311 10 3494 https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/81163b7cf8332ebedf5054e10f5aae9f.pdf 68158002e29b5301b631657efe2466ce PDF Text Text Journal of Economic and Social Studies Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Melek Çetinkaya Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey mlcetinkaya@hotmail.com Veysel Ağca Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey agca@aku.edu.tr Hatice Özutku Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey hozutku@aku.edu.tr Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 Key words: Corporate Social Responsibility; The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility JEL Classification: M10, M14 Article History Submitted: 21 May 2015 Resubmitted: 21 August 2015 Resubmitted: 10 September 2015 Accepted: 14 September 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/ JECOSS15525 57 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Introduction An early definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by European Commission was “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001: 3). The Commission modified this definition in 2011 as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”. In order to fulfil corporate social responsibility, business organizations must have a process that integrates social, environmental, ethical and human rights, and consumer expectations into their business operations and core strategy to get close relationships with social partners (Commission of the European Communities, 2011: 6). According to this definition, it is clear that business organizations have more duties than the official expectations, such as investing in human capital and the environment. Global environmental problems such as climate change, vanishing natural resources and pollution have made corporate social responsibility an important agenda of business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). The definition and content of CSR change in different contexts. A company should take its stakeholders’ needs into consideration when planning its CSR programmes. Since CSR will always have a location-based nature, a company should understand the priorities of local stakeholders (Welford, Chan and Man, 2007: 52). Environmental concerns of the consumers and the increasing interest in CSR since the 1970’s brought CSR into the discussion of the academic and business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). Although the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ is still widely used, terms such as corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder management and sustainability offer competing, complementary and overlapping concepts to cover the field (Carroll and Shabana, 2010: 86). The purpose of this study is to analyse the nature of CSR. A descriptive analysis based on CSR Pyramid developed by Carroll was used for the Turkish context. The CSR Pyramid which can be labeled as to be the most well known model for corporate social responsibility emphasize the importance of economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities with its four levels. None the less, analysis of CSR in Turkey may provide an opportunity to examine the relevance of CSR Pyramid priorities in Turkish context to the conventional American ordering when Carroll’s basic four part model is taken into consideration. Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Stakeholders The content and definition of CSR has always been a most debated subject (Dahlsrud, 2008: 2; Moir, 2001: 19). As a result of these debates, different perspectives flourished in the field of CSR. Among these perspectives on CSR, Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) put forward some theoretical perspectives as agency theory, the stakeholder theory, the stewardship theory, a resource-based view of the firm, the institutional theory and the strategic leadership theory. 58 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange The history of CSR goes a long way back. The modern era of CSR is dated back to 1950s by Carroll (1999: 268). Although the attempts to define CSR flourished during the 1960s and especially in 1970s, the definitions of CSR became more specific while different approaches on corporate social responsiveness and corporate social performance (CSP) began to flourish. However, the 1980s saw fewer new definitions, more empirical research, and an increase on alternative themes such as corporate social performance, stakeholder theory and business ethics theory. In the 1990s, CSR continued to serve on the same basis but it was transformed through alternative thematic frameworks such as stakeholder theory, business ethics theory, CSP, and corporate citizenship. The analysis of definitions showed that these concepts were appealing to the same dimensions of CSR (Dahlsrud, 2008: 4). Grouping the phrases which refer to the same dimensions gave out five dimensions, namely as the environmental dimension (The natural environment), the social dimension (The relationship between business and society), the economic dimension (Socio-economic or financial aspects, describing CSR in terms of business operations), the stakeholder dimension (Stakeholders or stakeholder groups) and the voluntariness dimension (Actions not prescribed by law). Acting responsibly is important for any firm doing business. Two theories of CSR offer definitions for responsibility. According to the definition based on shareholder theory managers should make decisions that maximize the wealth of their firms’ stockholders. On the other hand, the definition based on stakeholder theory argues that rather than maximizing the prosperity of their owners, firms have duties towards the society. Ultimately, this debate on the definition of responsibility changed its direction towards deciding the amount a firm should spend for acting responsibly (Wu, 2014: 286). The concepts of corporate citizenship, corporate sustainability, stakeholder management, environmental management, business ethics and corporate social performance are studied under CSR. Carroll defines social responsibility as the entire range of obligations a business has towards the society in terms of the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary categories of business performance (1979: 497). According to this definition, there are four dimensions of CSR namely as economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) responsibilities. Although these four constituent parts of CSR reflect the viewpoints related to earlier definitions, it represents the social responsibilities of businesses in more details. Thus Carroll’s definition has been the most widely accepted one among a vast number of definitions in the literature of CSR (Visser, 2005: 33). Carroll presents economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions of CSR on the model of “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” and argues that not only economic and legal responsibility dimensions have been a part of CSR but all four responsibility dimensions have always existed to some extent while ethical and philanthropic functions have taken a significant position just in recent years (Carroll, 1991). Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 59 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The pyramid of corporate social responsibility is presented in Figure 1. As can be seen, economic responsibilities component is the foundation block of the other three components. Obeying the laws, or playing by the rules, is the second most important dimension because the law is society’s codification of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Ethical responsibilities lies on the next level and covers being just and fair, discern what is right or wrong in order to avoid doing harm or to protect the stakeholders which are the employees, consumers, the environment, and others. Ultimately, philanthropic responsibilities focusing on being a good corporate citizen lie at the top of the CSR pyramid. These benevolent activities include contributing financial and human resources to the community and improving the quality of life. No CSR pyramid is perfect without one of these four components. They cannot be separated from one other but here and elsewhere, they are taken into consideration individually in order to discuss their specific nature. Moreover, as Carroll argues (1991: 42), “a consideration of the separate components helps the manager see that the different types of obligations are in a constant but dynamic tension with one another”. Figure 1. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Source: Carroll, A. (1991), “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders”, Business Horizons. According to recent literature on CSR, it is important to have a dialogue with stakeholders in order to protect the interests of stakeholders and to have conformity between the stakeholders and schemes of sustainable development and business strategy. In their study, Romolini et al. (2014: 67) argue that stakeholders, in turn, are less influenced by an entity’s financial performance alone and more influenced by their perception that sustainability is critical to an entity’s financial performance and to fulfilling the 60 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange implicit contract between the entity and society. In this study, theoretical perspectives of stakeholders have been taken into consideration. According to a stakeholder-oriented perspective, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and face potentially conflicting demands from these stakeholders and have to adapt stakeholders’ demands into the core policies of CSR. In his study on CSR, Dahlsrud (2008: 4) argues that the stakeholder dimension covers “interaction with their stakeholders”, “how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and communities” and “treating the stakeholders of the firm”. First proposed by Freeman in 1984, stakeholder theory focuses on the strategic management of organizations in the late twentieth century. Numerous studies in literature, especially those of Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Mitchell et al. (1997) helped the theory to flourish and develop (Mainardes et al., 2012: 1862). Although they may offer different definitions and interpretations, all these studies, in their core, follow the definition of Freeman (1984) and reflect the same principle to a greater or lesser extent: the company should take into consideration the needs, interests and influences of people and groups, who either impact on or may be impacted by its policies and operations. According to Freeman’s (1984) definition, individuals or groups may influence or be influenced by the scope of organizational objectives. Within this concept, a person, an informal group, an organization or an institution may all be stakeholders (Mainardes et al., 2011: 228). Moir (2001: 19) argues that the stakeholder theory can be used as a basis to analyse those groups to whom the firm should be responsible. A literature review reveals various proposals for classifying stakeholders by their respective level of importance (Clarkson, 1995: 106; Donaldson and Preston, 1995: 68; Mainardes et al., 2012: 1865; Ozuem et al., 2014: 400; Trebeck, 2008: 352). Stakeholders are important for companies in some sense because they have an influence on company performance. For this reason, companies try to respond to their stakeholders’ demands in economic, formal or political frames. Stakeholders may have different levels of priorities for companies at different times but according to literature, there is some stability in the pattern of priority of stakeholders. Also, the stage of business and expectations of businesses may be different in different countries although they may be in the same field. Moreover different orientations can be observed in corporate environments of different countries. Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 165), who studied the conditions of markets in England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, argue that stakeholders have different levels of importance in different countries. For example, while the focus is on economic responsibilities to owners in England, the focus shifts to company-employee relations in France and Germany, and to nurturing the business-community relationships in Japan. Naturally, because of the differences in these business relationships, stakeholder priorities can also be different. Thus, the stakeholder groups studied in the samples appeared to be prioritized in the same order while communities and government stakeholders ranked lower than the other threestakeholder groups of employees, consumers, and owners (Pinkston and Carroll, 1994: 161). Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 61 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The terms of “stakeholder” and “social responsibility” have close relationships in terms of corporate social responsibility. The connection between these two terms derives from the vague content of the term “social” and the concept of “stakeholder” denotes to social or societal responsibilities of a company (Carroll, 1991: 43). Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) argue that according to stakeholder-oriented perception, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and they aim to meet potentially conflicting demands of these stakeholders in terms of CSR objectives and policies. The duty of the management of a stakeholder oriented business is difficult because the managers have to make a settlement between their objectives and the expectations and demands of the stakeholders. While doing this, they have to meet the demands of main stakeholders in the first place and the remaining groups later. Although it is not always possible to satisfy all the parties at the same time, it is important for a company to protect its long-term interests. Carroll (1991: 43) assumes that the functions of stakeholder management are to describe, understand, analyse, and finally to manage. Carroll poses five questions to understand stakeholder management: 1. Who are our stakeholders? 2. What are their stakes? 3. What opportunities and challenges are presented by our stakeholders? 4. What corporate social responsibilities (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) do we have to our stakeholders? 5. What strategies, actions, or decisions should we take to best deal with these responsibilities? These questions can be discussed in details but attention must be given to what kind of responsibilities does a company have towards its stakeholders (Carroll, 1991: 43). A conceptional framework of stakeholder/responsibility matrix on this topic is presented in Figure 2. Figure 2. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Owners Customers Employees Community Competitors Suppliers Social Activist Groups 62 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Public at Large Others Source: Carroll, 1991: 44 By looking and working on this matrix, a manager can decide on how to act in different types of corporate social responsibility environments by taking different stakeholder groups into consideration. For each cell, the manager can gather analytical data and use them “for developing priorities and making both long-term and short-term decisions involving multiple stakeholders’ interests” (Carroll, 1991: 44). However, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) made a little alteration on this classification regarding the stakeholder groups in one of later studies. In their study on international businesses in different countries, Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 161) renamed stakeholder groups as owners, consumers, employees, communities and government. They argued that the perceived relative importance of the organizations’ stakeholder groups will differ across firms by countries-of-origin. Purpose and Importance of the Research Most of the research on Carroll’s (1991) CSR Pyramid has been in an American context. Nevertheless, several of the empirical studies already discussed suggest that culture may have an important influence on perceived CSR priorities (Visser, 2005). Within the framework of Carroll’s CSR Pyramid (1991), this study aims to find out CSR priorities of companies listed in the Corporate Governance Index of Borsa Istanbul (BIST) which apply corporate management principles. In order to realize this aim, economic, legal, ethical and philantrophic responsibilities are placed on stakeholder/responsibility matrix based on Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid and the distribution of stakeholder groups according to their responsibility fields is investigated. It has been observed that no previous study in the literature of the field has attempted to place these four responsibilities on stakeholder/responsibility matrix. From this perspective, it can be said that this study is of great importance with its pioneering aspects. Methodology of the Research The research in this study was carried out using the qualitative research method. Extreme case sampling (Patton, 2002) was carried out by selecting Turkish companies with the best corporate social responsibility performance. A similar criterion for selecting companies was used by previous studies in order to analyze CSR (Collison et al., 2008; Lankoski, 2008; Romolini et al., 2014). The sample of the research is composed of 48 companies, which trade in Borsa Istanbul (BIST) and listed in Corporate Governance Index. BIST Corporate Governance Index (XKURY) is an index which includes the companies that apply Corporate Governance Principlesi. Corporate Governance Principles in Turkey are constituted by Capital Markets Board by taking primarily the “OECD Corporate Governance Principles” of 1999 into consideration. Corporate Governance Principles are made up of four parts: (1) Shareholders, (2) Public Disclosure and Transparency, (3) Stakeholders, (4) Board of Directors. An important portion of corporate governance Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 63 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku principles are about the responsibilities of companies towards stakeholdersii. For this reason, sampling for the study has been chosen from companies within Corporate Governence Index which lists companies with high corporate social responsibility performance. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are presented as “public domain” information in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Content analysis necessitates the information in the content of a text (or report) to be coded within the framework of pre-described categories, as quantitatively and qualitatively (Guthrie and Abeysekera, 2006: 117). With this method, percentage distribution of the information presented in a report (or a text) is measured, by being classified (coded) according to categories (Loberet et al., 1997: 59). Quantitative measurements obtained as a result of coding can be used as data in other kinds of analyses (Hackston and Milne, 1996: 84). For information related to corporate social responsibility which will be coded in content analysis, categories need to be formed and corporate social responsibility information types which will be included in these categories need to be determined. Carroll’s (1991) study was taken into consideration for defining the social responsibility areas in the content analysis. Business practices defined by Spiller (2000) were taken into consideration in order to identify the business practices related to the expectations of stakeholder groups. Content Analysis Process In order to determine the categories and classifications of corporate social responsibility information types according to these categories, which will be used in the execution of this research and application of content analysis technique, literature review was completed and the following basic and sub categories were formed based on the information and categories in the studies of Carroll (1991) and Spiller (2000). Moreover, studies of Carroll (1991), Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995) and Trebeck (2008) were considered for the identification of stakeholder groups. Accordingly, stakeholder groups were taken into account as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers, governments and others. Social Responsibility Areas of Business Organizations To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic (Figure 3). 64 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Figure 3. Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic Responsibilities Economic Components (Responsibilities) Legal Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with maximizing earnings per share. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the expectations of government and law. 2. It is important to be committed to being as profitable as possible. 2. It is important to comply with various federal, state and local regulations. 3. It is important to maintain a strong competitive position. 3. It is important to be a law-abiding corporate citizen. 4. It is important to maintain a high level of operating efficiency. 4. It is important that a successful firm be defined as one that fulfils its legal obligations. 5. It is important that a successful firm be defined 5. It is important to provide goods and services as one that is consistently profitable. that at least meet minimal legal requirements. Ethical Components (Responsibilities) Philanthropic Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with expectations of societal mores and ethical norms. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the philanthropic and charitable expectations of society. 2. It is important to recognize and respect new or evolving ethical/moral norms adopted by society. 2. It is important to assist the fine and performing arts. 3. It is important to prevent ethical norms from being compromised in order to achieve corporate goals. 3. It is important that managers and employees participate in voluntary and charitable activities within their local communities. 4. It is important that good corporate citizenship be defined as doing what is expected morally or ethically. 4. It is important to provide assistance to private and public educational institutions. 5. It is important to recognize that corporate integrity and ethical behavior go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations. 5. It is important to assist voluntarily projects that enhance a community’s “quality of life”. Source: Carroll (1991) Business Practices Related to the Expectations of Stakeholder Groups In order to determine the expectations of stakeholder groups within the context of corporate social responsibility in content analysis, the study of Spiller (2000) was taken into consideration. This study of Spiller (2000), which defines important business practices regarding each important stakeholder group, is one of the most detailed studies conducted about stakeholder groups’ expectations as part of corporate social Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 65 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku responsibility practices. Spiller (2000) specified stakeholder groups that constitute primary priority for a business and claimed that organizational practices, which appear in accordance with the expectations of these groups, can be used in determining the corporate social responsibility performance of a business. This study has been beneficial for many researches about corporate social responsibility practices. To guide implementation, Spiller (2000: 153-154) has identified ten key business practices for each of the six main stakeholder groups: community; environment; employees; customers; suppliers, and shareholders (Figure 4). The list of 60 practices summarised below is neither exhaustive, nor uncontroversial. However, it does provide a starting point, a menu from which companies can choose, preferably in conjunction with their stakeholders, the areas on which to focus. Figure 4. Key Business Practices for Each ofthe Six Main Stakeholder Groups 1. Community 1.1. Generous financial donations 1.2. Innovative giving 1.3. Support for education and job training programmes 1.4. Direct involvement in community projects and affairs 1.5. Community volunteer programmes 1.6. Support for the local community 1.7. Campaigning for environmental and social change 1.8. An employee-led approach to philanthropy 1.9. Efficient and effective community activity 1.10. Disclosure of environmental and social performance 2. Environment 2.1. Environmental policies, organization and management 2.2. Materials policy of reduction, reuse and recycling 2.3. Monitoring, minimising and taking responsibility for releases to the environment 2.4. Waste management 2.5. Energy conservation 2.6. Effective emergency response 2.7. Public dialogue and disclosure 2.8. Product stewardship 2.9. Environmental requirements for suppliers 2.10. Environmental audits 3. Employees 3.1. Fair remuneration 3.2. Effective communication 3.3. Learning and development opportunities 3.4. Fulfilling work 3.5. A healthy and safe work environment 3.6. Equal employment opportunities 3.7. Job security 3.8. Competent leadership 3.9. Community spirit 3.10. Social mission integration 4. Customers 4.1. Industry-leading quality programme 4.2. Value for money 4.3. Truthful promotion 4.4. Full product disclosure 4.5. Leadership in research and development 4.6. Minimal packaging 4.7. Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns 4.8. Customer dialogue 4.9. Safe products 4.10. Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition 66 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange 5. Suppliers 5.1. Develop and maintain long-term purchasing relationships 5.2. Clear expectations 5.3. Pay fair prices and bills according to terms agreed upon 5.4. Fair and competent handling of conflicts and disputes 5.5. Reliable anticipated purchasing requirements 5.6. Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions 5.7. Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance 5.8. Utilise local suppliers 5.9. Sourcing from minority-owned suppliers 5.10. Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers 6. Shareholders 6.1. Good rate of long-term return to shareholders 6.2. Disseminate comprehensive and clear information 6.3. Encourage staff ownership of shares 6.4. Develop and build relationships with shareholders 6.5. Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends 6.6. Corporate governance issues are well managed 6.7. Access to company’s directors and senior managers 6.8. Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance 6.9. Clear long-term business strategy 6.10. Open communication with the financial community Source: Spiller, 2000: 153-154. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Business practices devoted to meet the expectations of stakeholder groups for corporate social responsibility areas defined by Carroll and which responsibilities become prominent in which stakeholder groups were defined in the content analysis, based on the Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix of Carroll (1991). None the less, besides Carroll’s (1991) study, stakeholder groups to be considered in the matrix were identified by considering Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Spiller (2000) and Trebeck’s (2008) classifications. According to this, stakeholder groups were taken into consideration as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers and others. As a result of the assessment done by the authors of the study, business practices related to the expectations of the stakeholder groups (Spiller, 2000) were placed in economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic areas in the stakeholder/responsibility matrix. By this way, a framework was formed in order to evaluate the findings obtained from the content analysis. Figure 5: Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Shareholders Customers Employees Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 67 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Community Suppliers Others Findings of the Research and Evaluation of Findings The data attained from the content analysis was analysed with the help of SPSS 20.0 Windows program. How often and at what level the information about corporate social responsibility took place in the related report was determined as number and percentage, and emerging frequency tables were interpreted. During the process of putting data into codes, “1” was used for coding the practices present in the categories considered in the content analysis and “2” was used for coding the practices which are not present in the businesses. Additionally, in terms of sector information, service sector was coded as “1” and manufacturing sector was coded as “2”. 27 of the businesses taking place in the sample operate in service sector, while 21 of them operate in manufacturing sector. Frequency and percentage values belonging to business practices about the expectations of stakeholder groups are presented in Figure 6. Hereunder, business practices falling within shareholders groups are seen to be over 90%. Businesses perform their legal responsibilities against their shareholders to a large extent. Of the practices in economic area, “Open communication with the financial Community” is seen to be over 65% and others are seen to be over 83%. Economic practices of companies as “Clear long-term business strategy” and “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends” oriented to shareholders stakeholder group ate at 90% level. Among the economic practices taking place in customers stakeholder group, “Customer dialogue” is seen to be at level 87.5%, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition” is seen to be at level 83% and “safe products” is seen to be at level 79%. Businesses perform their responsibilities against their customers in the economic area. Of their responsibilities in legal area, “Truthful promotion” is at level 67% while “Minimal packaging” is at the level of 33%. The fact that this practice is used only in manufacturing businesses should be considered in minimal packaging radio to be low. Ethically, “Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns” is at level 79% and “Value for Money” is at level 44%. It is observed that businesses do not stress on the “Money” concept much, which is directed to customers stakeholder group. Of the practices falling within employees stakeholder group, economically “Learning and development opportunities” was emphasized as 96% and legally “A healthy and safe work environment” was emphasized as 94%. In the ethical responsibility area, “Fulfilling work” and “Competent leadership” were mentioned at 60%, “Community spirit” at 75%, and “Fair remuneration” and “Equal employment opportunities” were mentioned over 83%. It is regarded that practices in employees stakeholder group were given a quite high importance. 68 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Business practices in community stakeholder group are seen to be at 35% in the economic area with “Disclosure of environmental and social performance” at 35% and at 73% in the ethical area of “Innovative giving”. In the philanthropic area, the practice that has the highest level is “Direct involvement in community projects and affairs” with 88% and the practice that has the lowest level is “An employee-led approach to philanthropy” with 48%. It can be stated that businesses act sensitive about philanthropic practices in community stakeholder group. Businesses do not seem to give much place to information related to suppliers stakeholder group. The most emphasized practice in economic area is “Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions” with a level of 48%. The most emphasized practice in ethical area is “Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers” with a level of 40%, and the most emphasized practice in philanthropic area is “Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance” with a level of 40%. Other practices seem to be even lower than this level. Practices under the title of Environment were encountered mostly in the stakeholder group named as Others. The most mentioned practice in economic practices area is “Environmental policies, organization and management” with a level of 83%. “Environmental requirements for suppliers” is seen to be at level 37% and “Environmental audits” is seen to be at level 35%. The practice in legal area is “Public dialogue and disclosure” at a level of 60%. Whether a difference exists between expectations of stakeholder groups and related business practices from the point of sectors of the businesses taking place in the research was analysed via t-test. As a result of the analysis, business practices falling within stakeholder groups did not show a significant difference between service sector and manufacturing sector. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 69 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Figure 6. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix in Turkey Sample 70 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange According to findings obtained from this research, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Philanthropic responsibility was determined to be primary in community stakeholder group, economic responsibility was seen to be primary in suppliers stakeholder group, and legal responsibility was seen to be primary in environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were observed to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except community stakeholder group. Findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibility practices of businesses taking place in Turkey research sample are wide enough to include stakeholder groups, other than suppliers. In Turkey, companies traditionally perform corporate social responsibility practices for long years within the framework of philanthropy. As a matter of fact, many businesses materialize their politics in this direction through various projects, such as awarding scholarships to students, sponsoring sports and art activities. Although social responsibility programs do not improve in private sector as fast as in the world, they have a different status lately. Non-governmental organizations, which developed quickly especially in 1990s, lead the supports of companies in social areas, in which education projects comes first on a more substantial ground with sustainability. On the other hand, especially in previous years, many companies head towards professional support for social responsibility programs. Non-governmental organizations enable the support given to social-oriented projects in private sector to increase quickly. Nongovernmental organizations, which work with a transparent administrative mentality and responsibility mission, establish a ground for the creation of social projects with the leading companies of private sector. Social responsibility projects, which are realised through a co-operation with non-governmental organizations, are seen to be executed in areas such as education, sports, health, elderly, children and environment. Besides this, several consultancy institutions are seen to function with the purpose of supporting businesses in identifying social responsibility projects and in the process of putting them into practice (Akgeyik, 2007: 82). As the obtained findings are compared to the findings of prior studies in different countries, similar results were attained in some aspects, while different ones were obtained in others. For instance, in their study which includes England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) put forward that the importance given to stakeholders differed according to countries. England has been shown to emphasize economic responsibilities to owners in its business community. France, on the other hand, has been understood to focus on company employee relations, as has Germany. The Japanese environment has appeared to nurture the business-community relationships. Since these relationships can be noticeably different in any given business environment, the stakeholder priorities were expected to be different for the sample organizations. One of the conspicuous findings of the study is the lack of corporate social responsibility practices regarding the suppliers stakeholder group. A similar situation exists in the findings of the studies that were conducted in other countries. For example, several Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 71 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku empirical studies in Europe, North America and Asia have investigated how firms work with CSR-related issues in their supply chains. Most of these studies are not only confined to large multinational corporations, but also include SMEs. According to the results attained, despite many companies’ efforts to engage in CSR-related activities in their supply chains, there is often a gap between the ethical standards expressed and the actual conditions at the suppliers (Andersen and Larsen, 2009: 78). In today’s competitive business environment, it has become imperative for firms to find ways to work collaboratively with suppliers. Moreover, it has been shown that firm-supplier cooperation and partnership can help all supply-chain members to increase performance. Additionally, ethical behavior in the firm-supplier relationship will generate trust and better communication – attributes which can result in greater competitiveness and wealth creation (Gonzalez et al., 2013: 373). Conclusion This study is based on “stakeholder theory” to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility levels in Turkey. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities (highlight issues and areas) in Corporate Social Responsibility of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies were selected as the sample of the study in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index. The research was carried out using the qualitative research method. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are “public domain” information published in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. According to the findings of this study, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Among the companies which fall into the scope the study, responsibilities outstanding in the field of economic responsibilities for shareholders are: “Good rate of long-term return to shareholders”, “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends”, “Clear long-term business strategy”, “Open communication with the financial Community”. The important topics for shareholders in terms of legal responsibilities are: “Disseminate comprehensive and clear information”, “Corporate governance issues are well managed and access to company’s directors and senior managers”, “Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance”. For customers stakeholder group, social responsibility topics on economic level are: “Industry-leading quality programme”, “Customer dialogue”, “Safe products”, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition”. Legal responsibilities which are important for customer stakeholder group are: “Truthful promotion” and “Minimal 72 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange packaging”. While the economic responsibilities which stand out for employees stakeholder group are “Learning and development opportunities”, legal responbilities which are important for the same group are “A healthy and safe work environment”. Corporate social responsibility practices reflecting ethical and philanthropic responsibility understanding were not seen to take place in shareholders stakeholder group. Philanthropic responsibility mentality was seen not to fall within customers and employees stakeholder groups. In community stakeholder group, on the other hand, it is conspicuous that most of the corporate social responsibility practices are performed within the context of philanthropic responsibility understanding and ethical and economic mentalities remain in the background. It has been realised that social responsibility practices taking place in suppliers stakeholder group are not common, and current social responsibility practices reflect economic responsibility. On the other hand, in the environment stakeholder group, legal responsibility was identified to be primary. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were seen to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except the community stakeholder group. The findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibilities of large companies in the research sample of Turkey are wide enough to include all stakeholder groups other than suppliers, and economic and legal responsibilities have priority in the corporate social responsibility understanding. As a result, many companies embrace a CSR program as a way to promote socially responsible actions and policies, and effectively respond to stakeholder demands. According to stakeholder theory, companies can achieve more positive results by paying more attention to corporate social responsibility programs. Stakeholder theory suggests that organizational survival and success is contingent on satisfying both its economic (e.g. profit maximization) and non-economic (e.g. corporate social performance) objectives by meeting the needs of the company’s various stakeholders. The stakeholder management concept serves to ensure that organizations recognise, analyse and examine the individual and group characteristics that influence or are influenced by organizational behaviours and actions. Future studies may include analyses of which stakeholder groups must be paid more attention in the value creation process of organizations within the context of stakeholder theory, what the contributions the stakeholders provide are and what the possible risks related to stakeholders are, expectations of stakeholders and how processes that will meet these expectations will be developed. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 73 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku References Akgeyik, T. (2007). The human resource management dimensions of corporate social responsibility in Turkey: A survey. http://www.journals.istanbul.edu.tr/iusskd/article/ view/1023000164. Andersen, M. & Larsen, T.S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility in global supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 14(2), 75 – 86. Burton, B. K., Farh, J.L. & Hegarty, W. H. (2000). A cross-cultural comparison of corporate social responsibility orientation: Hong Kong vs. United States students. Teaching Business Ethics, 4(2), 151-167. Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons. 34(4), 39-48. Carroll, A. B. & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews. 12(1), 85-105. Carroll, A. B. (1979). A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497-505. Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society. 38(3), 268-295. Clarkson, M. B. E. (1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 20, 92-117. Collison DJ, Cobb G, Power DM & Stevenson LA. (2008). The financial performance of the FTSE4 Good indices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 14–28. Commision of the European Communities, (2001: 3). http://www.ab.gov.tr/files/ ardb/evt/1_avrupa_birligi/1_6_raporlar/1_2_green_papers/com, 2001_green_paper_ promoting_a_european_framework_for_corporate_social_responsibility.pdf Commision of the European Communities, (2011:6). http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ policies/sustainable-business/corporate-social-responsibility/index_en.htm Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 1–13. Dincer, C. & Dincer, B. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: Future prospects in the Turkish context. Social Responsibility Journal, 3(3), 44 – 49. 74 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Donaldson, T. & Lee E. P. (1995). The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, and implications, Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 65-91. Freeman, R.E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Pitman Publishing, Boston, MA. González-Trejo, E., González-Salazar, N. M., Pedroza-Cantu, G. & ElizondoArroyave, S.G. (2013). Corporate supply chain responsibility (CSCR). Journal of Management Development, 32(4), 363 – 375. Gupta, S. (2011). Consumer stakeholder view of corporate social responsibility: A comparative analysis from USA and India. Social Responsibility Journal, 7(3), 363 – 380. Guthrıe, J. & Abeysekera, I. (2006). Content analysis of social, environmental reporting: What is new?, Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, 10(2), 114-126. Gürol, Y., Büyükbalcı, P., Bal, Y., & Ertemsır Berkın, E. (2010). Concept of corporate social responsibility and an overview in developing countries. Istanbul University, Journal of Political Science. 43, 135-162. Hackston, D. & Milne, J. M., (1996). Some determinants of social and environmental disclosures in New Zealand companies. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 9(1), 77-108. Harrison, J. & Freeman, R. (1999). Stakeholders, social responsibility and performance: Empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5), 479-485. Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage Publications Beverly Hills, CA. Hofstede, G. (1991), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, London. http://borsaistanbul.com/en/indices/bist-stock-indices/corporate-governance-index http://www.spk.gov.tr/indexcont.aspx?action=showpage&menuid=10&pid=0. Kavut, L. (2010). Corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and environmental reporting: Review of the environmental explanation of the ISE 100 companies. Istanbul University School of Management Journal, 66, 9-43. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 75 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Lankoski L. (2008). Corporate responsibility activities and economic performance: A theory of why and how they are connected. Business Strategy and the Environment. 17, 536–547. Lober, D.J., Bynum, D., Campbell, E., & Jacques, M. (1997). The 100 plus corporate environmental report study: A survey of an evolving environmental management tool. Businell Strategy and the Environment, 6, 57-73. Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H. & Raposo, M. (2011). Stakeholder theory: Issues to resolve, Management Decision. 49(2), 226 – 252. Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H. & Raposo, M. (2012). A model for stakeholder classification and stakeholder relationships. Management Decision, 50(10), 1861 – 1879. Mitchell, R. K., Bradley R. A. & Donna J. W. (1997). Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts. Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 853-886. Moir, L. (2001). What do we mean by corporate social responsibility? Corporate Governance, 1(2), 16-22. Ozuem; W., Howell, K. & Lancaster, G. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: Towards a context-specific perspective in developing countries. Social Responsibility Journal, 10(3), 399 – 415. Patton M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Sage: Thousand Oaks. Pinkston, T. S. & Carroll, A. B. (1994). Corporate citizenship perpectives and foreign direct investment in the US. Journal of Business Ethics. 13(3), 157-169. Pinkston, T. S. & Carroll, A. B. (1996). A Retrospective examination of CSR orientations: Have they changed? Journal of Business Ethics, 15(2), 199-206. Romolini, A., Fissi, S. & Gori, E. (2014). Scoring CSR reporting in listed companies evidence from Italian best practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 65–81. Sachs, S., Maurer, M., Rühli, E. & Hoffmann, R. (2006). Corporate social responsibility from a “Stakeholder View” perspective: CSR implementation by a Swiss mobile telecommunication provider. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 6(4), 506 – 515. Spence, L. & Bourlakis, M. (2009). The evolution from corporate social responsibility to supply chain responsibility: the Case of Waitrose. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(4), 291 – 302. 76 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Spiller, R. (2000). Ethical business and investment: a model for business and society. Journal of Business Ethics. 27, 149-160. Trebeck, K. (2008). Exploring the responsiveness of companies: corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. Social Responsibility Journal, 4(3), 349 – 365. Visser, W. (2005). Revisiting Carroll’s CSR Pyramid: An African Perspective, In E.R. Pedersen & M. Huniche and Economic Justice, Hyberabad: ICFAI University, 5-10, 2005. Welford, R., Chan, C. & Man, M. (2007). Priorities for corporate social responsibility: a survey of businesses and their stakeholders. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 52–62. Wu, J. (2014). The antecedents of corporate social and environmental irresponsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 286–300. i. ii. (http://www.borsaistanbul.com/en/indices/bist-stock-indices/corporate-governance-index) (http://www.spk.gov.tr/indexcont.aspx?action=showpage&menuid=10&pid=0) Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 77 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2928 Title A name given to the resource Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Author Author Çetinkaya, Melek Ağca, Veysel Özutku, Hatice Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: This study is based on "stakeholder theory" in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed HB Economic Theory https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/66ae46b16f989b8c89cca48d23413101.docx 04beb8281ad7afd52761639a3d18d1ea Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2977 Title A name given to the resource THE ARABIC TEACHING IN PREPARATORY CLASSES OF THEOLOGY FACULTIES (THE SAMPLE OF KASTAMONU UNIVERSITY) Author Author Çekin, Abdulkadir Abstract A summary of the resource. Preparatory classes in theology faculties can be considered as foundation of Arabic teaching. Qualified teaching in these classes can be possible with planning, practicing and evaluating the teaching process by the data of educational sciences. The method used in Arabic teaching is one of the most important points that should be taken into consideration. Methods selected by taking into consideration of teaching elements and actively applied make learning easier. On the other hand, methods selected at random are not consistent with the conditions and reduce the success of teaching. Therefore, successful Arabic teaching largely depends on the methods that are selected and used considering the conditions. In this context, teaching methods must be primarily selected by considering teaching objectives. In this paper, it has been tried to find out which curriculum and methods are used, how students’ attitudes and instructors’ ideas are, in Arabic teaching in preparatory classes of theology faculties. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed P Philology. Linguistics https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/281023a4addeceecece0c41058512c64.pdf 4782131984994cc895db97c8cd1af6c2 PDF Text Text Journal of Economic and Social Studies Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Melek Çetinkaya Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey mlcetinkaya@hotmail.com Veysel Ağca Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey agca@aku.edu.tr Hatice Özutku Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey hozutku@aku.edu.tr Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 Key words: Corporate Social Responsibility; The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility JEL Classification: M10, M14 Article History Submitted: 21 May 2015 Resubmitted: 21 August 2015 Resubmitted: 10 September 2015 Accepted: 14 September 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/ JECOSS15525 57 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Introduction An early definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by European Commission was “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001: 3). The Commission modified this definition in 2011 as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”. In order to fulfil corporate social responsibility, business organizations must have a process that integrates social, environmental, ethical and human rights, and consumer expectations into their business operations and core strategy to get close relationships with social partners (Commission of the European Communities, 2011: 6). According to this definition, it is clear that business organizations have more duties than the official expectations, such as investing in human capital and the environment. Global environmental problems such as climate change, vanishing natural resources and pollution have made corporate social responsibility an important agenda of business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). The definition and content of CSR change in different contexts. A company should take its stakeholders’ needs into consideration when planning its CSR programmes. Since CSR will always have a location-based nature, a company should understand the priorities of local stakeholders (Welford, Chan and Man, 2007: 52). Environmental concerns of the consumers and the increasing interest in CSR since the 1970’s brought CSR into the discussion of the academic and business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). Although the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ is still widely used, terms such as corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder management and sustainability offer competing, complementary and overlapping concepts to cover the field (Carroll and Shabana, 2010: 86). The purpose of this study is to analyse the nature of CSR. A descriptive analysis based on CSR Pyramid developed by Carroll was used for the Turkish context. The CSR Pyramid which can be labeled as to be the most well known model for corporate social responsibility emphasize the importance of economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities with its four levels. None the less, analysis of CSR in Turkey may provide an opportunity to examine the relevance of CSR Pyramid priorities in Turkish context to the conventional American ordering when Carroll’s basic four part model is taken into consideration. Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Stakeholders The content and definition of CSR has always been a most debated subject (Dahlsrud, 2008: 2; Moir, 2001: 19). As a result of these debates, different perspectives flourished in the field of CSR. Among these perspectives on CSR, Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) put forward some theoretical perspectives as agency theory, the stakeholder theory, the stewardship theory, a resource-based view of the firm, the institutional theory and the strategic leadership theory. 58 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange The history of CSR goes a long way back. The modern era of CSR is dated back to 1950s by Carroll (1999: 268). Although the attempts to define CSR flourished during the 1960s and especially in 1970s, the definitions of CSR became more specific while different approaches on corporate social responsiveness and corporate social performance (CSP) began to flourish. However, the 1980s saw fewer new definitions, more empirical research, and an increase on alternative themes such as corporate social performance, stakeholder theory and business ethics theory. In the 1990s, CSR continued to serve on the same basis but it was transformed through alternative thematic frameworks such as stakeholder theory, business ethics theory, CSP, and corporate citizenship. The analysis of definitions showed that these concepts were appealing to the same dimensions of CSR (Dahlsrud, 2008: 4). Grouping the phrases which refer to the same dimensions gave out five dimensions, namely as the environmental dimension (The natural environment), the social dimension (The relationship between business and society), the economic dimension (Socio-economic or financial aspects, describing CSR in terms of business operations), the stakeholder dimension (Stakeholders or stakeholder groups) and the voluntariness dimension (Actions not prescribed by law). Acting responsibly is important for any firm doing business. Two theories of CSR offer definitions for responsibility. According to the definition based on shareholder theory managers should make decisions that maximize the wealth of their firms’ stockholders. On the other hand, the definition based on stakeholder theory argues that rather than maximizing the prosperity of their owners, firms have duties towards the society. Ultimately, this debate on the definition of responsibility changed its direction towards deciding the amount a firm should spend for acting responsibly (Wu, 2014: 286). The concepts of corporate citizenship, corporate sustainability, stakeholder management, environmental management, business ethics and corporate social performance are studied under CSR. Carroll defines social responsibility as the entire range of obligations a business has towards the society in terms of the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary categories of business performance (1979: 497). According to this definition, there are four dimensions of CSR namely as economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) responsibilities. Although these four constituent parts of CSR reflect the viewpoints related to earlier definitions, it represents the social responsibilities of businesses in more details. Thus Carroll’s definition has been the most widely accepted one among a vast number of definitions in the literature of CSR (Visser, 2005: 33). Carroll presents economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions of CSR on the model of “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” and argues that not only economic and legal responsibility dimensions have been a part of CSR but all four responsibility dimensions have always existed to some extent while ethical and philanthropic functions have taken a significant position just in recent years (Carroll, 1991). Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 59 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The pyramid of corporate social responsibility is presented in Figure 1. As can be seen, economic responsibilities component is the foundation block of the other three components. Obeying the laws, or playing by the rules, is the second most important dimension because the law is society’s codification of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Ethical responsibilities lies on the next level and covers being just and fair, discern what is right or wrong in order to avoid doing harm or to protect the stakeholders which are the employees, consumers, the environment, and others. Ultimately, philanthropic responsibilities focusing on being a good corporate citizen lie at the top of the CSR pyramid. These benevolent activities include contributing financial and human resources to the community and improving the quality of life. No CSR pyramid is perfect without one of these four components. They cannot be separated from one other but here and elsewhere, they are taken into consideration individually in order to discuss their specific nature. Moreover, as Carroll argues (1991: 42), “a consideration of the separate components helps the manager see that the different types of obligations are in a constant but dynamic tension with one another”. Figure 1. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Source: Carroll, A. (1991), “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders”, Business Horizons. According to recent literature on CSR, it is important to have a dialogue with stakeholders in order to protect the interests of stakeholders and to have conformity between the stakeholders and schemes of sustainable development and business strategy. In their study, Romolini et al. (2014: 67) argue that stakeholders, in turn, are less influenced by an entity’s financial performance alone and more influenced by their perception that sustainability is critical to an entity’s financial performance and to fulfilling the 60 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange implicit contract between the entity and society. In this study, theoretical perspectives of stakeholders have been taken into consideration. According to a stakeholder-oriented perspective, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and face potentially conflicting demands from these stakeholders and have to adapt stakeholders’ demands into the core policies of CSR. In his study on CSR, Dahlsrud (2008: 4) argues that the stakeholder dimension covers “interaction with their stakeholders”, “how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and communities” and “treating the stakeholders of the firm”. First proposed by Freeman in 1984, stakeholder theory focuses on the strategic management of organizations in the late twentieth century. Numerous studies in literature, especially those of Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Mitchell et al. (1997) helped the theory to flourish and develop (Mainardes et al., 2012: 1862). Although they may offer different definitions and interpretations, all these studies, in their core, follow the definition of Freeman (1984) and reflect the same principle to a greater or lesser extent: the company should take into consideration the needs, interests and influences of people and groups, who either impact on or may be impacted by its policies and operations. According to Freeman’s (1984) definition, individuals or groups may influence or be influenced by the scope of organizational objectives. Within this concept, a person, an informal group, an organization or an institution may all be stakeholders (Mainardes et al., 2011: 228). Moir (2001: 19) argues that the stakeholder theory can be used as a basis to analyse those groups to whom the firm should be responsible. A literature review reveals various proposals for classifying stakeholders by their respective level of importance (Clarkson, 1995: 106; Donaldson and Preston, 1995: 68; Mainardes et al., 2012: 1865; Ozuem et al., 2014: 400; Trebeck, 2008: 352). Stakeholders are important for companies in some sense because they have an influence on company performance. For this reason, companies try to respond to their stakeholders’ demands in economic, formal or political frames. Stakeholders may have different levels of priorities for companies at different times but according to literature, there is some stability in the pattern of priority of stakeholders. Also, the stage of business and expectations of businesses may be different in different countries although they may be in the same field. Moreover different orientations can be observed in corporate environments of different countries. Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 165), who studied the conditions of markets in England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, argue that stakeholders have different levels of importance in different countries. For example, while the focus is on economic responsibilities to owners in England, the focus shifts to company-employee relations in France and Germany, and to nurturing the business-community relationships in Japan. Naturally, because of the differences in these business relationships, stakeholder priorities can also be different. Thus, the stakeholder groups studied in the samples appeared to be prioritized in the same order while communities and government stakeholders ranked lower than the other threestakeholder groups of employees, consumers, and owners (Pinkston and Carroll, 1994: 161). Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 61 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The terms of “stakeholder” and “social responsibility” have close relationships in terms of corporate social responsibility. The connection between these two terms derives from the vague content of the term “social” and the concept of “stakeholder” denotes to social or societal responsibilities of a company (Carroll, 1991: 43). Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) argue that according to stakeholder-oriented perception, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and they aim to meet potentially conflicting demands of these stakeholders in terms of CSR objectives and policies. The duty of the management of a stakeholder oriented business is difficult because the managers have to make a settlement between their objectives and the expectations and demands of the stakeholders. While doing this, they have to meet the demands of main stakeholders in the first place and the remaining groups later. Although it is not always possible to satisfy all the parties at the same time, it is important for a company to protect its long-term interests. Carroll (1991: 43) assumes that the functions of stakeholder management are to describe, understand, analyse, and finally to manage. Carroll poses five questions to understand stakeholder management: 1. Who are our stakeholders? 2. What are their stakes? 3. What opportunities and challenges are presented by our stakeholders? 4. What corporate social responsibilities (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) do we have to our stakeholders? 5. What strategies, actions, or decisions should we take to best deal with these responsibilities? These questions can be discussed in details but attention must be given to what kind of responsibilities does a company have towards its stakeholders (Carroll, 1991: 43). A conceptional framework of stakeholder/responsibility matrix on this topic is presented in Figure 2. Figure 2. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Owners Customers Employees Community Competitors Suppliers Social Activist Groups 62 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Public at Large Others Source: Carroll, 1991: 44 By looking and working on this matrix, a manager can decide on how to act in different types of corporate social responsibility environments by taking different stakeholder groups into consideration. For each cell, the manager can gather analytical data and use them “for developing priorities and making both long-term and short-term decisions involving multiple stakeholders’ interests” (Carroll, 1991: 44). However, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) made a little alteration on this classification regarding the stakeholder groups in one of later studies. In their study on international businesses in different countries, Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 161) renamed stakeholder groups as owners, consumers, employees, communities and government. They argued that the perceived relative importance of the organizations’ stakeholder groups will differ across firms by countries-of-origin. Purpose and Importance of the Research Most of the research on Carroll’s (1991) CSR Pyramid has been in an American context. Nevertheless, several of the empirical studies already discussed suggest that culture may have an important influence on perceived CSR priorities (Visser, 2005). Within the framework of Carroll’s CSR Pyramid (1991), this study aims to find out CSR priorities of companies listed in the Corporate Governance Index of Borsa Istanbul (BIST) which apply corporate management principles. In order to realize this aim, economic, legal, ethical and philantrophic responsibilities are placed on stakeholder/responsibility matrix based on Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid and the distribution of stakeholder groups according to their responsibility fields is investigated. It has been observed that no previous study in the literature of the field has attempted to place these four responsibilities on stakeholder/responsibility matrix. From this perspective, it can be said that this study is of great importance with its pioneering aspects. Methodology of the Research The research in this study was carried out using the qualitative research method. Extreme case sampling (Patton, 2002) was carried out by selecting Turkish companies with the best corporate social responsibility performance. A similar criterion for selecting companies was used by previous studies in order to analyze CSR (Collison et al., 2008; Lankoski, 2008; Romolini et al., 2014). The sample of the research is composed of 48 companies, which trade in Borsa Istanbul (BIST) and listed in Corporate Governance Index. BIST Corporate Governance Index (XKURY) is an index which includes the companies that apply Corporate Governance Principlesi. Corporate Governance Principles in Turkey are constituted by Capital Markets Board by taking primarily the “OECD Corporate Governance Principles” of 1999 into consideration. Corporate Governance Principles are made up of four parts: (1) Shareholders, (2) Public Disclosure and Transparency, (3) Stakeholders, (4) Board of Directors. An important portion of corporate governance Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 63 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku principles are about the responsibilities of companies towards stakeholdersii. For this reason, sampling for the study has been chosen from companies within Corporate Governence Index which lists companies with high corporate social responsibility performance. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are presented as “public domain” information in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Content analysis necessitates the information in the content of a text (or report) to be coded within the framework of pre-described categories, as quantitatively and qualitatively (Guthrie and Abeysekera, 2006: 117). With this method, percentage distribution of the information presented in a report (or a text) is measured, by being classified (coded) according to categories (Loberet et al., 1997: 59). Quantitative measurements obtained as a result of coding can be used as data in other kinds of analyses (Hackston and Milne, 1996: 84). For information related to corporate social responsibility which will be coded in content analysis, categories need to be formed and corporate social responsibility information types which will be included in these categories need to be determined. Carroll’s (1991) study was taken into consideration for defining the social responsibility areas in the content analysis. Business practices defined by Spiller (2000) were taken into consideration in order to identify the business practices related to the expectations of stakeholder groups. Content Analysis Process In order to determine the categories and classifications of corporate social responsibility information types according to these categories, which will be used in the execution of this research and application of content analysis technique, literature review was completed and the following basic and sub categories were formed based on the information and categories in the studies of Carroll (1991) and Spiller (2000). Moreover, studies of Carroll (1991), Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995) and Trebeck (2008) were considered for the identification of stakeholder groups. Accordingly, stakeholder groups were taken into account as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers, governments and others. Social Responsibility Areas of Business Organizations To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic (Figure 3). 64 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Figure 3. Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic Responsibilities Economic Components (Responsibilities) Legal Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with maximizing earnings per share. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the expectations of government and law. 2. It is important to be committed to being as profitable as possible. 2. It is important to comply with various federal, state and local regulations. 3. It is important to maintain a strong competitive position. 3. It is important to be a law-abiding corporate citizen. 4. It is important to maintain a high level of operating efficiency. 4. It is important that a successful firm be defined as one that fulfils its legal obligations. 5. It is important that a successful firm be defined 5. It is important to provide goods and services as one that is consistently profitable. that at least meet minimal legal requirements. Ethical Components (Responsibilities) Philanthropic Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with expectations of societal mores and ethical norms. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the philanthropic and charitable expectations of society. 2. It is important to recognize and respect new or evolving ethical/moral norms adopted by society. 2. It is important to assist the fine and performing arts. 3. It is important to prevent ethical norms from being compromised in order to achieve corporate goals. 3. It is important that managers and employees participate in voluntary and charitable activities within their local communities. 4. It is important that good corporate citizenship be defined as doing what is expected morally or ethically. 4. It is important to provide assistance to private and public educational institutions. 5. It is important to recognize that corporate integrity and ethical behavior go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations. 5. It is important to assist voluntarily projects that enhance a community’s “quality of life”. Source: Carroll (1991) Business Practices Related to the Expectations of Stakeholder Groups In order to determine the expectations of stakeholder groups within the context of corporate social responsibility in content analysis, the study of Spiller (2000) was taken into consideration. This study of Spiller (2000), which defines important business practices regarding each important stakeholder group, is one of the most detailed studies conducted about stakeholder groups’ expectations as part of corporate social Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 65 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku responsibility practices. Spiller (2000) specified stakeholder groups that constitute primary priority for a business and claimed that organizational practices, which appear in accordance with the expectations of these groups, can be used in determining the corporate social responsibility performance of a business. This study has been beneficial for many researches about corporate social responsibility practices. To guide implementation, Spiller (2000: 153-154) has identified ten key business practices for each of the six main stakeholder groups: community; environment; employees; customers; suppliers, and shareholders (Figure 4). The list of 60 practices summarised below is neither exhaustive, nor uncontroversial. However, it does provide a starting point, a menu from which companies can choose, preferably in conjunction with their stakeholders, the areas on which to focus. Figure 4. Key Business Practices for Each ofthe Six Main Stakeholder Groups 1. Community 1.1. Generous financial donations 1.2. Innovative giving 1.3. Support for education and job training programmes 1.4. Direct involvement in community projects and affairs 1.5. Community volunteer programmes 1.6. Support for the local community 1.7. Campaigning for environmental and social change 1.8. An employee-led approach to philanthropy 1.9. Efficient and effective community activity 1.10. Disclosure of environmental and social performance 2. Environment 2.1. Environmental policies, organization and management 2.2. Materials policy of reduction, reuse and recycling 2.3. Monitoring, minimising and taking responsibility for releases to the environment 2.4. Waste management 2.5. Energy conservation 2.6. Effective emergency response 2.7. Public dialogue and disclosure 2.8. Product stewardship 2.9. Environmental requirements for suppliers 2.10. Environmental audits 3. Employees 3.1. Fair remuneration 3.2. Effective communication 3.3. Learning and development opportunities 3.4. Fulfilling work 3.5. A healthy and safe work environment 3.6. Equal employment opportunities 3.7. Job security 3.8. Competent leadership 3.9. Community spirit 3.10. Social mission integration 4. Customers 4.1. Industry-leading quality programme 4.2. Value for money 4.3. Truthful promotion 4.4. Full product disclosure 4.5. Leadership in research and development 4.6. Minimal packaging 4.7. Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns 4.8. Customer dialogue 4.9. Safe products 4.10. Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition 66 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange 5. Suppliers 5.1. Develop and maintain long-term purchasing relationships 5.2. Clear expectations 5.3. Pay fair prices and bills according to terms agreed upon 5.4. Fair and competent handling of conflicts and disputes 5.5. Reliable anticipated purchasing requirements 5.6. Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions 5.7. Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance 5.8. Utilise local suppliers 5.9. Sourcing from minority-owned suppliers 5.10. Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers 6. Shareholders 6.1. Good rate of long-term return to shareholders 6.2. Disseminate comprehensive and clear information 6.3. Encourage staff ownership of shares 6.4. Develop and build relationships with shareholders 6.5. Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends 6.6. Corporate governance issues are well managed 6.7. Access to company’s directors and senior managers 6.8. Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance 6.9. Clear long-term business strategy 6.10. Open communication with the financial community Source: Spiller, 2000: 153-154. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Business practices devoted to meet the expectations of stakeholder groups for corporate social responsibility areas defined by Carroll and which responsibilities become prominent in which stakeholder groups were defined in the content analysis, based on the Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix of Carroll (1991). None the less, besides Carroll’s (1991) study, stakeholder groups to be considered in the matrix were identified by considering Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Spiller (2000) and Trebeck’s (2008) classifications. According to this, stakeholder groups were taken into consideration as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers and others. As a result of the assessment done by the authors of the study, business practices related to the expectations of the stakeholder groups (Spiller, 2000) were placed in economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic areas in the stakeholder/responsibility matrix. By this way, a framework was formed in order to evaluate the findings obtained from the content analysis. Figure 5: Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Shareholders Customers Employees Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 67 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Community Suppliers Others Findings of the Research and Evaluation of Findings The data attained from the content analysis was analysed with the help of SPSS 20.0 Windows program. How often and at what level the information about corporate social responsibility took place in the related report was determined as number and percentage, and emerging frequency tables were interpreted. During the process of putting data into codes, “1” was used for coding the practices present in the categories considered in the content analysis and “2” was used for coding the practices which are not present in the businesses. Additionally, in terms of sector information, service sector was coded as “1” and manufacturing sector was coded as “2”. 