to compare their own values with those of the company.Second,from the ?rm perspective,adopting a stakeholder-based reporting standard allows companies to constantly monitor the changing and multidimensional envi-ronmental system in which they operate.In this way,it is possible to measure stakeholder satisfaction and better understand what it is that still needs to be done and where to fully integrate the socially respon-sible action(Sirgy,2002).

Finally,in addition to analyzing the reports along the ‘‘checklist’’of stakeholder-based themes(see Figure 3),we also classify the data into broader topics,such as whether they?t into other codes of practice(i.e., UN Global Contract,OECD,Guidelines for MNCs, Amnesty International Guidelines)and other certi?-cation systems(i.e.,ISO9000,SA8000,EU Eco-label). The incidence rate of each topic,is measured as a ratio between the number of companies that disclose the topics and the total number of companies sampled.

To help organize the data,we classi?ed incidence rates into three major groupings:

1.Consensus:a topic was covered by P66.6%of com-

panies in the sample.

2.Moderate coverage:between P3

3.3%and<66.6%of

companies covered the topic.

3.Low coverage:fewer than<33.3%of companies cov-

ered the topic.

How Companies Interpret Their Relationship With Stakeholders

Human Resources

Being socially responsible implies including social and environmental issues primarily in the relation-ships with those who are directly in?uenced by cor-porate operations.It is for this reason that the sample of European companies we reviewed shows that increasingly they consider their bottom line as en-hanced by excellence in their ability to satisfy human resources’expectation.To ground their policies in reality,?rms need to address their day-to-day opera-tions towards stakeholder dialogue:this in fact‘‘not

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

F i g u r e 2C S R D i m e n s i o n s i n I n s t r u m e n t s

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

only enhances a company’s sensitivity to its environ-ment but also increases the environments’under-standing of the dilemmas facing the organization’’(Kaptein and Van Tulder,2003,p.208).Table 1sum-marizes all the considerations that will be drawn with regards to the relationship with human resources.

The ?rst step to building up corporate skills to serve human resources is the establishment of a ‘‘low im-pact’’workplace.In fact,all the initiatives aimed at improving the quality of working life and the partic-ipation of workers in the company’s management would lose their ability to increase a company’s attractiveness as a good place to work if their description wasn’t accompanied or even preceded by a careful examination of the basic working condi-tions and the methods of protecting workers’health and safety (H &S ).This management aspect is so sig-ni?cant to have given rise to an ad hoc reporting method:the health,safety and environment report-ing.With speci?c reference to the sample reports,H&S projects directed towards minimizing and pre-venting health and safety risks,and the accurate cal-culation of accidents and disease occurrences,show a high degree of consensus among MNCs,no matter what industries they belong to (average total inci-dence rate 76%).

Internal communications received a great deal of cov-erage most likely because it forms the basis of the employer/employee relationship.In order to be com-pletely integrated in the working structure,employ-ees need to be kept informed of the strategies,objectives and results of the company and their own groups or business units within the company.In this respect,internal communications play a key role in devising and disseminating ‘‘company culture’’and stimulating dialogue among involved

parties.In other words,internal publications (i.e.in-house magazines),conventions,intranet platforms and so on can have a direct impact on workers’moti-vation and commitment,enhance the sharing of information across the business,and protecting and strengthening the brand with all stakeholders.Analyzed corporations share a relatively high degree of convergence with regard to the indicators concern-ing the protection of workers’rights.Within the cat-egory of workers’rights ,companies tended to report their activities in relation to ILO (International Labour Organization)conventions .Companies in fact are increasingly global actors,aware that any lapse in good corporate citizenship can be immediately known worldwide,thus affecting their brands worldwide.The description of the policies imple-mented to protect workers’rights in the countries in which the producing and commercial activities are localized can thus enhance the ability to map all corporate impacts and improve the corporate im-age as attractive employers around the https://www.doczj.com/doc/7510249618.html,panies also show awareness regarding the importance of being attractive by looking at pro-grams and services companies offer to improve the working environment and elevate the quality of workers’lives.These employee bene?ts (total incidence rate 51%)can range from social clubs to in-house kin-dergarten,to tax counseling and employee housing,and so on.The description of such initiatives is fol-lowed,in terms of incidence rate,by the themes regarding equality of treatment or equal opportunity.While companies tend to report on the relationship between female and male personnel,they tend to shy away from key data like men’s and women’s sal-aries for similar posts or highlighting policies for per-sons with disabilities and minorities in general.Despite the lack of widespread information on these

Stakeholder-based Categories

Human Resources

Shareholders

Customers

Suppliers

Financial Partners

Public Authorities

Community

Environment

C S R T h e m e s

Staff composition Turnover

Equality of treat-ment Training

Working hours Schemes of Wages

Absence form Work

Employees’ bene-fits

Industrial relations In-house commu-nications

Health and safety Personnel’s’ satisfaction Workers rights Disciplinary measures and litigation

Capital stock formation Shareholders’/ partners’ pay Rating perform-ance

Corporate govern-ance

Benefits and services

Investor relations

General character-istics

Market develop-ment

Customer satisfac-tion

Customer loyalty Product/Services information and labeling

Ethical & envi-ronmental product and services Promotional poli-cies Privacy

Supplier manage-ment policies Contractual condi-tions

Relations with banks

Relations with insurance compa-nies

Relations with financial institu-tions

Taxes and duties Relations with local authorities Codes of conducts and compliance with laws Contributions, benefits or easy-term financing

Corporate giving Direct contribu-tions in the differ-ent intervention fields

stakeholder en-gagement

Relations with the media

Virtual commu-nity

Corruption pre-vention

Energy consump-tion

Materials Emissions Environmental strategy and rela-tions with the community

Figure 3Checklist of Stakeholder-based CSR Themes

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

issues,companies declare to perceive cultural diver-sity and equal opportunity as relevant values to-wards which to address company operations.Furthermore,in some cases (i.e.Metro Group)the term ‘‘diversity’’is recognized as directly linked to CSR and used as a synonym for an intentional diver-sity and for dissimilarity as the normal https://www.doczj.com/doc/7510249618.html,pa-nies that are globally oriented tend to look to cultural diversi?cation as a crucial source of creativity and innovation.

