<p>This paper examines corporate responses to the voluntary UN initiative; the Global Compact and the legally binding UN Norms initiative that are attempts, at the urging of the international community, at different types of regulation of corporate activity in international socio-economic settings. This examination is done within the framework of the Modern World-Systems theory and both questions of the paper are therefore grounded in the MWS theory`s possibility to predict and explain the corporations` response to the two initiatives. The two hypotheses used in this paper are corresponding to the questions and they state that the MWS theory can answer the two questions. The paper therefore employs an overreaching congruence method that uses the MWS theory to predict and explain the outcome of the case study and a complementary descriptive argumentation analysis. This is conducted in order to attain the data needed and to elucidate what the differences and similarities are between the two initiatives and what aspect can be attributed most explanatory value to understand the possible differences in attitude by the corporations. The outcome of the case study shows that corporations are more in favor of the Global Compact then they are concerning the UN norms which they opposes vehemently. This difference in reaction is attributed to the latter’s legally binding principle and this is in accord with the logic of the MWS theory which is granted high predictable and explanatory value concerning the corporations` response to the Global Compact and the UN norms.</p>

ÄMNE Vilken information om Corporate Social Responsibility lämnas i årsredovisningen av svenska företag? Hur följer företagen riktlinjerna Global Reporting Initiative och UN Global Compact? Vilka motiv kan företagen ha för att lämna information om CSR i årsredovisningen? SYFTE Syftet är att rekapitulera studien ”Corporate Social Responsibility - vilken information lämnas i årsredovisningen av företagen på Stockholmsbörsens A-lista”, Göteborgs Universitet 2005, genom att kartlägga och jämföra CSR-redovisningen hos de företag från den dåvarande A- listan som idag är noterade på Stockholmsbörsen. Utifrån en utarbetad checklista skall undersökas vilken information som företag lämnar samt vilka skillnader som finns mellan företag och över tiden. GENOMFÖRANDE Undersökningen bygger på kvantitativ och kvalitativ innehållsanalys av årsredovisningar. Årsredovisningarna har analyserats efter en utarbetad checklista som bygger på indikatorer och principer från GRI och UN Global Compact. SLUTSATSER Studien visar att det råder stora skillnader mellan företag och den mängd CSR-information de publicerar i sin årsredovisning. Sedan 2004 har en svag ökning skett av mängden information som redovisas, denna ökning återfinns främst inom branschen industri. NYCKELORD Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Reporting Initiative, UN Global Compact, årsredovisning

ABSTRACT Niger Delta of Nigeria is a region characterized with conflict commonly conceptualized as ‘‘petro-violence’’. This violence  between Shell and its host communities has lasted over four decades. While the activities of Shell and other oil companies destroy the ecology of the region , the oil producing communities demand improved explorative and exploitative activities of the companies, improved welfare for the people and compensation for the harm done to the ecology of the region. This work examines whether Shell can really be blamed for contributing to the conflict in the region and whether it is morally permissible for Business Corporation like Shell to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility is a concept widely discussed by businesses and has come to describe the relationship between business and society. For some it means the idea o legal responsibility, an ethical behaviour and some equate it with charitable contribution. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (Hopkins, 2007: 25) defines CSR as follows:   "Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large."   The relationship is increasingly striving to counteract a variety of problems that are associated with the contemporary globalization, such as violation of human and labour rights along with environmental challenges and is well-mentioned both by academics and businessmen. Within the Indian carpet industry, child labour has become a hot topic due to major scandals on the issues in the 1990s. Though, the meaning of corporate social responsibility is less common. The purpose of this study is to examine the Indian carpet industry’s awareness and use of the international agenda of corporate social responsibility, hence how the carpet export houses approach the responsibility. Also, the purpose is to examine how the carpet weavers are affected by the policies and actions of the export houses.   A field study with an ethnographical approach has been conducted through the use of interviews and observations in the district of Bhadohi, state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The interviewees consisted of workers working with the finishing processes of carpets at two export houses’ factories as well as carpet weavers at the looms in the villages. The findings from the interviews were analyzed through the use of parts of the Sustainable Livelihood Framework and with this approach the weavers’ access to assets is analyzed in relation to the export houses’ applying of the international agenda of CSR, more precise in this study, the UN Global Compact’s principles of CSR. The main findings from this study show that the CSR principles of the UN Global Compact were followed to different extents by the export houses since they are prioritizing some principles before others. The distribution of responsibilities differs depending on the management of the export house, mainly because of how the demands from the buyers and consumers look like. Also, the prioritizing of the export houses has become to affect the weavers’ socio-economic situation and for some the access to assets has increased. Furthermore, the study reveal that corporate social responsibility to a large extent is directed and influenced by the buyers’ and consumers’ (mainly stationed abroad in Western countries) demand. Thereby, through the complex system of sub-contracting, carpet weavers are affected differently since CSR is interpreted and used in various ways that are considered as most “suitable” to the export house.

