Corporate Social Responsibility In Europe

The acid test of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is simply this: does it lead to positive impacts on society and the environment or is it just rhetoric? And if it does lead to positive impacts, how can these be enhanced? This timely book tackles this cutting-edge challenge by presenting empirical findings from a range of surveys and in-depth case studies. These build on a new methodological and theoretical framework for assessing and explaining the sustainability impact of CSR.

For selected sustainability issues – mitigation of climate change and chemical risk, resource management in marine fisheries, promotion of gender equality and countering of bribery – and within different European industries, the authors show that the rhetoric of CSR is still stronger than its reality. They do so by investigating into CSR practices which encompass the creation of a vision on CSR, its strategic and operative implementation and its organisational and cultural embedding within companies and their supply chains. The authors conclude that the reality of CSR is strong enough to allow for some rhetoric. They name intra- and extra-company success factors for, and limits of, producing sustainability impacts through CSR. Finally, they discuss its contribution to achieving public policy goals and the governance paradigms that are necessary to make CSR effective. The volume successfully combines a business and public policy perspective, based on an interdisciplinary approach.

This book will be invaluable for both students and researchers interested in the effects of CSR, and will prove a useful tool for policy-makers and CSR practitioners alike.

Contents:

Foreword

PART I: ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
1. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Impact: Opening up the Arena
Regine Barth and Franziska Wolff

2. A Framework for Assessing the Sustainability Impact of CSR
Jon Birger Skjærseth and Jørgen Wettestad

3. A Framework for Explaining the Sustainability Impact of CSR
Federica Viganò, Franziska Wolff and Daniele Nicolai

PART II: MAPPING CSR: SURVEY DATA ON SELECTED ISSUES IN FOUR SECTORS
4. Introduction to the Surveys
Katharina Schmitt

5. CSR in the European Oil Sector: A Mapping of Company Perceptions
Elin Lerum Boasson, Jørgen Wettestad and Maria Bohn

6. CSR in the European Fish Processing Industry: Not Just Fishing for Compliments
Katharina Schmitt and Franziska Wolff

7. CSR in the European Banking Sector: Evidence from a Survey
Federica Viganò and Daniele Nicolai

8. Driving on CSR: SMEs in the Automotive Supply Chain
Tamás Pálvölgyi, János Szlávik, Noémi Csigéné Nagypál, Miklós Füle and Mária Csete

9. CSR Practices Across Four Sectors: A Synthesis of the Surveys
Katharina Schmitt

PART III: ASSESSING AND EXPLAINING THE SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT OF CSR: CASE STUDY FINDINGS
10. Standardized CSR and Climate Performance: Why is Shell Willing, but Hydro Reluctant?
Elin Lerum Boasson and Jørgen Wettestad

11. In Hunt for Sustainable Seafood: Sustainability Effects of CSR in Three Fish Processing Companies
Franziska Wolff and Katharina Schmitt

12. CSR for Gender Equality: A New Approach for Dealing with Long-Standing Inequalities? Insights from Two Banks
Irmgard Schultz

13. Banking on Integrity: CSR Helps Counter Bribery and Money Laundering in Two Banks
Peter Wilkinson

14. CSR Effects Across Four Issue Areas: A Synthesis of the Case Studies
Franziska Wolff

PART IV: CSR AND PUBLIC POLICY
15. CSR and Public Policy: Mutually Reinforcing for Sustainable Development?
Franziska Wolff, Maria Bohn, Irmgard Schultz and Peter Wilkinson

16. Striking Oil? CSR and the EU Integration Processes: The Example of Hungary
Tamás Pálvölgyi, Noémi Csigéné Nagypál, János Szlávik, Hajnalka Csáfor and Mária Csete

17. Rhetoric and Realities in CSR: Main Findings and Implications for Public Policy and Research
Franziska Wolff, Regine Barth, Christian Hochfeld and Katharina Schmitt

References

Index