Modelling CSR: How Managers Understand the Responsibilities of Business Towards Society

The purpose of this article is to develop a model of how managers perceive the responsibilities of business towards society. The article is based on the survey responses of more than 1,000 managers in eight large international firms. It is concluded that the managerial perceptions of societal responsibilities differ in some respects from the mainstream models found in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics literature. The article is an output of RESPONSE: an EU- and corporate-funded research project on managerial perceptions of CSR.     

Chinese Consumer Market: Continual Emergence of New Business Patterns

In 2020,the Chinese consumer market will further face the challenge of the weakening demographic dividend and flow dividend.Although the consumer industry is still growing steadily overall,the industry has entered a new stage of stock competition,demand differentiation and accelerated innovation.     

CSR and the Mediated Emergence of Strategic Ambiguity

We develop a framework for understanding how lack of clarity in business press coverage of corporate social responsibility functions as a mediated and emergent form of strategic ambiguity. Many stakeholders expect CSR to exhibit clarity, consistency, and discursive closure. But stakeholders also expect CSR to conform to varying degrees of both formal and substantive rationality. These diverse expectations conflict with each other and change over time. A content analysis of press coverage in Denmark suggests that the business media reflect and amplify the ambiguity generated by these shifting demands. We propose that this very public lack of discursive closure provides strategic advantages to CSR stakeholders by rendering the concept of CSR adaptable, resilient, and meaningful to diverse interests. From this perspective, strategic ambiguity emerges from a relational and mediated process, not from the direct intentions of individual stakeholders. Our framework suggests that CSR is best understood not as a clear or consistent agenda, but rather as a forum for sensemaking, diversity of opinion, and debate over the conflicting social norms and expectations attached to corporate activity.     

毕马威全球调查显示:CSR报告呈现新趋势

最近毕马威发布的2011年全球企业社会责任调查报告显示,可持续发展报告已经变成全球潮流,且速度正不断增加。如此一来,是否需要发布报告已经不需要考虑,反而必须考虑什么时候发布。毕马威每三年会进行一次全球性调研,分析可持续发展报告的现况及最新趋势。该调研首先会研究全球500强企业中的前250家(简称"G250");另一方面会针对不同地区34个国家的100强企业(简称"N100")进行调研——这应该是目前市场里企业范围最广的调研。     

CSR： New Engine of Economic Recovery

Nowadays, China has more and more focused Corporate Social Responsibility （CSR）. From October 2009, more than 600 Chinese companies have released CSR reports. According to statistics from China WTO Tribune, in 2009 China issued a total of 631 CSR reports, 3.73 times more than that released in 2008. On June 5, 2010, at the Fifth International CSR Forum, the ＂2009 GoldenBee CSR China Honor Roll＂ was held in Beijing. The Forum also released the ＂2009 China CSR Practice Benchmark Report＂,     

企业社会责任:深圳治市新理念

深圳对CSR的赞同和推动不仅体现在理念倡导和政策研讨上，而且已经落实到具体行动。执法是政府的职责，也是政府推进CSR的重要手段。过往的经验证明，要促使企业承担社会责任，光有“大棒”还不行，还应该要有“胡萝卜”，这样才能达到事半功倍的效果。因此，深圳将会借鉴企业社会责任运动有益的经验，创设“胡萝卜”，以经济手段，标准化手段推进CSR。[编者按]     

日本CSR新趋势:信息分享 多方参与

在6月5日第八届中国企业社会责任国际论坛上,日本企业市民协议会(CBCC)指导委员会委员、日本电气株式会社(NEC)企业社会责任经理Keisuke Ota以NEC的实践为例,介绍了日本CSR的最新趋势。实现信息分享与利益相关方参与Keisuke Ota表示,日本企业的挑战不仅是面对行业竞争者,更包括全球供应链、价值链上的任何一个部分,因此CBCC会员企业开展的活动包括两个部分,一是信息的分享,二是利益相关方的参与。对于日本的公司来说,让各个领域有关方参与将能够促进全球化的合作伙伴关系,同时也能够在企业经营中     

企业社会责任:推进和谐社会建设的有力途径——中欧企业社会责任高层论坛纪要

2006年7月12日,由中国——欧盟世贸项目组织、欧盟企业总司联合中国国家发展和改革委员会共同主办了“中欧企业社会责任高层论坛”,为中国推进CSR事业以及中欧之间加强在CSR方面的交流与合作开拓了新的空间。     

Bridging Business and Society: The Abrinq Foundation in Brazil

This article presents the process of creation and expansion of the Fundação Abrinq pelos Direitos da Criança et do Adolescente (Abrinq Foundation for Rights of Children and Adolescents). Established in 1990 by a group of entrepreneurs from the Brazilian Toy Manufacturers’ Association (ABRINQ), the Fundação Abrinq has been successful at raising the issue of children in Brazilian society by bridging business and several other sectors of society. This article more particularly examines (1) the societal challenges related to the situation of children in Brazil; (2) the creation and development of the Abrinq Foundation; and (3) the achievements of this innovative bridging organization over 15 years.     

