Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that more sustainable sourcing policies by many multinational companies are having on the suppliers located in developing countries such as Vietnam. Questions are raised about the process through which CSR is reaching the country.

The research was conducted in Vietnam thanks to the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) Regional Office. The survey was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire that was used as a support during the direct interviews and was sent electronically when the preferred method of on‐site visits was not possible. A total of 25 Vietnamese enterprises were involved in the research.

The results achieved highlight, on the one hand, how CSR does make business sense even in a developing country such as Vietnam and, on the other, the difficulties related to the way requirements of sustainability are moving from Northern consumers to suppliers in Vietnam.

This process calls for new forms of collaboration involving firms along the supply chain, local authorities, international players, and civil society.

The paper points out the unsustainability of the process through which corporate responsibility is being imposed on Vietnamese suppliers and how CSR, having become a mandatory requirement for access to international markets, might transform itself into a new type of technical barrier to trade. Therefore, CSR needs to be fostered rather than imposed, through the creation of innovative partnerships and locally‐rooted solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the crisis of the business profession and the role that management education can play in renewing business management. It is argued that unless future managers demonstrate that they serve the common good in their daily practice, the legitimacy and moral standing of the business profession remain questionable.

The paper presents the Masters in International Management Program of CEMS – Global Alliance in Management Education as a pioneering example of developing reflective and responsible managers.

The future manager is defined as a reflexive practitioner who is committed to environmental sustainability, exercises social responsibility, works with sensitivity toward gender and diversity issues, harmonizes information and communications technologies with processes and organizational culture, applies holistic perspective in problem solving, cooperates with social and political actors, and is engaged in progressive entrepreneurship.

The paper shows that responsibility can be successfully integrated into a global management education curriculum.

This paper seeks to investigate the influence of the increasingly sustainable sourcing policies of many multinational companies on suppliers located in developing countries such as Vietnam. The focus is the process through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is reaching this Southeast Asian country.

The research was conducted in Vietnam through the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's (UNIDO) regional office. The survey was based on a questionnaire used during direct interviews or sent out electronically when onsite visits were not possible. The research involved 25 Vietnamese enterprises.

The results reveal, on the one hand, how CSR makes business sense even in a developing country such as Vietnam and, on the other hand, the difficulties of maintaining sustainability as products move from northern consumers to Vietnamese suppliers. This process calls for more collaborative models of governance among the companies along the supply chain, local authorities, international players, and civil society at large.

This paper highlights the unsustainable process through which corporate responsibility is being imposed on Vietnamese suppliers and how CSR, now required for access to international markets, might eventually turn into a new form of protectionism. To avoid this, CSR must be supported, rather than imposed, through building innovative partnerships and through a demand‐driven educational agenda.

This paper aims to examine the strategic implications of stakeholder engagement in emerging economies.

The author examines a range of current theories that address the question of “why corporate morality pays”, most notably instrumental stakeholder theory. The focus is not on theoretical validity but the institutional assumptions that underpin the theory. It then compares these assumptions with the reality in emerging economies to challenge the universality of the theory.

Existing interpretations of stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are heavily influenced by the west and developed countries. Only when firm‐stakeholder interactions are overwhelmingly rule‐governed will developing a trustworthy and cooperative relationship with stakeholders result in competitiveness.

A warning to CSR managers and multinational corporations that pursue competitive advantages in emerging economies such as China and India.

A new, critical approach to rethink stakeholder management in a cross‐border/cultural context.

This paper sets out to investigate the effect of differences in national cultures on the social and environmental performance of companies around the world.

Theoretical propositions on how the various dimensions of national culture influence corporate social responsibility are developed and empirically tested.

The authors propose that companies based in countries characterized by higher levels of power distance, individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance exhibit lower levels of social and environmental performance. Empirical tests of these propositions are performed via pooled ordinary least squares regression models using a novel proprietary dataset on 463 firms from 23 North American, European and Asian countries. Power distance and masculinity are found to have a significant negative effect on corporate social and environmental performance, whereas cultural differences with respect to individualism and uncertainty avoidance have no significant effect.

The potential contribution of this work lies in offering empirical evidence to test the widely held assumption that corporations' socially responsible behavior is influenced by the cultural context in their home country. The adoption and the external appreciation of this kind of behavior does appear to be contingent on specific dimensions of national culture, but not on others. Thus, positive social change through voluntary corporate action may be optimized via initiatives that build on specific cultural values in the relevant country.

This paper aims to offer the Italian Banking Association's view on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as the strategic management of a firm that is multistakeholder‐oriented and that is careful to produce value for all those with whom the firm has relationships and daily interchange.