27 of the businesses taking place in the sample operate in service sector, while 21 of them operate in manufacturing sector. Frequency and percentage values belonging to business practices about the expectations of stakeholder groups are presented in Figure 6. Hereunder, business practices falling within shareholders groups are seen to be over 90%. Businesses perform their legal responsibilities against their shareholders to a large extent. Of the practices in economic area, “Open communication with the financial Community” is seen to be over 65% and others are seen to be over 83%. Economic practices of companies as “Clear long-term business strategy” and “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends” oriented to shareholders stakeholder group ate at 90% level. Among the economic practices taking place in customers stakeholder group, “Customer dialogue” is seen to be at level 87.5%, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition” is seen to be at level 83% and “safe products” is seen to be at level 79%. Businesses perform their responsibilities against their customers in the economic area. Of their responsibilities in legal area, “Truthful promotion” is at level 67% while “Minimal packaging” is at the level of 33%. The fact that this practice is used only in manufacturing businesses should be considered in minimal packaging radio to be low. Ethically, “Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns” is at level 79% and “Value for Money” is at level 44%. It is observed that businesses do not stress on the “Money” concept much, which is directed to customers stakeholder group. Of the practices falling within employees stakeholder group, economically “Learning and development opportunities” was emphasized as 96% and legally “A healthy and safe work environment” was emphasized as 94%. In the ethical responsibility area, “Fulfilling work” and “Competent leadership” were mentioned at 60%, “Community spirit” at 75%, and “Fair remuneration” and “Equal employment opportunities” were mentioned over 83%. It is regarded that practices in employees stakeholder group were given a quite high importance. 68 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Business practices in community stakeholder group are seen to be at 35% in the economic area with “Disclosure of environmental and social performance” at 35% and at 73% in the ethical area of “Innovative giving”. In the philanthropic area, the practice that has the highest level is “Direct involvement in community projects and affairs” with 88% and the practice that has the lowest level is “An employee-led approach to philanthropy” with 48%. It can be stated that businesses act sensitive about philanthropic practices in community stakeholder group. Businesses do not seem to give much place to information related to suppliers stakeholder group. The most emphasized practice in economic area is “Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions” with a level of 48%. The most emphasized practice in ethical area is “Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers” with a level of 40%, and the most emphasized practice in philanthropic area is “Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance” with a level of 40%. Other practices seem to be even lower than this level. Practices under the title of Environment were encountered mostly in the stakeholder group named as Others. The most mentioned practice in economic practices area is “Environmental policies, organization and management” with a level of 83%. “Environmental requirements for suppliers” is seen to be at level 37% and “Environmental audits” is seen to be at level 35%. The practice in legal area is “Public dialogue and disclosure” at a level of 60%. Whether a difference exists between expectations of stakeholder groups and related business practices from the point of sectors of the businesses taking place in the research was analysed via t-test. As a result of the analysis, business practices falling within stakeholder groups did not show a significant difference between service sector and manufacturing sector. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 69 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Figure 6. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix in Turkey Sample 70 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange According to findings obtained from this research, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Philanthropic responsibility was determined to be primary in community stakeholder group, economic responsibility was seen to be primary in suppliers stakeholder group, and legal responsibility was seen to be primary in environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were observed to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except community stakeholder group. Findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibility practices of businesses taking place in Turkey research sample are wide enough to include stakeholder groups, other than suppliers. In Turkey, companies traditionally perform corporate social responsibility practices for long years within the framework of philanthropy. As a matter of fact, many businesses materialize their politics in this direction through various projects, such as awarding scholarships to students, sponsoring sports and art activities. Although social responsibility programs do not improve in private sector as fast as in the world, they have a different status lately. Non-governmental organizations, which developed quickly especially in 1990s, lead the supports of companies in social areas, in which education projects comes first on a more substantial ground with sustainability. On the other hand, especially in previous years, many companies head towards professional support for social responsibility programs. Non-governmental organizations enable the support given to social-oriented projects in private sector to increase quickly. Nongovernmental organizations, which work with a transparent administrative mentality and responsibility mission, establish a ground for the creation of social projects with the leading companies of private sector. Social responsibility projects, which are realised through a co-operation with non-governmental organizations, are seen to be executed in areas such as education, sports, health, elderly, children and environment. Besides this, several consultancy institutions are seen to function with the purpose of supporting businesses in identifying social responsibility projects and in the process of putting them into practice (Akgeyik, 2007: 82). As the obtained findings are compared to the findings of prior studies in different countries, similar results were attained in some aspects, while different ones were obtained in others. For instance, in their study which includes England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) put forward that the importance given to stakeholders differed according to countries. England has been shown to emphasize economic responsibilities to owners in its business community. France, on the other hand, has been understood to focus on company employee relations, as has Germany. The Japanese environment has appeared to nurture the business-community relationships. Since these relationships can be noticeably different in any given business environment, the stakeholder priorities were expected to be different for the sample organizations. One of the conspicuous findings of the study is the lack of corporate social responsibility practices regarding the suppliers stakeholder group. A similar situation exists in the findings of the studies that were conducted in other countries. For example, several Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 71 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku empirical studies in Europe, North America and Asia have investigated how firms work with CSR-related issues in their supply chains. Most of these studies are not only confined to large multinational corporations, but also include SMEs. According to the results attained, despite many companies’ efforts to engage in CSR-related activities in their supply chains, there is often a gap between the ethical standards expressed and the actual conditions at the suppliers (Andersen and Larsen, 2009: 78). In today’s competitive business environment, it has become imperative for firms to find ways to work collaboratively with suppliers. Moreover, it has been shown that firm-supplier cooperation and partnership can help all supply-chain members to increase performance. Additionally, ethical behavior in the firm-supplier relationship will generate trust and better communication – attributes which can result in greater competitiveness and wealth creation (Gonzalez et al., 2013: 373). Conclusion This study is based on “stakeholder theory” to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility levels in Turkey. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities (highlight issues and areas) in Corporate Social Responsibility of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies were selected as the sample of the study in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index. The research was carried out using the qualitative research method. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are “public domain” information published in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. According to the findings of this study, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Among the companies which fall into the scope the study, responsibilities outstanding in the field of economic responsibilities for shareholders are: “Good rate of long-term return to shareholders”, “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends”, “Clear long-term business strategy”, “Open communication with the financial Community”. The important topics for shareholders in terms of legal responsibilities are: “Disseminate comprehensive and clear information”, “Corporate governance issues are well managed and access to company’s directors and senior managers”, “Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance”. For customers stakeholder group, social responsibility topics on economic level are: “Industry-leading quality programme”, “Customer dialogue”, “Safe products”, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition”. Legal responsibilities which are important for customer stakeholder group are: “Truthful promotion” and “Minimal 72 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange packaging”. While the economic responsibilities which stand out for employees stakeholder group are “Learning and development opportunities”, legal responbilities which are important for the same group are “A healthy and safe work environment”. Corporate social responsibility practices reflecting ethical and philanthropic responsibility understanding were not seen to take place in shareholders stakeholder group. Philanthropic responsibility mentality was seen not to fall within customers and employees stakeholder groups. In community stakeholder group, on the other hand, it is conspicuous that most of the corporate social responsibility practices are performed within the context of philanthropic responsibility understanding and ethical and economic mentalities remain in the background. It has been realised that social responsibility practices taking place in suppliers stakeholder group are not common, and current social responsibility practices reflect economic responsibility. On the other hand, in the environment stakeholder group, legal responsibility was identified to be primary. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were seen to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except the community stakeholder group. The findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibilities of large companies in the research sample of Turkey are wide enough to include all stakeholder groups other than suppliers, and economic and legal responsibilities have priority in the corporate social responsibility understanding. As a result, many companies embrace a CSR program as a way to promote socially responsible actions and policies, and effectively respond to stakeholder demands. According to stakeholder theory, companies can achieve more positive results by paying more attention to corporate social responsibility programs. Stakeholder theory suggests that organizational survival and success is contingent on satisfying both its economic (e.g. profit maximization) and non-economic (e.g. corporate social performance) objectives by meeting the needs of the company’s various stakeholders. The stakeholder management concept serves to ensure that organizations recognise, analyse and examine the individual and group characteristics that influence or are influenced by organizational behaviours and actions. Future studies may include analyses of which stakeholder groups must be paid more attention in the value creation process of organizations within the context of stakeholder theory, what the contributions the stakeholders provide are and what the possible risks related to stakeholders are, expectations of stakeholders and how processes that will meet these expectations will be developed. Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 73 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku References Akgeyik, T. (2007). The human resource management dimensions of corporate social responsibility in Turkey: A survey. http://www.journals.istanbul.edu.tr/iusskd/article/ view/1023000164. Andersen, M. & Larsen, T.S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility in global supply chains. 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Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 286–300. i. ii. (http://www.borsaistanbul.com/en/indices/bist-stock-indices/corporate-governance-index) (http://www.spk.gov.tr/indexcont.aspx?action=showpage&menuid=10&pid=0) Volume 5 Number 2 Fall 2015 77 �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2947 Title A name given to the resource Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Author Author ÇETİNKAYA, Melek AĞCA, Veysel ÖZUTKU, Hatice Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General),HB Economic Theory,HG Finance https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/b34cf8f3d7915c475a1b32d65961648b.pdf fc5aea17d1dda46feb11cedb0bd03485 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2946 Title A name given to the resource Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Author Author ÇETİNKAYA, Melek AĞCA, Veysel ÖZUTKU, Hatice Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General),HB Economic Theory,HG Finance https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/a97116320d786ae59722d197c7a4aa2f.pdf e696e430c6163f34a0b2b71fa0ee21cc PDF Text Text Journal of Economic and Social Studies Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Melek Çetinkaya Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey mlcetinkaya@hotmail.com Veysel Ağca Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey agca@aku.edu.tr Hatice Özutku Afyon Kocatepe University Afyonkarahisar, Turkey hozutku@aku.edu.tr Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 Key words: Corporate Social Responsibility; The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility JEL Classification: M10, M14 Article History Submitted: 21 May 2015 Resubmitted: 21 August 2015 Resubmitted: 10 September 2015 Accepted: 14 September 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/ JECOSS15525 1 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Introduction An early definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by European Commission was “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001: 3). The Commission modified this definition in 2011 as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society”. In order to fulfil corporate social responsibility, business organizations must have a process that integrates social, environmental, ethical and human rights, and consumer expectations into their business operations and core strategy to get close relationships with social partners (Commission of the European Communities, 2011: 6). According to this definition, it is clear that business organizations have more duties than the official expectations, such as investing in human capital and the environment. Global environmental problems such as climate change, vanishing natural resources and pollution have made corporate social responsibility an important agenda of business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). The definition and content of CSR change in different contexts. A company should take its stakeholders’ needs into consideration when planning its CSR programmes. Since CSR will always have a location-based nature, a company should understand the priorities of local stakeholders (Welford, Chan and Man, 2007: 52). Environmental concerns of the consumers and the increasing interest in CSR since the 1970’s brought CSR into the discussion of the academic and business world (Harrison and Freeman, 1999; Dincer and Dincer, 2007). Although the term ‘corporate social responsibility’ is still widely used, terms such as corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder management and sustainability offer competing, complementary and overlapping concepts to cover the field (Carroll and Shabana, 2010: 86). The purpose of this study is to analyse the nature of CSR. A descriptive analysis based on CSR Pyramid developed by Carroll was used for the Turkish context. The CSR Pyramid which can be labeled as to be the most well known model for corporate social responsibility emphasize the importance of economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities with its four levels. None the less, analysis of CSR in Turkey may provide an opportunity to examine the relevance of CSR Pyramid priorities in Turkish context to the conventional American ordering when Carroll’s basic four part model is taken into consideration. Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Stakeholders The content and definition of CSR has always been a most debated subject (Dahlsrud, 2008: 2; Moir, 2001: 19). As a result of these debates, different perspectives flourished in the field of CSR. Among these perspectives on CSR, Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) put forward some theoretical perspectives as agency theory, the stakeholder theory, the stewardship theory, a resource-based view of the firm, the institutional theory and the strategic leadership theory. 2 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange The history of CSR goes a long way back. The modern era of CSR is dated back to 1950s by Carroll (1999: 268). Although the attempts to define CSR flourished during the 1960s and especially in 1970s, the definitions of CSR became more specific while different approaches on corporate social responsiveness and corporate social performance (CSP) began to flourish. However, the 1980s saw fewer new definitions, more empirical research, and an increase on alternative themes such as corporate social performance, stakeholder theory and business ethics theory. In the 1990s, CSR continued to serve on the same basis but it was transformed through alternative thematic frameworks such as stakeholder theory, business ethics theory, CSP, and corporate citizenship. The analysis of definitions showed that these concepts were appealing to the same dimensions of CSR (Dahlsrud, 2008: 4). Grouping the phrases which refer to the same dimensions gave out five dimensions, namely as the environmental dimension (The natural environment), the social dimension (The relationship between business and society), the economic dimension (Socio-economic or financial aspects, describing CSR in terms of business operations), the stakeholder dimension (Stakeholders or stakeholder groups) and the voluntariness dimension (Actions not prescribed by law). Acting responsibly is important for any firm doing business. Two theories of CSR offer definitions for responsibility. According to the definition based on shareholder theory managers should make decisions that maximize the wealth of their firms’ stockholders. On the other hand, the definition based on stakeholder theory argues that rather than maximizing the prosperity of their owners, firms have duties towards the society. Ultimately, this debate on the definition of responsibility changed its direction towards deciding the amount a firm should spend for acting responsibly (Wu, 2014: 286). The concepts of corporate citizenship, corporate sustainability, stakeholder management, environmental management, business ethics and corporate social performance are studied under CSR. Carroll defines social responsibility as the entire range of obligations a business has towards the society in terms of the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary categories of business performance (1979: 497). According to this definition, there are four dimensions of CSR namely as economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropic) responsibilities. Although these four constituent parts of CSR reflect the viewpoints related to earlier definitions, it represents the social responsibilities of businesses in more details. Thus Carroll’s definition has been the most widely accepted one among a vast number of definitions in the literature of CSR (Visser, 2005: 33). Carroll presents economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions of CSR on the model of “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” and argues that not only economic and legal responsibility dimensions have been a part of CSR but all four responsibility dimensions have always existed to some extent while ethical and philanthropic functions have taken a significant position just in recent years (Carroll, 1991). Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 3 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The pyramid of corporate social responsibility is presented in Figure 1. As can be seen, economic responsibilities component is the foundation block of the other three components. Obeying the laws, or playing by the rules, is the second most important dimension because the law is society’s codification of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Ethical responsibilities lies on the next level and covers being just and fair, discern what is right or wrong in order to avoid doing harm or to protect the stakeholders which are the employees, consumers, the environment, and others. Ultimately, philanthropic responsibilities focusing on being a good corporate citizen lie at the top of the CSR pyramid. These benevolent activities include contributing financial and human resources to the community and improving the quality of life. No CSR pyramid is perfect without one of these four components. They cannot be separated from one other but here and elsewhere, they are taken into consideration individually in order to discuss their specific nature. Moreover, as Carroll argues (1991: 42), “a consideration of the separate components helps the manager see that the different types of obligations are in a constant but dynamic tension with one another”. Figure 1. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Source: Carroll, A. (1991), “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders”, Business Horizons. According to recent literature on CSR, it is important to have a dialogue with stakeholders in order to protect the interests of stakeholders and to have conformity between the stakeholders and schemes of sustainable development and business strategy. In their study, Romolini et al. (2014: 67) argue that stakeholders, in turn, are less influenced by an entity’s financial performance alone and more influenced by their perception that sustainability is critical to an entity’s financial performance and to fulfilling the 4 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange implicit contract between the entity and society. In this study, theoretical perspectives of stakeholders have been taken into consideration. According to a stakeholder-oriented perspective, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and face potentially conflicting demands from these stakeholders and have to adapt stakeholders’ demands into the core policies of CSR. In his study on CSR, Dahlsrud (2008: 4) argues that the stakeholder dimension covers “interaction with their stakeholders”, “how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and communities” and “treating the stakeholders of the firm”. First proposed by Freeman in 1984, stakeholder theory focuses on the strategic management of organizations in the late twentieth century. Numerous studies in literature, especially those of Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Mitchell et al. (1997) helped the theory to flourish and develop (Mainardes et al., 2012: 1862). Although they may offer different definitions and interpretations, all these studies, in their core, follow the definition of Freeman (1984) and reflect the same principle to a greater or lesser extent: the company should take into consideration the needs, interests and influences of people and groups, who either impact on or may be impacted by its policies and operations. According to Freeman’s (1984) definition, individuals or groups may influence or be influenced by the scope of organizational objectives. Within this concept, a person, an informal group, an organization or an institution may all be stakeholders (Mainardes et al., 2011: 228). Moir (2001: 19) argues that the stakeholder theory can be used as a basis to analyse those groups to whom the firm should be responsible. A literature review reveals various proposals for classifying stakeholders by their respective level of importance (Clarkson, 1995: 106; Donaldson and Preston, 1995: 68; Mainardes et al., 2012: 1865; Ozuem et al., 2014: 400; Trebeck, 2008: 352). Stakeholders are important for companies in some sense because they have an influence on company performance. For this reason, companies try to respond to their stakeholders’ demands in economic, formal or political frames. Stakeholders may have different levels of priorities for companies at different times but according to literature, there is some stability in the pattern of priority of stakeholders. Also, the stage of business and expectations of businesses may be different in different countries although they may be in the same field. Moreover different orientations can be observed in corporate environments of different countries. Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 165), who studied the conditions of markets in England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, argue that stakeholders have different levels of importance in different countries. For example, while the focus is on economic responsibilities to owners in England, the focus shifts to company-employee relations in France and Germany, and to nurturing the business-community relationships in Japan. Naturally, because of the differences in these business relationships, stakeholder priorities can also be different. Thus, the stakeholder groups studied in the samples appeared to be prioritized in the same order while communities and government stakeholders ranked lower than the other threestakeholder groups of employees, consumers, and owners (Pinkston and Carroll, 1994: 161). Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 5 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku The terms of “stakeholder” and “social responsibility” have close relationships in terms of corporate social responsibility. The connection between these two terms derives from the vague content of the term “social” and the concept of “stakeholder” denotes to social or societal responsibilities of a company (Carroll, 1991: 43). Ozuem et al. (2014: 400) argue that according to stakeholder-oriented perception, organizations exist within networks of stakeholders and they aim to meet potentially conflicting demands of these stakeholders in terms of CSR objectives and policies. The duty of the management of a stakeholder oriented business is difficult because the managers have to make a settlement between their objectives and the expectations and demands of the stakeholders. While doing this, they have to meet the demands of main stakeholders in the first place and the remaining groups later. Although it is not always possible to satisfy all the parties at the same time, it is important for a company to protect its long-term interests. Carroll (1991: 43) assumes that the functions of stakeholder management are to describe, understand, analyse, and finally to manage. Carroll poses five questions to understand stakeholder management: 1. Who are our stakeholders? 2. What are their stakes? 3. What opportunities and challenges are presented by our stakeholders? 4. What corporate social responsibilities (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) do we have to our stakeholders? 5. What strategies, actions, or decisions should we take to best deal with these responsibilities? These questions can be discussed in details but attention must be given to what kind of responsibilities does a company have towards its stakeholders (Carroll, 1991: 43). A conceptional framework of stakeholder/responsibility matrix on this topic is presented in Figure 2. Figure 2. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Owners Customers Employees Community Competitors Suppliers Social Activist Groups 6 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Public at Large Others Source: Carroll, 1991: 44 By looking and working on this matrix, a manager can decide on how to act in different types of corporate social responsibility environments by taking different stakeholder groups into consideration. For each cell, the manager can gather analytical data and use them “for developing priorities and making both long-term and short-term decisions involving multiple stakeholders’ interests” (Carroll, 1991: 44). However, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) made a little alteration on this classification regarding the stakeholder groups in one of later studies. In their study on international businesses in different countries, Pinkston and Carroll (1994: 161) renamed stakeholder groups as owners, consumers, employees, communities and government. They argued that the perceived relative importance of the organizations’ stakeholder groups will differ across firms by countries-of-origin. Purpose and Importance of the Research Most of the research on Carroll’s (1991) CSR Pyramid has been in an American context. Nevertheless, several of the empirical studies already discussed suggest that culture may have an important influence on perceived CSR priorities (Visser, 2005). Within the framework of Carroll’s CSR Pyramid (1991), this study aims to find out CSR priorities of companies listed in the Corporate Governance Index of Borsa Istanbul (BIST) which apply corporate management principles. In order to realize this aim, economic, legal, ethical and philantrophic responsibilities are placed on stakeholder/responsibility matrix based on Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid and the distribution of stakeholder groups according to their responsibility fields is investigated. It has been observed that no previous study in the literature of the field has attempted to place these four responsibilities on stakeholder/responsibility matrix. From this perspective, it can be said that this study is of great importance with its pioneering aspects. Methodology of the Research The research in this study was carried out using the qualitative research method. Extreme case sampling (Patton, 2002) was carried out by selecting Turkish companies with the best corporate social responsibility performance. A similar criterion for selecting companies was used by previous studies in order to analyze CSR (Collison et al., 2008; Lankoski, 2008; Romolini et al., 2014). The sample of the research is composed of 48 companies, which trade in Borsa Istanbul (BIST) and listed in Corporate Governance Index. BIST Corporate Governance Index (XKURY) is an index which includes the companies that apply Corporate Governance Principlesi. Corporate Governance Principles in Turkey are constituted by Capital Markets Board by taking primarily the “OECD Corporate Governance Principles” of 1999 into consideration. Corporate Governance Principles are made up of four parts: (1) Shareholders, (2) Public Disclosure and Transparency, (3) Stakeholders, (4) Board of Directors. An important portion of corporate governance Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 7 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku principles are about the responsibilities of companies towards stakeholdersii. For this reason, sampling for the study has been chosen from companies within Corporate Governence Index which lists companies with high corporate social responsibility performance. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are presented as “public domain” information in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. Content analysis necessitates the information in the content of a text (or report) to be coded within the framework of pre-described categories, as quantitatively and qualitatively (Guthrie and Abeysekera, 2006: 117). With this method, percentage distribution of the information presented in a report (or a text) is measured, by being classified (coded) according to categories (Loberet et al., 1997: 59). Quantitative measurements obtained as a result of coding can be used as data in other kinds of analyses (Hackston and Milne, 1996: 84). For information related to corporate social responsibility which will be coded in content analysis, categories need to be formed and corporate social responsibility information types which will be included in these categories need to be determined. Carroll’s (1991) study was taken into consideration for defining the social responsibility areas in the content analysis. Business practices defined by Spiller (2000) were taken into consideration in order to identify the business practices related to the expectations of stakeholder groups. Content Analysis Process In order to determine the categories and classifications of corporate social responsibility information types according to these categories, which will be used in the execution of this research and application of content analysis technique, literature review was completed and the following basic and sub categories were formed based on the information and categories in the studies of Carroll (1991) and Spiller (2000). Moreover, studies of Carroll (1991), Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995) and Trebeck (2008) were considered for the identification of stakeholder groups. Accordingly, stakeholder groups were taken into account as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers, governments and others. Social Responsibility Areas of Business Organizations To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic (Figure 3). 8 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Figure 3. Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic Responsibilities Economic Components (Responsibilities) Legal Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with maximizing earnings per share. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the expectations of government and law. 2. It is important to be committed to being as profitable as possible. 2. It is important to comply with various federal, state and local regulations. 3. It is important to maintain a strong competitive position. 3. It is important to be a law-abiding corporate citizen. 4. It is important to maintain a high level of operating efficiency. 4. It is important that a successful firm be defined as one that fulfils its legal obligations. 5. It is important that a successful firm be defined 5. It is important to provide goods and services as one that is consistently profitable. that at least meet minimal legal requirements. Ethical Components (Responsibilities) Philanthropic Components (Responsibilities) 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with expectations of societal mores and ethical norms. 1. It is important to perform in a manner consistent with the philanthropic and charitable expectations of society. 2. It is important to recognize and respect new or evolving ethical/moral norms adopted by society. 2. It is important to assist the fine and performing arts. 3. It is important to prevent ethical norms from being compromised in order to achieve corporate goals. 3. It is important that managers and employees participate in voluntary and charitable activities within their local communities. 4. It is important that good corporate citizenship be defined as doing what is expected morally or ethically. 4. It is important to provide assistance to private and public educational institutions. 5. It is important to recognize that corporate integrity and ethical behavior go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations. 5. It is important to assist voluntarily projects that enhance a community’s “quality of life”. Source: Carroll (1991) Business Practices Related to the Expectations of Stakeholder Groups In order to determine the expectations of stakeholder groups within the context of corporate social responsibility in content analysis, the study of Spiller (2000) was taken into consideration. This study of Spiller (2000), which defines important business practices regarding each important stakeholder group, is one of the most detailed studies conducted about stakeholder groups’ expectations as part of corporate social Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 9 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku responsibility practices. Spiller (2000) specified stakeholder groups that constitute primary priority for a business and claimed that organizational practices, which appear in accordance with the expectations of these groups, can be used in determining the corporate social responsibility performance of a business. This study has been beneficial for many researches about corporate social responsibility practices. To guide implementation, Spiller (2000: 153-154) has identified ten key business practices for each of the six main stakeholder groups: community; environment; employees; customers; suppliers, and shareholders (Figure 4). The list of 60 practices summarised below is neither exhaustive, nor uncontroversial. However, it does provide a starting point, a menu from which companies can choose, preferably in conjunction with their stakeholders, the areas on which to focus. Figure 4. Key Business Practices for Each ofthe Six Main Stakeholder Groups 1. Community 1.1. Generous financial donations 1.2. Innovative giving 1.3. Support for education and job training programmes 1.4. Direct involvement in community projects and affairs 1.5. Community volunteer programmes 1.6. Support for the local community 1.7. Campaigning for environmental and social change 1.8. An employee-led approach to philanthropy 1.9. Efficient and effective community activity 1.10. Disclosure of environmental and social performance 2. Environment 2.1. Environmental policies, organization and management 2.2. Materials policy of reduction, reuse and recycling 2.3. Monitoring, minimising and taking responsibility for releases to the environment 2.4. Waste management 2.5. Energy conservation 2.6. Effective emergency response 2.7. Public dialogue and disclosure 2.8. Product stewardship 2.9. Environmental requirements for suppliers 2.10. Environmental audits 3. Employees 3.1. Fair remuneration 3.2. Effective communication 3.3. Learning and development opportunities 3.4. Fulfilling work 3.5. A healthy and safe work environment 3.6. Equal employment opportunities 3.7. Job security 3.8. Competent leadership 3.9. Community spirit 3.10. Social mission integration 4. Customers 4.1. Industry-leading quality programme 4.2. Value for money 4.3. Truthful promotion 4.4. Full product disclosure 4.5. Leadership in research and development 4.6. Minimal packaging 4.7. Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns 4.8. Customer dialogue 4.9. Safe products 4.10. Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition 10 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange 5. Suppliers 5.1. Develop and maintain long-term purchasing relationships 5.2. Clear expectations 5.3. Pay fair prices and bills according to terms agreed upon 5.4. Fair and competent handling of conflicts and disputes 5.5. Reliable anticipated purchasing requirements 5.6. Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions 5.7. Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance 5.8. Utilise local suppliers 5.9. Sourcing from minority-owned suppliers 5.10. Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers 6. Shareholders 6.1. Good rate of long-term return to shareholders 6.2. Disseminate comprehensive and clear information 6.3. Encourage staff ownership of shares 6.4. Develop and build relationships with shareholders 6.5. Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends 6.6. Corporate governance issues are well managed 6.7. Access to company’s directors and senior managers 6.8. Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance 6.9. Clear long-term business strategy 6.10. Open communication with the financial community Source: Spiller, 2000: 153-154. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Business practices devoted to meet the expectations of stakeholder groups for corporate social responsibility areas defined by Carroll and which responsibilities become prominent in which stakeholder groups were defined in the content analysis, based on the Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix of Carroll (1991). None the less, besides Carroll’s (1991) study, stakeholder groups to be considered in the matrix were identified by considering Pinkston and Carroll (1994), Clarkson (1995), Donaldson and Preston (1995), Spiller (2000) and Trebeck’s (2008) classifications. According to this, stakeholder groups were taken into consideration as shareholders, consumers, employees, communities, suppliers and others. As a result of the assessment done by the authors of the study, business practices related to the expectations of the stakeholder groups (Spiller, 2000) were placed in economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic areas in the stakeholder/responsibility matrix. By this way, a framework was formed in order to evaluate the findings obtained from the content analysis. Figure 5: Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix Types of CSR Economic Legal Ethical Philanthropic Stakeholders Shareholders Customers Employees Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 11 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Community Suppliers Others Findings of the Research and Evaluation of Findings The data attained from the content analysis was analysed with the help of SPSS 20.0 Windows program. How often and at what level the information about corporate social responsibility took place in the related report was determined as number and percentage, and emerging frequency tables were interpreted. During the process of putting data into codes, “1” was used for coding the practices present in the categories considered in the content analysis and “2” was used for coding the practices which are not present in the businesses. Additionally, in terms of sector information, service sector was coded as “1” and manufacturing sector was coded as “2”. 27 of the businesses taking place in the sample operate in service sector, while 21 of them operate in manufacturing sector. Frequency and percentage values belonging to business practices about the expectations of stakeholder groups are presented in Figure 6. Hereunder, business practices falling within shareholders groups are seen to be over 90%. Businesses perform their legal responsibilities against their shareholders to a large extent. Of the practices in economic area, “Open communication with the financial Community” is seen to be over 65% and others are seen to be over 83%. Economic practices of companies as “Clear long-term business strategy” and “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends” oriented to shareholders stakeholder group ate at 90% level. Among the economic practices taking place in customers stakeholder group, “Customer dialogue” is seen to be at level 87.5%, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition” is seen to be at level 83% and “safe products” is seen to be at level 79%. Businesses perform their responsibilities against their customers in the economic area. Of their responsibilities in legal area, “Truthful promotion” is at level 67% while “Minimal packaging” is at the level of 33%. The fact that this practice is used only in manufacturing businesses should be considered in minimal packaging radio to be low. Ethically, “Rapid and respectful responses to customer comments, complaints and concerns” is at level 79% and “Value for Money” is at level 44%. It is observed that businesses do not stress on the “Money” concept much, which is directed to customers stakeholder group. Of the practices falling within employees stakeholder group, economically “Learning and development opportunities” was emphasized as 96% and legally “A healthy and safe work environment” was emphasized as 94%. In the ethical responsibility area, “Fulfilling work” and “Competent leadership” were mentioned at 60%, “Community spirit” at 75%, and “Fair remuneration” and “Equal employment opportunities” were mentioned over 83%. It is regarded that practices in employees stakeholder group were given a quite high importance. 12 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Business practices in community stakeholder group are seen to be at 35% in the economic area with “Disclosure of environmental and social performance” at 35% and at 73% in the ethical area of “Innovative giving”. In the philanthropic area, the practice that has the highest level is “Direct involvement in community projects and affairs” with 88% and the practice that has the lowest level is “An employee-led approach to philanthropy” with 48%. It can be stated that businesses act sensitive about philanthropic practices in community stakeholder group. Businesses do not seem to give much place to information related to suppliers stakeholder group. The most emphasized practice in economic area is “Encouragement to provide innovative suggestions” with a level of 48%. The most emphasized practice in ethical area is “Inclusion of an environmental and social element in the selection of suppliers” with a level of 40%, and the most emphasized practice in philanthropic area is “Assist suppliers to improve their environmental and social performance” with a level of 40%. Other practices seem to be even lower than this level. Practices under the title of Environment were encountered mostly in the stakeholder group named as Others. The most mentioned practice in economic practices area is “Environmental policies, organization and management” with a level of 83%. “Environmental requirements for suppliers” is seen to be at level 37% and “Environmental audits” is seen to be at level 35%. The practice in legal area is “Public dialogue and disclosure” at a level of 60%. Whether a difference exists between expectations of stakeholder groups and related business practices from the point of sectors of the businesses taking place in the research was analysed via t-test. As a result of the analysis, business practices falling within stakeholder groups did not show a significant difference between service sector and manufacturing sector. Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 13 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Figure 6. Stakeholder/Responsibility Matrix in Turkey Sample 14 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange According to findings obtained from this research, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Philanthropic responsibility was determined to be primary in community stakeholder group, economic responsibility was seen to be primary in suppliers stakeholder group, and legal responsibility was seen to be primary in environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were observed to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except community stakeholder group. Findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibility practices of businesses taking place in Turkey research sample are wide enough to include stakeholder groups, other than suppliers. In Turkey, companies traditionally perform corporate social responsibility practices for long years within the framework of philanthropy. As a matter of fact, many businesses materialize their politics in this direction through various projects, such as awarding scholarships to students, sponsoring sports and art activities. Although social responsibility programs do not improve in private sector as fast as in the world, they have a different status lately. Non-governmental organizations, which developed quickly especially in 1990s, lead the supports of companies in social areas, in which education projects comes first on a more substantial ground with sustainability. On the other hand, especially in previous years, many companies head towards professional support for social responsibility programs. Non-governmental organizations enable the support given to social-oriented projects in private sector to increase quickly. Nongovernmental organizations, which work with a transparent administrative mentality and responsibility mission, establish a ground for the creation of social projects with the leading companies of private sector. Social responsibility projects, which are realised through a co-operation with non-governmental organizations, are seen to be executed in areas such as education, sports, health, elderly, children and environment. Besides this, several consultancy institutions are seen to function with the purpose of supporting businesses in identifying social responsibility projects and in the process of putting them into practice (Akgeyik, 2007: 82). As the obtained findings are compared to the findings of prior studies in different countries, similar results were attained in some aspects, while different ones were obtained in others. For instance, in their study which includes England, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, Pinkston and Carroll (1994) put forward that the importance given to stakeholders differed according to countries. England has been shown to emphasize economic responsibilities to owners in its business community. France, on the other hand, has been understood to focus on company employee relations, as has Germany. The Japanese environment has appeared to nurture the business-community relationships. Since these relationships can be noticeably different in any given business environment, the stakeholder priorities were expected to be different for the sample organizations. One of the conspicuous findings of the study is the lack of corporate social responsibility practices regarding the suppliers stakeholder group. A similar situation exists in the findings of the studies that were conducted in other countries. For example, several Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 15 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku empirical studies in Europe, North America and Asia have investigated how firms work with CSR-related issues in their supply chains. Most of these studies are not only confined to large multinational corporations, but also include SMEs. According to the results attained, despite many companies’ efforts to engage in CSR-related activities in their supply chains, there is often a gap between the ethical standards expressed and the actual conditions at the suppliers (Andersen and Larsen, 2009: 78). In today’s competitive business environment, it has become imperative for firms to find ways to work collaboratively with suppliers. Moreover, it has been shown that firm-supplier cooperation and partnership can help all supply-chain members to increase performance. Additionally, ethical behavior in the firm-supplier relationship will generate trust and better communication – attributes which can result in greater competitiveness and wealth creation (Gonzalez et al., 2013: 373). Conclusion This study is based on “stakeholder theory” to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility levels in Turkey. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities (highlight issues and areas) in Corporate Social Responsibility of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies were selected as the sample of the study in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index. The research was carried out using the qualitative research method. In the attainment of data, “Annual Reports”, “Sustainability Reports”, and “Corporate Governance Compliance Reports”, which are “public domain” information published in the websites of the so-called companies, were taken as a basis. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. According to the findings of this study, economic and legal responsibilities were determined to have priority in shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. Among the companies which fall into the scope the study, responsibilities outstanding in the field of economic responsibilities for shareholders are: “Good rate of long-term return to shareholders”, “Clear dividend policy and payment of appropriate dividends”, “Clear long-term business strategy”, “Open communication with the financial Community”. The important topics for shareholders in terms of legal responsibilities are: “Disseminate comprehensive and clear information”, “Corporate governance issues are well managed and access to company’s directors and senior managers”, “Annual report and accounts provide a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall performance”. For customers stakeholder group, social responsibility topics on economic level are: “Industry-leading quality programme”, “Customer dialogue”, “Safe products”, “Environmentally and socially responsible production and product composition”. Legal responsibilities which are important for customer stakeholder group are: “Truthful promotion” and “Minimal 16 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange packaging”. While the economic responsibilities which stand out for employees stakeholder group are “Learning and development opportunities”, legal responbilities which are important for the same group are “A healthy and safe work environment”. Corporate social responsibility practices reflecting ethical and philanthropic responsibility understanding were not seen to take place in shareholders stakeholder group. Philanthropic responsibility mentality was seen not to fall within customers and employees stakeholder groups. In community stakeholder group, on the other hand, it is conspicuous that most of the corporate social responsibility practices are performed within the context of philanthropic responsibility understanding and ethical and economic mentalities remain in the background. It has been realised that social responsibility practices taking place in suppliers stakeholder group are not common, and current social responsibility practices reflect economic responsibility. On the other hand, in the environment stakeholder group, legal responsibility was identified to be primary. In general, economic and legal responsibilities were seen to have priority in all stakeholder groups, except the community stakeholder group. The findings obtained reveal that corporate social responsibilities of large companies in the research sample of Turkey are wide enough to include all stakeholder groups other than suppliers, and economic and legal responsibilities have priority in the corporate social responsibility understanding. As a result, many companies embrace a CSR program as a way to promote socially responsible actions and policies, and effectively respond to stakeholder demands. According to stakeholder theory, companies can achieve more positive results by paying more attention to corporate social responsibility programs. Stakeholder theory suggests that organizational survival and success is contingent on satisfying both its economic (e.g. profit maximization) and non-economic (e.g. corporate social performance) objectives by meeting the needs of the company’s various stakeholders. The stakeholder management concept serves to ensure that organizations recognise, analyse and examine the individual and group characteristics that influence or are influenced by organizational behaviours and actions. Future studies may include analyses of which stakeholder groups must be paid more attention in the value creation process of organizations within the context of stakeholder theory, what the contributions the stakeholders provide are and what the possible risks related to stakeholders are, expectations of stakeholders and how processes that will meet these expectations will be developed. Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 17 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku References Akgeyik, T. (2007). The human resource management dimensions of corporate social responsibility in Turkey: A survey. http://www.journals.istanbul.edu.tr/iusskd/article/ view/1023000164. Andersen, M. & Larsen, T.S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility in global supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 14(2), 75 – 86. Burton, B. K., Farh, J.L. & Hegarty, W. H. (2000). A cross-cultural comparison of corporate social responsibility orientation: Hong Kong vs. United States students. Teaching Business Ethics, 4(2), 151-167. Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons. 34(4), 39-48. Carroll, A. B. & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews. 12(1), 85-105. Carroll, A. B. (1979). A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497-505. Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility evolution of a definitional construct. Business & Society. 38(3), 268-295. Clarkson, M. B. E. (1995). A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 20, 92-117. Collison DJ, Cobb G, Power DM & Stevenson LA. (2008). The financial performance of the FTSE4 Good indices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 14–28. Commision of the European Communities, (2001: 3). http://www.ab.gov.tr/files/ ardb/evt/1_avrupa_birligi/1_6_raporlar/1_2_green_papers/com, 2001_green_paper_ promoting_a_european_framework_for_corporate_social_responsibility.pdf Commision of the European Communities, (2011:6). http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ policies/sustainable-business/corporate-social-responsibility/index_en.htm Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 1–13. Dincer, C. & Dincer, B. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: Future prospects in the Turkish context. 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(1991), Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill, London. http://borsaistanbul.com/en/indices/bist-stock-indices/corporate-governance-index http://www.spk.gov.tr/indexcont.aspx?action=showpage&menuid=10&pid=0. Kavut, L. (2010). Corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and environmental reporting: Review of the environmental explanation of the ISE 100 companies. Istanbul University School of Management Journal, 66, 9-43. Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 19 �Melek Çetinkaya, Veysel Ağca, Hatice Özutku Lankoski L. (2008). Corporate responsibility activities and economic performance: A theory of why and how they are connected. Business Strategy and the Environment. 17, 536–547. Lober, D.J., Bynum, D., Campbell, E., & Jacques, M. (1997). The 100 plus corporate environmental report study: A survey of an evolving environmental management tool. Businell Strategy and the Environment, 6, 57-73. Mainardes, E. W., Alves, H. & Raposo, M. (2011). 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Pinkston, T. S. & Carroll, A. B. (1996). A Retrospective examination of CSR orientations: Have they changed? Journal of Business Ethics, 15(2), 199-206. Romolini, A., Fissi, S. & Gori, E. (2014). Scoring CSR reporting in listed companies evidence from Italian best practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 65–81. Sachs, S., Maurer, M., Rühli, E. & Hoffmann, R. (2006). Corporate social responsibility from a “Stakeholder View” perspective: CSR implementation by a Swiss mobile telecommunication provider. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 6(4), 506 – 515. Spence, L. & Bourlakis, M. (2009). The evolution from corporate social responsibility to supply chain responsibility: the Case of Waitrose. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(4), 291 – 302. 20 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Spiller, R. (2000). Ethical business and investment: a model for business and society. Journal of Business Ethics. 27, 149-160. Trebeck, K. (2008). Exploring the responsiveness of companies: corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. Social Responsibility Journal, 4(3), 349 – 365. Visser, W. (2005). Revisiting Carroll’s CSR Pyramid: An African Perspective, In E.R. Pedersen & M. Huniche and Economic Justice, Hyberabad: ICFAI University, 5-10, 2005. Welford, R., Chan, C. & Man, M. (2007). Priorities for corporate social responsibility: a survey of businesses and their stakeholders. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, 52–62. Wu, J. (2014). The antecedents of corporate social and environmental irresponsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 286–300. i. ii. (http://www.borsaistanbul.com/en/indices/bist-stock-indices/corporate-governance-index) (http://www.spk.gov.tr/indexcont.aspx?action=showpage&menuid=10&pid=0) Volume 5 Number 1 Fall 2015 21 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2945 Title A name given to the resource Priorities for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Evidence from Listed Turkish Companies in Istanbul Stock Exchange Author Author ÇETİNKAYA, Melek AĞCA, Veysel ÖZUTKU, Hatice Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: This study is based on “stakeholder theory” in order to explain the concept of corporate social responsibility. To examine the social responsibility areas of business organizations, “The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility” model developed by Carroll (1991) was used in this study. According to this model, entire range of business responsibilities can be considered in four groups: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Within the framework of Carroll’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) Pyramid, the aim of this study is to illustrate priorities in Corporate Social Responsibility Report of the leading companies in Turkey. In this context, 48 companies from Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Corporate Governance Index were selected as the sample of the study. Qualitative research approach was used in the study. The data obtained from the annual reports, sustainability reports and corporate governance compliance reports of these 48 companies were subjected to content analysis. According to the findings, economic and legal responsibilities were found to have priority for shareholders, customers and employees stakeholder groups in terms of corporate social responsibility levels. While philanthropic responsibility was found to have priority for community stakeholder group, economic responsibility is important for suppliers stakeholder group. Legal responsibility, on the other hand, is important for environment stakeholder group. In general, economic and legal responsibilities have priorities in all stakeholder groups other than community stakeholder group. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General),HB Economic Theory,HG Finance https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/ebbd9a820b08f57ab3bdbcb75eb8566e.pdf eb587bc4bbd0396eea38965f92453e91 PDF Text Text Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program Clare J. Zuraw Michigan Technological University, United States of America Submitted: 15.04.2014. Accepted: 01.11.2014. Abstract Linguistic homogeneity in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs can be a challenge to curriculum design and implementation. In university EAP programs where the majority of students share an L1 with classmates, instructors sometimes struggle to balance the use of the L1 and L2 in class. Despite the potential for immersion, students in these settings may also socialize primarily in their L1 rather than English, the target language. These factors demand special consideration in courses focused on oral production and comprehension where sustained interaction and negotiation of meaning is crucial. Ninety percent of the students in the Intensive English as a Second Language Program at Michigan Technological University come from China and share an L1. In this context, the classroom provides important opportunities for interaction and negotiation of meaning in the target language. The program recently redesigned, piloted, and evaluated a new curriculum. Using examples from the curriculum and the classroom to present this case, I argue that linguistically homogeneous classrooms focusing on oral and aural communication require different curricula than more diverse EAP settings. Examples from the development and delivery of the new listening and speaking curriculum are potentially applicable in both ESL and EFL settings. Keywords: Curriculum development, EAP, EFL, oral communication, higher education Introduction In the United States, 64% of students inIntensive English Programs (IEP)came from the top four sending countries: Saudi Arabia (29.9%), China (15.9%), South Korea (9.4%), Japan (9.1%). In American universities more the 28% of international students came from China in 2012, a 21.4% increase from the previous year (Farrugia& Bhandari, 2013).In this context, it is not uncommon for university IEPs 51 �Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program to have large groups of students who share a first language. Linguistic homogeneity in IEPs can be a challenge to curriculum design and implementation. For many IEP students, the stakes of language learning are high, with admission to and success in degree programs hinging on their ability to communicate in English. Concerns over money and time may be distracting stressors that can influence students in and out of the classroom (Yang & Berliner, 2013).Despite the immersion setting of an American university campus, students with networks of friends who share their L1 may get their primary exposure to English in the classroom. For their instructors, negotiating the use of L1 and L2 in the classroom can be challenging. The Intensive English as a Second Language Program (IESL) at Michigan Technological University (MTU) serves international students conditionally admitted to degree programs. Ninety percent of the studentsin the program between 2011 and 2014came from China. The faculty recently redesigned, piloted, and evaluated a new curriculum. The listening and speaking courses in this new curriculum were developed to address the specific needs of linguistically homogenous classes that are typical in the program. This case is an illustration of how linguistically homogenous classrooms focusing on oral and aural communication skills require curricula designed specifically with the role of interaction in mind. Mackey (2012) suggests that the connections between instructors and researchers studying interaction are strong andencourages engagement between the two groups. This paper will explore some of the ways that interaction research has informed the design and delivery of the curriculum. The examples of activities and assessment tools from the new listening and speaking curriculum could be adapted to fit both EFL and other ESL settings. IESL at Michigan Technological University Students in the IESL program at MTU are required to study English and meet standardized testing benchmarks before they can enroll exclusively in academic courses. Internal needs analyses have shown that to succeed in academic classes, students must be able to use English to write academic research essays, read extensively, understand lectures, and actively collaborate as group members. As a pipeline program, students are under pressure from family-members and peers to complete English training as quickly as possible in order to move on to academic classes to save money. Instructors are seen as gatekeepers and their decisions to pass a student out of the IESL program indicates that he/she has a high enough level of English proficiency to begin academic classes. 52 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics During the 2013-2014 academic year 97% of IESL students were from China and over the last three years 90% of all students in the program were Chinese. In most cases students share Mandarin Chinese as an L1.1 The linguistic homogeneity in this setting is similar to many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. As in some EFL settings, the students’ learning goals are usually not oriented towards community integration as they might be in other North American ESL settings (Nayar, 1997). While some students hope to work in the United States after graduation, many plan to return to China with their degrees.In other ways the situation is unique. While EFL instructors often grapple with the challenge of finding authentic language, real-world applications, and opportunities for students to interact with English speakers, most students in an IESL program in the United States are surrounded by campus communities who use English daily. Despite these opportunities for immersion, not all students seek them out. At MTU students spend 18-24 hours each week in a classroom with other IESL students and often form friendships within this group. For students who socialize and study in their L1, the IESL classroom can be their primary opportunity for sustained interaction in the target language. Research has shown that English only policies in the classroom do not necessarily enhance language learning and that attempting to eliminate L1 from the classroom would be ineffective (Auerbach, 1993; Levine, 2003). At the same time, there is strong evidence that L2 interactionsupports language learning (Mackey, 2012). The IESL program at MTU does not have an English only policy and each instructor balances L1 and L2 differently to achieve the program mission of preparing students for academic success. Along with tasks like essay writing and extensive reading, some of that success is based upon their ability interact in English with both NS and NNS. Listening and speaking instruction in the programseeks to prepare students for communicative academic tasks in the target language and as a result, some classroom tasks, particularly those focused on interaction, requires the use of L2. It is in this context that the faculty redesigned and implemented the new curriculum during the 2013-2014 academic year. The Curriculum: Task design and the Role of Interaction Before the curriculum was redesigned, the faculty conducted a needs analysis to determine what skills students would need to use in academic classes after exiting the IESL program. Long and Norris (2009) categorizeneeds analysis to identify “target tasks” as the first step in task-based language teaching program design, writing that 1 There have been some exceptions, with a handful of students identifying Cantonese or Tibetan as their first language. However, these students typically speak Mandarin Chinese in addition to their L1 and English. 53 �Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program these tasks are “the real-world things people do in everyday life” (p. 137). Course goals, objectives, and outcomes were written with these real-world tasks in mind. In the case of MTU students, everyday life is focused on the university.In surveys of university faculty,one of several skills identified as important was the ability to communicate and collaborate with members of a group. For this reason, one of the exit outcomes for students leaving the IESL program was dedicated to this skill: Students will be able to participate actively and mediate communication breakdown in classroom discussions and small group settings.All listening and speaking curriculum documents include objectives and outcomes related to group work and/or the negotiation of meaning. Research and the Curriculum in the Classroom Like many EAPcurricula, the listening and speaking courses at MTU include a focus on listening comprehension, particularly academic lectures. The role of input in these courses is an important part of curriculum and classroom activity design. To prepare students for lectures and lab courses, the IESL program includes listening practice ranging from simple modified texts through complex authentic oral texts. But listening comprehension is only one aspect of the course and Long (1996) asserts that “comprehensible input alone is insufficient” (p.422). Research shows that interaction in the target language is crucial for learners and plays an important role in the ESL classroom (Mackey, 2012; Pica, Young, & Doughty, 1987). Interaction and the negotiation of meaning cause the learner to make “interactional adjustments” and draw their attention to form (Long, 1996 p. 451). The type and context of the interaction is also important and can be adapted to fit learner needs (Mackey, 2012). In the IESL program interaction plays an important role in the listening and speaking curriculum and in classroom work. Onefactor influencing the design of interactive tasks is the cultural background of students. Some research suggests that students coming from educational systems that do not focus on communicative classroom techniques can be skeptical of interactive activities (Rao, 2002). Our experience at MTU has been that some students do struggle to adapt to a more interactive classroom environment, but that most of them come to see the interaction as an important part of their learning. In an anonymous program evaluation survey conducted in fall 2013, students identified positive results from interactive activities. Students commented that they can speak more confidently, better comprehend NS, and that they “liked communications with teachers and classmates.” A key to getting learners to accept student-centered interaction is to design activities that they find engaging and to explain the purpose and goals of interactive tasks. The best examples of are graded formal student discussions. 54 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Formal Student-led Discussions At all levels of listening and speaking, students participate in graded classroom discussions. These are designed to motivate students to interact and negotiate meaning in the target language. Sustaining discourse in the TL can be difficultin linguistically homogenous classrooms, especially at lower proficiency levels, but students have responded well to these activities.Students prepare a text – oral or written – before class. In class they hold a discussion on that text with little or no input from the instructor. How the discussion is organized depends on the level. Early on, code-switching is common. As students build confidence they are better able to maintain interaction in English. At the intermediate level, discussion questions are “crowd-sourced” from the group. All students submit questions for discussion which the instructor organizes and distributes at the beginning of the activity. At the advanced and transitional levels, one student is responsible for preparing and leading the discussion but the complexity of the text is differentiated. Students are graded on their participation, ability to make connections to the text, turn-taking and negotiation, and their production of comprehensible output. In these student-led discussions the task is open; consensus is not necessary (Mackey 2012). Open tasks give students the chance to spend time exploring a topic and controlling discourse (Willis, 2004). Willis points out that SLA researchers have typically favored closed tasks, but that open tasks may have their place: When planning a TBI program, teachers would need to decide which kinds of tasks best reflect target language use or which kinds best help students achieve an established language-acquisition goal. In the case of language for academic purposes, this is certainly likely to involve open tasks. (p. 24) Gass, Behney&Plonsky (2013) emphasize that “conversational interaction in an L2 forms the basis for the development of language, rather than being only a forum for practice of specific language features” (p.378).Graded formal classroom discussions engage students in the L2 rather than L1, which can benefit their language development while strengthening their ability to navigate American classroom culture. The kind of task and interaction in the classroom matters not only to the students’ learning but also their perception of the learning experience. In the fall 2013 surveys students again gave positive feedback on classroom discussion and identified personal language development related to fluency and comprehension. Interaction with Native Speakers 55 �Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program Student-led discussions focus on NNS-NNS interactions, but research has shown that interactions with a NS can be even more valuable for student noticing and modification (Gass&Varonis, 1994). In a study by Gass and Varonis (1994) NNS who were allowed to interact were able to give clearer directions, especially after interacting with a NS. Interaction with NSs must be incorporated into classroom activities and teacher-fronted work sometimes plays a role. In addition to student-led discussions, teachers may lead discussions, especially when the focus is on form or when consensus is necessary. Teachers also interact with students in one-on-one conferences for formative assessment purposes. These conferences are typically designed around a task like editing a presentation, but also provide students opportunities to interact with a NS. Another setting for program-organized interaction is the Conversation Partners Program. Each semester, IESL faculty match volunteers from the campus community with an IESL student or small group. They are required to meet for a minimum of ten hours each semester and their participation counts as part of their listening and speaking course grade. This interaction is typically between a NS and a NNS. The guidelines encourage participants to avoid doing using the time as a tutoring session. Instead, the goal of the program is for students to practice authentic interaction with a native speaker. Presentational skills also play an important role in the curriculum. The presentations themselves are primarily a performance rather than interactive task, but it is possible to design the requirements for a presentation to involve interaction. Group presentations can provide an opportunity for L2 interaction with partners to accomplish a series of tasks in preparation for a presentation, but if all students share an L1 they are unlikely to primarily use English to accomplish the tasks. One way to ensure interaction in the L1 is to require students to conduct interviews as part of their research for a presentation. In Intermediate Listening and Speaking, students give informational presentations about either their academic major or introducing the audience to the local community. If they choose to present on their major they are required to interview one professor or two students who do not share their L1. Those giving a presentation about the local community conduct interviews with employees of local businesses, students, or other community members. This turns out to be a motivational experience for many students who have reported that they felt better prepared to communicate with native speakers after the project. Conclusion Interaction is an important part of language learning and should play a central role in the design of EAP curricula, particularly in courses where the focus is on listening 56 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics and speaking. This is especially important, and potentially challenging, in linguistically homogenous classrooms where students can interact easily in their shared L1. Through carefully designed interactive tasks like those described in this paper, instructors can provide learners with authentic opportunities for L2 interaction. Several issues have come up in this case study that cannot be addressed adequately in this forum. More research into the trend towards Chinese majority EAP programs in the U.S. and how this influences curriculum design and classroom practice will be important for program administrators and faculty.Further research into roles of motivation and social integration in linguistically homogenous EAP programs could also contribute to a better understanding of student learning. The more accessible and relevant that interaction research is the more likely instructors will be to incorporate findings into their curriculum and their classrooms. References Auerbach, E.R. (1993). Reexamining English only in the ESL classroom.TESOL Quarterly, 27(1), 9-32. Farrugia, C.A. & Bhandari, R. (2013).Open doors 2013 report on international educational exchange. New York: Institute of International Education. Gass, S. M., Behney, J., &Plonsky, L. (2013).Second language acquisition: An introductory course. New York: Routledge. Gass, S.M. &Varonis, E.M. (1994). Input, interaction, and second language production.Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16, 283-302. Levine, G. S. (2003). Student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language use, first language use, and anxiety: Report of a questionnaire study. The Modern Language Journal, 87(3), 343-364. Long, M.H. (1996).The Role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition.In W.C. Ritchie & T.K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition(pp. 413-468). San Diego: Academic Press. Long, M. & Norris, J.(2009). Task based teaching and assessment. In K.van den Branden, M. Bygate, & J.M Norris. (Eds.) Task-based language teaching: A reader (pp. 135-142). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 57 �Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program Mackey, A. (2012). Input, Interaction, and Corrective Feedback in L2 Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nayar, P.B. (1997). ESL/EFL Dichotomy today: Language politics or pragmatics? TESOL Quarterly, 31(1), 9-37. Pica, T., Young, R., & Doughty, C. (1987).The impact of interaction on comprehension.TESOL Quarterly, 21(4), 737-758. Rao, Z. (2002). Chinese students’ perceptions of communicative and noncommunicative activities in EFL classrooms.System, 30(1), 85-100. Willis, J.R. (2004). Perspectives on task-based instruction: Understanding our practices, acknowledging different practitioners. InB.L. Leaver& J.R. Willis(Eds.) Task-based instruction in foreign language education (pp.3-44). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Yan, K., & Berliner, D. C. (2013).Chinese international students' personal and sociocultural stressors in the United States.Journal of College Student Development, 54(1), 62-84. 58 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2785 Title A name given to the resource Implementing a Listening and Speaking Curriculum in a Linguistically Homogenous English for Academic Purposes Program Author Author Zuraw, Clare J. Abstract A summary of the resource. Linguistic homogeneity in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs can be a challenge to curriculum design and implementation. In university EAP programs where the majority of students share an L1 with classmates, instructors sometimes struggle to balance the use of the L1 and L2 in class. Despite the potential for immersion, students in these settings may also socialize primarily in their L1 rather than English, the target language. These factors demand special consideration in courses focused on oral production and comprehension where sustained interaction and negotiation of meaning is crucial. Ninety percent of the students in the Intensive English as a Second Language Program at Michigan Technological University come from China and share an L1. In this context, the classroom provides important opportunities for interaction and negotiation of meaning in the target language. The program recently redesigned, piloted, and evaluated a new curriculum. Using examples from the curriculum and the classroom to present this case, I argue that linguistically homogeneous classrooms focusing on oral and aural communication require different curricula than more diverse EAP settings. Examples from the development and delivery of the new listening and speaking curriculum are potentially applicable in both ESL and EFL settings. Keywords: Curriculum development, EAP, EFL, oral communication, higher education Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed L Education (General),LD Individual institutions (United States) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/2e3623ff8d78633c6eaf4435523208c6.pdf e2b6bdfbdb66f29ac5e8a8c963e7eaba PDF Text Text PRIKAZ Prikaz međunarodne naučno-stručne konferencije: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“ International Scientific Conference: „Establishment of a Modern Legal System“ – Review Mensur Zoletić, MA Centar za društvena istraživanja Internacionalnog Burč univerziteta e-mail: mensur.zoletic@ibu.edu.ba (Internacionalni Burč univerzitet, Sarajevo, 24. oktobar 2014. godine) (International Burch University, Sarajevo, 24th of October, 2014) Dana 24. oktobra 2014. godine, na Internacionalnom Burč univerzitetu u Sarajevu održana je međunarodna naučno-stručna konferencija na temu: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“. Konferenciju su zajednički organizirali Centar za društvena istraživanja Internacionalnog Burč univerziteta, pravni fakulteti iz Bosne i Hercegovine (Sarajevo, Bihać, Zenica, Tuzla, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta „Džemal Bijedić“ u Mostaru i Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Mostaru), te fakulteti za kriminalistiku i sigurnosne studije Univerziteta u Sarajevu i Mariboru. Tendencija Centra za društvena istraživanja kao voditelja projekta upravo i jeste u stvaranju čvrste veze među predstavnicima pravnih fakulteta u našoj zemlji, a sukladno tome organiziranju zajedničkih događaja koji će okupljati istaknute pravne praktičare i akademske radnike. Već na prvoj zajedničkoj konferenciji učešće je uzelo preko 250 pravnih stručnjaka i istaknutih imena iz BiH, regiona i država Evropske unije (u daljem tekstu: EU). Na ovom mjestu, prije svega, osjećamo potrebu istaći dolazak vrhunskih stručnjaka poput g. Renate Winter, sudije Specijalnog suda Ujedinjenih nacija za Sierra Leone i članice Komiteta za prava djeteta UN, prof. dr. Alenke Šelih, profesorice sa Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Ljubljani i članice Akademije nauka i umjetnosti Slovenije, prof. dr. Friedera Dünkela sa Univerziteta u Greifswaldu, SR Njemačka, prof. dr. Cirila Ribičiča sa Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Ljubljani, kao i brojnih drugih istaknutih profesora iz BiH i regiona. Centar za društvena istraživanja | Godina 2 | Broj1 301 �Mensur Zoletić, MA Prema programu rada, nakon svečanog otvaranja konferencije u kojem su se obratili direktor Centra za društvena istraživanja g. Esad Oruč, dekani pravnih fakulteta iz BiH, potom g. Ismet Trumić, direktor Centra za edukaciju sudija i tužilaca FBiH, te g. Meddžida Kreso, predsjednica suda BiH, otvoren je radni dio konferencije sa četiri tematska paralelna panela: a) Restorativna pravda: kretanja u svijetu i Bosni i Hercegovini – prvi panel, b) Zakon o obligacionim odnosima i Konvencija UN o međunarodnoj prodaji robe: dosadašnja iskustva i mogući putevi razvoja - drugi panel, c) Uloga međunarodne zajednice u implementaciji Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma - treći panel i, d) Uloga i značaj pravne države u procesu evropskih integracija – četvrti panel. U okviru prvog panela, organizirano je pet sesija u okviru kojih se raspravljalo o različitim aspektima restorativne pravde. Prvom sesijom je moderirala prof. dr. Alenka Šelih, te se u ovom dijelu govorilo o svjetskim tendencijama i kretanjima u oblasti restorativne pravde. Tako je g. Renate Winter govorila na temu restorativne pravde za maloljetne učinioce krivičnih djela, dok je prof. dr. Dünkel pružio osvrt na temu restorativne pravde i medijacije u krivičnim pitanjima u Evropi. U okviru druge sesije, svoja izlaganja su imali prof. dr. Hajrija Sijerčić-Čolić na temu: restorativna pravda za punoljetne učinioce krivičnih djela – stanje u BiH, mr. iur. Dino Pivac koji je govorio o aspektima restorativne pravde u Republici Hrvatskoj, te g. Nedžad Smailagić na temu kriminalnopolitičkih mogućnosti restorativne pravde. Treća sesija je započeta moderiranjem sudije Suda BiH g. Jasmine Kosović i raspravljanjem o pitanjima vezanim za Zakon o zaštiti i postupanju sa djecom i maloljetnicima u krivičnom postupku – aspekti restorativne pravde. U tom smislu g. Kosović je istakla neophodnost harmonizacije pomenutog zakona sa propisima koji ovu oblast reguliraju u entitetima i Brčko distriktu BiH, te edukacije ključnih aktera krivičnog postupka u kontekstu pravilnog odabira i primjene odgojnih preporuka, posebnog onih restorativnog karaktera. Nakon toga, uslijedila su izlaganja doc. dr. Vedada Gurde sa Pravnog fakulteta u Tuzli (novine u oblasti alternativnih mjera i sankcija u maloljetničkom krivičnom pravu u BiH), g. Smiljke Gavrić, medijatorke Udruženja medijatora BiH (medijacijska praksa u BiH), g. Dragana Uletilovića, sudije Osnovnog suda u Banjoj Luci (primjena medijacije prema Zakonu o zaštiti i postupanju sa djecom i maloljetnicima u krivičnom postupku u RS: normativno i stvarno), g. Aleksandre Jovanović (istraživanje u području restorativne pravde u radu s maloljetnicima: iskustva iz SAD), te g. Merise Nurkić, tužiteljice Kantonalnog 302 Društveni ogledi - Časopis za pravnu teoriju i praksu �Prikaz međunarodne naučno-stručne konferencije: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“ tužilaštva TK (osvrt na Zakon o zaštiti i postupanju sa djecom i maloljetnicima u krivičnom postupku u FBiH). U okviru posljednje dvije sesije, svoja izlaganja su imali doc. dr. Dževad Mahmutović (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Tuzli) na temu restorativne pravde i prava oštećenog u bosanskohercegovačkom okviru, dr. sci. Sanja Ćopić (Institut za kriminološka i sociološka istraživanja Beograd) koja je govorila o zaštiti žrtava i konceptu restorativne pravde sa tog ugla gledišta, mr. sci. Vildana Vranj (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Sarajevu) na temu GRIP programa kao modela primjene restorativne pravde u zatvorima u BiH, prof. dr. Irma Kovčo Vukadin (Edukacijskorehabilitacijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu) o prevenciji nasilja u zatvorima, te doc. dr. Darko Dimovski koji je govorio o restorativnog pravdi u zakonodavstvu Republike Srbije. U završnoj diskusiji prvog panela, doneseni su određeni zaključci u vidu preporuka i to: 1) opšte preporuke:      donošenje odgovarajućih zakonskih i podzakonskih propisa o primjeni elemenata restorativne pravde u Bosni i Hercegovini, primjena restorativne pravde za čitavo područje Bosne i Hercegovine, razvijanje potrebne infrastrukture u oblasti krivičnog pravosuđa (policija, tužilaštvo, sud, kazneno-popravni zavodi), razvoj infrastrukture u centrima za socijalnu rad, sticanje posebnih znanja i kontinuirano stručno osposobljavanje i usavršavanje iz oblasti restorativne pravde. 2) posebne preporuke:     približavanje restorativne pravde javnom mnijenju, primjena restorativne pravde u preventivnom djelovanju u reakciji na kriminalitet, dosljedna primjena postojećih zakonskih rješenja o primjeni restorativne pravde za maloljetne učinioce krivičnih djela, razvijanje zakonskih rješenja o primjeni restorativne pravde za punoljetne učinioce krivičnih djela, Centar za društvena istraživanja | Godina 2 | Broj1 303 �Mensur Zoletić, MA      adaptacija ideje mirovnih vijeća u današnjim uslovima, razvijanje saradnje između medija, krivičnog pravosuđa i Udruženja medijatora u Bosni i Hercegovini, primjenu medijacije treba uključiti u normative i standarde u radu tužilaca i sudija, zapošljavanje stručnih savjetnika suda i tužilaštva (socijalni pedagozi – defektolozi, socijalni radnici, specijalni pedagozi–defektolozi i psiholozi koji imaju aktivnu ulogu u predmetima maloljetničke delinkvencije), podržavanje projekata o primjeni restorativne pravde u kaznenopopravnim zavodima (npr., GRIP program). Drugi panel započeo je izlaganjem prof. dr. Abedin Bikić ispred Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Sarajevu pružanjem generalnog osvrta o pitanjima Zakona o obligacionim odnosima i Konvencije UN o međunarodnoj prodaji robe. U okviru prve sesije, učesnici su imali priliku saslušati prof. dr. Ratka Brnabića (Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu) koji je govorio na temu sklapanja ugovora o međunarodnoj kupoprodaji prema Bečkoj konvenciji i ostalim izvorima prava kupoprodaje Republike Hrvatske, prof. dr. Melihu Povlakić (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Sarajevu) – aktuelna pitanja zaštite korisnika finansijskih usluga u pravu BiH, i doc. dr. Almedinu Šabić (Pravni fakultet u Sarajevu) koja je zaključila prvu sesiju izlaganjem o raskidu ugovora prema UN konvenciji. U okviru druge sesije, učesnicima su izloženi teoretski aspekti odgovornosti dobavljača za ispunjenje obaveza iz posla finansijskog lizinga u domaćem pravu i praksi (prof. dr. Enes Bikić i mr. sci. Alaudin Brkić), kao i uloga i značaj načela povjerenja u procesu reforme zemljišnoknjižnog prava (doc. dr. Hamid Mutapčić). Sa praktičnog aspekta svoje izlaganje je predstavio g. Almir Gagula, advokat, na temu zloupotrebe prava u obligacionom pravu BiH. Na konferenciji je održan i jedan oblik „sajma knjige“. Naime, više od 10 izdavača iz Bosne i Hercegovine uključujući i pravne fakultete kao suorganizatore događaja, predstavilo je i promoviralo pravnu literaturu iz okvira svoje izdavačke djelatnosti. Treći panel je ponudio zanimljive i aktuelne referate iz oblasti ustavnog prava. Tačnije, rasprava se vodila o ulozi međunarodne zajednice u implementaciji Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma, a panelom je moderirao doc. dr. Zlatan Begić sa Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Tuzli. Prof. dr. Ciril Ribičič je analizirao presudu 304 Društveni ogledi - Časopis za pravnu teoriju i praksu �Prikaz međunarodne naučno-stručne konferencije: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“ Sejdić-Finci i njeno mjesto u kontekstu cjelovite ustavne reforme, pri čemu je istakao razloge nemoći/nepostojanja volje međunarodne zajednice da „primora“ BiH vlasti na implementaciju navedene presude. U okviru prve sesije, još su referate izložili prof. dr. Dejan Pavlović (Fakultet političkih nauka Univerziteta u Beogradu) na temu mogućeg doprinosa Ustavnog suda BiH u implementaciji presude Sejdić-Finci, doc. dr. Dženeta Miraščić (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Tuzli) o pitanju odgovornosti Visokog predstavnika međunarodne zajednice za BiH kao pitanju pravne ili političke prirode, i mr. sci. Jasminka Džumhur (Ombudsmen za ljudska prava BiH) na temu uloge međunarodne zajednice u implementaciji Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma sa aspekta ljudskih prava. Druga sesija je započela referatom prof. dr. Zlatana Delića sa Univerziteta u Tuzli. G. Delić je govorio o sociološkopravnim aspektima i razmišljanima o razlozima (ne)implementacije Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma. U okviru ovog dijela, učesnicima su izlaganja predstavili i doc. dr. Zlatan Begić o perspektivama ustavne pozicije konstitutivnih naroda u BiH u kontekstu odluka Evropskog suda za ljudska prava, te mr. sci. Elmida Burina na temu Schmittovog suverena u kontekstu konstelacije odnosa u BiH. U završnoj diskusiji, ponajviše se govorilo o pojmu i opsegu prava konstitutivnih naroda u BiH, i problemima koji su konstantno prisutni u pogledu blokade implementacije presude Sejdić-Finci. Na četvrtom panelu pod nazivom „Uloga i značaj pravne države u procesu EU integracija“, izložen je najveći broj referata o različitim aspektima usklađivanja BiH zakonodavstva kao preduslova pristupu Evropskoj uniji. Panelom je moderirao prof. dr. Enes Hašić sa Pravnog fakulteta Univerziteta u Zenici. Prva sesija je započela izlaganjem prof. dr. Zijada Hasića (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Travniku) o aspektima jačanja uloge parlamenata u BiH u kontekstu jačanja pravne države u EU integracijama. Izlaganja temeljena na sličnoj problematici su nastavili mr. sci. Maja Rimac-Bjelobrk (Direkcija za evropske integracije Vijeća ministara BiH), prof. dr. Nedžad Bašić (Pravni fakultet Bihać), dr. sci. Sanja Bazina (Direkcija za evropske integracije Vijeća ministara BiH), dr. Jadranka Polović (Visoka škola multimedijskih i komunikacijskih tehnologija, TV Akademija, Split) o iskustvima Republike Hrvatske na putu ka EU, prof. dr. Edin Rizvanović (Pravni fakultet „Džemal Bijedić“ u Mostaru) na temu normativne funkcije države u okviru procesa integracije, dok je sesiju zaključio doc. dr. Benjamin Flander (Fakultet za kriminalistiku i sigurnosne studije Univerziteta u Mariboru) na temu Centar za društvena istraživanja | Godina 2 | Broj1 305 �Mensur Zoletić, MA postmodernizacije i krize prava: pravni sistem i pravna država u „vrlom novom svijetu“. U okviru druge sesije, referate su predstavili prof. dr. Tadija Bubalović (Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci) o pojmu i oblicima međunarodne krivičnopravne pomoći, prof. dr. Adnan Duraković (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Zenici) na temu: uloga i značaj krize na funkcionisanje pravne države i njenih politika, doc. dr. Eldan Mujanović (Fakultet za kriminalistiku, kriminologiju i sigurnosne studije Univerziteta u Sarajevu) o pitanjima oduzimanja imovinske koristi pribavljene krivičnim djelom u BiH. Također, izlaganja su imali i doc. dr. Nataša Deretić (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Novom Sadu), doc. dr. Amila Ferhatović (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Sarajevu), dr. Milica Kovačević (Fakultet za specijalnu edukaciju i rehabilitaciju Univerziteta u Beogradu), mr. sci. Ajdin Huseinspahić (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Zenici), i Selma Stočanin-Hrustemović (Fakultet za kriminalistiku, kriminologiju i sigurnosne studije). Posljednja sesija je također ponudila nekoliko referata. Prof. dr. Halil Kalač je otvorio završni dio izlaganjem o socijalnoj tržišnoj ekonomiji EU, a u nastavku su uslijedili referati dr. Gorana Obradovića (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Nišu), doc. dr. Spahije Kozlića (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Zenici), mr. sci. Aide Mulalić (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Zenici), mr. sc. Uroša Zdravkovića (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Nišu), dok je sesiju zaključio Haris Hasić, MA (Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Travniku) na temu problema u mehanizmima provođenja zaštite intelektualnog vlasništva kao prepreke evropskoj integraciji Bosne i Hercegovine. Nakon diskusija i zaključaka na pojedinim panelima, učesnici su prisustvovali zajedničkom zatvaranju konferencije. U završnom obraćanju, domaćin i organizator se zahvalio svima na participaciji i značajnom doprinosu konferenciji, a suorganizatorima su dodijeljene zahvalnice. Također, izražena je želja da konferencija na temu: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“ postane tradicionalna, što će Centar za društvena istraživanja nastojati i ispuniti. 306 Društveni ogledi - Časopis za pravnu teoriju i praksu � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2884 Title A name given to the resource International Scientific Conference: „Establishment of a Modern Legal System“ – Review Author Author ZOLETIC, MENSUR Abstract A summary of the resource. Dana 24. oktobra 2014. godine, na Internacionalnom Burč univerzitetu u Sarajevu održana je međunarodna naučno-stručna konferencija na temu: „Izgradnja modernog pravnog sistema“. Konferenciju su zajednički organizirali Centar za društvena istraživanja Internacionalnog Burč univerziteta, pravni fakulteti iz Bosne i Hercegovine (Sarajevo, Bihać, Zenica, Tuzla, Pravni fakultet Univerziteta „Džemal Bijedić“ u Mostaru i Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Mostaru), te fakulteti za kriminalistiku i sigurnosne studije Univerziteta u Sarajevu i Mariboru. Tendencija Centra za društvena istraživanja kao voditelja projekta upravo i jeste u stvaranju čvrste veze među predstavnicima pravnih fakulteta u našoj zemlji, a sukladno tome organiziranju zajedničkih događaja koji će okupljati istaknute pravne praktičare i akademske radnike. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed K Law (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/57332698d08a66a280b77d942d854f87.pdf 66cf9d05abb300d0a5224d4136b67c71 PDF Text Text Journal of Economic and Social Studies Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana Thomas Yeboah Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge United Kingdom thomasgh32003@yahoo.co.uk Lucy Owusu Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana luci.owusu@gmail.com Albert A. Arhin Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom aaa72@cam.ac.uk Emmanuel Kumi School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, United Kingdom kumiandy3@gmail.com Abstract: Over the last three decades or so, complex factors including the Keywords: Hawking; implementation of neoliberal economic reforms has led to a decline in formal Gendered Poverty; Informal sector employment in the Ghanaian economy. This together with increasing Sector; Surviving Strategies; feminization of poverty has driven many, especially young women, to seek Ghana. livelihoods in the informal sector mainly as hawkers and head porters. Drawing on qualitative interviews with approximately 40 urban poor women (aged 6-25 years), this paper reports the gendered aspects of poverty and the surviving strategies of young women on urban streets. The cameos presented herein highlight the experiences of poverty among street workers and how their livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming the poor socio-economic conditions facing them. The paper shows that hawking and head portering significantly provides income for upkeep of young women and their families through meeting consumption and other needs. However, vulnerabilities manifested in unfavourable weather conditions, vehicular dangers, exploitation from employers and customers often due to lack of written work contracts are the major risks sturdily connected with these surviving strategies. The paper concludes by arguing for policy interventions such as subsidized credit schemes and organization of formal and informal forms of capacity building for the urban street workers to enhance their livelihoods. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 JEL Classification: I32, I14, I31 Article History Submitted: 15 November 2013 Resubmitted: 28 March 2014 Accepted: 7 May 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JE COSS11511 239 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi Introduction Over the past three decades or so, globalization and widespread economic restructuring fuelled by the adoption and implementation of neoliberal economic reforms have facilitated an increase in the growth of the informal employment sector and has also changed the way people are connected to the formal labour market (Bacchetta et al., 2009). At the same time, the world has witnessed increasing political and resource attention to poverty reduction (which is seen as the primary development objective of the century), particularly following the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Much of the global efforts towards poverty reduction are embedded in the market-based Structural Adjustment Packages in the 1980s and the subsequent Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes in the early 2000s (Kumi et al., 2014). While private sector-led policy strategies of the neoliberal thinking are making some modest strides in relation to economic growth, the increasing emphasis of reduced role of government in directly creating employments has contributed significantly to the growth of the informal economy of several developing countries (Aryeetey et al., 2000; Bryceson and Pol8tts, 2006). Ghana has a large informal sector which is said to constitute approximately 90% of its over 7.7 million labour force (Clarke, 2005). This sector consists of varied industries comprising enterprises which are normally categorized as small or medium based on their asset base, number of employees and turnover (Aryeetey, 2008; OseiTutu et al., 2010). It has been observed that the implementation of structural adjustment policies have marginalized the urban poor resulting from declines in formal employment and provisions of subsidized social services, and the widening wage gaps between skilled and unskilled employments (Konadu-Agyemang, 2000; Briggs and Yeboah, 2001; Owusu, 2012). Additionally, the production of agricultural in many rural economies has also been impinged on by the neoliberal reforms as “the growing of export crops divert subsidies, land and labour from traditional subsistence agriculture to the modernized sector while opportunities for nonfarm employment has also decreased” (Briggs and Yeboah, 2001:5). This has not only resulted in driving many urban women to seek multiple and diverse sources of livelihood in the informal sector but has also led to increasingly unceasing flows of young girls from rural areas who migrate with an idealized vision of securing employment in the already choked informal sector in urban areas (Charmes, 2011). A multiplicity of economic activities can be found in the informal sector. In the Ghanaian context, participants of this sector are 240 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana essentially low-skilled and are involved mainly in activities such as shoe mending, hairdressing, photography, commercial pay phone services, barbering, mechanical repairs, dressmaking, food preparation and sales, manufacturing and repair work including garment, watch and clock repairs as well as hawking and head portering (Heintz and Pickbourn, 2012). While street hawking and head portering as components of the informal sector contribute immensely to the development of the social and economic lives of people all over the world, systematic research exploring ways through which they contribute to livelihood strategies for urban poor youth remain very inadequate (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008; Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). This study aims to address this knowledge gap. This paper examines the gendered aspect of poverty and how hawking and head portering, an informal sector activities serve as livelihoods for urban poor young women in the streets of Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. In particular, the paper pays attention to examining the poverty conditions of urban poor women engaged in street hawking and how their livelihood portfolios and surviving strategies contribute to overcoming household poverty. We draw mainly on qualitative interviews with some 10 female head porters and 30 urban poor women hawking to secure their basic needs. We make no claims of generalizability of our data due to the small nature of our sample and as such the findings reported herein should be interpreted with some caution. However, we are particularly interested in learning from young women themselves how they understand and experience poverty as well as how their livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming the gendered dimension of poverty in urban Ghana. The next section presents a brief literature on head porters and hawkers in Ghana. We then present our conceptual framework/model underpinning the study. This is followed by the research methodology. The findings and discussions of the study predominantly feature in section four while the last section concludes by summarizing our main arguments and its broad policy ramifications for future development. Poverty, Street Hawking and Head Porterage in Ghana: A Short Literature Review Ghana is a tropical country located on the west coast of Africa. It has 10 administrative regions and 216 decentralized districts. According to the most Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 241 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi recently held Population and Housing Census, in 2010 the country has a population of 24.87 with females accounting for 51.2 per cent and 48.8 million being males. The country is administered by a democratically elected executive president with an elected parliament and independent judiciary. A map of Ghana showing the regional boundaries is shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Map of Ghana showing administrative regions. The blue area indicates where the field aspect of the research was undertaken 242 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana Ghana has made exciting progress in growth and poverty reduction in the last two decades, and has met or has a chance of meeting the MDGs on income poverty and education (Annim et al., 2012). The Ghana Living Standard Survey 5 report shows that poverty rates in Ghana is falling, having fell from 52% in 1991/92 to 28.5% in 2005/06 while extreme poverty rates also fell from 36.5% to 18.2% during the same period (GSS, 2008). It is further argued that between 2000 and 2006, the nation had recorded a 90% rate of progress in halving the number of people subsisting on less than US$1.25 per day (Coleman, 2012). Additionally, a significant improvement in other non-income related MDG indicators such as gender equality, education and access to safe water has also been recorded in the Nation (World Bank, 2011), and in some quarters, Ghana has been labelled as the ‘star’ of Africa in terms of poverty reduction and human development (Nicola et al., 2009). This significant progress achieved in the country has partly been through various (social) policy initiatives by the Government. Archetypal of these include the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) established in 2003 which provides equitable health insurance for all; the Education Capitation Grant (ECG), the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP)1 which provides jobs for the unemployed and underemployed youth; and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) (Nicola et al., 2009). However, a cursory look at these policy initiatives shows that the informal sector has largely been sidelined in terms of benefitting from these Governments interventions. As a result, about four of every ten Ghanaians, mostly in the informal sector, still lived in poverty (GSS, 2000). Many of them are young women who work in micro and small enterprises, or finding a survival income as hawkers in the informal economy. Others are also engaged in the agricultural sector, mostly as food crop farmers. Indeed, two-thirds of the working population outside agriculture is active in the informal economy. Many are unremittingly poor, particularly women (ILO, 2004). Amuzu et al. (2010) aptly show that poverty and vulnerability in terms of lack of opportunities in the formal sector and deprivation in Ghana has a gendered dimension. Thus the incidence and severity of poverty in the country are higher among females compared to their male counterparts. Many poor women in Ghana lack access to productive resources and asset. Moreover, many also are confronted by heavier time burden of going about their domestic activities while others have not had the opportunity to complete formal Senior High School. Researchers such as Ardayfio-Schandorf argues that feminization of poverty in the Ghanaian context is rising having risen from 25.7% to 33% between 1960 and 2003 (ArdayfioVolume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 243 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi Schandorf, 2006 cited in Amuzu et al., 2010). Thus, it is right to argue that many young women continue to experience the burden of poverty and vulnerability especially female headed urban households in Ghana even though statistics indicate gradual decline in the occurrence of poverty (GSS, 2008; Annim et al., 2012; Coleman, 2012). Over the past half century or so, street trade hawking and head portering have emerged as surviving strategies for many youth especially in the era where there is virtually little government support for many young women in terms of gaining employment in the formal sector. Street hawking is primarily about selling retail goods directly on busy city streets while the business of head (load) porterage involves carrying goods of a customer on heads for a negotiated fee. Head porterage is almost entirely practiced by young women and teenagers migrating from the northern to the southern part of Ghana (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008). While hawking and head porterage are distinct and separate economic activities, it is largely the informal nature of them and frequent engagement with the street that connect the two businesses (Anarfi and Kwankye, 2005). In this study, we have used street hawking and head porters interchangeably due to the fact that large number of the children spoken to also worked as head porters. Usually, it is the economically active youth and in many cases children who move from rural areas to urban areas to engage mostly as hawkers and head porters. For many, these activities provide a source of livelihood as well as opportunities to supplement their families' income although their activities are often done in the most hazardous circumstances. While a number of factors such as minimal role of government in directly creating employment, the lack of employable skills and rural-urban migration have been identified as the causes of both street hawking and head porterage (Aryeetey et al., 2000; Boafo-Asare, 2010), poverty is seen as the fundamental driving cause (Anarfi et al., 2003; Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schanorf, 2008). The gendered nature of street hawking and head porterage has been marginally explored by some researchers (e.g. Mitullah, 2005; Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008). In one comparative study, Mitullah (2005) finds that, the majority of street hawkers are women made up of all marital status groups – the married, single, widowed and divorced. Head (load) porterage is almost exclusively reserved for girls, although the recent times have seen boys/men briskly engaging in it. While both men and women are involved in the activities of street hawking, men tend to join street hawking while young and leave early for other jobs, women join the street trade later in life and 244 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana continue. Of course, children of both sexes are now increasingly engaged in both economic activities. In one extensive study, Anarfi (1997) found that more than a third (36%) of street children was involved in street hawking. These children often migrate independently to urban centres for street hawking or begin as hawkers for other people including relatives and thereafter decide to remain on the street to take care of themselves when they could no longer live on the wages paid to them by those they worked for. At present, several city authorities in Ghana including the Accra and Kumasi Metropolitan Assemblies are investing huge resources in evicting street hawkers in particular from the street on the ground that they cause danger, traffic, and obstruction to pedestrians and motorists alike. Whether these eviction exercises will be effective and their implications on poverty are now gaining considerable research attention (Boafo-Asare, 2011), and thus remain outside the scope of this research. In this study, our emphasis has been on highlighting the experiences of poverty among street workers as well as how their livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming the poor socio-economic conditions facing them. Conceptual Framework for the Study Our framework for understanding the poverty conditions and livelihood activities of head porters and hawkers dwell largely on the concept of multi-dimensionality of poverty and the reasons adduced for how peoples participation/engagement in informal work remain an effective strategy in reducing poverty levels. Broadly conceived, poverty - from a macroeconomic policy perspective - has conventionally been measured mainly in terms of income and consumption dimensions with poverty threshold indicators, such as living on less than $1.25 a day (Kiely, 2005), which have been widely used to define who is poor and who is not as there is a presumed high correlation between income and other measures of human wellbeing such as health status and educational outcomes (White, 2008). This approach is deeply rooted in classical economics of utilitarianism, which conceptualizes poverty primarily in monetary terms and views less productivity and low economic growth as the main structural cause of poverty. This tradition views the causes of poverty from an individual and micro level perspective, arguing that the most influential factor in producing poverty in many economies is low productive capacity of people which results in low income and consumption - and hence low economic growth. However this approach fails to capture other elements of human wellbeing and thus have received criticisms in explaining the nature, causes and extent of people’s poverty. Indeed poor people may not always use income in conveying what poverty actually means to them. Gordon et al (2003) for instance argue that setting an arbitrary Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 245 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi income threshold is somehow untenable and would lead to erroneous policy conclusions due to the fact that the extent of people’s poverty is not just dependent on income but also on the provision of certain important services, such as health, education, sanitation and vulnerability to shocks. A new approach which embraces diverse aspect of human wellbeing has therefore emerged. For instance recent World Bank work on the voices of the poor together with Sen’s philosophical works on capability approach in particular have unequivocally broadened our understanding of poverty and as such poverty has been