Those companies reporting on training projects (total average incidence rate 44.7%),show uniformity in recognizing that investing in its people helps to de-velop company reputation,which ultimately affects the company’s capacity for value creation.If the main reason underlying corporate responsible behavior and the adoption of social and environmen-tal evaluation and reporting instruments is the will to make the company attractive to its stakeholders,then relying on training,communicating results and pro-jects,could speed up the company legitimating pro-cess (Smith et al.,2004),showing its dynamism,its inclination to innovate,and its orientation to develop and nurture people skills,making them the driving force of the company’s success.All this can be ex-plained as a developmental path through which companies that possess certain qualities try to distin-guish themselves from those that do not (Dye,1985;Verrecchia,1983).

The explanation of company employment policies,the ratio of permanent to non-permanent employees and the termination are the three topics within turn-over (total average incidence rate 43.3%).The descrip-tion of such information con?rms the company determination to be attractive to potential workers (Greening and Turban,2000),showing its willingness to be accountable to the current workers and stake-holders in general,for what has been done in terms of human resource performance during the ?nancial years considered in the social and environmental reporting process.In particular,descriptions of employment trends,where negative,are frequently associated with clear indications of the reasons why cuts to personnel were made.In this way companies try to reinforce their reputation in terms of transpar-ency and reliability.On the other hand,companies that do not provide explanations of policies regard-ing employee termination risk being misunderstood by stakeholders,who may interpret it as a symptom of poor credibility and low trustworthiness.The tendency to enclose data and information about internal customer satisfaction surveys and the respective projects is still rather low.Perhaps compa-nies do not recognize that reporting on such topics offers an opportunity to communicate to stakehold-ers the effectiveness of human resource policies.The ?rst of the issues to receive little coverage is industrial relations .Speci?c topics include the compli-T a b l e 1

H u m a n R e s o u r c e -b a s e d C S R T h e m e s a n d T o p i c s

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

ance with the right to organize and collective bargain-ing,the percentage of trade union members among employees,and the hours designated for strikes. These are followed by the description of the staff com-position by categories,age,seniority in grade,geo-graphical origin,nationality,kind of contract and educational quali?cation.For those companies who consider staff composition related to their CSR por-trait(total average incidence rate26.7%),the inclu-sion of this theme and its correlated topics within the non?nancial report lies on this assumption:an essential step in order to build up corporate skills to serve stakeholders requires the establishment of a common knowledge base among the parts.In this sense it is useful to paint a complete quantitative pic-ture by giving a clear representation of the com-pany’s speci?c situation,making it possible to?t it in the local context and allowing the stakeholders to do comparative assessments.The indicators above are effectively measured as a percentage of workers out of total workforce by categories,geographical origin and so on,bearing in mind the importance of State trends,by adopting a multi-year communica-tion perspective to give a clear signal of transparency and continuity.By reading the trends,all the stake-holders are able to recognize the company’s‘‘evolu-tionary path,’’its starting line and the conformity with its targets.

It is not surprising that‘‘geographical origin’’has a rather high coverage rate.MNCs tend to give a clear accounting of their structure at the international level to ensure compliance with ILO Conventions.Partly to the same purpose,the indications about workers’nationalities are broadly underlined as an important indication of corporate creativity and ability to dia-logue within a multicultural environment. Schemes of wages(average incidence rate22.7%),rates of absenteeism(average incidence rate19%),and disci-plinary action/litigation(average incidence rate12%) receive even less attention in the reports analyzed. This is a lost opportunity to allow stakeholders to ‘‘measure’’the corporate climate and culture,since absenteeism is a major barometer of employee morale.

Shareholders and Financial Community

By and large,the reports analyzed did not cover,in any signi?cant way(see Table2),a company’s rela-tionship with its partners and the?nancial commu-nity.This is not to say that this is not an important stakeholder category,but rather,uncovers the frag-mentation within reporting systems.The description of the relationship between a company and its?nan-cial community is generally found in other documents expressly focused on corporate governance issues. While general reporting levels on their relationship with shareholders and?nancial community was low,companies did tend to focus much attention on corporate governance.Data concerning the description of the compliance with self-regulatory measures, aimed at highlighting the governance methods to en-hance general participation of shareholders and non-discrimination policies,and the existence of independent counselors within the Board of Direc-tors,seem to be signi?cant for the analyzed enter-prises.In particular,the interest of companies for those issues can vary across cases.They often limit themselves to declare their commitment to national or international standards of corporate governance and best practices(in these cases,more detailed infor-mation was included in a speci?c corporate gover-nance section in the?nancial report or the company website).In other cases,one?nds careful descriptions of linkages between executive compensation and per-formance,board-level functioning processes and company governance structure,the composition of

Table2Shareholder-based CSR Themes and Topics

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

the Board of Directors and their expertise,the mea-sures to increase shareholders’rights and so on.In general,this section of the reports aims at detailing the corporate attempts to enhance transparency and dialogue with shareholders and partners. Reporting on investor relations was relatively high, with companies tending toward explaining the kinds of outreach–from road shows,the one-to-one meet-ings to open-houses–directed toward this stake-holder.All these practices,when described inside a systematic and coherent‘container’(i.e.non-?nancial reports)contribute to build a new corporate identity as an open/transparent organization based on reci-procal listening and wide-ranging involvement (Hooghiemstra,2000).Dealing with CSR,investor relations also changes the methods utilized as well as actual of?cial notices themselves to investors (Hockerts and Moir,2004)especially with regard to new?nancial products and services concerning responsible practices like socially responsible investing. This section also deals with the provision of an over-all view on the capital stock composition,in order to make the time performance of the company’s assets known and monitoring it as well(Benston,1986). These CSR themes lay on the assumption that corpo-rate identity,values and mission are also re?ected by the identity of a company’s partners.

