Sustainability in times of crisis : an empirical look into the relationship between financial and CSR performance during times of crises

Abstract

From Financial Crisis to Environmental Disasters to protests, corporations are facing numerous crisis that they must navigate through. As a result, corporations may find it hard to justify the need to invest into sustainable business and Corporate Social Responsibility plans, as the inevitability of a crisis gives managers strong incentives to instead avoid sustainable business, and instead invest resources into maintaining the profitability of the firm, and increasing business. The thesis first evaluates the existing literature to determine that there is greater significance to CSR as there are studies that provide evidence that there is a link between CSR and Financial Performance. The thesis then further analyses that CSR shares many of the similar features to crisis within the Crisis management literature, expressing the need for firms to evaluate sustainability not only as a tool for profitability but as an important crisis management and risk mitigation tool. The thesis performs a Multi Linear Regression to evaluate the relationship between Financial Performance and Sustainability through five defined periods of crisis. The findings of the thesis demonstrate there is evidence that CSR helps to mitigate the risks that a firm faces during times of crises, and as a result of risk mitigation helps improve a firm’s financial performance especially during times of hardships.