recognized as a multidimensional phenomenon (Sen, 1999). Poverty in its broader sense is now conceptualized in terms of vulnerability, participation, limited economic opportunities and resources, assets, social exclusion and discrimination (Nayaran et al., 2000; Brett, 2003). Poverty is therefore not just an issue of living on less than $1.25 a day but in broader sense reflects lack of access to public goods and services including social security and good health; non-ownership of housing or other assets; little or no education and training; and lack of free time for educational activities, recreation and rest (Arriagada, 2005). Sen (1999) for instance makes the point that, poverty is a multidimensional concept describing not just low income and consumption but deprivation of basic human capabilities, resulting in poor health, reduced life expectancy, illiteracy and inadequate access to material and nonmaterial social goods and resources which contribute to improved well-being. This study relied extensively on the multi-dimensional poverty concept which focuses on several dimensions of wellbeing to assess the poverty conditions of the head porters on the streets of Ghana. By this approach, poverty level of people is seen not just in a uni-dimensional manner of income but the combined effect of the political, environmental, social and economic elements (Nayaran et al, 2000). With respect to reducing the poverty conditions of marginalized groups, participation in informal sector work as been ‘recognized as an effective strategy which helps people gain improvement in their living status especially in the era of neoliberalism which has reduced the role that Government could play in providing formal employment for the youth . The theoretical justification for marginalized people especially women participation in informal work is embedded in works of structuralism. Structuralist thinkers argue that people’s participation in informal work is central to appreciating vibrant and diverse forms of economic activities (Debrah, 2007). Participation of women in informal work has also been noted to promote entrepreneurial dynamism that has the latent power to generate employment and economic growth as well as income for these groups in meeting 246 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana their basic needs (Debrah, 2007).Thus, from this perspective, the marginalized population needs to be empowered through substantial investment and training for them to engaged in activities in the informal sector in order to engineer growth and development. The paper dwell on this view to ascertain the extent to which females’ participation in the informal sector work particularly hawking and head portering is contributing to improving the difficult socio-economic circumstances that confronts them. Data and Research Methods The qualitative methods and design was used in conducting this research. According to Sarantakos (2005), the central principles of the qualitative methodology include the fact that its aims are open and explorative; it involves communication between researchers and respondents and its flexibility with regard to choice of research instruments and procedures. The qualitative research methodology is based on certain research foundations and these are: its perception of reality as existing in a naturalist setting, and its interpretive, communicative and qualitative nature (Cresswell, 2006; Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). Creswell (2006) further opines that the focus of qualitative research is based on deriving the meaning participants hold about a problem or issue, not what the researchers bring to the research, nor what writers have concluded in the literature. We employed the qualitative design and methods based on our research aims to understand how head porters and hawkers perceive and experience poverty as well as how their livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming their difficult circumstances. Our aim for conducting interviews was basically to learn from our respondent’s concerning their perceptions about their realities on the street rather than establishing statistical evidence and causal relations (Bryman, 2008; Creswell, 2006; Sarantakos, 2005). Sarantakos (2005) argues that qualitative research mostly employ semi-structured and unstructured interviews during data collection. In this way, an in-depth semi structured interviews technique was used largely in collecting the data from some 30 female street hawkers who were engaged in selling all sorts of items, including ice water, polythene bags and a range of food stuffs for a period of two (2) months in Kumasi in 2012. Additionally, our sample included 10 head porters (Kayeyei1) who carried all sort of items on their heads for people who come to do shopping in the Central Business District of Kumasi. Participants were drawn from Kejetia, Anloga Junction, Osei Tutu Bolivad Street and Ofori Krom Junction. Indeed, researching the lives of urban street trade hawkers and head porters may be difficult, resource Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 247 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi demanding and challenging exercise given the busy schedule of these groups who mostly go about their normal business especially during the day. As a result, initial agreement was made with the respondents which allowed us to carry the interviews in the evenings around 5-7pm when most of them are closing from work. Data collected covered the demographic characteristics of the respondents such as their age, educational attainment, gender and ethnicity. The meanings and experience of poverty by these young women together with how their surviving strategies serve as a means to improving their living conditions were also covered in the data collection. Lastly challenges associated with street workers were also collected. Transcripts from the in-depth interviews and field notes were coded and analyzed qualitatively, supported with the quantitative data which were inputted into the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) Statistics 20.0. This enabled us to generate percentages for some of the variables. At the same time, content analysis was used to group, compare and examine findings through positioning the results in the lens of similar works conducted in the Ghanaian context. Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios of Urban Poor Women: Experience of Street Hawkers This section presents the results of the study based on field work conducted with participants and drawing on the relevant scholarly works on street workers in Ghana. First the analysis looks into the demographic characteristics of the respondents. We then move on to present the young women’s understanding and experience of poverty and how their surviving strategies and livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming the poor socio-economic conditions that confronts them. We conclude by outlining policy suggestions from Government and other non-state actors for street trade hawkers and head porters in reducing poverty. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents The demographic characteristics of the respondents covered in the survey included their age, ethnicity, gender and educational attainment. In terms of age, the respondents sampled aged between 6 to 25 years with majority (42.9%) falling within the age group of 6-18years. This high proportion of respondents in the age category of 6-18 years highlights the youthful nature of people engaged in hawking and head portering. It is important to draw attention to the fact that our sample covered a 6year old girl who was found selling water to support household income. The six year old Maame Ama explained: 248 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana „My mother sent me here to come and sell water so that she can use the money to buy my school books and pencil. I come here only after school. Sometimes when I get home in the evening, I feel so tired that I cannot study and do my homework”. The above narrative from Maame Ama suggests that selling on the street may offer a means for her mother to get money to provide for her educational needs. However, such a decision to push young girls at that tender age to sell on busy urban streets may be exploitative on the part of parents and may also have negative implications on the education and academic performance of children. Additionally, she may be at the risks of vehicular accidents as the streets in the Central Business District in Kumasi always remain busy especially during the day. Another important demographic variable of the respondents is their ethnicity. The ethnicity of the respondents is essential, as it serves as a social indicator of the regional inequities that espouse outmigration from remote areas, especially in the Northern Regions (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). Almost all the participants surveyed in this study with the exception of about 5 young women, were from the northern parts of Ghana. These young females had migrated from the Northern Regions to Kumasi with the aim of finding a survival strategy given the lack of economic prospects and the inability of their relatives to cater for their school needs which made them dropout of school. Thus the ethnicity covered in the study includes Dagomba, Sisala, Gonja and Mamprusi. Indeed, street hawking and kayayei in Southern urban Ghana, precisely Kumasi and Accra has been reported as an occupational niche for females who migrate from the North to the South (Awumbila, 2007). Gender wise, our focus was on young women. Thus, our survey covered 69% females with the remaining 31% being males. Earlier research had shown that hawking and pottering in Ghana is predominantly a female occupation (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). In terms of education, none of respondents sampled had attained education up to the secondary level. They were all either primary school goers or drop outs from school. In one study by Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf (2008), it was reported that among street hawkers and porters in Accra, a total of 61% have not had any formal education, 35% have had Primary education while only 5% have attained Junior Secondary School education. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 249 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi The lack of higher formal educational attainment among these marginalized groups is largely attributed to lack of financial resources and account for the increasingly unceasing flows of young females from rural Northern Ghana to the South to seek multiples sources of livelihoods in the informal sector in the face of declining agricultural and agricultural- related employment in the northern parts of the country. Poverty: Understanding its Dimensions and Experiences from Young Women’s Perspective Our survey on how street trade hawkers and porters understand and experience poverty points to four main issues. Thus, low income from work, lack of access to productive resources and decent economic opportunities, vulnerability to diseases and the lack of access to and utilization of health facilities (social exclusion) are the main dynamics of poverty as indicated by the young women during our field work. To begin with, the hawking and head portering business as a means of livelihood for the young females does not require much skill or any huge capital outlay to start. However, some of our respondents (4 young women) who were selling various food items argued to have started their business through bank loans from microfinance institutions. Notwithstanding the little resources needed to commence their activities, it was discovered that low income from work seems to be a common experience among all the street trade workers. Indeed, many of the activities undertaken by young women in the informal sector such as head portering, selling of items and working in shops/restaurants continue to attract low and irregular income (Awumbila, 2007). As illustrated by Kwankye et al. (2007a), poverty among street trade hawkers manifest in low earnings from work which does affect the capacity of these young women to cater for their basic needs. Our survey indicates that, per the experience of poverty among these poor young women, a minimum threshold of US$1.25 is woefully inadequate for them to be considered not poor. Similar situation has been recorded by earlier researchers. In their study of reproductive health implications of street hawking in Accra, Kwankye et al. (2007a) sought from hawkers the amount they considered to be adequate for them to meet their basic daily basic needs. Their results point out that more than half of the female hawkers in Ghana suggested an amount ranging between GH¢1.8- GH¢8.66 (US$0.91-US$4.33) to be their daily required income in order for them to meet their basic needs. This conflicts with normative understanding of what would be 250 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana needed in order to classify one as non-poor as demonstrated in the global hegemonic project. As noted already, mainstream understanding as seen in the MDGs set $1.25 per day as the absolute poverty line. However, from the perspective of the hawkers and porters, this amount remains woefully inadequate. Thus, income poverty from these young women perspective and their experience ‘2transcends the international poverty line of $1.25 a day. This may largely be attributed to the context specificity with regards to the living circumstances. Beyond this, there were concerns about irregularity of income earned from work. In our in-depth, interview a 15-year old Mamuna professed: “I come here always to sell rubbers. This economic activity I am doing is nothing to write home about. On a very good day I get about GH¢12 (US$5.6). On bad days I get just GH¢1 (US$0.46) and sometimes I do not get any while I walk under this scorching sun. Meanwhile, what I am doing is not my own business; I only get more income (commission) from my Madam if I am able to sell more. My income from this work shows that I am poor. The government must come to our help”. The above statement from Mamuna does not only highlight the difficulty associated with her source of income but more importantly how irregular her income source could be from her livelihood. Indeed, many of the hawkers in the Metropolis sampled mostly do not own what they sell. Many have largely been employed by people who own big supermarkets in the Metropolis and thus get commission from their employers based on how well they are able to sell for these supermarkets. Those hired by shop owners also undertake task such as running errands, cleaning and washing dishes as well as refilling shelves (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). Consequently aside the 4 women who indicated to have started the business through loans suggesting that they own their business, the remaining were employees working for supermarkets. Inability to sell much on the day means that they get little income from their employers. It is imperative however to note that working relationship between these hawkers and their employers is seen as healthy and cordial (Berg, 2007). Moreover, the head porters also argued that in recent times, they find it difficult to get loads to carry, thus, limiting the opportunity for them to earn higher income. A 15 year old who migrated from Northern Ghana to pursue head portering had this to say during a focus group discussion: “Nowadays, business is not good. Sometimes I do not get any load to carry. This forces me to borrow money from my friends to buy food”. Worryingly, daily earnings are mostly spent on basic necessities, such as food, sanitary Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 251 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi facilities and water with little left for savings (Berg, 2007). In effect, low and irregular income from hawking and portering as experienced by our survey participants is a major dimension of poverty strongly associated with young women working in the informal sector”. At the same time, the experiences of poverty among female informal sector hawkers evident from our interviews indicate that lack of access to resources and decent economic opportunities remain a key dimension. Indeed, in many contexts, “gendered inequality manifested in unequal distribution of economic resources and power at the intra-household levels are key factors which do push and keep households especially female headed ones in poverty” (Amuzu et al., 2010:20). Interview data suggest that lack of formal, decent and sustainable employment opportunities remain elusive to these poverty-stricken young females. Their exclusion from gaining decent employment has undeniably pushed them to resort to hawking and head portering. Reasons cited by the participants of this study for the lack of decent employment opportunities included their low educational attainment (drop out from school), lack of employable skills and generally, the lack of Government support in creating industries in the formal economy which could have absorbed them. In Ghana, the major Government initiative providing economic opportunities for young people has largely been exprel2ssed through the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), which seeks to provide jobs for underemployed and unemployed youth. There is ample justification for focusing on the youth given the high youth unemployment rates in the country, which drives migration of young people from rural areas to Southern cities in search of non-existing jobs (World Bank, 2011). However, given the low level of educational attainment and drop out among these young street trade hawkers and porters, it could be argued that the NYEP largely discriminate against these poorer young women on the street as the programme employs young people with at least Junior Secondary School education (World Bank, 2011). Additionally, the lack of the access to resources has been linked to inequality and socio-cultural practices, as females by the standards of the Ghanaian society are mostly limited when it comes to owning productive resources. This differential access to resources has resulted in the females facing heavy burdens and stressful socio-economic conditions (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). Added to the lack of resources and economic opportunities, our survey results indicate that vulnerability to diseases and the lack of access to and utilization of 252 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana health services is another pathway in which young women working in the informal sector experience poverty. In fact, the youth and mobile populations especially those working as hawkers and porters are considered at higher risk of becoming infected with sicknesses (Garenne, 2003:17). Almost all of our survey participants argued that, the high levels of susceptibility to diseases considerably represent a major dimension of their vulnerability. The major health problems facing the head porters and street trade hawkers include malaria, headache, diarrhea and cholera. This is attributed to the tedious nature of their work and the insanitary living conditions in which many of them find themselves. Despite the high propensity to falling sick and exposure to risks due to their living conditions, the majority of these hawkers and porters do not take proper medication. In Ghana, the major health intervention initiated by the Government to ensure adequate access to and utilization of health service is the (NHIS). The purpose for implementing the scheme is for the government to cater for health treatment of the aged, the poor as well as children of parents who both subscribe to the scheme (Arhin, 2013). However per the operations of the scheme, , as dependent minors, many of these young porters and hawkers are supposed to be insured by their parents as there is fixed charge of GH¢ 5 (US$2.28) for processing and registration. Unfortunately, most of them stated that their parents are poor and thus have not been able to afford initial charge. This suggests that these young females cannot be covered under the NHIS as their parents’ have failed to provide the amount needed for processing their registration. This means that, they have to be registered on their own and have failed to register. Information elicited indicates that, through the financial assistance of Street Children Development Foundation (SCDF), which is a non-governmental organization; about 3000 head porters in the study area have been registered under the NHIS. Though this initiative is commendable, a lot still needs to be done considering the current estimate of over 30,000 street trade hawkers and porters in Southern Ghana (UNICEF, 2007). Moreover, even those porter girls who have been registered under the NHIS may not be able to utilize public health services. The reason for this could be summed up in a comment by a 14 year head porter, Zenabu: “I am privileged to have been registered under the NHIS by the SCDF. However I receive little attention from health personnel’s when I visit the hospital for treatment when sick because the nurses don’t look after me since they say I am wearing dirty dress”. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 253 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi The above comment highlights some important issues that need careful scrutiny. First it suggests that aside the high propensity of falling sick as a dimension of poverty, many of these young women experience exclusion from mainstream society demonstrated in the lack of attention on the part of health personnel’s who are supposed to rather provide protection and security for these young ones. This in effect may reinforce their feeling of powerlessness and ruling out from society. Indeed ‘‘poverty is gendered in its predisposing factors, processes and impact and that the ways in which young women experience poverty are related to their position and situation in society’’ (Awumbila, 2006:17). Additionally, the lack of proper attention from health personnel’s when these young porters visit hospital could make them resort to self-medication. Certainly, Kwankye et al. (2007b) have reported that self-diagnosis and self-medication seem to be commonplace among these young women on the street, often relying on friends who have suffered similar symptoms beforehand. Thus, when the porters and hawkers visit the local chemist, they have already determined what they want, and buy the drugs over the counter from shop attendants, who may not ask any questions. Such practices may further complicate the health situation of these hawkers and porters and push them into ever poorer health; most of them seem to be unaware of the implications of this or indifferent to what happens to them. Overall, it could be argued that poverty among these poor youth hawking and carrying various loads on their heads is a visible condition with manifold manifestations as evident in diverse aspects of their socio-economic circumstances. Nonetheless, generalizing these dimensions of poverty for all informal sector workers would be simplistic, insufficient and problematic. Indeed, the association between poverty and informal sector workers does not hold uniformly across space. This is because the self-employed, particularly micro-enterprise owners, are found to have average earnings far above the minimum wage, allowing an inference, a lower likelihood of poverty among such people (Charmes, 2012). Consequently, in many cases, it might be incorrect to claim that the various dimensions of poverty reported by the porters and hawkers in our study are the defining characteristic of the whole informal sector. Nevertheless, the experiences reported herein have far wider implications for social protection and poverty reduction strategies. Surviving Strategies and Poverty Reduction 254 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana The preceding discussions have highlighted the various dimensions of poverty experienced by young people, finding a survival strategy in urban highways of Ghana. This section presents how the livelihood portfolios of these young people contribute to overcoming their poverty conditions and the difficulty circumstances that confront them. We also highlight the difficulties associated with their surviving strategies. As noted already, the activities undertaken by porters and hawkers require little or no capital to begin. Field observations revealed a considerable degree of the organization of the work undertaken by the street trade workers. Many have adopted the strategy of moving in groups, often providing information on available opportunities for their acquaintances while ensuring that there is no struggle among them in the quest to get a load to carry (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). Undeniably, many of the street trade workers often do not operate in haphazard manner but in well-defined spaces, largely based on ethnicity (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008). This confirms the assertion that the livelihoods portfolios of urban poor street workers are often embedded in social relationships although searching for load to carry is done independently (Berg, 2007). Thus, in their day to day work, ethnic spaces have been developed among specific ethnic groups, serving as a mechanism to avoid any potential conflict. However, not much recognition is given by the porters regarding the load they carry. Thus, in the quest to earn more income, many of these young women give very little or no consideration to their age but take on loads according to their perceived ability to carry the load. The activity undertaken by our participants show considerable gender variations. While the males are able to do multiple sources of activities, females were only confined to transporting goods from shops to lorry stations for customers. Aside carrying loads with trucks, males are also engaged in other activities such as serving as shop assistants, working in restaurants, washing dishes and selling of goods such as coconut and various assorted items. In effect, the activities undertaken by street trade workers is highly gendered with males involved in the remunerative loads while their female counterparts are mostly limited to carrying smaller loads of petty traders and travellers which attract little pay (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008). The gendered disparities with males carrying heavier loads and engaging in multiple activities compared to their female counterparts may be attributed to the strong physical strength of the males. As a way of contributing to poverty reduction and the difficulties confronting the urban poor, particularly the females, hawking and portering serve as a means of earning income. Our survey indicate that, on a very good day, porters and hawkers Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 255 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi could earn on the average between GH¢20-40 (US$9.11-US$18.21). However, in bad times, some earn absolutely nothing and had to rely on acquaintances in order to meet daily basic needs such as buying food and water, an indication that earnings fluctuate with the fortunes of the markets and clients. Moreover, earnings also differ with respect to gender. Oberhauser and Yeboah (2011) argue that income distribution among street trade hawkers and porters are gendered as males are able to earn higher income compared to their female counterparts. They show that on the average, females earn between GH¢15–105 (US$6.83-US$47.81) weekly whereas the males earn GH¢86–145 (US$39.16-US$66.02) per week. Similar situation has been documented by other scholars. In their study of gendered poverty, migration and livelihood strategies of female porters in Accra- Ghana, Awumbila and ArdayfioSchandorf (2008) found that males earn on the average GH¢3 per day (US$1.37) compared to GH¢1-2 (US$0.46-0.91) for the females. “The multiplicity of work by males, together with their ability to enter into long-term arrangements with clients as well as the ability to transport higher volume of goods more efficiently; and therefore serving more clients mainly account for the gender differences in earnings” (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011:31). Gender differences in earnings has also been linked to the higher bargaining power and capability of the male workers who are able to bicker payments for the services they render depending on the size and weight of the load and distance to be covered. For the females, payment mostly depend on the kind heartedness of clients who pay any amount they consider suitable (Awumbila and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 2008). This reinforces the argumentation of Beneria (2003), who forcefully maintains that societal perceptions regarding females working in the unrecognised informal sector as ready to settle for any payment for their services often contribute to their exploitation and social exclusion in society. Notwithstanding the gendered disparities in terms of earnings, overall, income earned from the various activities contribute significantly to reducing the poverty conditions among street workers and their household. Earnings from low paid onerous work help to meeting basic needs. While there were complains of lack of decent sleeping places, it was discovered that food to eat was not a major issue. Many have even adopted the strategy of eating once or twice in order to be able to save from their earnings. Thus, we discovered that hawking and portering serve as means of contributing to household income in supporting other relatives. Significantly too, the porters who are migrants from the relatively poorer Northern Regions argued to occasionally send remittances and other items to their families up North. Participatory and much anecdotal evidence shows that some especially the males are 256 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana able to remit in kind and send items such as imported rice, soap and other household provisions to their families up North (Anarfi and Kwankye, 2005). The means through which the porters send these items are basically through relations and other fellow migrants who are going back. Sewing machine, clothes, utensils among other things were the material possessions that have been acquired by the hawkers and porters through income from their work. Some have also been able to open micro- businesses such as selling drinks, food stuffs and home appliances. Additionally, while some are not able to save any earnings, others manage to save some part of their earnings with the SCDF. In an interview, the director of SCDF argued that about 4000 porter girls were saving some part of their earnings with the foundation at the time of the survey. There is no interest charge for rendering this service to the porters. This informal system through which these young females save their earnings offer the merit of low transaction cost, little bureaucracy and paper works, no interest charge and the flexibility to adjust and ability to get their savings back in times of difficult financial situation compared to the formal banking systems which may require some level of financial literacy (Berg, 2007). This informal system of saving some part of their earnings afforded the porter girls the opportunity to gain access to their money when confronted with any extremely difficult situation when they could receive no assistance from anywhere. It has also afforded many the opportunities to buy material possessions which cost relatively higher such as the sewing machine. Overall, our findings suggest that hawking and portering significantly serve as an important livelihood strategy (employment and income) engaged by the urban poor particularly females especially in the era of neoliberal economic reforms which has largely limited the possibility for young people to gain employment in the formal sector. Thus, many through hawking and portering continually, are able to meet their consumption needs, acquire material possessions while others have also moved beyond into micro enterprise development, thus directly improving household welfare. Additionally, a good number of porters who migrated from the rural savannah zones to the Southern cities, sometimes without the knowledge of their familial relations, have been able to acquire the needed financial resources in preparation towards their marriage life and transition into adulthood (Kwankye et al., 2007b). Notwithstanding the potential role of these activities in contributing to overcoming poverty, several factors were identified which serve as great deal of challenge for the Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 257 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi porters and hawkers. Vehicular dangers, insult and cheating from pedestrians and difficulties associated with the vagaries of the weather were mentioned as particularly important factors facing hawkers and porters while going about their activities on the streets. Of particular relevance is the insult and robbery from customers. It was discovered that many of the porters who carry load are given amounts that do not commensurate the load they carry and any attempt to express their dissatisfaction in their own language is often misconstrued as insult, which attract reproach, insult and intimidation. Indeed, head porters and street trade hawkers are liable to face discourteous treatment and insults from customers to whom they render services (Kwankye et al., 2007b). The conflicts, disagreements and quarrels between the porters and their customers is mainly attributed to the lack of clarity surrounding fees charged for carrying loads (Awumbila, 2006). In this way, the lack of standards for hawkers and porters to rate their services in monetary terms and non-existing ‘formal structures that protects their livelihoods contributes to their vulnerability in today’s broadening marketization’ (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011:33). Moreover, extremely hot sunny conditions that they are exposed to, causes severe headache among these porters and hawkers who work for more than eighteen (18) hours under the scourging sun. In the evident of rainfall, especially at night, the porters were seen helpless as they do not have decent accommodation. These complexities with regards to the difficulties confronting the livelihood portfolios of young people on the street (hawker and porters) point to urgent policy responses. The next section sums up the study and proposes a set of policy options. Conclusion and Implications for Poverty Reduction Our study on the gendered aspect of poverty and livelihood portfolios in Ghana has shown the interlocking dimensions of poverty experienced by young women and how their surviving strategies contribute to overcoming poverty. Growing body of research has shown that economic restructuring following the neoliberal economic reforms and socio-cultural practices largely account for pushing many of these folks to find their livelihoods on urban highways due to their limited access to resources, productive assets and sustainable employment in the formal sector (Oberhauser and Yeboah, 2011). Poverty reduction strategies have become the cardinal policy focus for several countries including Ghana in recent times. Although poverty is now recognized in many quarters to have a multiple dimensions policy prescription and strategies are still firmly rooted in the idea of money-metric $1.25 a day aspect of it. One of the 258 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana consistent measures to track progress on poverty reduction in the wake of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been the ability of countries to reduce the number of people living on less than two dollars a day. By 2010, Ghana was already a 'star performer' as far as achieving the MDGs goal on poverty reduction were concerned as, ahead of the target date of 2015, the country was able to have reduced the number of its population living on $2 a day from 52% in 1991/92 to 28.5% in 2005/06 while extreme poverty rates of those living on about a dollar also fell from 36.5% to 18.2% during the same period (Ghana Statistical Service, 2008; UNDP Ghana and NDPC/GOG 2010; 2012). Yet, as this study shows, poverty has different dimensions which need to be factored into the determination of the progress of poverty reduction effort. Our study therefore contributes to the growing body of research emphasizing the multi-dimensionality of poverty (Sen, 1999; Anand & Sen, 1997; Nnarayan et al, 2000). The paper demonstrates that poverty is therefore not just an issue of living on less than $1.25 a day but in broader sense reflects lack of access to public goods and services including social security and good health; non-ownership of assets and little or no education, susceptibility to diseases and social exclusion of the marginalized populations. While income is very important for poor people, it is not the sole determinant to enable them enjoy wellbeing and quality of life. Issues such as access to public goods and resources, creation of opportunities for participation in productive ventures are all determinants of poverty. Thus, poverty has many facets with multiple manifestations, often revolving around living circumstances and situations. While portering and hawking provide income in meeting consumption and other material needs, it cannot serve as a sustainable means of livelihood given the fluctuations in earnings and the various identified challenges associated with it. We also take note of the fact that, a huge number of people are involved in the hawking and portering businesses thus attempts to bar them from engaging in such activities will be counter-productive. In view of this, the following set of policy options are being proposed in efforts towards improving the situation of street trade workers. First, this paper adds voice to the calls for more gender-based policies and programmes in livelihood development through the provision of decent and sustainable employment programmes. Government, NGOs and other stakeholders whose mission are consistent with the welfare of the urban poor could come to the aid of these young women by providing decent employment especially in the area of Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 259 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi micro enterprise development. This must be complemented with practical trainings and capacity building programmes which will enable these young people the opportunity to manage their own micro enterprises. Additionally, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Ghana could team up with human right-based NGOs in providing healthcare and safety nets for these young people. Moreover, these agencies could make their offices open or could possibly establish an accessible centre where these young women could seek advice and report any abusive and exploitative act that confronts them. At the same time, Government could come to the aid of the growing number of hawkers, organize them and provide them with subsidized micro loans in order to help them expand their livelihood portfolios while others could also diversify into more stable income earning activities. There are schemes such as the Micro-finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) and the Hawkers Empowerment Programme, which basically aim at equipping hawkers, head porters and food vendors with skills and start-up capital and to better improve their standards of living and to properly engage them in some economic activity that adds value to the nation needs. Such schemes need to be revitalized and scaled up to reach the throngs of young people finding their livelihoods on urban highways. Of fundamental to the solution of street hawking also lies in the expansion of access to education, skills development and the need to bridge the rural-urban divide which serve as a primary motivation for migration of young people from rural to urban streets. While our recommendations are not necessarily new, we are of the view that they will be accorded with the urgency and the attention they deserve by the respective Authorities mandated to do so. References Amuzu, C., Jones, N. & Pereznieto, P. 