The same consideration can be drawn on information regarding the shareholders’/partners’remuneration, as well as stock price?uctuation.In these cases,the adoption of a multi-year view in measuring such indi-cators was of crucial importance in allowing stakehold-ers to fully understand the company’s state of health and its ability to create and share value and wealth. Consumers

As shown by the incidence rates,the‘‘reporting dia-logue’’between companies and their customers is clearly centered on three main CSR themes:promo-tional policies,the description of ethical and environ-mental products and services and labeling practices (see Table3–‘consensus’).

First of all,providing customers with a complete pic-ture of the active communication channels and pro-motional policies gives them the possibility to know the methods through which they can reach compa-nies concretely.Furthermore,through the provision of information about communication channels and advertising campaigns,companies underline those social pieces of information not self-evident but use-ful to reinforcing the products or company social and environmental features and image,especially when product and services are considered as experi-ence good(McWilliams and Siegel,2001).For example, it’s increasingly important within the automobile industry to make people‘‘feel’’the car(both in terms of the entire life cycle and the emotional values of its brand),what the driving experience will be,as well as risks and responsibilities.In this sense,social reports make room for such information as companies’activ-ities for safeguarding individual mobility or attrac-tive services for customers and automobile. Product/service information and labeling and ethical and environmental products and services are instead more closely linked with the concept of a responsible company,aiming at evaluating the company commit-ment to create those products or services that actually protect the consumer and consumer interests,and en-sure transparent communication on quality,environ-mental impact and product safety.Once again,the inclusion of this information within the non-?nancial reports can be read as an effort to enhance corporate responsible identity and address customers’atten-tion/choice toward responsible companies.It also gives real proof for supporting all the good intentions declared in self-regulatory codes and value charts. Those topics falling in the‘‘moderate coverage’’cat-egory include descriptions of market development

Table3Consumer-based and Suppliers-based CSR Themes and Topics

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

(average total incidence rate39%)and customer satis-faction and loyalty initiatives(average total incidence rate32.5%).With speci?c reference to the former, companies show particular interest in describing new products and services that have been or are in development.While the new customers dimension is predominantly‘‘inside-oriented’’(this tends to be highly prized and highly classi?ed information), the‘‘portrayal’’of novelties and innovation in terms of company offer makes stakeholders able to formu-late assessments on the company’s ability to‘listen and customize’.In fact some empirical studies and, in general,literature on consumer inference making, suggest that‘‘consumers may form inferences about missing product attributes by drawing connections between an available piece of information(e.g.,com-pany reputation for innovation and manufacturing ability)and the missing attribute(e.g.,product sophistication,innovativeness)’’.For example,by appreciating the range of new market initiatives pro-moted by companies,actual customers would be able to express their level of satisfaction on how compa-nies have responded to their requests,while poten-tial customers could be attracted by company dynamism,emerging from its renewal capacity if not a targeted ability to reinvent itself to meet new market trends,etc.Surprisingly,companies tended to shy away from reporting on customer satisfac-tion-oriented initiatives.Apparently companies are still unaware of the importance of communicating within and beyond the organization,its ability to lis-ten to key stakeholders’issues and come up with an-swers to them,and its willingness to cooperate and have dialog with key stakeholders.

Suppliers

A responsible company is a company able to system-atically establish better relationships with the overall environment in which it operates.In this sense,a deep awareness of their own environment,including its supply chain,is an essential precondition to be effectively‘responsible’(Maignan,Hillebrand and McAlister,2002).

The theme supplier management received a good deal of attention in the reports that were analyzed,per-haps because companies seem more aware than ever that they are part of an open system,dynamically linked to its environment of reference,and that their suppliers are an extension of the company itself. Clearly,organizations aspiring to be responsible ‘‘think about’’the effects of its operations,from‘‘cra-dle to grave’’(Meel and Saat,2000). Procurement,on the other hand,received little atten-tion in the reports.This was surprising given that companies should want to make clear the absence of any unfair policies toward suppliers,thus enhanc-ing stakeholders’trust while indicating its value for fair play.Table3summarizes quantitatively the considerations drawn above with regards to the two categories of stakeholders(i.e.,consumers and suppliers). Financial Partners

The stakeholder?nancial partner was rarely included in the analyzed reports(see Table4),notwithstand-ing its crucial role in contexts like the Italian one, where SMEs are predominant.In these sitituations the dimension of enterprises makes it necessary to turn to partners(banks,insurance companies,leasing companies,and so on)for?nancial support of both corporate growth and local development.

Where included,all the data and information useful to explaining?nancial relationships were collected starting from a partnership view,aimed at demon-strating efforts towards convergence and reciprocal support.

Regrettably the current situation refers to the low awareness of companies of the opportunity to include banks,insurance companies and other?nancial partners(e.g.,leasing companies)in the reports,con-sidering them as relevant stakeholders in the account-ability and reporting process.What’s more, companies could use this area for all information regarding the company’s risk pro?le.For example, enterprises should consider the existence of a positive correlation between the quantity/quality of disclosed information about the net?nancial position and the cost to have access to credit.As the availability of data increases,the risk premium to be granted to?nancial partners and the selection costs to be charged to banks and insurance companies decreases.

Public Authorities

The company disclosure towards public authorities (https://www.doczj.com/doc/7510249618.html,ernment,Local and Public Authorities and Institutions)(see Table4)is noticeably higher than that of?nancial partners.The theme concerning the codes of conducts and rules for the compliance with laws shows the highest degree of convergence(average incidence rate37.5%).

