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| 1 |
ID:
078989
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2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
How far can Corporate Social Responsibility (csr) initiatives help to address poverty, social exclusion and other development challenges? What is the balance of responsibilities between state, market and civil society in addressing these problems and meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals (mdgs)? What new tools, strategies and methodologies are required to harness the positive potential contribution of business to development and deter corporate irresponsibility? This special issue brings together a dynamic mix of academics and development specialists to address these themes in a focused and innovative way. In this introductory article, we consider some of the key cross-cutting themes and insights raised by the contributions. The aim of the introduction and the special issue is to start to fill the gap in our understanding of how, when and through what means business can help to reduce poverty, while recognising the equally powerful potential of the business community to exacerbate poverty. Taking particular csr initiatives as a starting point, we seek to look at the broader developmental footprint of business-as-usual strategies, as well as those which fall under the banner of csr, to gain a fuller picture of how business is implicated in the development process.
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| 2 |
ID:
086012
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2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Product (RED) initiative was launched by Bono at Davos in 2006. Product RED is 'a brand created to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by teaming up with iconic brands to produce RED-branded products'. With the engagement of American Express, Apple, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark and Motorola, consumers can help HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. They can do so simply by shopping, as a percentage of profits from Product (RED) lines goes to support the Global Fund. In this article we examine how the corporations that are part of this initiative use RED to build up their brand profiles, sell products and/or portray themselves as both 'caring' and 'cool'. We also show that, more than simply being another example of cause-related marketing (like the pink ribbon campaign or the ubiquitous plastic armbands), RED engages corporations in profitable 'helping' while simultaneously pushing the agenda of corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards solving the problems of 'distant others'
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| 3 |
ID:
151752
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| Summary/Abstract |
The global restructuring of state–society relationships driven by neoliberal logic has not only allowed for the taming of the ‘state’, which has paradoxically accentuated its inadequacies, but has also facilitated, for better or for worse, the emergence of business – especially transnational corporations – as a major political force in global governance. Consequently, while the issues of peace and conflict have traditionally been the concern of governments, businesses are now increasingly being expected to make peace and conflict their concern. However, despite claims and counterclaims that businesses can be moneymakers and peacemakers, analyses of the relationship between business and peace remain largely embryonic. This paper seeks to contribute to this emerging business and peace debate by drawing on insights from the Niger Delta conflict to ascertain what we know and what we need to know if businesses are to become peacemakers in conflict zones in Africa.
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| 4 |
ID:
156257
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| Summary/Abstract |
China’s rapidly growing outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI) has attracted a great deal of concern about its impact on the recipient countries. But so far there has been little research on what effect the “going-out” strategy has had on China itself. This is an important question to study because the answer to it will shed light on what kind of an international actor China is becoming as it becomes further integrated with the global economy and what outside influence there can be on China’s domestic governance reform. This article explores the effect of investing overseas on Chinese companies in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Through an analysis of an original sample of data, the authors find preliminary evidence of a positive impact of OFDI on Chinese companies’ commitment to CSR. More research will be needed to uncover the mechanisms and limitations of this apparent trend toward institutional convergence.
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| 5 |
ID:
143576
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| Summary/Abstract |
Globally there is an increasing focus on the private sector as a significant development actor. One element of the private sector’s role emphasised within this new focus has been corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, whereby the private sector claims to contribute directly to local development. There is now a substantial body of work on CSR but it is a literature that is mostly polarised, dominated by concerns from the corporate perspective, and not adequately theorised. Corporations typically do development differently from NGOs and donors, yet the nature and effects of these initiatives are both under-researched and under-conceptualised. In this paper we argue that viewing CSR initiatives through a community development lens provides new insights into their rationale and effects. Specifically we develop a conceptual framework that draws together agency and practice-centred approaches in order to illuminate the processes and relationships that underpin corporate community development initiatives.
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| 6 |
ID:
184647
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| Summary/Abstract |
A handful of companies dominate the world’s shipping industry. These firms have gained political leverage over the global governance of container shipping in particular. Intriguingly, in recent years the Danish conglomerate Maersk—the world’s biggest container and shipping vessel company since the mid-1990s—has been using its influence to push for higher environmental standards for the industry as a whole. To some extent these initiatives are helping to promote environmental efficiencies, cleaner fuels, and greener technology. But they are also raising costs for small and midsized companies with extremely low profit margins, further enhancing the competitiveness of the biggest shipping conglomerates in an increasingly oligopolistic market. While voluntary self-governance by companies such as Maersk is incrementally improving the environmental management of global shipping, it is also further concentrating governance power within a few transnational corporations, potentially taking more ambitious regulation off the agenda.
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| 7 |
ID:
062045
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| Publication |
May 2005.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been adopted as an approach to international development. But who does it benefit and in what ways? Most importantly, does it allow certain interest groups to redefine the meaning of international development success?