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Background Paper for the 2005 World Development Report. Nicola, J. Ahazie, W. & Doh, D. (2009). “Social Protection and Children: Opportunities and Challenges in Ghana” UNICEF, GHANA-Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare. Retrieved on 9 October, 2103 from http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinionfiles/4935.pdf. Narayan, D., Patel, R., Schafft, K., Rademacher, A. & Koch-Schulte, S. (2000). Can anyone hear us? : Oxford University Press New York. Oberha’user, A. M. & Yeboah, M. A. (2011). Heavy burdens: Gendered livelihood strategies of porters in Accra, Ghana. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 32, 22-37. Osei-Tutu, P., & Nhancale, B. (2010). 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United Nations General Assembly: United Nations Millennium Declaration. A/RES/55/2. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly. Retrieved on 12 September, 2013 from http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/ 55/2&Lang=E. UNDP Ghana and NDPC/GOG (2012). 2010 Ghana Millennium Development Millennium Development Goals Report: Accra UNDP Ghana and NDPC/GOG (2010). 2008 Ghana Millennium Development Millennium Development Goals Report: Accra White, H. (2008). The measurement of poverty. In The companion to development studies. 2nd ed. V. Desai and R. Potter, 25–39. London: Hodder. World Bank. (2011). Tackling poverty in Northern Ghana. Washington D.C. The World Bank. Retrieved on 15 January 2013 from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/ 2011/03/14238095/tackling-povertynorthern-ghana. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 265 �Thomas Yeboah, Lucy Owusu, Albert A. Arhin, Emmanuel Kumi i Kayayei (Sing. Kayayoo) is the local term for a female porter or bearer from Ghana, and is a person who carries objects for others. The term can be broken down into two words, Kaya, meaning load/luggage/goods in Hausa language, and Yei, meaning women/females in Ga language, as the role is almost exclusively carried out by females. Ii NYEP is now known as the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA). Appendix 1: SURVEY/CHECKLIST ON UNDERSTANDING OF POVERTY, ITS EXPERIENCE AND SURVIVING STRATEGIES AMONG HEAD PORTERS IN GHANA This is an interview guide scheduled to assess the perceptions, understanding, causes and experience of poverty as well as how the surviving strategies of head porters and hawkers working in the informal sector contribute to overcoming their poverty conditions in Kumasi, Ghana. The researcher would be very grateful if you could provide answers to these questions. All information given shall be treated confidentially. Part One: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 1. Sex (a) Male (b) Female 2. Name of respondent....................................................................................... 3. Age of respondents......................................................................................... 4. Educational level (a) Primary (b) JHS (c) Drop out d) No formal education 5. Where do you come from? a) Northern region b) Upper east c) Upper west (d) other Part two: Understanding of poverty and its experience among informal workers 6. What is your understanding of the term poverty? 7. Based on your living situation, how would you rank living conditions? a) Very poor (b) poor (c) non-poor (d) rich 8. Can you explain the reason for your answer? 9. How does poverty manifest in your life? 10. What are the various difficulties facing you here? 266 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana 11. What has accounted for your poor living situation? Part three: Surviving strategies and livelihood activities 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. What kinds of activities are you involved in here? How long have you been hawking here? How many hours do you spend on the street daily? On the average, how much money are you able to make in a day? In what ways do your activities contribute to improving your living circumstances? 17. How does the activities you do help you and your family? 18. What are the major challenges facing you here while hawking? 19. What do you think should be done to improve upon your business? Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 267 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2416 Title A name given to the resource Fighting Poverty from the Street: Perspectives of Some Female Informal Sector Workers on Gendered Poverty and Livelihood Portfolios in Southern Ghana Author Author Yeboah, Tomas Owusu, Lucy Arhin, Albert. A Kumi, Emmanuel Abstract A summary of the resource. Over the last three decades or so, complex factors including the implementation of neoliberal economic reforms has led to a decline in formal sector employment in the Ghanaian economy. This together with increasing feminization of poverty has driven many, especially young women, to seek livelihoods in the informal sector mainly as hawkers and head porters. Drawing on qualitative interviews with approximately 40 urban poor women (aged 6-25 years), this paper reports the gendered aspects of poverty and the surviving strategies of young women on urban streets. The cameos presented herein highlight the experiences of poverty among street workers and how their livelihood portfolios contribute to overcoming the poor socio-economic conditions facing them. The paper shows that hawking and head portering significantly provides income for upkeep of young women and their families through meeting consumption and other needs. However, vulnerabilities manifested in unfavourable weather conditions, vehicular dangers, exploitation from employers and customers often due to lack of written work contracts are the major risks sturdily connected with these surviving strategies. The paper concludes by arguing for policy interventions such as subsidized credit schemes and organization of formal and informal forms of capacity building for the urban street workers to enhance their livelihoods. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed H Social Sciences (General) https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/aa35ba8552d8bb72de17e357748a452a.pdf 3804bc3972309bd6e6ad447ba88b7c16 PDF Text Text Journal of Economic and Social Studies A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu Yasar University Izmir, Turkey emel.kursunluoglu@yasar.edu.tr Abstract: The purpose of this study is to show the requirement of industry-specific national service quality indices for measuring quality in both traditional and electronic services in various industries in a country. In this study, the literature about service and e-service quality measurements was reviewed, and a threedimensional framework was developed. It was found out that the dimensions of each service quality measurement were all different from each other due to the different characteristics of the industries that each study has been conducted in. The study showed that there is a need for an industry-specific national service quality index and suggested that national customer satisfaction indices which have existed in the literature can be a model for industryspecific national service quality indices. An industry-specific national service quality index enables national companies to understand their unique industrial characteristics that needed to be improved continuously in order to increase service quality and gain competitive advantage. The index which was proposed to develop in the future was suggested for the first time in this study. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 Keywords: Service Quality; E- Service Quality; Service Quality Dimensions; National Customer Satisfaction Indices; Turkish Customer Satisfaction Index (TCSI). JEL Classification: M31 Article History Submitted: 11 June 2014 Resubmitted: 3 September 2014 Resubmitted: 17 December 2014 Accepted: 25 December 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JECOS S115110 169 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu Introduction The techniques of measuring service quality have become a major area in the marketing literature during the past few decades since the increasing importance of service industry. The share of service industry in the economy has been increasing for years. The importance of services has been growing rapidly since the services account for more than 60 percent of GDP worldwide, almost all economies have a substantial service sector, and most new job is derived by services (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2011). Increasing competition in the service industry has led many companies to consider service quality as a strategic tool. As well as service quality, e-service quality has been becoming more important nowadays. Measuring e-service quality was highly developed after 2000s with the increasing usage amount of e-services. The researches about measuring and improving e-service quality have been continuing sharply. Service quality affects customer satisfaction and loyalty which have strong influences on customer behavior. Since service quality is one of the antecedents of customer satisfaction (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Boulding et al., 1993; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Athanassopoulos, 2000) and there are many relations among service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, perceived value, and behavioral intentions (Leonard and Sasser, 1982; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Chang and Chen, 1998; Gummesson, 1998; Silvestro and Cross, 2000; Cabuk et al., 2013), the measurement of service quality has been a valuable concept that should be analyzed. E-service quality has also positive impacts on customer satisfaction (Chang and Wang, 2008; Barutcu, 2010; Liang, 2012). It was shown that e-service quality has a positive effect on satisfaction and satisfaction has a positive effect on loyalty (Chang et al., 2009). E-service quality has a significant and positive effect on perceived value; and perceived value increases the loyalty (Fuentes-Blasco et al., 2010; Pearson et al., 2012). Pearson et al. (2012) also showed that loyalty intentions can be affected by perceived e-service quality. There have been many studies that developed scales and dimensions for measuring service and e-service quality in the literature. This paper reviewed the service and eservice quality measurements and showed the need of an industry-specific national service quality index for each various service industry in a country. The aim of the study is to show the requirement of developing industry-specific national service quality indices. In this study, firstly service and e-service quality scales and their dimensions were examined, criticisms about service and e-service quality scales were analyzed, and a three-dimensional framework was developed according to the 170 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension literature review. This framework showed that each service quality dimensions were all different from each other due to the different characteristics of the industries that each study has been conducted in. It was highly suggested that there is a need for an industry-specific national service quality index and customer satisfaction indices which have existed in the literature can be a model for industry-specific national service quality indices. National customer satisfaction indices from different countries were explained and Turkish Customer Satisfaction Index was focused on. In conclusion, it was highly recommended to develop an industry-specific national service quality index since it enables national companies to understand the unique industrial characteristics that needed to be improved continuously in order to increase service quality and gain competitive advantage. Service Quality (SQ) Measurements Service quality concept was defined by seven service attributes such as security, consistency, attitude, completeness, condition, availability, and training of service providers (Sasser et al., 1978). Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) defined three dimensions of service quality such as physical quality, interactive quality, and corporate quality. Physical quality refers to tangible appearance of the service; interactive quality relates to the interactions between customers and service personnel; corporate quality involves the image of service provider. The first model for measuring service quality was developed by Grönroos in 1984 (Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Seth et al., 2005; Bulbul and Demirer, 2008). He developed a service quality model and measured perceived service quality. Technical quality, functional quality, and corporate image were used in the model as the dimensions of service quality. Technical quality is about customer evaluations about the service delivered. Functional quality is seen to be more important dimension than technical quality. It refers how consumers take the service and it is the important variable for consumer perceptions and service differentiation. Technical quality is interested in what was delivered such as the knowledge about product and services whereas functional quality is interested in how the service was delivered such as the importance of the service personnel manners. Corporate image has a positive impact on customer perceptions. Parasuraman et al. (1985) analyzed the dimensions of service quality and constituted a GAP model that provides an important framework for defining and measuring service quality (Saat, 1999). They conducted an exploratory investigation and Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 171 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu developed the GAP Service Quality Model. It shows the key insights gained through the executive interviews and focus group interviews about the service quality concept. The gaps revealed by the executive interviews are shown in the marketer side (GAP1, GAP2, GAP3, GAP4), and the GAP 5 which was formed by the focus group interviews is in the consumer side of the model. The GAP names were shown below (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Lovelock, 2011): The Knowledge Gap (GAP 1): Customer expectation-management perceptions gap; The Policy Gap (GAP 2): Management perception-service quality specifications gap; The Delivery Gap (GAP 3): Service quality specifications-service delivery gap; The Communications Gap (GAP 4): Service delivery-external communications gap; The Service Quality Gap (GAP 5): Expected service-perceived service gap. Lovelock (1994) added the sixth gap to the model as The Perceptions Gap between Service Delivery and Perceived Service. After the gaps modeling, ten determinants of service quality that consumers used when interpreting the quality were described (Parasuraman et al., 1985) as follows: Reliability involves consistency of performance and dependability and provides right service in right time. Responsiveness includes the willingness or readiness of employees to provide service. Competence shows skill and knowledge the service personnel. Access means accessibility and ease of contact. Courtesy involves politeness and friendliness of service personnel. Communication keeps customer informed, for example explaining the service and its cost. Credibility contains trustworthiness and honesty. Security involves physical safety and financial security. Understanding/Knowing the Customer means learning the customer's specific requirements and providing them individualized service. Tangibles show the physical evidence of the service. Service quality has been conceptualized with different numbers of dimensions and generally it has been explained with two or three dimensional models. Rust and Oliver (1994) proposed a three dimensional model which was not tested in a conceptual way. In this model service quality is a function of service product, service delivery, and service environment. Hedvall and Paltschik (1991) identified service quality dimensions as willingness and ability to serve, and physical and psychological access. Haywood-Farmer (1988) discussed a service quality model including three basic attributes such as physical facilities, people behavior and conviviality, and professional judgment. These attributes were related to Parasuraman et al.’s (1985) service quality determinants. Physical facilities are related to Tangibles; People Behaviour and Conviviality are related to Reliability, Responsiveness, Access, 172 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Courtesy, Communications determinants; and Professional Judgment is related to Competence, Credibility, Security, Understanding the consumer determinants. Parasuraman et al. (1988) developed SERVQUAL scale which is an advanced model for measuring service quality. In SERVQUAL model, there are five dimensions and 22 items presented in seven-point Likert scale. They measured service quality especially functional service quality via empirical studies in banking, credit card, repair and maintenance, and long-distance telephone services. The five dimensions of SERVQUAL are: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Service quality can be measured by a performance-based SERVPERF scale as well as the gap-based SERVQUAL scale (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). SERVPERF scale was developed from the same items in SERVQUAL but it has also the performance statements. Scale consists of items about expectation (22 items-same as SERVQUAL), performance (22 items-same as SERVQUAL), importance (22 itemssame as SERVQUAL), future purchase behavior (1 item), overall quality (1 item), and satisfaction (1 item). This study has shown that service quality is measured as an attitude, the marketing literature supports the performance-based measures, and the SERVPERF explains more of the variation in service quality than SERVQUAL. SERVPERF which is a performance-only model for measuring service quality was developed via empirical studies in the sectors of banking, pest control, dry cleaning, and fast food. SERVQUAL had a good fit in banking and fast food sectors whereas SERVPERF had an excellent fit in all four industries. Dabholkar et al. (1996) developed and empirically validated the multilevel model called Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS) in order to measure retail service quality that consists of five dimensions such as physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, problem solving, and policy. The scale has been viewing as a generalized scale to measure the service quality in retail stores such as department and specialty stores. Philip and Hazlett (1997) proposed a hierarchical structure model called P-C-P for measuring service quality in service organizations. The model is based on pivotal, core, and peripheral attributes. Pivotal attributes which are the most important attributes that affect service quality are seen as end product or output whereas core and peripheral attributes are seen as inputs and processes. These attributes are shown in a triangle. Pivotal attributes are at the top, core attributes are at the second stage, and peripheral attributes are at the bottom side of the triangle. The degree of importance decreases from top to bottom of triangle. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 173 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu Brady and Cronin (2001) developed a model for measuring service quality. According to this model; service quality is affected by personal interaction quality, physical service environment quality, and outcome quality. Attitude, behavior, expertise form interaction quality; ambient conditions, design, social factors constitute physical environment quality; and waiting time, tangibles, valence form outcome quality. Martinez Caro and Martinez Garcia (2007) used this model in their empirical research for measuring perceived service quality in urgent transport service industry. They claimed that Brady and Cronin (2001) developed this hierarchical conceptualized and multidimensional model by combining the Rust and Oliver model (1994) and Dabholkar et al.’s RSQS hierarchical model (1996). E-Service Quality (e-SQ) Measurements E-services are distinguished from traditional services in terms of their characteristics such as the cost structure of services, the high degree of outsourcing, the rapid development of new services, the availability of transparent service feedback, and the continuous improvement of services (Riedl et al., 2009). Because of these distinguished characteristics between services and e-services, measuring e-service quality is different from measuring traditional service quality. Before developing eservice quality scales, the research have concentrated on determining three points such as technical quality of websites, the factors that influence e-satisfaction, and service quality of websites (Akinci et al., 2009). Hence, the criteria that should be used for designing an effective website have been the focus points of researchers. Abels et al. (1999) determined the six criteria that website designers need to use for designing a successful website: 1) use - easy to use, 2) content - having useful information, 3) structure - displaying of website, 4) linkage - providing link to the information at the website and other websites, 5) search - providing search button in website itself, 6) appearance - being attractive. Yoo and Donthu (2001) aimed to develop a psychometrically measure of service quality of online shopping websites and developed SITEQUAL. According to the model, there are four important factors that affect web site design such as ease of use of website and ability for information search; aesthetic design - the creativity of website in terms of excellent multimedia and colour graphics; processing speed online processing promptness and interactive responsiveness to consumers’ requests; and security - of financial and personal information. 174 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Loiacono et al. (2002) measured B2C website quality through WebQual™ in the websites that sell products such as CDs, books and services such as hotel reservations and airline reservations. It showed that buying and revisiting intentions of consumers and the value of website. The model has been seen as more suitable for website designers to design better websites for users rather than measuring service quality (Zeithaml et al., 2002). WebQual™ has 36 items and 12 constructs. These constructs are: Informational fit-to-task: finds the information that consumers want; tailored communications: consumer-website interaction; trust: improves security and privacy policies; response time: supports communication capacity; ease of understanding: designs the pages; intuitive operations: develop an intuitive navigation system; visual appeal: enhances colors, graphics, and text; innovativeness: finds creative approaches; emotional appeal: is used to gain online customer experience; consistent image: reflects the image of the company; online completeness: performs over the website; relative advantage: makes the website easier for interacting. Barnes and Vidgen (2002) developed WebQual 4.0 to assess the perceived service quality of online bookstores such as Amazon, BOL, and IBS in UK and found 3 dimensions and 5 subdimensions for measuring e-service quality of websites. Usability (Usability and Design as subdimensions): appearance, ease of use, ease of navigation; Information Quality (Information as sub dimension): accuracy, format, and relevancy of information; Service Interaction Quality: (Trust and Empathy as subdimensions) transaction/information security, product delivery, personalization and communication with website. Zeithaml et al. (2002) showed that a number of studies have examined some criteria that identified customers’ evaluations about website quality. These are information availability and content; ease of use; privacy/security; graphic style; fulfillment/reliability; and other criteria such as access, responsiveness, personalization. They developed e-SERVQUAL in 2002 for measuring e-service quality. This model has been conceptualized in two parts: core e-service quality scale with four dimensions such as efficiency, reliability, fulfillment, privacy; and recovery eservice quality scale with three dimensions such as: responsiveness, compensation, contact. Another scale for assessing service quality of e-tailers was developed as PIRQUAL Perceived Internet Retail Quality Model (Francis and White, 2002). The scale consists of six dimensions such as web store functionality, product attribute description, ownership conditions, delivery, customer service, and security. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 175 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2002) suggested .comQ for the measurement of service quality delivery through websites. They found that reliability/fulfillment is the strongest factor that affecting customer satisfaction, website functionality is a strong factor that affecting loyalty, and customer service is a strong predictive of loyalty and customer satisfaction. They have developed this valid and reliable scale for the measurement of etailer quality named eTAilQ (Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2003). Service quality of etailers was measured within four factors such as website design, fulfillment/reliability, privacy/security, customer service. These four factors are shown in Table 5 and can be defined as follows: Website design includes customer experience elements such as navigation, information search, order processing, and personalization. Fulfillment/reliability includes display and description of a product and right delivery of the product on time. Privacy/security includes information about customers and credit card payments are secure. Customer service includes being helpful and responsive towards customer requests. Santos (2003) proposed e-service quality dimensions that can be classified in two ways as incubative dimensions and active dimensions. Incubative dimensions developed before website is launched are ease of use, appearance, linkage, structure and layout, and content. Active dimensions which can raise customer retention are developed after launching of a website. They are reliability, efficiency, support, communication, security, and incentive. Parasuraman et al. (2005) proposed E-S-QUAL and E-RecS-QUAL scales for measuring e-service quality. E-S-QUAL is a core service quality scale for measuring core service attributes of websites and E-RecS-Qual is an e-recovery service quality scale which measures the quality of recovery services provided by websites. These scales which adapt to psychometric properties are reliable and valid scales. The E-SQUAL scale has 22 items and four dimensions such as efficiency, fulfillment, system availability, and privacy. E-RecS-QUAL contains 11 items in three dimensions: responsiveness, compensation, and contact. E-S-QUAL scale is a leading model for the measurement of e-service quality just as SERVQUAL in service quality. Existing e-service quality scales were seen as goal oriented and utilitarian-based by Bauer et al. (2006). They suggested that utilitarian and hedonic e-service quality dimensions should be integrated; hence they developed eTransQual scale. It is a transaction process based approach to integrate utilitarian and hedonic elements in 176 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension measuring e-service quality. This scale has 25 items and five dimensions such as: functionality/design, enjoyment, process, reliability, and responsiveness. E-service quality provided by online travel agencies were investigated by different researchers such as Park et al., 2007; Kaynama and Black, 2000; Shchiglik and Barnes, 2004; Chen and Kao, 2010. According to the study of Park et al. (2007), the dimensions of e-service quality are as follows: ease of use that includes functionality and accessibility of website and it is the most important item that affects willingness to buy over the internet, and it is followed by information/content that includes upto-date and reliable information; responsiveness that includes solving customer problem quickly and on time; fulfillment that includes accuracy of billing, ordering, online transaction, and services promise; security/privacy that includes to keep customer personal information, credit card information, and shopping behavior data safe. The studies explained about measuring e-service quality above were related to B2C companies. Since C2C auction websites have been becoming more important as ecommerce business type (Zhang, 2006), a service quality measurement was needed for C2C auction websites like eBay. Liu et al. (2010) developed a scale called OASQ (online auction service quality). It included 24 items and seven dimensions as: efficiency, system availability, privacy/security, compensation, personalization, playfulness, and reputation. Three-Dimensional Framework on SQ and e-SQ Measurements Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that SERVQUAL measures perceived service quality in a wide range of service industries. SERVQUAL also has been widely used in many service industries such as education (Atrek and Bayraktaroglu, 2012; Owlia and Aspinwall, 1996; Okumus and Duygun, 2008), communication via GSM operators (Hotamisli and Eleren, 2011), hotels (Akbaba, 2006; Yaprakli and Saglik, 2010), and transportation (Cati and Yildiz, 2005; Aydin and Yildirim, 2012). The applicability of SERVQUAL to the health care service industry was tested by Babakus and Mangold (1992). According to them; SERVQUAL is a reliable and valid scale for measuring functional service quality in hospitals, however hospital management need to measure both functional and technical quality for a long-term success. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 177 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu On the contrary, Finn and Lamb (1991) did not support that SERVQUAL is valid for every service industry, thus they suggested that the validity of SERVQUAL in a variety of service industries should be examined industry by industry (Akbaba, 2006). SERVQUAL dimensions may not fit in every industry which needs its own quality dimensions. Ekiz and Bavik (2008) also showed that some researchers who conducted SERVQUAL in different industries confirmed the model (Gabbie and Neill, 1996; Bojanic and Rosen, 1994; Mehta and Durvasula, 1998; Lam and Zhang, 1998) whereas some others did not confirm the model (Carman, 1990; Babakus and Boller, 1992; Brown et al. 1993; Ryan and Cliff, 1996). Carman (1990) suggested that the requirement of the adaptations of items in SERVQUAL for each industry. Babakus and Boller (1992) emphasized the requirement of industry-specific measures of service quality. Brown et al. (1993) found some problems in SERVQUAL and suggested the requirement of a new method to have psychometric properties. SERVPERF another most known and used scale was tested and found as appropriate for different sectors whereas there were some problems in SERVQUAL. Since the requirement of industry-specific service quality scale (Babakus and Boller, 1992), Karatepe et al. (2005) developed an industry-specific (banking) and a countryspecific (Northern Cyprus) model called SQUAL consisting of dimensions as: service environment, interaction quality, empathy, and reliability. They measured service quality by using SERVPERF (perceptions-only approach). Besides this, Brady et al. (2002) also performed a replication and extension of SERVPERF, and they supported the results of Cronin and Taylor (1992) in different sectors such as spectator sports, entertainment, health care, long-distance carriers, and fast food. Also, they claimed that SERVPERF is the superior model among all service quality models. As it was explained above, some industry based scales such as SQUAL were derived by SERVPERF since it was seen as more valid and reliable scale for different service industries. On the contrary, some of the industry-specific service quality scales were based on SERVQUAL dimensions such as RENTQUAL (Ekiz and Bavik, 2008) in car rental services, TISQ (Sangeetha, 2012) in retail banking, SQFS (Chang and Chelladurai, 2003) in fitness services, DINESERV (Stevens et al., 1995) in restaurants, SYSTRA-SQ (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2002) in retail banking, MS-QUAL (Hosseini et al., 2013) in mobile telecommunication industry, ECOSERV (Khan and Su, 2003) in ecotourism, and INTSERVQUAL (Frost and Kumar, 2000). Even though these scale development studies were concentrated on the specific 178 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension industry, they are inadequate with regard to forming a general industry-specific national index that measures service quality. For assessing quality of e-services, E-S-QUAL as a main scale for measuring e-service quality was adapted to different industries in many studies. It was used in the sectors such as online shopping (Rafiq et al., 2012; Ingle and Connoly, 2006; Meng and Mummalaneni, 2010; Türk et al., 2012), and online banking (Marimon et al., 2012; Akinci et al., 2010). Besides this, there were many researches in the literature about measuring e-service quality in different industries such as internet banking service quality (Jun and Cai, 2001; Yang et al., 2004; Ho and Lin, 2010; Jayawardhena, 2004; Siu and Mou, 2005; Zhu et al., 2002; Wu et al., 2012; Kayabasi et al., 2013); mobile service quality (Ozer et al., 2013; Kuo et al., 2009; Lu et al., 2009); online shopping (Ilter, 2009; Celik and Basaran, 2008; Li et al., 2012; Seethamraju, 2006). Assessing of online service quality was analyzed in different sectors with different scales; however there were no industry-specific national measurements. After considering the criticisms in the literature about service quality measurements, a three-dimensional framework was developed and shown in Table 1 below. In the first part of this framework, the service quality measurements which contain the main scales such as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF were shown. In the second part, scale development studies deriving from the main service quality scales with the techniques of replication or adaptation were shown. Even though they focused on a specific industry more, they were inadequate of developing an index in national based. In the third part, e-service quality studies which show the general development of e-service quality measurements in different industries and countries were shown. Table 1: Three-Dimensional Framework on SQ and E-SQ Measurements SQ Studies Parasuraman et al., 1985 GAP Model Parasuraman et al., 1988 SERVQUAL Cronin and Taylor, Industry-Country Dimensions Reliability, Tangibles, Access, Banking, credit card, securities Responsiveness, Competence, brokerage, repair and Courtesy, Credibility, Security, maintenance-USA Communication, Knowing Customers Banking, credit card, repair Tangibles, Reliability, Empathy, and maintenance, telephoneResponsiveness, Assurance USA Banking, pest control, dry Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 Same as SERVQUAL but with 179 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu 1992 SERVPERF Dabholkar et al., 1996 RSQS Philip and Hazlett, 1997 PCP Model Brady and Cronin, 2001 Service Quality Scale Development Studies in SQ Stevens et al., 1995 DINESERV Frost and Kumar, 2000 INTSERVQUAL cleaning, fast food-USA Department stores-USA Particular service organizations-UK Amusement parks, restaurants, health and automobile care facilities, hair salons, dry cleaning, jewelry repair, photographUSA performance only statements Physical aspects, Reliability, Personal interaction, Problem solving, Policy Pivotal, Core, Peripheral attributes Personal interaction, Service environment, Outcome Industry-Country Dimensions Restaurants-USA Reliability, Tangibles, Assurance, Responsiveness, Empathy Airline-Australia Reliability, Tangibles, Assurance, Responsiveness, Empathy Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2002 SYSTRA-SQ Banking-UK Service system quality, Behavioral service quality, Service transactional accuracy, Machine service quality Khan and Su, 2003 ECOSERV Ecotourism-USA Chang and Chelladurai, 2003 SQFS Fitness services-USA Karatepe et al., 2005 SQUAL Ekiz and Bavik, 2008 RENTQUAL Sangeetha, 2012 TISQ 180 Banking-Northern Cyprus Car rental services-Northern Cyprus Banking-Oman Eco tangibles, Assurance, Reliability, Responsiveness, Empathy, Tangibles Service climate, Management commitment, Programs, Interpersonal interactions, Task interactions, Physical environment, Other clients, Service failures and recovery, Perceived service quality Service environment, Interaction quality, Empathy, Reliability Comfort, Delivery, Safety, Handing over, Ergonomics, Accessibility ATM, Telephone banking, Internet banking, Call center services, Queue systems, Price, Core product Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Hosseini et al., 2013 MS-QUAL Mobile telecommunicationIran e-SQ Studies Yoo and Donthu, 2001 SITEQUAL Industry-Country Online shopping websitesUSA Loiacono et al., 2002 WebQual™ CDs, books, hotel-airline reservations-USA Barnes and Vidgen, 2002 WebQual4.0 Bookstores-UK Zeithaml et al., 2002 e-SERVQUAL Online shopping websitesUSA Network quality, Value-added service, Pricing plans, Employee competency, Billing, Customer services, Service convenience Dimensions Ease of use, Aesthetic design, Processing speed, Security Informational fit-to-task, Tailored communications, Trust, Response time, Ease of understanding, Intuitive operations, Visual appeal, Innovativeness, Emotional appeal, Consistent image, Online completeness, Relative advantage Usability, Information quality, Service interaction quality Efficiency, Reliability, Fulfillment, Privacy, Responsiveness, Compensation, Contact Web store functionality, Product attribute description, Ownership conditions, Delivery, Customer service, Security Website design, Fulfillment, Privacy, Customer service Ease of use, Appearance, Linkage, Layout, Content, Reliability, Efficiency, Support, Incentive, Communication, Security Francis and White, 2002 PIRQUAL Online shopping websitesAustralia Wolfinbarger and Gilly, 2003 eTAilQ Books, CDs and videos-USA Santos, 2003 E-service quality Online shopping websitesUK Parasuraman et al., 2005 E-S-QUAL Apparel, books, CDs, computer software& hardware, drugs, electronics, flowers, groceries, toys-USA Efficiency, Fulfillment, System availability, Privacy Parasuraman et al., 2005 E-RecS-QUAL Apparel, books, CDs, computer software& hardware, drugs, electronics, Responsiveness, Compensation, Contact Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 181 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu Bauer et al., 2006 eTransQual Park et al., 2007 Website quality flowers, groceries, toys-USA Online shopping websitesGermany Online travel agencies (OTA)-USA Liu et al., 2010 OA-SQ C2C auction websitesTaiwan Functionality, Enjoyment, Process, Reliability, Responsiveness Ease of use, Information, Security, Responsiveness, Fulfillment Efficiency, System availability, Security, Compensation, Reputation, Personalization, Playfulness. Source: Author’s own work