It may be noteworthy how the inclusion of data relat-ing to conformity veri?cation and inspections can be relevant for a company that wants to be responsible. The ratio of such an indicator is to highlight the lack of legal actions/law suits and to verify the consis-tency of declared behavior(code of conduct,ethical codes,policies,etc.)with implemented behavior. While adhering to basic laws is a prerequisite for an organization to behave in a socially and environ-mentally responsible manner,companies should want to do more than the bare minimum.On the con-trary companies seem reluctant to give details about contributions,bene?ts and easy-term?nancing,as

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

well as information on taxes and duties.In this sense companies do not demonstrate their commitment to the local development of the context in which they operate.In fact,the indicator measures the wealth created by the organization and shared with the pub-lic authorities and institutions.Again the adoption of a multi-year view could be important in these cases. Local and Global Communities

Apart from the industry to which companies belong, the interest to deeply analyze and describe the rela-tionship with community of reference appears to be relevant in terms of average incidence rates(see Table5).

These indicators are part of the traditional reporting topics,together with health and safety and environ-mental performance(KPMG,2002).

More speci?cally,the socially responsible relation-ship with the community,as shown by the sample, starts with active stakeholder engagement and corrup-tion prevention.The former is well represented by ini-tiatives like Open Plants and Industries,the organization of public presentation of social or sus-tainability reports,structured processes of confronta-tion with stakeholders to clarify needs and requests and so on.All these initiatives are variously pre-sented in the current non-?nancial reports.As stake-holders become more active and able to make a greater contribution to the development and evalua-tion of company policy,these action-plans are a di-rect result of holding regular discussions on what can and needs to be given priority and deemed cru-cial(Hess,Rogovsky and Dunfee,2002). Corruption prevention is instead substantiated in com-municating the existence of self-control policies and systems to avoid corruption practices/non-ethical behavior known to their stakeholders.In particular, corruption prevention is tightly linked to the more immediate meaning of the CSR concept:a responsi-ble company is a social actor that adopts all the nec-essary measures to avoid unethical behaviors, starting from severe,voluntary self-regulatory codes and in-house rules(Stevens,1994).In addition,a well-written code adds coherence in the multiplicity of company responsibilities and the information that is included in the report.

Other aspects of local and global communities in-clude corporate giving,which consists of donations, gifts,gratuities,grants and other exclusively mone-tary corporate contributions to socially/environmen-tally useful organizations and related projects. Companies also tend to report on their non-?nancial investments in the community as well.This can in-clude lending employee manpower or knowledge to causes(i.e.employees participate in social solidar-ity activities),company support of culture(https://www.doczj.com/doc/7510249618.html,-munity orchestras)or sports,or even social solidarity,in the form of supporting local drug reha-bilitation communities.

In light of the increasing importance of the Informa-tion&Communication Technology(ICT)for enter-prises,the whole body of information concerning the relationship between the company and the Inter-net needs to be described within non-?nancial docu-ments.The macrocategory‘‘virtual community’’consists of data regarding contacts,their characteris-tics and analysis but also the description of the secu-rity policies and those systems aimed at managing the relationship with stakeholders carried out through the Internet.At the moment this aspect is only occasionally mentioned in the reports and is clearly not discussed enough(average incidence rate 12.3%).

Table4Financial Partner-based and Public Authorities-based CSR Themes and Topics

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

As a last consideration,the sample should consider more deeply the opportunity related to the inclusion of information regarding the relationship with the media .By receiving the news media’s view of the company,stakeholders could obtain further countercheck/external signals of corporate credibility and trustwor-thiness.In addition,media attention devoted to CSR provides the stakeholders or the audience with access to new information regarding social attributes and production/manufacturing methodology in general.All this,in turn,helps to build public awareness of CSR issues,reduces information asymmetry and,in the end,contributes to increase the overall demand for CSR in all of its dimensions.

Environment

The last section of the analysis considers the relation-ship between companies and the environment.The inclusion of such information in the non-?nancial re-ports aims at giving a complete assessment of com-pany performance,in line with the triple bottom line approach.In this regard,companies share the will to make CSR and sustainable development mutually compatible with one another,trying to communicate their ability to take into consideration needs expressed by the different stakeholders it deals with and the overall impact of its operation on the environment.

Data and information regarding the impact of corpo-rate activities on the natural capital are presented in a variety of ways,but are nonetheless included in all 90reports.Through this insertion companies give a clear sign of how important it is to not adopt a partial CSR approach,so as to simultaneously consider eco-nomic,social and environmental aspects of their operations.

The variability of contents reported in this area can be ascribed to the industry-based differences among enterprises regarding energy consumption,materials and emissions.For example,most of the companies that publish a social report belong to the ?nancial industry,which is characterized by a rather low im-pact on the environment.In fact looking at the data in Table 5one notices a high degree of coverage of the indicator concerning general company environ-mental policies,but (as one would expect)a much lower degree of coverage with reference to single,speci?c indicators like air emissions,water treatment and so on.

The description of the relationship with the environ-ment is also the most problematic with reference to the comparability among different ways to evaluate corporate environmental performance.The lack of common references causes the multiplication of reporting methods and units of measurement,as each company presents its performance indicators from its own personal view of what ‘the impact on the environment’means.As a consequence it is

T a b l e 5

C o m m u n i t y -b a s e d a n d E n v i r o n m e n t -b a s e d C S R T h e m e s a n d T o p i c s

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

becoming much more dif?cult for interested stake-holders to express an objective opinion on a com-pany’s commitment towards respecting and safeguarding the environment.

What Awaits Current Socially Responsible Companies?

