Looking at both sides, outcomes of positive workplace relational systems: A phenomenological study.

Relational systems are like a gear wheel in organizational processes that keeps employees connected and moving. These relationships are developed and maintained within the work environment for task accomplishment. But these relational systems are originating other outcomes that directly and indirectly affect the organizational process. The present study aimed to explore the outcomes of positive workplace relational systems. Under qualitative phenomenological approach followed a classical content analysis technique employed to analyze the data collected from 20 Bank employees through semi-structured interviews. The data analysis revealed that outcomes of positive relational systems varied depending on the duration and quality of relationships. Organizational culture identified as an important factor that influences the quality of relationships and their outcomes. The data analysis revealed that positive workplace relational systems along with positive behavioral outcomes also develop negative outcomes among employees such as perception of organizational politics. This study argued that outcomes of positive workplace relational systems depend on the perception and need satisfaction of participants. The result highlighted the important areas for individuals and organizations to consider in the context of relationship management, developing interpersonal skills in employees, and encouraging relationship generosity. It will help to enhance the well-being of employees and improve organizational performance.

Do investors penalize the firms disclosing higher environmental performance? a cross cultural evidence.

Climate change discourse integrates 3Ps - people, planet, and profit. However, we do not find any empirical study that integrates 3Ps. Therefore, using a large global panel dataset from 46 countries, this study intends to fill this gap by providing empirical evidence about investors' value proposition of corporate climate performance in different cultural environments. The results show that Hofstede's cultural dimensions affect corporate climate performance and its market pricing. We find that in cultures with high power distance, low individualism, high masculinity, high uncertainty avoidance, high long-term orientation, and high restraint, the investors generally penalize the firms disclosing higher environmental performance. Strangely enough, corporate waste production is universally value irrelevant. Our results indicate some policy implications.

The nexus between corporate environment, social, and governance performance and cost of capital: evidence from top global tech leaders.

The nexus between corporate environment, social, and governance (ESG) performance and the consequent financial performance have been extensively explored in the literature. However, little is known whether the investment in ESG endeavors has any implication for the cost of capital of an enterprise. The present study investigates the impact of ESG performance of top global technology leading firms on their cost of capital. Panel data fixed effects and random effects and generalized method of moment (GMM) regression estimation techniques have been applied to ascertain this relationship during a period of eight years (2010-2017). For a deeper insight, we segregate the cost of capital into the cost of equity and cost of debt. The empirical outcomes reveal that ESG performance is positively associated with both measures of the cost of capital i.e., cost of equity and cost of debt. It suggests that socially responsible top global technology leaders bear a higher cost of capital as investors perceive ESG as an additional financial burden and do not treat ESG costs as a value-added factor. Hence, corporate managers shall rationalize investment in ESG undertakings to curtail their cost of capital. Based on these findings, the policy prescriptions are discussed for the concerned stakeholders.

Does corporate environmental investment impede financial performance of Chinese enterprises? The moderating role of financial constraints.

China has emerged as the world's largest pollutant emitter due to rapid industrialization and a remarkable economic upsurge in recent decades. Rising carbon emissions have exerted more social and regulatory pressure on Chinese corporations to undertake environmental protection investments. However, the implications of such investments on the financial fundamentals of a firm remain unclear. Especially, little is known about how environmental protection investments affect the performance of financially constrained firms. This study explores the mediating role of financial constraints in the nexus between corporate environmental protection investment and the accounting and market performance of Chinese listed firms during 2009-2016. The empirical outcomes of the generalized method of moments (GMM)-based regressions reveal that environmental investments of non-constrained firms have a positive impact on the accounting and market performance of such firms as measured by ROA and Tobin's q, respectively. Interestingly, environmental protection investments have a significant negative association with both (i.e., the accounting and market) performance proxies of firms that are facing financial constraints. These findings imply that in pursuit of environment preservation and pollution abatement, regulators shall provide more financial flexibility and enabling environment to financially constrained firms to optimize their role in pollution abatement. Besides, financially non-constrained firms shall be assigned greater environmental responsibility to undertake a proportionately higher environmental investment than financially constrained firms.