The strategic approach outlined, which gives rise to a variety of activities in different firms, is shared by the banks that have worked on the subject. This contribution falls within the logical framework on CSR developed by ABI, interested banks, and stakeholders that have been provided, analyzing the central role of stakeholder engagement.

The paper presents the modular approach given to CSR and the need for integrating CSR into the “fundamental strategic orientation” of a bank, in order to mainstream CSR into the heart of business theory and practice.

The paper contains a brief reflection on stakeholder engagement, its main challenges and open questions. Finally some possible practical steps are suggested.

This paper seeks to demonstrate that a specific business/education partnership model – bridge to employment (BTE) – benefits society by re‐establishing the critical connection between academic achievement and practical application, i.e. the connection between the world of school and the world of work. Representatives of the corporation engage community stakeholders to identify opportunities in the schools where Johnson & Johnson support and volunteerism can help make a difference in the lives of young people.

The paper reports on an existing school to career program that was developed in the USA but has recently been adapted to meet the needs of Ireland's education community.

Past research has shown the importance of linking academic studies with real world applications to improve educational outcomes for pre‐college students. The BTE program has been shown to have positive benefits for students, schools, communities and Johnson & Johnson employees. In addition, BTE may provide a possible solution to the declining number of students pursuing health care careers.

This paper looks at a unique US‐based business/education intervention from the perspective of stakeholder engagement. Second, the paper provides an example of a US education model's application to a European Union context.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the changing role of governments promoting corporate responsibility (CR) as a result of the challenges raised by globalisation.

CR is linked to the restructuring of governments' agendas in the framework of government/private sector/civil society relationships. It is a result of the research project that applies the Relational State Model Approach to the analysis of CR public policies. The relational state situates the relations between the public and private sectors, between the state and society, in the sphere of co‐responsibility.

The paper concludes that in the UK a more systemic, national government‐centred and business‐oriented approach prevails, while Italy has a more extensive, multi‐stakeholder and multi‐level approach.

Future research should complete the comparative analysis expanding it to other European countries: northern and central European countries to analyse the difference between all European governments in order to promote CR.

The analytical framework of this paper could be used for academic, business leaders and policy makers to develop future actions in relation to CR public development.

The objective to be achieved is to understand the new political and public framework incorporating CR as a new form of governance. We compare two countries that represent two very different models of government action. The theoretical approach of the paper is based on the comparative analysis of CR governmental vision, objectives, strategies and internal government CR structure.

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement has gathered great momentum over the past number of years and is now regarded as being at its most prevalent. However, there has been a lack of attention to, and discussion of, CSR in Ireland and in relation to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to overcome both of these research gaps and provide deep understanding of the nature of CSR in Ireland. Specifically this research aims to uncover the difference between large firms and SMEs operating in Ireland with regard to their understanding of CSR, the type of CSR activities undertaken and the management of CSR. In addition, this research analyses the barriers and opportunities experienced by SMEs when undertaking CSR.

This paper reviews the relevant literature of CSR. Then, through semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 13 firms, this study analyses CSR from both a large firm and an SME perspective in an Irish context.

This paper highlights the way in which firms operating in Ireland define CSR. It differentiates between the management and activities of CSR among SMEs and large firms and uncovers barriers and opportunities experienced by SMEs when undertaking CSR.

It is hoped that this paper provides initial insights into the nature of CSR in Ireland.

This paper aims to juxtapose two separate perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in terms of their ability to explain the cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on what constitutes the social responsibility of the focal firm, and to explain social performance.

The authors take two perspectives: that of stakeholder engagement, which has historically characterized the debate on CSR; and that of internal change processes required to integrate CSR in a firm's operations. The authors analyze data from 427 interviews, of which 209 were with managers and 219 with stakeholders of 19 multinational firms in eight sectors, to assess the extent of cognitive alignment between managers and stakeholders on the conceptualization of CSR for the relevant firm, to determine which of the two theoretical perspectives is connected with the degree of cognitive alignment, and to determine which of the two is connected with the perception of corporate social performance (CSP).

The data examined show no evidence that the degree of sophistication in stakeholder engagement practices is connected with either the magnitude of cognitive gaps, or the level of CSP; whereas the degree of integration in internal operations is connected with both narrower cognitive gaps and higher CSP.

This paper tackles for the first time the problem of measuring and explaining the gaps between managers and stakeholders about their cognitive representations of CSR. The key result of the analysis is that the standard conceptualization of CSR as a stakeholder engagement process does not suffice neither to explain the variation across firms in their managers' cognitive alignment with stakeholders, nor to explain inter‐firm variation in social performance. The strongest explanation for both alignment and performance comes from the extent to which the firm has actually invested in internal change processes aimed at integrating the principles of CSR in the operations and strategies of the firm.