During the past decade,CSR has moved from the margins of corporate agendas to the mainstream, becoming increasingly prevalent in both the aca-demic world and,more generally,the international business media and conference circuit.Indeed,‘‘CSR has become a vital part of the business conver-sation’’(Pearce II and Doh,2005,p.29).Corporate attention to this issue has extended exponentially and this clearly emerges from the social,environ-mental and sustainability reports.

Looking at the themes and topics for each stake-holder-based category gives us a clear view of what the main function of a social and environmental report is and the relationship between it and the CSR con-cept.By using this kind of data container a company is able to self-evaluate and organize all the aspects of its role within a complex and multidimensional envi-ronment(Tencati,Perrini and Pogutz,2004).The more knowledge generated about what stakeholders need, the more effectively companies can communicate with them and serve their needs.Summing up,even if the intrinsic subjectivity that characterizes responsi-ble behavior makes standardized judgment not entirely useful,corporate responsible strategic orien-tations seems to converge on a pool of socially respon-sible issues wider than in the past.These can be traced back to seven main themes(see Figure4):operational ef?ciency or group pro?tability,maximum safety at each level(from product and service safety to working conditions,without excluding suppliers’relationship and impact),product quality and innovation,environ-mental protection and contribution to widespread environmental training,dialog with stakeholders, attention to skill development(apart from its being company-oriented or community-oriented)and,?nal-ly,responsible citizenship.

But the process goes on and further develops:in or-der to evaluate and communicate responsible behav-ior and results,CSR strategy must be given its due consideration in sub-themes that come together to compose a more detailed and speci?c CSR portrait of the enterprise as a whole.

The present analysis has shown how companies seem to be in agreement about what responsible behavior should be in practice.Figure5summarizes such?ndings by presenting stakeholder-based cate-gories by importance in order of incidence rates.In addition,the most covered CSR themes have been associated to each category.

It appears clear that corporate ideas of socially responsible behavior are mainly still linked to pro-tecting environment and community,while to a les-ser extent taking care of customers and workers. The considerations drawn above allow us to conclude that at the moment,companies tend to converge on speci?c CSR issues–those more related to health, safety and environment–considering them strategic. On the contrary,as their sphere of in?uence enlarges, companies should try to enlarge their vision to re?ect their sphere of responsibility within the social,global https://www.doczj.com/doc/7510249618.html,panies should identify CSR with a sort of‘‘global’’corporate environmental citizenship, strictly linked to multiple-relations with stakehold-ers,different interest groups,and communities,in order to address important and shared social and environmental issues.Since interactions with stake-holders are simultaneously imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable they can be managed strategi-cally and represent valuable sources of competitive advantages.

This statement lets us consider,as an opportunity for future research what speci?c factors(i.e.expectations) in?uence speci?c kinds of social and environmental disclosure.In addition,it would be interesting to ex-

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

tend this kind of research to other geographically dis-tinct samples and compare trends.

It might also be stimulating to clarify how standard-ization could enhance corporate ability to disclose critical social and environmental data and informa-tion.Or how it could stimulate or change current pri-oritization.At the moment,along with the increasing number of companies reporting,there is a greater diversity in the types of reports issued,making it necessary to look for a common standard that would be useful both to support the measurement and eval-uation process and to facilitate the consequent assur-ance process(Willis,2003).

In such a situation,the adoption of a common starting base for disclosure(not simply standardization)is much more than necessary,making it possible to con-sider,as a viable opportunity for future research,the usefulness of the Social Statement in minding the comparability gap and bene?ting non-?nancial reporting practices,with speci?c reference to the world of SMEs.In fact,beyond the advantages of the standardization itself(reduction of selective dis-closure,comparability among different reports, reduction of the risk of misleading information,crea-tion of a common,shared knowledge base,and so on) that are common to all standardization tools,the So-cial Statement has its own speci?c characteristic:its ?exible and modular approach makes it adaptable to the small-and medium-sized private companies that are so representative in the European context. Those SMEs that decide to‘‘enrol in the program’’would be required to use at least the set of common indicators,whereas large companies,publicly listed or not,could enrich the core made up of the common indicators,by using some or all of the additional indicators,as well as adapting the reporting process to the industry characteristics and,in general,to the context in which they operate.In other words,while reducing the information asymmetry among stake-holders,the Social Statement,through the modular approach,avoids the hardening that standards inev-itably trigger because of an intrinsic inability to emphasize corporate strength and speci?cities.

In conclusion,the diffusion of such a reporting method could make it possible to enhance SMEs’willingness to disclose social information,both by reducing the ability of?rms to selectively disclose and strengthening the stakeholder knowledge about what information a corporation should be able to disclose.

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Clodia Vurro who provided extraordinary support as research assistant in the col-lection of and comments on the data.I wish to thank Professors Thomas W.Dunfee and Nien-^e Hsieh for their insightful suggestions and detailed comments; Professor Thomas Donaldson and Professor Sergio Pivato for their continuous encouragement;Profes-sors Alan Strudler,Antonio Tencati and Stefano Pogutz provided helpful comments.I would also like to thank participants in seminars at the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department Faculty Research Program Seminar Series(Philadelphia,Wharton School),the9th Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network–UK Association(EBEN-UK)&7th Ethics and Human Resource Management Conference(London,Royal Holloway,University of London),The European Academy of Management (EURAM)Annual Conference(Munich,TUM Busi-ness School),The Wharton Social Impact Manage-ment(SIM)Initiative,EABIS RESPONSE Project Meetings and the students of Wharton class on ‘‘International Business Ethics’’and‘‘Corporate Responsibility and Ethics’’for helpful discussions on earlier versions of this paper.I would like to express my gratitude to the Wharton School,Univer-sity of Pennsylvania,Bocconi University,Milan,and SDA Bocconi School of Management for their kind support.Finally,I thank the anonymous referees