<p><strong> ABSTRACT</strong></p><p><strong> </strong>Niger Delta of Nigeria is a region characterized with conflict commonly conceptualized as ‘‘petro-violence’’. This violence  between Shell and its host communities has lasted over four decades. While the activities of Shell and other oil companies destroy the ecology of the region , the oil producing communities demand improved explorative and exploitative activities of the companies, improved welfare for the people and compensation for the harm done to the ecology of the region. This work examines whether Shell can really be blamed for contributing to the conflict in the region and whether it is morally permissible for Business Corporation like Shell to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility.</p><p> </p>

We live in a severely unequal world. Pressing questions are, then, what changes the global advantaged should bring about to improve the situation of the global disadvantaged, and why they should do so in the first place. Chapters 1, 2 and 3 answer the latter question whereas chapters 4 and 5 answer the former. Chapter 1 considers Peter Singer’s ‘non-relationist’ and Thomas Pogge’s ‘relationist’ approaches to global justice. The chapter argues that Pogge’s argument is more compelling than Singer’s, but that it is incomplete. To make a relationist argument more plausible, the chapter draws on two critical social theorists: Alf Hornborg and David Harvey. Based on their analyses, and employing the perspectives of ‘human time’ and ‘ecological space’, the chapter concludes that the advantaged are in violation of a stringent negative duty by being complicit in the harmful global system. The chapter also introduces two kinds of debt – ‘temporal debt’ and ‘ecological debt’ – that the advantaged may owe the disadvantaged. Chapter 2 argues that the global system is not only harmful but severely harmful: it is likely to reproduce ‘absolute harm’ (a harm that infringes upon minimum human well-being). Chapter 3 discusses what positive action the advantaged ought to take because of the negative-duty violation and the problem-solving ability they have. Focusing on two kinds of action – reparation and remedy – the chapter argues that achieving reparation may face practical problems, but that the advantaged should act immediately to provide remedy – in particular, institutional remedy – for the disadvantaged. In doing so, the chapter commends the ‘advantaged remedy’ principle. Chapters 4 and 5 consider remedial institutions which the advantaged should strive to create and uphold. Chapter 4 focuses on one which we already have: the UN Global Compact. The chapter argues that this institution is necessary in the light of present global circumstances and also advances a set of principles appropriate to protect minimum human well-being. But it concludes that this reformist institution may turn out to be insufficient. Based on this conclusion, chapter 5 supports a more radical proposal: a market-socialist proposal offered by Leslie Sklair. Sklair’s account, however, does not explain why it is market socialism, rather than a non-market alternative, that should be pursued. Neither does it show how market-socialist institutions would remedy the global-systemic problems that are likely to afflict the disadvantaged. The chapter offers answers to these questions by drawing on David Miller (for the first question) and David Schweickart (for the second question). The chapter then argues that market socialism, if accompanied by an appropriate ethos, would serve to remedy the situation of the global disadvantaged. Meanwhile, the shift to market socialism would, and should, take time. So, this project concludes by considering a supplementary institution that may need to be implemented in the meantime: an ecological space tax.

In 1972, the United Nations (UN) held its first international environmental conference in Stockholm with 113 participating countries and during the conference, participants agreed that the environmental issue is as important to humanity as peace and development. The concept of sustainable development arose in the 1980s and gained global spread in 1987 when the World Commission launched its report on environment and development and defined sustainable development as "A development that satisfies today's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy their needs." During the 2000s, the United Nations has highlighted the importance of companies taking responsibility for their activities and contributing to sustainable development through two initiatives. This has led to companies wanting to take responsibility for their business but do not know how to proceed. The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge of how sustainability strategy can be formulated using the UN Global Compact and the UN Sustainable Development Goal and how the Sustainability Strategy can be implemented. The theoretical framework is based primarily on a model that is clearly focused on implementing sustainability strategies, but also research that addresses difficulties with implementing sustainability strategies. The study also contains an attachment with important concepts. The method is based on qualitative interviews with employees at BillerudKorsnäs and is supplemented by a documentary study. The results of the interviews and the document study are described in the study section. The analysis connects results and theory to study how BillerudKorsnäs handled implementation of sustainability strategy and difficulties with this. The study shows that BillerudKorsnäs has dealt with the implementation of the sustainability strategy and has formulated a sustainability strategy that can clearly be linked to the UN Sustainable Development Initiative.