This article examines the historical relationship between business and development and compares how expectations of business as exemplified through CSR practices differ from those in the past. It then looks at the role and expectations of business in developing countries and proposes two tests for assessing if CSR makes a positive contribution to development goals based on whether it redefines the meaning of good business practice in the interests of the poor and marginalized, and if it helps development practitioners to manage more effectively the possibility and consequences of global capitalism for poor countries.
The article argues that the interests of business are not adequately aligned with those of the poor, and explains why CSR does little to redress this. It argues that the business case in some instances overrides the developmental case for certain actions, and that business thinking is increasingly evident in the policies and practices of international development. Although CSR may have a positive contribution to make in some circumstances, its limitations need to be understood if development's case for involving business is not to be subsumed by business reasons for engaging with (and by-passing) developing countries.
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| 8 |
ID:
115710
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2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Corporations have increasingly turned to voluntary, multi-stakeholder governance programs to monitor workers' rights and standards in global supply chains. This article argues that the emphasis of these programs varies significantly depending on stakeholder involvement and issue areas under examination. Corporate-influenced programs are more likely to emphasize detection of violations of minimal standards in the areas of wages, hours, and occupational safety and health because focusing on these issues provides corporations with legitimacy and reduces the risks of uncertainty created by activist campaigns. In contrast, these programs are less likely to emphasize workers' rights to form democratic and independent unions, bargain, and strike because these rights are perceived as lessening managerial control without providing firms with significant reputational value. This argument is explored by coding 805 factory audits of the Fair Labor Association between 2002 and 2010, followed by case studies of Russell Athletic in Honduras, Apple in China, and worker rights monitoring in Vietnam.
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| 9 |
ID:
148398
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| Summary/Abstract |
Examining the oil and gas industry in the Russian Arctic, this article investigates the gap between corporate social responsibility (CSR) as articulated in corporate offices and implemented at the local level. In Russia, global CSR norms interact with weak formal institutions and the strong informal expectations of state officials and local communities that companies bear responsibility for welfare and infrastructure. As a result, the concept of citizens as ‘stakeholders’ is underdeveloped. Instead, local residents remain subjects within a neo-paternalist system of governance that mimics some elements of the Soviet past. Compensation for damages to indigenous peoples has blurred legal obligations and the voluntary nature of CSR. However, the CSR in the region is constantly developing and formal methods of compensation may assist in clarifying the scope and practice of CSR.
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| 10 |
ID:
118981
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| 11 |
ID:
175880
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This research article examines new stakeholder businesses in Tongcheng and Huaining, two counties in Anhui province, China, as cases for a comparative analysis of the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in supporting education in China's rural areas. The research primarily utilises interviews with personnel from the local education bureau, rural schools and related corporations. The study suggests that CSR has promoted rural education in Tongcheng and Huaining through various channels, including foundations, local non-governmental organisations, government agencies and direct involvement. However, most CSR involvement is highly vulnerable, owing to the lack of institutionalisation and formalisation of CSR behaviour. Additionally, the inappropriate administrative practices of governments and the unreliable fund distribution channels are impediments to advancing CSR. The study demonstrates that CSR is a rapidly developing concept in China, with strong untapped potential to improve rural education if current obstacles can be removed.
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| 12 |
ID:
169892
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| Summary/Abstract |
The retail industry is one of the top 10 most carbon-intensive sectors. This paper is original in addressing what has changed in corporate retail with the Paris Agreement, accessing trends to decarbonize the sector. A qualitative comparison was performed regarding the policy, strategy and energy-related building solutions of the top 27 global retailers, ranked according to their revenue, regarding the reporting periods of 2014–2015 and 2016–2017. For each retailer, data were searched on retailers’ sustainability reports was organized in different tables according to the variables policy, strategy and energy-related building practice. A comparison analysis was carried out, in order to identify differentiating decarbonizing measures.
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| 13 |
ID:
104437
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| 14 |
ID:
116503
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| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Recently, the presumed benefits of corporate social responsibility have become an important issue, especially for China where institutional settings are quite different from other parts of the world. Using an internationally accepted benchmark (OECD's Principles of Corporate Governance, OECD, 2004), this study constructs a corporate social responsibility (CSR) index to measure the quality of the corporate social responsibility practices of the 100 major Chinese listed firms during 2004-2007. This enables us to evaluate the progress of the corporate social responsibility practices of Chinese firms. The results show that Chinese companies have been making progress in their corporate social responsibility practices. The findings also show that market rewards Chinese firms for improving their corporate governance practices which implies 'doing-good' leads to 'doing-well' in the equity market in China. We also find that overseas-listed and more profitable Chinese firms have better improvement in CSR practice. This study has policy implications in pushing for further CSR initiatives in other emerging markets.
