Skip to main content
Log in

Doing good by doing well: a MCDM framework for evaluating corporate social responsibility attractiveness

  • Multiple Objective Optimization
  • Published:
Annals of Operations Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is a multidimensional concept with an imprecise nature. Evaluation of the degree of corporate social performance is one of the most discussed questions among academic researchers and practitioners. In this paper, we are concerned with devising an integrative overall indicator of corporate social performance. Fuzzy logic procedures appear as the adequate tools for the evaluation of corporate social responsibility, taking into account the multiple social responsibility dimensions and available information from different sources. The obtained fuzzy measure will be integrated into a general method for the evaluation of firms. This general framework will guide the investor in his investment decision process taking account of the available information and investor’s level of confidence in it. The definition of desirable and undesirable firms will depend on the investor’s preferences. Our proposal, based on a Fuzzy-AHP-TOPSIS approach, will allow us to rank firms based on how well they are doing good.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bakker, F., Groenewegen, P., & Den Hond, F. (2005). A bibliometric analysis of 30 years of research and theory on corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance. Business and Society, 44, 283–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burillo, P., & Bustince, H. (1996). Entropy on intuitionistic fuzzy sets and on interval-valued fuzzy sets. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 78, 305–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabrese, A., Costa, R., & Rosati, F. (2015). A feedback-based model for CSR assessment and materiality analysis. Accounting Forum, 39(4), 312–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Levialdi, N., & Menichini, T. (2016). A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method to support materiality assessment in sustainability reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 121, 248–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canós, L., & Liern, V. (2008). Soft computing-based aggregation methods for human resource management. European Journal of Operational Research, 189, 669–681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B. (2000). Ethical challenges for business in the new millennium: Corporate social responsibility and models of management morality. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10, 33–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, P. (2007). The evolution of corporate social responsibility. Business Horizons, 50, 449–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, R., & Menichini, T. (2015). A multidimensional approach for CSR assessment: The importance of the stakeholder perception. Expert Systems with Applications, 40(1), 150–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, D., & Prade, H. (1980). Systems of linear fuzzy constraints. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 3, 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Melón, M., Pérez-Gladish, B., Gómez-Navarro, T., Méndez-Rodríguez, P .(2016). Assessing mutual funds’ corporate social responsibility: a multistakeholder-AHP based methodology. Annals of Operations Research. doi:10.1007/s10479-016-2132-5.

  • Gil-Aluja, J. (1998). The interactive management of human resources in uncertainty. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, C.-W., Lee, W. H., & Chao, W. C. (2013). Materiality analysis model in sustainability reporting: A case study at lite-on technology corporation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 57, 142–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, C. L., & Yoon, K. (1981). Multiple attributes decision making methods. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Liern, V., Méndez-Rodríguez, P., & Pérez-Gladish, B. (2015). A soft computing approach for ranking firms based on experts’ valuation of corporate social responsibility. Applied Mathematics and Information Science, 9(3), 1113–1122.

    Google Scholar 

  • McWilliams, A., Siegel, D., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milani, S., Shanian, A., Madoliat, R., & Nemes, J. A. (2005). The effect of normalization norms in multiple attribute decision making models: A case study in gear material selection. Industrial Applications, 29, 312–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, L. E., & O’Bannon, D. P. (1997). The corporate social-financial performance relationship: A typology and analysis. Business and Society, 36, 419–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramík, J., & Rímánek, J. (1985). Inequality relation between fuzzy numbers and its use in fuzzy optimization. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 16, 123–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saaty, T. L. (1980). The analytic hierarchy process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sambuc, R.: Functions \(\upphi \)-flous (1976). Aplication a l’aide au diagnostic en pathologie thyroıdienne, Ph. D. Thesis, Université de Marseille, France.

  • Schwartz, M. S. (2011). Corporate social responsibility: An ethical approach. Calgary: Broadview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Us SIF (2014). Report on sustainable and socially responsible investing trends in the United States. Washington, DC: US SIF Foundation.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Blanca Pérez-Gladish.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 9

Table 9 Sample firms. Source: https://finance.yahoo.com (15/06/2016)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lamata, M.T., Liern, V. & Pérez-Gladish, B. Doing good by doing well: a MCDM framework for evaluating corporate social responsibility attractiveness. Ann Oper Res 267, 249–266 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-016-2271-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-016-2271-8

Keywords

Navigation