There is an increasing demand for the private sector to include corporate social responsibility in their business and everyday work. This thesis has studied the corporate responsibility of firms in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), compared with firms in 18 other OECD countries. The results are then analysed by referring to the institutional framework that firms operate in; national and international institutions. In particular, the thesis aims at examining whether there is a distinctive Nordic approach towards CSR. The Nordic countries are argued to operate in a specific national business system, influenced by the welfare state model which also impact firms’ approach towards CSR. Furthermore, the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) is emphasized. National institutions are, due to increased globalization and awareness of global governance gaps, increasingly challenged by international institutions. To address this issue variables are collected from the MSI UN Global Compact (UNGC) Implementation Survey from 2017, the main variable being overall CSR actions the companies take, and more specifically with regard to human rights (HR), labour rights (LR), environment (EN) and anti-corruption (AC). A simple OLS with robust standard errors was performed to define the relationship between the variables. The result show both similarities and differences between the Nordic and OECD companies, but also differences to a larger extent than expected between the Nordic countries. The main contribution of this study is thus to highlight factors that influences companies’ CSR, with possible implications for policy makers as well as managers on a national and international level. Further research should elaborate and expand the CSR actions and compare on a cross-country level instead of a Nordic and OECD level and include companies in other MSIs. / Det finns ett ökat krav på den privata sektorn att inkludera CSR (corporate social responsibility = företags samhällsansvar) i deras verksamhet och dagliga arbete. Detta arbete har studerat de nordiska ländernas (Danmark, Finland, Norge och Sverige) företags hållbarhetsarbete och jämfört med företag i 18 OECD länder. Resultatet är sedan analyserat genom att referera till vilka institutionella ramverk som företag verkar inom; nationella och internationella institutioner. Framförallt, detta arbete har studerat om det finns ett distinkt nordiskt förhållningssätt till CSR. De nordiska länderna är omtalade av att verka i en speciell nationell struktur (national business system), påverkad av välfärdsmodellen och som i sin tur påverkar förtagens förhållningssätt till CSR. Följande, vilken roll multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) har är diskuterat. De nationella institutionerna är i dagenens kontext, med ökad globalisering och medvetenhet om globala problem som kräver globala lösningar, konfronterade med internationella institutioner. För att undersöka detta hämtades variablerna från MSI UN Global Compact (UNGC) Implementation Survey 2017 och huvudvariabeln är CSR aktiviteter inom hela CSR arbetet, men framförallt inom mänskliga rättigheter (human rights, HR), arbetsrättigheter (labour rights, LR), miljö (environment, EN) och anti-korruption (anti-corruption, AC). En vanlig OLS med robust standard errors användes för att bestämma sambandet mellan variablerna. Resultatet visar både likheter och skillnader mellan de nordiska och OECD länderna, men däremot visar resultatet mer skillnader mellan de nordiska länderna än förväntat. Det viktigaste bidraget med denna studie är att uppmärksamma de faktorer som påverkar företagets CSR, med vidare rekommendationer till beslutsfattare och managers på en nationell och internationell nivå. Fortsatta studier kan utveckla CSR aktiviteterna, jämföra på en nationell nivå istället för på en nordiska och OECD nivå, samt inkludera företag från andra MSIs.