Technological Hares and Business Tortoises: The Halifax Building Society

The financial sector is full of technological hares attempting, but never quite winning, the business race. This paper explores an alternative - successful - competitor, the business tortoise. Using a recently conducted case study, the Halifax Building Society, this paper considers the value of building organisational skills for lasting competitive success in this sector.     

The Emergence of a New Regime: Business Management and Office Mechanisation in the Dutch Financial Sector in the 1920s

During the 1920s the methods, procedures and technologies used in the Dutch office workers' sector to conduct administrative processes underwent sweeping changes. New management styles, office methods and information technologies were introduced. These changes were closely related to each other, and served as a new organisational model for large-scale office activities. We may therefore speak of the emergence of a new ‘regime’ of office organisation. Important elements of the new regime were the standardisation and formalisation of internal communication flows, the introduction of systematic analyses of office operations and the use of punched card technology. In this article the causes, characteristics and consequences of this regime shift are traced by closely examining a couple of reorganisation projects that took place in the 1920s at two different Dutch financial institutions, one of which was successful and one of which amounted to a failure. These institutions were the Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging (Robaver) and the national Giro Service. The cases demonstrate that the different elements of the new regime were closely connected, and that the new management styles and office methods were indispensable for the successful introduction of the new information technology.     

Concepts and Definitions of CSR and Corporate Sustainability: Between Agency and Communion

This paper provides an overview of the contemporary debate on the concepts and definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Sustainability (CS). The conclusions, based on historical perspectives, philosophical analyses, impact of changing contexts and situations and practical considerations, show that "one solution fits all"-definition for CS(R) should be abandoned, accepting various and more specific definitions matching the development, awareness and ambition levels of organizations.     

Ethical Business and Investment: A Model for Business and Society

Two key questions lie at the heart of the business challenge for business ethics: is it possible for business and investors to do well while doing good; and if so, how can this be achieved? This paper adopts an international investment perspective to address these questions. It demonstrates that it is possible for business and investors to achieve a triple bottom line of environmental, social and financial performance. A new integrated model of Ethical Business including an Ethical Scorecard performance measurement technology is presented based on international ethical investment criteria and case studies of businesses rated highly by ethical investors. Ethical Performance Scores are presented for these businesses and New Zealand business. Examples from New Zealand are presented to illustrate the Ethical Scorecard and ethical business practice. The model and scoring system provide a basis for international benchmarking of ethical business to assist investors, managers and researchers.     

Different Paths to Collaboration Between Businesses and Civil Society and the Role of Third Parties

In this article, we suggest that one of the unexplored paths toward collaboration between firms and civil society organizations starts with confrontation or potential conflict, and that the transition toward collaboration can be further understood if one focuses on triadic relationships rather than dyadic ones. We analyze the presence of third parties and their different roles to explain how collaboration is facilitated. The article aims at bringing together the bodies of research on business–civil society confrontation and on business–civil society collaboration. It offers a comparative analysis of four case studies, and proposes a typology of third parties composed of facilitating allies, participating allies, mediators, and solution seekers. We conclude with some implications for further research as well as for practice.     

The Space Between: Towards a Typology of Interfirm Relations

ABSTRACT

Understanding and managing the relationships between firms is the central issue in business to business marketing. Some of the results of a program of research undertaken in Australia to study interfirm relations are used to develop an empirically based typology of interfirm relations focusing on the mix of cooperative and competitive elements coexisting in a relationship. Measures are developed of relationship cooperativeness and competitiveness and relations are classified into one of four types based on whether they score high or low on each dimension. A dynamic process model of interfirm relationships is developed as a basis for identifying the main factors driving relationship development. Measures of these factors form the basis for regression analysis to identify the characteristics of each of the four types of relations and examples of particular relationships are used to illustrate the characteristics identified.