for this assignment focus on stake holder theory. please focus on solution according to template. in conceptual model diagram should be draw for independent , dependent and control variable. excel file should be consider for anlaysis of 60 companies although there are lot of listed companies. focus for 60 companies in terms of highest and lowest carbon disclosure. hypothesis should be mention clearly H0 and h1. research question and hypothesis should be presented by considering excel file .
NOTE: the following are not meant to be the basis for your TASK 1 – they are to give you ideas and are an attempt to illustrate the logic of an argument that culminates in hypothesis. Your Task 1 submission will be based on the theory you were assigned, and the argument that you developed for the hypothesis that you proposed in ACC620. You are allowed, and indeed encouraged, to improve on your work from ACC620. Literature Review – Agency Theory Motivation: Practical Motivation · It has been argued that we are at a tipping point with regard to climate change (find reference). · Organisations are the principal source of carbon emissions (reference). · Organisations have the greatest potential for making the necessary changes to reduce carbon emissions (reference). · Climate change brings significant risks for organisations (reference) and therefore the value of shareholders’ investment (reference). Some previous research has found links between environmental performance and share price (reference). · Performance evaluation and reward are the mechanisms through which the shareholders’ interests are protected (reference). Including targets and performance-based incentives (reference). · Setting targets is difficult because there is not much experience in the management of emissions (reference, or lack or reference if that is the case). Theoretical Motivation · The effects of targets and incentives have been studied extensively in the context of financial performance (reference) but not non-financial performance (reference). There have been calls for more research on the operation of targets for non-financial performance (references) · Understanding the effects of targets for environmental performance is particularly interesting because of information asymmetry regarding environmental performance (my idea). It is a relatively new area of strategic importance for many firms (reference that supports my argument). · Previous research has found that challenging targets lead to increased target completion (reference) but no previous studies have considered the factors that explain the choice of difficult or easy targets related to environmental performance (I need to keep looking for this, have not found anything yet.). · To be effective, targets should be difficult but achievable (reference, could be to a textbook). · Previous research has not considered the extent to which managers build slack into the setting of environmental performance targets. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Base theory – Agency Theory (This is based on Ioannou, I, Li, S. X & G. Serafeim (2016) The effect of target difficulty on target completion:The case of reducing carbon emissions, The Accounting Review, Vol 91 (5), pp. 1467 – 1492). http://ezproxy.usc.edu.au:2048/login?url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=d3155d5e-c1b7-43b4-bd35-838dc5f0b1b0%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=117433145 http://ezproxy.usc.edu.au:2048/login?url=https://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=d3155d5e-c1b7-43b4-bd35-838dc5f0b1b0%40sessionmgr4008 · Seminal Articles · Separation of ownership and control (reference), · Agency costs of Monitoring, Bonding and Residual Loss (Reference) · Setting targets and linking incentives to performance (reference) are important ways to bond an agent’s behaviour to the interests of the principal (reference). · In the presence of information asymmetry agents have an incentive to create slack in their targets (reference). · Theoretical Constructs and operational proxies · Slack (Dependent Variable) Previous research has considered the budgetary process and the incentives of managers to set easy targets to: · Increase their remuneration · Decrease the required effort · Be able to achieve the target even if unexpected factors arise. · Need to find out how slack has been operationalised in the budgetary slack literature and apply it to the carbon emissions. Perhaps the budget difficulty relative to the industry average or extent to which targets are achieved. · Information Asymmetry (Independent Variable) · Information asymmetry decreases over time. Measured as the number of previous years that the organisation has been setting targets for carbon emissions. · Relationships between proxies · Previous research · Find that challenging targets lead to greater target completion (reference), but that performance based incentives moderate the effect (reference). · The manager has a better understanding of possible potential performance than does the shareholder/ investor. · When there is information asymmetry and performance-based incentives, managers have an incentive to create slack in their targets (reference). · Predict that when information asymmetry is high (low) target slack will be high (low). · Performance based incentives will increase the pressure to create target slack. Hypothesis 1: Target slack will be greater in the first year in which targets