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

Appendix A.Case Company Overview

Name Industry Country Document’s Name Year Adopted Reporting

Standard

ABB LTD General Industrials SWITZERLAND Sustainability Report2003GRI;AA1000

ABN AMRO HOLDING NV Financials NETHERLANDS Sustainability Report2003GRI

AEGON NV Financials NETHERLANDS CSR Report2003GRI

AGFA GEVAERT NV Non Cyclical Consumer Goods BELGIUM Environmental Report2003None

ARCELOR Basic Industries FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None

AXA Financials FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None

BANCHE POPOLARI UNITE SCRL Financials ITALY Social&Environmental Report2003ABI;GRI

BANCO POPOLARE DI VERONA E N Financials ITALY Social Report2003GBS;ABI

BANCO SANTANDER CENTRAL HISP Financials SPAIN CSR Report2003GRI BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG Cyclical Consumer Goods GERMANY Sustainability Report2003GRI

BG GROUP PLC Resources UNITED KINGDOM Social&Environmental Report2003None

BHP BILLITON PLC Resources UNITED KINGDOM HSE Report2003GRI

BNP PARIBAS Financials FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None

BOC GROUP PLC Basic Industries UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003GRI

BOOTS GROUP PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003GRI

BP PLC Resources UNITED KINGDOM Sustainability Report2003GRI;AA1000 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO Non Cyclical Consumer Goods UNITED KINGDOM Social Report GRI

BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS Non Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM Social&Environmental Report2003None CARREFOUR SA Non Cyclical Services FRANCE Sustainability Report2003GRI

CASINO GUICHARD PERRACHON Non Cyclical Services FRANCE Sustainability Report2003GRI

CENTRICA PLC Utilities UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

CIBA SPECIALTY CHEMICALS-REG Basic Industries SWITZERLAND CSR Report2004None

CITIGROUP Financials UNITED KINGDOM Social Report2003GRI

DANONE Non Cyclical Consumer Goods FRANCE Social&Environmental Report2002None

DEUTSCHE BANK AG-REG Financials GERMANY CSR Report2003GRI

DEUTSCHE POST AG-REG Cyclical Services GERMANY Environmental Report2003None

DEXIA Financials BELGIUM Sustainability Report2003GRI

DIAGEO Non Cyclical Consumer Goods UNITED KINGDOM Social Report2003GRI

DOW EUROPE Basic Industries BELGIUM CSR Report2002GRI ELECTROLUX AB-SER B Cyclical Consumer Goods SWEDEN Sustainability Report2003None

ENEL SPA Utilities ITALY Sustainability Report2003CSR-SC;

GRI;AA1000

ENI SPA Resources ITALY HSE Report2003Fondazione Mattei ESSILOR INTERNATIONAL Non Cyclical Consumer Goods FRANCE Sustainability Report2003GRI

EXEL PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM Environmental Report2003None

FRANCE TELECOM SA Non Cyclical Services FRANCE SustainabilityReport2003None

FRANCE TELECOM SA Financials UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

GAS NATURAL SDG SA Utilities SPAIN CSR Report2003GRI GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC Non Cyclical Consumer Goods UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

GUS PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

HENKEL KGAA Non Cyclical Consumer Goods GERMANY Sustainability Report2003None

HENNES&MAURITZ AB-B SHS Cyclical Services SWEDEN CSR Report2003GRI BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

624 European

Management

Journal Vol.

23,

No.

6,

pp. 611–627, December 2005

HOLCIM LTD-REG Basic Industries SWITZERLAND Sustainability Report2003GRI INDITEX Cyclical Consumer Goods SPAIN Sustainability Report2003GRI ING GROEP NV-CVA Financials NETHERLANDS Social Report2003GRI INTRACOM Information Technology GREECE Social Report2002None KINGFISHER PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None KONINKLIJKE KPN NV Non Cyclical Services NETHERLANDS Sustainability Report2003GRI LAFARGE SA Basic Industries FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None LEGAL&GENERAL GROUP PLC Financials UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None LLOYDS TSB Financials UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

METRO AG Cyclical Services GERMANY Sustainability Report2004None

MICHELIN(CGDE)-B Cyclical Consumer Goods FRANCE CSR Report2003GRI

NATIONAL GRID TRANSCO PLC Utilities UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

NOKIA OYJ Information Technology FINLAND CSR Report2003GRI

NORSK HYDRO ASA Resources NORWAY CSR Report2003None

NOVO NORDISK A/S-B Non Cyclical Consumer Goods DENMARK Sustainability Report2003GRI

ORANGE Non Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2002None

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NV General Industrials NETHERLANDS Sustainability Report2003GRI

RAS SPA Financials ITALY Social Report2003GBS;GRI;AA1000 RECKITT BENCKISER PLC Non Cyclical Consumer Goods UNITED KINGDOM Social&Environmental Report2003GRI;AA1000 REED ELSEVIER PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

RENTOKIL INITIAL PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

REPSOL YPF SA Resources SPAIN Social&Environmental Report2003GRI

ROBOBANK GROUP Financials NETHERLANDS Sustainability Report2002GRI

ROYAL AHOLD Non Cyclical Consumer Goods NETHERLANDS CSR Report2002None

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP Financials UNITED KINGDOM Social&Environmental Report2002None

SANOFI-SYNTHELABO SA Non Cyclical Consumer Goods FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None SANPAOLO IMI SPA Financials ITALY Social Report2003GRI;ABI;GBS SCOTTISH POWER PLC Utilities UNITED KINGDOM Social&Environmental Report2003None

SMITH&NEPHEW PLC Non Cyclical Consumer Goods UNITED KINGDOM Sustainability Report2004GRI

SNAM RETE GAS Utilities ITALY HSE Report2003Fondazione Mattei SOCIETE GENERALE Financials FRANCE Sustainability Report2003None

STATOIL ASA Resources NORWAY Sustainability Report2003None STMICROELECTRONICS NV Information Technology FRANCE Sustainability Report2003GRI