Following a review of service quality scales, the study proposed a three-dimensional framework. The dimensions of service quality measurements both in traditional and electronic environments can be varied in different industries. As it was shown in Table 1 above, the dimensions of all scales have been changed according to the various industries in which each study was conducted. It was required to add different dimensions to the scales to measure service quality in each industry. Since every service industry has unique characteristics and requires unique dimensions for measuring service quality, there is a requirement for the industry-specific national index in assessing of service and e-service quality in different industries in a country. The discussion in this research is about the need for industry-specific national indices in measuring both traditional and electronic service quality in different industries and countries. The industry-specific national service quality indices can be developed such as the national customer satisfaction indices which were developed to measure customer satisfaction level in different countries. National customer satisfaction indices from the literature were shown below as a model example for developing the industry-specific national service quality index. National Customer Satisfaction Indices: A Model Example for the Proposed Index There has been a requirement for industry-specific national service quality indices due to the unique characteristics of various industries and the different cultural environment of countries. Since service quality is one of the components of customer satisfaction (Ghobadian et al., 1994; McDougall and Levesque, 2000; Demirci Orel et al., 2012; Chu et al., 2012), there are positive relations between service quality and customer satisfaction. Because of these relations, national customer satisfaction 182 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension indices which have existed in the literature can be a model for industry-specific national service quality indices. Many different countries have developed their national customer satisfaction indices which help the practitioners to be able to understand their positions in an industry in terms of customer satisfaction. The most known and used national customer satisfaction indices are such as: the Swedish Customer Satisfaction Barometer-SSCB (Fornell, 1992; Anderson et al., 1994), the American Customer Satisfaction Index-ACSI (Fornell et al., 1996), and the European Customer Satisfaction Index-ECSI which was developed by the EOQ (European Organisation for Quality) and EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) and inspired by the SCSB and the ACSI (Kristensen et al., 1999; Sahin, 2009). Except these indices, there have been many other national customer satisfaction indices such as the German Customer Barometer (Meyer and Dornach, 1996), the Danish Customer Satisfaction Index (Martensen et al., 2000), the Norwegian Customer Satisfaction Barometer (Andreassen and Lindestad, 1998), the Pan-European Customer Satisfaction Index (Eklof and Westlund, 2002), the Jordanian Customer Satisfaction Index (Al-Nasser et al., 2011), the Mexican User Satisfaction Index (Calleros et al., 2012), the Chinese Customer Satisfaction Index (Huang et al.,2011), the Turkish Customer Satisfaction Index (Turkyilmaz and Ozkan,2007). The American Customer Satisfaction Index was developed by Fornell et al. in 1996 and measures customer satisfaction level across the United States. The Turkish Customer Satisfaction Index (TCSI) was developed by KA Research Limited (KARL) in cooperation with Turkish Society for Quality under the license agreement with the American Customer Satisfaction Index (KA Research Limited, 2011; Turkyilmaz and Ozkan, 2007; Zaim et al. 2010). The TCSI measures customer satisfaction in various industries of Turkey. Industrial Annual Measurement Plan is developed in order to measure customer satisfaction level of various companies from different industries in the four quarters of the year. The TCSI Industrial Annual Measurement Plan measures customer satisfaction levels of companies from these industries (Kalder, 2014): 1st quarter: LPG gas distributors, mobile phones, GSM operators, credit cards, fast food restaurants, telecommunication; 2nd quarter: packaged waters, small household appliances, fruit juices, petrol stations, airlines; 3rd quarter: margarine, liquid oil, milk and milk products, canned foods, cleaning products, ice cream, meat and poultry products, personal care; 4th quarter: television as electronic products, white Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 183 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu goods, personal automobiles, health and automobile insurance, food retailer chains, cargo companies, consumer banking. The sectoral based rankings according to the TCSI indices and the industries’ most successful companies between the third quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014 were shown in Table 2 below. Table 2: TCSI Ratios According to the Industries and Leading Companies 2013 3rd Quarter Industry Margarine:85 Liquid Oil:83 Milk Product:82 Canned food:82 Cleaning Product:82 Ice cream:80 Meat&poultry:78 Personal care:78 2014 1st Quarter Industry LPG distributor:82 Mobile phone:76 GSMoperator:73 Credit card:71 Fast food restaurant:71 Telecommunication:70 Company Unilever Ana Gıda Pınar Tat P&G Algida Erpiliç Evyap Company Aygaz Iphone Vodafone Maximum card Domino’s Pizza Türk Telekom 2013 4th Quarter Industry Television:82 White Goods:80 Personal automobile:78 Insurance:76 Food retailer chain:76 Cargo company:75 Consumer banking:71 2014 2nd Quarter Industry Packaged water:79 Small home appliance:79 Fruit juice:77 Petrol station:77 Airlines:72 Company Samsung Arçelik Volkswagen Axa insurance Bim MNG cargo Public: Ziraat Private: İşBankası Company Erikli Beko Pınar Opet Turkish Airlines Source: compiled from TMME 2013 3rd Q, 2013 4th Q, 2014 1st Q, and 2014 2nd Q. In the service industry, since services are intangible it is hard to measure quality. The industry-specific national service quality indices should be formed for each industry and country similar to these national customer satisfaction indices. The main difference between national customer satisfaction index and industry-specific national service quality index is that national customer satisfaction index focuses on just one country and it does not have any different dimensions for different industries. It eliminates the diversities among industries. But industry-specific national service quality index should have different dimensions for each unique industry. Otherwise, it would become just national service quality index, not industry-specific national service quality index. 184 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Conclusion The importance of service quality is already well known (Lewis and Booms, 1983; Grönroos, 1984; Parasuraman et al., 1985; Mangold and Babakus, 1990). In the emerging service industry, it is important to measure the service quality. The first finding of this study was the requirement of an industry-specific service quality index. Since SERVQUAL was not valid for every industry, it was suggested that the validity of SERVQUAL should be examined in a variety of service industries and the adaptations of items in SERVQUAL for each industry should be organized (Finn and Lamb, 1991; Carman, 1990; Babakus and Boller, 1992; Brown et al. 1993; Ryan and Cliff, 1996). Moreover, Babakus and Boller (1992) emphasized the requirement of industry-specific measures of service quality. In order to measure service quality effectively in different industries, an industry-specific service quality index should be developed since every industry has its different unique characteristics. For example, the dimensions that measure the supermarket service quality can be differed from the dimensions of service quality in car washing services or health care services. The measurement of service quality in the retail industry requires different scales since retail stores offer products and significant services together. The Retail Service Quality Scale was developed to measure the service quality in retailers. However, this scale is not sufficient for an industry based index. This scale should be diversified for various retail types such as a scale for department stores and another scale for supermarkets since department stores and supermarkets offer different level of service due to their natures. Because of the differences among the characteristics of each industry, it was highly suggested developing an industryspecific service quality index in this research. The second finding of this study was the requirement of national service quality index. Service quality can be differentiated in different countries since countries’ cultures affect customers’ perceptions on quality (Laroche et al., 2004). For example, researchers from different countries (Siu and Cheung, 2001; Nakip et al., 2006; Celik; 2011) have investigated service quality in retailers for years and the results showed that there was significant differences on quality perceptions. Furrer et al. (2000) argued that perceptions of service quality varied across cultural groups and proposed Cultural Service Quality Index by testing SERVQUAL dimensions correlated with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (1980, 1991). Because of these developments that show the importance of cultural differences, it was highly suggested developing a national service quality index in this research. Volume 5 Number 1 Spring 2015 185 �Emel Kursunluoglu Yarimoglu The main comprehensive result of this study was that a service quality index that consists of both industry-specific and national dimensions should be developed based on every different industry in a country since the unique characteristics of these industries and cultural differences among countries. This review study suggested that there is a general need for developing an industry-specific national service quality index to be able to measure the unique service quality dimensions in each industry. The index which was proposed to develop in the future was suggested for the first time in this study. Another result was that the national customer satisfaction indices which have existed in the literature have been recommended as a model example for industry-specific national service quality indices. After defining the problem with the help of the literature review, national customer satisfaction indices were proposed as a solution of the problem. Because of the close relations between service quality and customer satisfaction, national customer satisfaction models can be taken as a fundamental basis for developing industry-specific national service quality index. In the case of taking the national customer satisfaction models as a basis for industry-specific national service quality index, it would be helpful to show the relations between the models. The measurements at the second part of Table 1 called Scale Development Studies in SQ are the most suitable examples for industry-specific national service quality index since they focused on a specific industry in a country such as car rental services (RENTQUAL) in Northern Cyprus, restaurant services (DINESERV) in USA, and fitness center services (SQFS) in USA. However these measurements focused on a specific industry in a country, they were inadequate in forming an industry-specific national service quality index. They need to be improved in terms of creating industry-specific national service quality index. Developing an industry-specific national service quality index helps service companies to find their unique industrial characteristics that should be improved continuously in order to increase the service quality and serve the customers better. E-service quality is an essential strategy for online retailers, and more important than low price and web presence (Zeithaml et al., 2002). In order to develop e-service quality, industry-specific national e-service quality index should be created. Discovering the main dimensions that increase the service quality of online companies enables them to gain competitive advantage in forming the websites and offerings. 186 Journal of Economic and Social Studies �A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Limitation and Further Research Directions The limitation of the study was that the only limited numbers of studies (6 service quality measurement studies, 9 replication or adaptation studies in service quality, and 12 e-service quality measurement studies) from the literature could be reviewed and grouped into three dimensions. 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Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2837 Title A name given to the resource A Review of Service and E-Service Quality Measurements: Previous Literature and Extension Author Author Yarimoglu Kursunluoglu, Emel Abstract A summary of the resource. Abstract: The purpose of this study is to show the requirement of industry-specific national service quality indices for measuring quality in both traditional and electronic services in various industries in a country. In this study, the literature about service and e-service quality measurements was reviewed, and a three-dimensional framework was developed. It was found out that the dimensions of each service quality measurement were all different from each other due to the different characteristics of the industries that each study has been conducted in. The study showed that there is a need for an industry-specific national service quality index and suggested that national customer satisfaction indices which have existed in the literature can be a model for industry-specific national service quality indices. An industry-specific national service quality index enables national companies to understand their unique industrial characteristics that needed to be improved continuously in order to increase service quality and gain competitive advantage. The index which was proposed to develop in the future was suggested for the first time in this study. Keywords: Service quality; E-service quality; Service quality dimensions; National customer satisfaction indices; Turkish Customer Satisfaction Index (TCSI). Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed HB Economic Theory https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/a0d32274e9842b6e4a87ccb2d2b57987.pdf 0efe7a3fe9e186c688017a4cb7cef379 PDF Text Text Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Luis Armando Villalobos Nájera Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico Submitted: 16.04.2014. Accepted: 12.11.2014. Abstract The objective of this paper is to share the experiences regarding the design and implementation of a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course (TIDC) in a public university located in central Mexico.The main point of designing and implementing the diploma course was to produce a new generation of translators and interpreters, since a number of BA in ELT graduates from local universities,as well as many other translators from the region, wish to grow professionally in both translation and interpretation areas.Moreover, the implementation of this diploma course was necessarybecause no institutions in this region offer a course of this kind. The TIDCwas designed taking into account the demand for professional translators and interpreters derived from the industrial and commercial growth in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The curriculum for the TIDCconsists of 14 modulescentered on thetheoretical aspects of translation and thetranslation practice of financial, scientific, technical and legal texts. Spanish writing, terminology, and CAT tools training are also part of the curriculum.The students are also introduced to Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation using theappropriate interpretation equipment.Allacademic staffinvited to collaborate in this program hold an MA in Translation and Interpretation. They are also certified translators and currently teach translation and interpretation in various universities. Most of them belong to translators and interpreters associations. Key words: translation theory, translation training, interpretation, syllabus, design, implementation. The idea of designing theTranslation and Interpretation Diploma Course (TIDC) emerged from the increasing demand for professional translators and interpreters derived from the industrial and commercial boom in the state of Aguascalientesthat started a few decades ago. Numerous national and international companies established in Aguascalientes, mostly related to the automotive industry, demand translation and interpretation services in order to succeed in today’s global economy. 157 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course In addition to the business and industry sectors, academic institutions also need professional translation and interpretation services in their diverse activities. Moreover, consecutive interpreting and simultaneous interpreting have become a necessity for the different congresses, seminars, and meetings that continuously take place in the state of Aguascalientes. The Current Situation of Translation and Interpretation Studies in Mexico Translation and interpretation studieshave evolved along with globalization in Mexico, the fifth-largest country in the Americas. However, this evolution does not seem sufficient to cover the demand for translation and interpretation services of a country with an estimated population of 118 million. According to a research conducted by the author, a total of nine Master’sdegree programs in Translation and Interpretation are offered in only six of Mexico’s 32 states, while only10 institutionsin states including Mexico Cityoffer degrees in Translation and Interpretation.Finally, only seven institutionsconcentrated in Mexico City offer diploma courses in translation and/or interpretation. As a consequence,mainly due to the lack of availability in their place of residence, a number of students interested in Translation and Interpretation studies find it difficult to enroll in translation and/or interpretationcourses. The situation is quite similarin Aguascalientes, since no academic institutions offer programsor courses related to Translation studies. The Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Curriculum In this paper, the term “curriculum” refers to the academic content taught in a specific course or program that also includes learning objectives, materials and assessment methods.It is important to mention that according to Nunan (1988), all elements contained in a given curriculummust be integrated in order to avoid conflicts when making decisions at different levels of such curriculum. In this particular case, the author attempted to interconnect the elements of the curriculum for the purpose of integrating and applyingthe students’ technical, professional, and ethical skills acquired throughout the development of the diploma course. On the other hand, Li(2006) claims that there is a “gap between translation training and the real world of professional translation” (p. 615). In other words, students who graduate from translation courses are not really prepared to face the challenges of professional translation as most translation-course contents do not provide students with enough translation practiceby employing authentic materials. Moreover, sometimes translation teachers do not have enough professional experience in certain specialized areas of translation. In light of the above, the author considered it necessary to adopt amore suitable approach in order to meet students’ expectations. 158 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics The main idea was to develop a curriculum that provided students with translation practice in the technical, scientific, financial and legal areas, as well as to includesome Terminology management and CAT tool training. Furthermore, Beeby (2004) and Mackenzie (2004) suggest that since new technologies have revolutionized translation, it is of great importance to provide the students with translation-memory tools and terminology software in order to develop the future professional translators’ competencies. Moreover, the correct use of such tools is essential to guarantee quality in translation work, as asserted by Esmaieli (2009)and Savelová (n.d.). In view of the above, the contents of the TIDCcurriculum include authentic translation tasks and simulated interpreting activities in an effort to integrate both the process-oriented approach suggested by Gile (1995) and the practice-oriented approach proposed byWilss(1996). This combination of approaches has been suggested by Li (2006), who argued thatteachers currently focusmainlyon a productand/or practice-oriented approach because such approaches provide students with many different types of translation tasks aimed at preparing them to face the real world of professional translation.In addition to practice in translation skills, one of theTIDC’s main objectives is to develop translation competencies in students, taking into account the premise expressed by Mackenzie (2004) “Learning by doing, knowing-how rather than knowing” (p. 33),which refers to using translation skills in real or simulated situations as an essential part of translation training. Translation and Interpretation Diploma courses in Mexico However, it was necessary to make a comparison among other translation and interpretation diploma courses offered in Mexicowith respect to their curricula structure and contents in favor of obtaining more ideas for designing a practical translation and interpretation diploma course. After having conducted an Internet search, the author gathered information from six translation diploma courses and two translation and interpretation diploma courses offered by various higher education institutions in the country (see Table 1). The main purpose was to find out the types of learning objectives established, the methodologies used, and the assessment criteria employed. It was also important to know about tuition costs, thelength of the courses and thenumber of modules. The results showed that the translation and interpretation diploma courses offered by private institutions were not affordable tomiddle-class students due to the high cost of tuition, whereassimilar diploma courses offered by public universities were more affordable. It was also found that the criteria followed in the admission requirements varied a lot, but it was evident that prospective students needed to have a good command of English andalso had to beproficient in their mother tongue. 159 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Another objective of this research was to find out if CAT-tool subjects and terminology subjects formed partof the Diploma Courses’ curricula (see Table 2). Contrary to what the author expected, only twoprivate universities included CATtool training in their courses. This is probably due to the fact that CAT-tool training implies the purchase of licenses and,equally importantly,the availability of translation teachers withCAT-tool knowledge. By contrast, seven institutions include at least one Terminology subject in their course programs. This indicates that such institutions are aware of the importance that Terminology management plays in the translation process. In this respect, Palou (2012) supports the idea that the management of terminological databases helps the translator to render translations with language quality, accuracy, and consistency. The Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Subjects It is important to point out that the TIDC consists of introductory subjects aimed at providing students with the basic skills and knowledge of different areas of Translation and Interpretation. The TIDC also aims to broaden students’ perspectives and encourage them to become skilled translators and interpreters through their own continuing professional development. Another aspect of the TIDC that needs to be highlighted is that the teachers were asked to apply translation theory to translation practice and to help the students integrate and transfer the skills and knowledge theygained in one subject into the subsequent subject in order to improve their translation and interpretation competencies. TIDC DeliveryMode The author chose the Face-to-Face delivery method for the TIDC subjects with the purpose of creating a positive classroom environment as a way to foster cooperative learning. According to the author’s own teaching experience, Face-to-Face instruction promotes a more effective interaction between the teacher and the students, which makeslearning more effective. Another advantage of having the students physically together is that they can make use of Language Department facilities such as classrooms equipped with Internet access and LCD interactive screens, the Lecture Hall for Simultaneous Interpreting practices, and the Language Lab. Considering that most of the prospective students are translators and English teachers and in order to facilitate their attendance at the TIDC, classes will take place on weekends: Friday afternoons from 4 to 8 pm and Saturdays from 8 am to 1 pm. 160 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics TIDC Evaluation The instruments for evaluating the TIDC are currently in the design process. The evaluation instruments will consist of questionnaires and interviews for both teachers and students. The feedback obtained will serve for further improvement of the TIDC. Academic Staff Anumber of studieshave shown that there is a strong relationship between teacher quality andstudent achievement. For example, Buddin and Zamarro (2009),affirm that“Teacher quality is a key element of student academic success” (p. 1). Likewise, King (2003)states that “Teacher quality matters. In fact, it is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement”(v).Taking into account the previous considerations, the author contactedqualified teachers in translation and interpretation studies and invited themto participate in the TIDC.Five of the teachers have the following profile:    Currently working as certified translators and interpreters. Hold a Master´s degree in Translation and Interpretation Currently teaching translation and interpretation at higher academic institutions. The rest of the academic staff consists of a PhD in Law teacher, an MA in Education teacher, an MA in Philosophy teacher, an MA in Translation and CAT tools teacher, and a BA in Hispanic Letters teacher. The author considered that the quality of teaching offered in the TIDC was a more effective way of attracting prospective students since quality in teaching may improve the quality-of-learning outcome. The Approval of the Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course The proposal for the TIDCwas submitted, in accordance with the regulations of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, to the University Executive Board and wasapproved on November 13, 2013. Implementation Afteritsapproval, it was really important to develop a plan of action to promote the TIDC with the purpose of attracting prospective students. The staff from the 161 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Continuous Education Department at the university designed a flyer announcing the TIDCand a number of copies were distributed in the main commercial areas of the city. Additionally, the Communication Department also designed a poster announcing the TIDCand copies were posted throughout the Central Campus. In addition, the Communication Department also invited the author to participate in a university radio program to give general information about the TIDC.TheTIDCwas also promoted ata Language Department meeting attended by approximately 100 teachers in December 2013. The poster announcing the TIDCappearedon the Language Department’sFacebook page. Finally, the author sent e-mail messages to local certified translators. Before the end of the second semester of 2013, the Department of Continuous Education set the dates for the Registration period. A total of 20 students, mostly English teachers and translators, signed up for the TIDC. The staff from the Continuous Education Department was in charge ofarranging travel expenses, accommodation, and transportation for the external teachers. The Language Department also organized the assignment of classrooms and labs for the TIDCclasses. Finally, the TIDC was inaugurated by the Humanities and Social Sciences authorities. The ceremonywas held at the Lecture Hall of the Language Department on February 7, 2014. Conclusion The author is aware that theTIDC will not fully satisfy the increasing demand for translation and interpretation services in the state of Aguascalientessince it differs from a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Translation and Interpretation. However, it will probably mark the beginning of a new generation of translators and interpreters in this region.Furthermore, the authorities of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes are considering using the TIDC as a starting point for a Master’s Degreeprogram in Translation and Interpretation. 162 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics References Beeby, A. (2004). Language learning for translators. Designing a syllabus. In Malmkjaer, K. Editor (2004).Translation in Undergraduate Degree Programs. (p. 41). Amsterdam/Philadelphia. John Benjamins Publishing Company. DIPLOMADO EN TRADUCCIÓN INGLÉS-ESPAÑOL. ORGANIZACIÓN MEXICANA DE TRADUCTORES, A.C. Retrieved from http://www.omt.org.mx/diplomado1.htm Diplomado en Traducción de Textos Especializados (DTTE). Universidad Autónoma de México. Retrieved from http://cele.unam.mx/index.php?categoria=3&subcategoria=22&contenido=7 9 Diplomados: Traducción. Metodología. Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua. Retrieved from http://www.uacj.mx/sa/asc/CELE/Paginas/Diplomados.aspx Diplomado en Traducción de Textos Especializados. Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. Retrieved from http://desarrolloejecutivo.itam.mx/extension/files%5CTemarios%5CProgram a%2000002794%5CP_2794_TEM_953.PDF Diplomado en Traducción e Interpretación. Universidad Iberoamericana. Retrieved from http://www.uia.mx/diplomados/default.html Diplomado en Traducción. Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco. Retrieved from http://www.ujat.mx/interioradentro.aspx?NODO=123&ID=3491 Diplomado Intérprete – Traductor. Berlitz Mexico. Retrieved from http://www.berlitz.com.mx/cursos-idiomas/Diplomado-Int-rpreteTraductor/Caracter-sticas-del-programa/146/guiseid--2/ 163 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Doherty, S. (2013) The Value of Effective Training in Translation and Localization.Galaxy Newsletter Q3 2013.Retrieved from https://www.gala-global.org/node/84770 Esmaieli, S. (2009).Necessity of tech integration into translation training programs.Translation Directory.Com. Retrieved from http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article2043.php King, J. (2003) Teacher Quality. Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from http://www.epi.org/publication/books_teacher_quality_execsum_intro/ Li, D. (2006) “Translators as Well as Thinkers: Teaching of Journalistic Translation in Hong Kong” Meta : journal des traducteurs / Meta: translators’ Journal, vol. 51, nº 3, 2006, p. 611-619. Mackenzie, R. (2004). The competencies required by the translator´s roles as a professional. InMalmkjaer, K. (Ed.)Translation in Undergraduate Degree Programs. (p. 32-33). Amsterdam/Philadelphia. John Benjamins Publishing Company. National Research Council.(2014) Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: New Practices for the New Millennium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000. (p. 44) Nord, Ch. (1991). Text Analysis in Translation.Theory, Method, and Didactic Application of a Model for TranslationOriented Text Analysis. Translated from the German by Christiane Nord and Penelope Sparrow. Amsterdam/Atlanta GA, Rodopi, 250 p. ISBN : 9051833113. Nunan, D. (1988) Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Palou, M. (2012) Managing Terminology for Translation Using Translation Environment Tools: Towards a Definition of Best Practices. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Ottowa. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ruor.uottawa.ca/en/handle/10393/22837 164 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Appendix A Table 1. Translation and Interpretation Diploma Courses in Mexico Diplomado Traducción e Interpretación Diplomado en Traducción Inglés-español Diplomado en Traducción de Textos Especializados Diplomado Traducción Textos Especializados Diplomado en Traducción e Interpretación Diplomado en Traducción Inglés-español Diplomado en Traducción Diplomado Traducción (InglésEspañol) Berlitz Mexico City Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua, Mexico Organización Mexicana de Traductores Jalisco, Mexico Universidad Autónoma de México CELE Mexico City Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Mexico City Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico Universidad Intercontinental Mexico City Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Mexico Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City Tuition Admission Requirements Duration (months) Hours/ Credits Diplomado enTraducción Institution Modules Name 4 576 $58,500.00 MX (4,300.00 USD) High School 80% English 12 7 280 $11.550.00 MX (850.00 USD) 500 pts. TOEFL ITP 16 10 160 30,000.00 MX (2,200.00 USD) Entrance Examination 12 11 544/68 - BA or BS degree (4 semesters minimum) Advanced English Level 12 6 180 $56,750.00 MX (4,200.00 USD) Good command of English and Spanish 10 14 300/30 $16,000.00 MX (1,185.00 USD) 79 pts. TOEFL iBT or 550 pts. TOEFL ITP - 10 8 60 $27,680.00 MX (2,050.00 USD) 2 120 $6,000.00 MX (440.00 USD) 10 300 $51,100.00 MX (3,785.00 USD) 8 Intermediate English Level Advanced English Level/Advanced Reading and Writing Skills in Spanish 5 5 165 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Note. Data contained in this table was collected in 2014 and may change due to updates. Diplomado IntérpreteTraductor Diplomado Traducción e Interpretación Diplomado en Traducción Inglés-español Diplomado en Traducción de Textos Especializados Diplomado Traducción Textos Especializados Diplomado en Traducción e Interpretación Diplomado en Traducción Inglés-Español Diplomado Traducción Diplomado Traducción 166 en Berlitz Mexico City Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua, Mexico Organización Mexicana de Traductores Jalisco, Mexico Universidad Autónoma de México CELE Mexico City Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Mexico City Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes Aguascalientes, Mexico Universidad Intercontinental Campus Sur Mexico City Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco Tabasco, Mexico Universidad Iberoamericana Totalof Subjects CAT Tools Subjects Terminology Subjects Practical Subjects Institution Theoretical Subjects Name Modules/Subjects Table 2. Characteristics of Translation and Interpretation Diploma Courses in Mexico 4 5 11 - - 16 7 3 4 - - 7 10 - - 1 - - 11 9 2 1 - 11 6 3 3 3 - 6 14 5 9 1 1 14 8 3 5 1 1 8 2 - - 2 - 2 (T/P) 10 2 8 1 1 10 �Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (InglésEspañol) Mexico City Note. Although recently created, the Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes is included in this table for comparison purposes. Table 3. Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Schedule 2014 Credits 1. INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY TRANSLATION THEORIES 2. INTRODUCCIÓN TO TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES 3. INTRODUCCIÓN TO CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETATION 4. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH-SPANISH CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS 5. SPANISH WRITING WORKSHOP 6. INTRODUCTION TO TERMINOLOGY 7. INTRODUCTION TO CAT TOOLS 8. INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL TRANSLATION 9. INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSLATION 10. INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL TRANSLATION 11. INTRODUCTION TO SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION 12. INTRODUCTIOON TO SCIENTIFIC TRANSLATION 13. INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION COPYRIGHT 14. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS Teaching Dates Hours Professors M. en T. I. Michelle Cecilia Arriola de la Mora 20 2 February 7, 8, 14 y 15 M. en C. E. Karla Valdez 20 2 February 21, 22 y 28 de ; March 1 M. en T. I. Michelle Cecilia Arriola de la Mora 30 3 March 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 M. en T. I. Annie Smyrna Hernández Zárate 20 2 March 28 and ; April 4 and 5 L. en L.H. José Alberto García Ventura M. en T. I. Annie Smyrna Hernández Zárate M. en C. E. Laurent Slowack R. 20 2 20 2 20 2 M. en C. E. Laurent Slowack R. 20 2 M. en T. MezaCuervo Elena 20 2 April 11 and ;May 9 and 16 May 17, 24, 30 and 31 June 6, 7, 13 and 14 June 20, 21, 27 and 28 July 4, 5, 25 and 26 M. en T. I. Karen Bibiana Camarena Gutiérrez M. en T. I. Michelle Cecilia Arriola de la Mora 20 2 30 3 M. en T. I. Katina Fernández Cedi Dr. en D. Miguel A. Marmolejo Cervantes 20 2 20 2 Mtra. Ma. Bautista 20 2 I.Beatriz Teresa De Lira August 1, 2, 8 and 9 August 16, 22, 23, 29 and 30; September 5 September 6, 12, 13 and 19 September 20, 26, 27; October 3 October 4, 10, 11 and 17 167 �Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Note. Some teaching dates are not consecutive due to holidaydates and holiday periods. 168 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2792 Title A name given to the resource Designing a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course Author Author Villalobos Nájera, Luis Armando Abstract A summary of the resource. The objective of this paper is to share the experiences regarding the design and implementation of a Translation and Interpretation Diploma Course (TIDC) in a public university located in central Mexico.The main point of designing and implementing the diploma course was to produce a new generation of translators and interpreters, since a number of BA in ELT graduates from local universities,as well as many other translators from the region, wish to grow professionally in both translation and interpretation areas.Moreover, the implementation of this diploma course was necessarybecause no institutions in this region offer a course of this kind. The TIDCwas designed taking into account the demand for professional translators and interpreters derived from the industrial and commercial growth in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The curriculum for the TIDCconsists of 14 modulescentered on thetheoretical aspects of translation and thetranslation practice of financial, scientific, technical and legal texts. Spanish writing, terminology, and CAT tools training are also part of the curriculum.The students are also introduced to Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation using theappropriate interpretation equipment.Allacademic staffinvited to collaborate in this program hold an MA in Translation and Interpretation. They are also certified translators and currently teach translation and interpretation in various universities. Most of them belong to translators and interpreters associations. Key words: translation theory, translation training, interpretation, syllabus, design, implementation. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015 Keywords Keywords. Article PeerReviewed L Education (General),LE Individual institutions (America except United States)