WIlliam Anthony Sodeman

Over the last several years, some attention has been devoted to social investing as a financial practice and as a social movement. Social investing, or ethical investing as it is sometimes called, introduces a moral dimension into the investment analysis process by allowing the selection and consideration of social criteria that are used to screen companies in the portfolio selection process (Domini & Kinder, 1984; Lowry, 1991). This paper briefly describes the social investment industries in the United States and the United Kingdom. The authors then present a fuller description of the more recently established social investing industries in Germany and Austria. The authors will discuss similarities and differences that have developed between the industries in the two English and two German-speaking countries, and discuss the current and future connections between each set of industries.

Naming rights agreements (NRAs), especially for stadiums and arenas (SNRAs), have become an integral part of sports, commerce, and government in North America over the last twenty years. While the intentions of SNRAs may be laudable, the results suggest that such agreements may be a misuse of corporate funds that results in poor corporate social performance (CSP) for the majority of stakeholders. We propose that NRAs may be a leading indicator of corporate economic and social performance for organizations, and that SNRAs carry a high degree of risk.

Stadium naming rights have become an integral part of sports, government and commerce over the last twenty years. According to a recent estimate, over US$3 billion were tied up in stadium naming rights agreements (SNRA). In a typical SNRA, an entity that controls a sports stadium agrees to sell the naming rights for that facility to a corporation. The corporation pledges stock, cash payments, or a combination of both, and primarily gains the opportunity to name the facility. The cotporation may also receive additional benefits, including luxury boxes, marketing deals, product placement and other perks. We propose that SNRA may be a leading indicator of poor corporate economic and social performance. Although the intentions of SNRAs may be laudable, the results appear to be that this may be misuse of funds that results in poor balance for the rights of the majority of stakeholders.