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| 15 |
ID:
180699
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| Summary/Abstract |
Mining companies increasingly adopt trusts, foundations, and funds as part of their efforts to obtain and maintain a social license to operate and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies for community development. Using qualitative methodology, this article examined host communities’ perceptions of two mining company-financed trust funds in Ghana. The interviews revealed that although the community members considered some aspects of the trust funds positively, the trust funds’ overall objectives to promote meaningful participation of local community members and contribute to local development had not been met. Inadequate planning and needs assessments, and inflexibility in externally framed CSR practices that were unfavorable to the operational contexts, were among the key factors undermining the success of the trust funds.
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| 16 |
ID:
140962
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| Summary/Abstract |
In this article we first point out that the different conceptualisations of Fair Trade, which are sometimes analytically contradictory, actually form a coordinated set. Understanding the Fair Trade project is impossible without taking these interlinked conceptualisations into consideration. Second, this set basically forms a mechanism of structural, institutional and moral reforms that guide actions. In this way Fair Trade sets out to produce less injustice than is usually the case with the structures and institutions that govern conventional trade. Nevertheless, it does not try to define what a just society is or even to perfectly define ‘fair trade’. This implies the adoption of a comparative justice angle. It is precisely by linking comparative individual situations with the structures that produce these situations that relative justice can find its strength and purpose.
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| 17 |
ID:
182724
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This paper investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the corporate philanthropy (CP) behaviors of firms using a dataset from Chinese A-share listed firms. We find that, on average, firms decrease their CP significantly when economic policy uncertainty increases, but the response is heterogeneous for firms with different ownership types. Compared with their counterparts, private firms are willing to contribute more donations in an environment with high economic policy uncertainty. Further analysis shows that private firms take on more other types of corporate social responsibility at the same time, and private firms' additional CP in a high EPU environment is rewarded with more subsidies, indicating that altruistic and political motives may play important roles in driving the CP behaviors of private firms. There is no evidence that private firms selling products directly to consumers are more likely to engage in additional CP. Our findings indicate that the main motivation behind Chinese private firms' additional CP under high economic policy uncertainty is seeking more government resources, instead of keeping consumers loyal by maintaining good reputations during hard periods.
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| 18 |
ID:
120195
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2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article traces the evolution of China's policies aimed at promoting corporate social responsibility and sustainable investments, while assessing the extent to which its regulatory regime has succeeded in influencing the investment strategies of Chinese national companies across the developing world, specifically in Africa and the Mekong region. In an attempt to improve its international reputation, the Chinese government has stepped up its initiatives in recent years to oversee the practices of Chinese companies abroad and reorient the country's policies towards greater corporate responsibility. But while promising, these efforts have been largely impeded by weak policy implementation. As evinced from the African mining sector and the Mekong's hydropower industry, the diversity of corporate actors and their relative autonomy in making investment decisions, combined with lax governance in host countries and a long-standing concern with national development, have worked to hinder the effective regulation of Chinese overseas investments. Yet, that China, as a new country of origin of ODI, and Chinese firms are now making commitments to CSR and sustainability remains significant, indicating an important development in the country's "Going Global" strategy.
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| 19 |
ID:
114574
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| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines a major change in campaigning through the means of mass media during the reform era. As the media commercialized and partially privatized, the state has tried increasingly to involve societal actors in the production of public service advertisements (PSAs) on television. Today, PSA campaigns are initiated by state and Party units, but their funding, production and broadcasting is made possible by a collaborative effort between broadcasters, advertising companies and commercial enterprises who voluntarily support their further development. I conducted 27 in-depth interviews with officials, broadcasters and producers in Beijing to tap into the policy rationale behind the use of public service advertisements in campaigning and the incentive structure facilitating collaboration between companies and state units. Interviews with judges of PSA competitions and content analysis of price-winning advertisements reveal the standards of the central government to employ public service advertising as a means of campaigning.
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| 20 |
ID:
174562
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In recent years, non-traditional or ‘emerging’ donors such as South Korea have organised their development cooperation models in a manner that seeks to complement the capacities of the private sector by extending the overseas activities of domestic businesses. To better understand this process, this article examines the role of South Korea’s large, family-led conglomerates (chaebol) in its growing international development sector. In particular, we focus on how the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been used to link the role of its large, and frequently scandal-ridden, private companies to international development, and, by extension, how it has helped to internationalise state–business networks long associated with the Korean developmental state. We examine two strategies through which this has been carried out. The first is by extending the logic of creating shared value (CSV, a derivative of CSR) to aid and infrastructure projects in which chaebol and other state-linked businesses have participated. The second is by directly embedding CSR-based aid initiatives in the value chains of the specific chaebol themselves.
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