STORA ENSO OYJ-R SHS Basic Industries FINLAND Sustainability Report2003None

SVENSKA CELLULOSA AB-B SHS Basic Industries SWEDEN Social&Environmental Report2003None

SWISS RE-REG Financials SWITZERLAND Sustainability Report2003None

TDC A/S Non Cyclical Services DENMARK Environmental Report2003None

TELECOM ITALIA SPA Non Cyclical Services ITALY Sustainability Report2003GRI

TELEKOM AUSTRIA AG Non Cyclical Services AUSTRIA Sustainability Report2002None

TESCO PLC Non Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None

TIM SPA Non Cyclical Services ITALY Sustainability Report2003None

UBS AG-REGISTERED Financials SWITZERLAND Environmental Report2003None UNICREDITO ITALIANO SPA Financials ITALY Social&Environmental Report2003GRI;ABI UNILEVER NV-CVA Non Cyclical Consumer Goods NETHERLANDS Social&Environmental Report2003None

UPM-KYMMENE OYJ Basic Industries FINLAND CSR Report2003GRI

VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT Utilities FRANCE Social Report2003None VODAFONE GROUP PLC Non Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None VOLKSVAGEN Cyclical Consumer Goods GERMANY Environmental Report2002GRI

WPP GROUP PLC Cyclical Services UNITED KINGDOM CSR Report2003None BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

European Management Journal Vol. 23, No. 6, pp. 611–627, December 2005 625

for their particularly constructive remarks on earlier versions.Obviously,I am entirely responsible for the application of those remarks and for the?nished paper.

Note

1.All the details on the Italian Ministry’s Project can be found in

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs,‘The Italian contribution to CSR promoting campaign developed at European level’Proceedings of the European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility‘The role of Public Policies in promoting CSR’.

(Venice,November14,2003).

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Harvard University Press,Cambridge.

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Accounting,Auditing&Accountability Journal15(3), 312–343.Post,J.E.,Preston,L.E.and Sachs,S.S.(2002)Managing the extended enterprise:The new stakeholder view.Cal-ifornia Management Review45(1),6–28.

Preston,L.E.and Post,J.E.(1975)Private Management and Public Policy:the Principle of Public Responsibility.

Prentice Hall,Englewood Cliffs,NJ.

where he is also Senior

Finance at the School of

coni)and Visiting Professor

University of Pennsylvania.

with the management of

processes and social issues

rate responsibility,social

sustainable innovation.

BUILDING A EUROPEAN PORTRAIT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

从实践的角度探讨在日语教学中多媒体课件的应用

从实践的角度探讨在日语教学中多媒体课件的应用 在今天中国的许多大学,为适应现代化,信息化的要求,建立了设备完善的适应多媒体教学的教室。许多学科的研究者及现场教员也积极致力于多媒体软件的开发和利用。在大学日语专业的教学工作中,教科书、磁带、粉笔为主流的传统教学方式差不多悄然向先进的教学手段而进展。 一、多媒体课件和精品课程的进展现状 然而,目前在专业日语教学中能够利用的教学软件并不多见。比如在中国大学日语的专业、第二外語用教科书常见的有《新编日语》(上海外语教育出版社)、《中日交流标准日本語》(初级、中级)(人民教育出版社)、《新编基础日语(初級、高級)》(上海译文出版社)、《大学日本语》(四川大学出版社)、《初级日语》《中级日语》(北京大学出版社)、《新世纪大学日语》(外语教学与研究出版社)、《综合日语》(北京大学出版社)、《新编日语教程》(华东理工大学出版社)《新编初级(中级)日本语》(吉林教育出版社)、《新大学日本语》(大连理工大学出版社)、《新大学日语》(高等教育出版社)、《现代日本语》(上海外语教育出版社)、《基础日语》(复旦大学出版社)等等。配套教材以录音磁带、教学参考、习题集为主。只有《中日交流標準日本語(初級上)》、《初級日语》、《新编日语教程》等少数教科书配备了多媒体DVD视听教材。 然而这些试听教材,有的内容为日语普及读物,并不适合专业外语课堂教学。比如《新版中日交流标准日本语(初级上)》,有的尽管DVD视听教材中有丰富的动画画面和语音练习。然而,课堂操作则花费时刻长,不利于教师重点指导,更加适合学生的课余练习。比如北京大学的《初级日语》等。在这种情形下,许多大学的日语专业致力于教材的自主开发。 其中,有些大学的还推出精品课程,取得了专门大成绩。比如天津外国语学院的《新编日语》多媒体精品课程为2007年被评为“国家级精品课”。目前已被南开大学外国语学院、成都理工大学日语系等全国40余所大学推广使用。

新视野大学英语全部课文原文

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萨克斯降E指法表

萨克斯降E指法表

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新大学日语简明教程课文翻译

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新视野大学英语第一册Unit 1课文翻译

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萨克斯降E指法表 HEN system office room 【HEN16H-HENS2AHENS8Q8-HENH1688】

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反之,气速不稳定,而以松散、无聚集力,无控制地呼吸,不是正确的 胸腹式呼吸,没有应用正确的气息吹奏,即是运用舌吐音也不奏效。因此,必须让学生认真练习呼吸,以及通过练习长音,对每个音形成适当、准确、稳定而激进的高压气速。2.吐音时的舌头状态、位置、动作、起吹的发音原理:吐音时的舌头状态——松弛自然,微微抬起;位置——舍“尖”稍向上投,接触哨片;尖”的下沿,接触“两尖”处的部位要小 而少;动作——舌前半部的音尖,既是在微微什缩,又是在工下轻微地 触动哨片尖的下沿,发“突”或“都”音节。舌的状态、位置、动作要反复琢磨,不断苦练,才能使音头在吐音时放松,舒适自然,吐音效果才能达 到干净清楚纯美的程度。吐音要以慢练起,逐步达到快吐音,起火的发 音原理——吐音时气不能断,气压始终保持在音尖周围,当舌头触及哨 片尖的下沿时,使气流不能通过笛头与哨片之间的风口进入笛管,舌尖 阻止了气流使哨片不能产生振动,发音也就终止了;当舌尖离开哨片尖 的下沿时,使气流通过笛头与哨片之间的风口,由哨片产生振动而发音;舌尖触及哨片尖下沿的时间愈短,离开愈长,发音愈长;音尖触及哨片 尖下沿的时间愈长,离开愈短,发音愈短,这时舌尖起到如同活塞或阀 门的作用。