Atsakingo verslo idėja aktuali tiek viso pasaulio, tiek ir Lietuvos verslininkams, kaip veiksnys, didinantis įmonių konkurencingumą rinkoje. Ji gali padėti gerinti santykius su vartotojais, partneriais, investuotojais bei užtikrinti verslo ilgalaikiškumą ir stabilumą. Šiame darbe buvo stengiamasi, remiantis Lietuvos bei užsienio autorių moksliniais darbais, atskleisti socialinės atsakomybės sampratą, jos svarbą šiuolaikiniam verslui, išskyriau esminius socialinės atsakomybės teiginius ir teikiamą naudą, bei apžvelgiau ĮSA (CSR) taikymo sritis ir jose naudojamus principus. Taip pat darbe yra palyginama Lietuvos situaciją ĮSA kontekste su kitomis valstybėmis: Jungtinėmis Karalystėmis, Olandija, Belgija ir Latvija. Įvertinama kas yra pasiekta mūsų šalyje, skatinant socialinę atsakomybę, ir kokias ĮSA iniciatyvas dar reikia plėtoti ir įgyvendinti, remiantis užsienio šalių patirtimi. Lietuvoje socialinė atsakomybė kol kas nauja sąvoka ir dar gana neįprasti rūpesčiai verslo atstovams. Todėl Lietuvoje yra atlikta ne daug tyrimų apie socialiai atsakingo verslo skatinimą bei jo įgyvendinimą versle. Mano inicijuojamas tyrimo tikslas buvo indentifikuoti pagrindines ĮSA skatinimo priemones ir būdus, įvertinti jų reikšmę ir pritaikymą praktiškai, kartu pateikiant pasiūlymus, kas paspartinų ir sudarytų palankesnes sąlygas ĮSA plėtrai tarp Lietuvos įmonių. Tyrimas parodė, kad Lietuvoje vis dar trūksta supratimo ir informacijos apie socialinę atsakomybę, trūksta kompetetingų ĮSA specialistų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The scale of cultural values of the organizations in the advanced countries has expanded recently significantly in the XX century. The organizations began comprehend clearly that they are the part of the social system and that relations between the organization ant the society, and between different systems (ecosystem, technical) are very important. Therefore, in the scale of the organizational values the new value like social responsibility has appeared. The idea of the responsible business is relevant for Lithuanian businessmen and all the world businessmen as the factor which may increase the competetiveness between the companies. This idea may assist to improve relations with consumers, partners, investors and insure the stability of the business. The author in this work on the grounds of the studies Lithuanian and foreign authors discloses the concept of the social responsibility, its importance to modern business, emphasizes important statements about social responsibility and its benefit and surveys the application areas of ĮSA (CSR) and their principles. The author also compares in this work situation in Lithuania and in other countries (the United Kingdom, Holland, Belgium, Latvia) on the subject of ĮSA. The author analyses the achievements in promoting social responsibility and ĮSA initiatives which the organizations need to promote and implement according to foreign practice. It should be mentioned that the social responsibility is quite new concept for Lithuanian... [to full text]

[pt] O objetivo deste trabalho é orientar criticamente organizações não governamentais e outros agentes da sociedade civil engajados na construção discursiva de mensagens para campanhas em favor do acolhimento de refugiados, por julgarem que esta é uma temática de crescente relevância para a promoção dos direitos humanos tanto no Brasil quanto a nível internacional. Para tanto, apresentará considerações acerca de duas narrativas hegemônicas amplamente utilizadas por organizações e instituições globais, a fim de identificar as suas premissas conceituais e possíveis conexões com o estabelecimento de práticas das Relações Internacionais. A primeira delas refere-se à tradição do humanitarismo, guiado sobretudo pela mobilização de uma lógica afetiva e de imperativos morais de solidariedade para legitimar a proteção emergencial de grupos em situação de extrema vulnerabilidade; a segunda, por sua vez, recorre à linguagem do desenvolvimento pautado por premissas essencialmente neoliberais para projetar uma imagem de capacidade adaptativa e resiliência sobre indivíduos acolhidos por comunidades nacionais, de modo a discursivamente convertê-los em potencial capital humano para economias de mercado do Sul Global. Publicações oficiais do site brasileiro do Alto Comissariado das Nações Unidas para Refugiados (Acnur) e o Pacto Global sobre Refugiados das Nações Unidas serão revisados para argumentar sobre o despontar de um significado discursivo comum entre ambas as instâncias textuais na contemporaneidade. / [en] This article aims to offer indepth considerations to non governmental organizations and other civil society agents engaged in the discursive construction of messages for campaigns in favor of the reception of refugees as an issue of increasing relevance for the promotion of human rights both in Brazil and internationally. To this end, it will present perspectives on two hegemonic narratives widely used by global organizations and institutions to identify their conceptual premises and possible connections with the establishment of practices of International Relations. The first one refers to humanitarianism, guided mainly by the mobilization of an affective logic and moral imperatives of solidarity to legitimize the urgent protection of groups under extreme vulnerability; the second one uses the language of development and its essentially neoliberal premises to project an image of adaptivity and resilience on individuals hosted by national communities, discursively converting them into potential human capital designed for market economies of the Global South. Official news articles published by the Brazilian website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Global Compact on Refugees will be reviewed to argue that a common discursive meaning emerges from both in the present time.