are set. Hypothesis 2: Target slack will be greater in the presence of performance based incentives. Literature Review – Legitimacy Theory Motivation: Practical Motivation · It has been argued that we are at a tipping point with regard to climate change (find reference). · Organisations are the principal source of carbon emissions (reference). Organisations have the greatest potential for making the necessary changes to reduce carbon emissions (reference). · Societal concern for the environment has escalated (reference) · Government regulation regarding carbon emissions is increasing (regulation). · Organisations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their commitment to minimising their contribution to climate change to avoid further increases in regulation (reference). Theoretical Motivation · Previous legitimacy theory research has focussed on voluntary disclosure (e.g., reference) · Conflicting research on whether firms are more likely to voluntarily disclose when their performance is good, or bad (reference). · Previous research has not considered the targets (reference, or the fact that no references can be found). Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Base theory – Legitimacy Theory · Seminal Articles · Social Contracts (reference) · Legitimacy and responses (reference) · Responses to legitimacy problem (reference) · change attitudes about what is acceptable (set low targets) · change behaviour and communicate the improved performance. Set challenging targets · draw attention away from the poor performance by highlighting something else. Firms, or firms in industries, facing a legitimacy crisis from some other cause use CDP disclosure to try to distract attention (consider Nike, Oil and Gas Industry…)Setting targets as a way to demonstrate commitment (reference if it can be found or create argument) · Theoretical Constructs and operational proxies · Voluntary Reduction Target (Dependent Variable) · Target disclosed in CDP · Legitimacy problem or crisis (Independent Variable) · Environmentally damaging industries identified by (reference) or industries with high levels of carbon emissions · Societal Concern (moderating variable) · Survey of concern about climate change score for the country in which the firm operates. · Relationships between proxies · When faced with a legitimacy problem organisations with good performance will seek to communicate that performance (set challenging targets). Firms with bad performance will seek to change attitudes about what is acceptable (set low targets). Literature Review – Stakeholder Theory Motivation: Practical Motivation · Climate change has the potential to have huge consequences for the governments, customers, and the general population. · Organisations are the principal source of carbon emissions (reference). Organisations have the greatest potential for making the necessary changes to reduce carbon emissions (reference). · Organisations have a moral responsibility to consider the impact that they have on their various stakeholders (reference). · Stakeholders are increasingly putting pressure on organisations to manage their carbon emissions. Theoretical Motivation · Previous Stakeholder theory research has focussed on voluntary disclosure (e.g., reference) · Previous research has not considered the pressure of stakeholders to establish challenging targets (reference, or the fact that no references can be found yet). Literature Review and Hypothesis Development Base theory – Stakeholder Theory · Seminal Articles · Stakeholders versus Shareholders (reference) · Managerial branch of Stakeholder Theory (reference) · Theoretical Constructs and operational proxies · Voluntary Reduction Target (Dependent Variable) · Target disclosed in CDP · Stakeholder Power (Independent Variable) · Relative size within industry? Relative power according to Porter’s forces of customer versus supplier? · Choose an industry that high powered and low powered firms can be identified. · Size or national concern for climate change (moderating variable) · Relationships between proxies · Low powered firms will be more likely to respond to the pressure of their powerful stakeholders. · Suppliers to powerful firms (such as Adidas, Nike, Apple) will be more likely to adopt challenging emissions targets when their customer declares a commitment to sustainability. MGT723 Task 1 Research Proposal Marking Rubric The plan and breakdown of the marks is as follows: · Literature Review – Summary: A summary (maximum 1 page) of the theoretical argument leading to the conceptual model with theoretical constructs clearly identified. /20 · Conceptual Model: Theoretical constructs are identified and the relationships between them clearly shown in a diagram. /20 · Hypotheses: include your hypotheses · Theoretical constructs operationalised: · Identification of three additional proxy measures relevant to your theoretical constructs. Be sure to identify measures that you will be able to collect for your assigned companies. /20 · Choice of proxies from the data supplied and your additional measures: complete the table showing the proxy, the related theoretical construct, and whether it is a dependent (DV), independent (IV), or control variable (CV). /15 · Research Method: describe the research method that you will employ to test your hypothesis. /15 · Spelling, Grammar and Referencing: Correct and consistent referencing and flawless spelling and grammar