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新视野大学英语第三版课文翻译

新视野大学英语3第三版课文翻译 Unit 1 The Way to Success 课文A Never, ever give up! 永不言弃! As a young boy, Britain's great Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, attended a public school called Harrow. He was not a good student, and had he not been from a famous family, he probably would have been removed from the school for deviating from the rules. Thankfully, he did finish at Harrow and his errors there did not preclude him from going on to the university. He eventually had a premier army career whereby he was later elected prime minister. He achieved fame for his wit, wisdom, civic duty, and abundant courage in his refusal to surrender during the miserable dark days of World War II. His amazing determination helped motivate his entire nation and was an inspiration worldwide. Toward the end of his period as prime minister, he was invited to address the patriotic young boys at his old school, Harrow. The headmaster said, "Young gentlemen, the greatest speaker of our time, will be here in a few days to address you, and you should obey whatever sound advice he may give you." The great day arrived. Sir Winston stood up, all five feet, five inches and 107 kilos of him, and gave this short, clear-cut speech: "Young men, never give up. Never give up! Never give up! Never, never, never, never!" 英国的伟大首相温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士,小时候在哈罗公学上学。当时他可不是个好学生,要不是出身名门,他可能早就因为违反纪律被开除了。谢天谢地,他总算从哈罗毕业了,在那里犯下的错误并没影响到他上大学。后来,他凭着军旅生涯中的杰出表现当选为英国首相。他的才思、智慧、公民责任感以及在二战痛苦而黑暗的时期拒绝投降的无畏勇气,为他赢得了美名。他非凡的决心,不仅激励了整个民族,还鼓舞了全世界。 在他首相任期即将结束时,他应邀前往母校哈罗公学,为满怀报国之志的同学们作演讲。校长说:“年轻的先生们,当代最伟大的演说家过几天就会来为你们演讲,他提出的任何中肯的建议,你们都要听从。”那个激动人心的日子终于到了。温斯顿爵士站了起来——他只有5 英尺5 英寸高,体重却有107 公斤。他作了言简意赅的讲话:“年轻人,要永不放弃。永不放弃!永不放弃!永不,永不,永不,永不!” Personal history, educational opportunity, individual dilemmas - none of these can inhibit a strong spirit committed to success. No task is too hard. No amount of preparation is too long or too difficult. Take the example of two of the most scholarly scientists of our age, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. Both faced immense obstacles and extreme criticism. Both were called "slow to learn" and written off as idiots by their teachers. Thomas Edison ran away from school because his teacher whipped him repeatedly for asking too many questions. Einstein didn't speak fluently until he was almost nine years old and was such a poor student that some thought he was unable to learn. Yet both boys' parents believed in them. They worked intensely each day with their sons, and the boys learned to never bypass the long hours of hard work that they needed to succeed. In the end, both Einstein and Edison overcame their childhood persecution and went on to achieve magnificent discoveries that benefit the entire world today. Consider also the heroic example of Abraham Lincoln, who faced substantial hardships, failures and repeated misfortunes in his lifetime. His background was certainly not glamorous. He was raised in a very poor family with only one year of formal education. He failed in business twice, suffered a nervous breakdown when his first love died suddenly and lost eight political

新视野大学英语读写教程2-(第三版)-unit-2-课文原文及翻译

Text A 课文 A The humanities: Out of date? 人文学科:过时了吗? When the going gets tough, the tough takeaccounting. When the job market worsens, manystudents calculate they can't major in English orhistory. They have to study something that booststheir prospects of landing a job. 当形势变得困难时,强者会去选学会计。当就业市场恶化时,许多学生估算着他们不能再主修英语或历史。他们得学一些能改善他们就业前景的东西。 The data show that as students have increasingly shouldered the ever-rising c ost of tuition,they have defected from the study of the humanities and toward applied science and "hard"skills that they bet will lead to employment. In oth er words, a college education is more andmore seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment.This is a trend that i s likely to persist and even accelerate. 数据显示,随着学生肩负的学费不断增加,他们已从学习人文学科转向他们相信有益于将来就业的应用科学和“硬”技能。换言之,大学教育越来越被看成是改善经济而不是提升人类自身的手段。这种趋势可能会持续,甚至有加快之势。 Over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will proba bly continue theirlong slide in succession. There already has been a nearly 50 percent decline in the portion of liberal arts majors over the past generatio n, and it is logical to think that the trend is boundto continue or even accel erate. Once the dominant pillars of university life, the humanities nowplay li ttle roles when students take their college tours. These days, labs are more vi vid and compelling than libraries. 在未来几年内,由于劳动力市场的不景气,人文学科可能会继续其长期低迷的态势。在上一代大学生中,主修文科的学生数跌幅已近50%。这种趋势会持续、甚至加速的想法是合情合理的。人文学科曾是大学生活的重要支柱,而今在学生们参观校园的时候,却只是一个小点缀。现在,实验室要比图书馆更栩栩如生、受人青睐。 Here, please allow me to stand up for and promote the true value that the h umanities add topeople's lives. 在这儿,请允许我为人文学科给人们的生活所增添的真实价值进行支持和宣传。

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