This article contributes to a thriving line of research that examines issue interpretation and social accounts in order to study the adoption and diffusion of organizational concepts and management practices. It employs the empirical example of the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Austria between 1990 and 2005 to investigate the complex role institutional pressures and social positions of actors play in the local adoption of globally theorized ideas. More specifically, the study reveals distinct patterns in rhetorical CSR adoption that illustrate the initial hesitation and reluctance of an established elite in the Austrian business community towards the Anglo-American notion of 'explicit' CSR, while non-elite actors who were less favourably positioned in the social order readily embraced the concept. It is in such a sense that CSR is nevertheless instrumentalized to challenge, reinterpret, or explicitly evoke the autochthonous idea of institutionalized social solidarity. Conceptually, this research takes into account social structure, actors' positions in the social order, and resulting divergent adoption motivations - i.e. the individual, yet socially derived, relevance systems of actors - and relates them to mechanisms and processes of institutional change. (author's abstract)

This thesis addresses corporate approaches to CSR stakeholder engagement in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and Germany. Its objective is to undertake mainly exploratory qualitative research to investigate how the selected sample manages CSR. The data was primarily accessed and collected from senior executives within major pharmaceutical companies. Multiple research methods were employed to gather rich new empirical evidence which focuses on the CSR practices and perceptions of CSR managers in both countries. To examine how this 'sensitive' sector responds to what could be termed the 'CSR Challenge', a critical realist perspective and six codes were chosen to map the practices and to compare similarities and differences between the two countries. This research contributes to the academic literature in this field by filling significant gaps in an area which was previously under-investigated. Ultimately, the findings are employed to examine a prespecified framework which was originally developed by the author based on secondary data in separate research. Overall, the results inform, re-examine, and improve this recently published framework. The updated explanatory framework which results from the research is the main conceptual contribution of the thesis. It serves as a management tool which includes the contextual factors which influence decision-makers' practices and perceptions portrayed as a set of inter-related management steps. This new conceptualisation is designed to be of practical use for decision-makers when managing their stakeholder engagement activities. As a result, this research is essentially applied and normative in nature. In addition, this work presents an original contribution to the literature in its field which should be of interest to academics.

<p>In recent time the pressure on companies from groups like governments, regular citizens and media on taking its social responsibility has increased in rapid pace. This has led to increased interest from companies all over the world about social issues and the companies’ responsibility for these issues.</p><p>In the more competitive environment were companies act today the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to differentiate itself against other company’s increases in importance. Together with increasing interest from stakeholders about social issues has made it central for companies not only to be social responsible but also to be good at finding future social trends that will give them competitive advantage against other actors.</p><p>The purpose of this paper is to examine how the three largest fashion chains in Sweden, Hennes & Mauritz, Lindex and KappAhl, are managing its CSR work now and how good their organisation is prepared to manage the CSR work in the future. The examination will focus on the factors that make the management of CSR successful or not, and to get an overview of if the conditions for current and future successful CSR is present at the companies. By doing a qualitative document analysis of the selected companies the conclusion is made that there is much work to be done at the three largest Swedish fashion chains to more effectively use CSR and the positive effects that a well developed CSR plan can bring to the companies. The conclusion is based on the lack of long-term remuneration incentives for the management that rewards a short-term decisions and the extensive use of collective commitments instead of exclusive CSR work.</p>

In recent time the pressure on companies from groups like governments, regular citizens and media on taking its social responsibility has increased in rapid pace. This has led to increased interest from companies all over the world about social issues and the companies’ responsibility for these issues. In the more competitive environment were companies act today the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to differentiate itself against other company’s increases in importance. Together with increasing interest from stakeholders about social issues has made it central for companies not only to be social responsible but also to be good at finding future social trends that will give them competitive advantage against other actors. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the three largest fashion chains in Sweden, Hennes &amp; Mauritz, Lindex and KappAhl, are managing its CSR work now and how good their organisation is prepared to manage the CSR work in the future. The examination will focus on the factors that make the management of CSR successful or not, and to get an overview of if the conditions for current and future successful CSR is present at the companies. By doing a qualitative document analysis of the selected companies the conclusion is made that there is much work to be done at the three largest Swedish fashion chains to more effectively use CSR and the positive effects that a well developed CSR plan can bring to the companies. The conclusion is based on the lack of long-term remuneration incentives for the management that rewards a short-term decisions and the extensive use of collective commitments instead of exclusive CSR work.

Within the jeans production industry, large quantities of cotton, water and chemicals are consumed on a daily basis resulting in environmental issues decentralized around the world. An increased awareness about these environmental issues amongst companies, organizations and the consumers have initiated for environmental aspects to be considered within the jeans production processes. One such initiative is the introducing of CSR management into the business operations and strategy. In order to see how well the environmental targets and performance succeed with capturing the existing environmental issues more information about the specific products is required. This thesis was conducted to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of three jeans manufactured by Nudie Jeans from a life cycle perspective and to evaluate the environmental focus at Nudie Jeans. Accordingly the main purpose has been to evaluate the environmental performance of jeans at Nudie Jeans. The main purpose have been divided into the two sub- targets: To find out which of the three styles of jeans: Lean Dean Lost Legend, Tilted Tor Dry Royal Embo and Grim Tim Conjunctions, manufactured at Nudie Jeans, that has the best environmental performance and why. To find out how well the prioritized environmental sustainability targets and measures represent their potential environmental impact. The evaluation is based on nine main environmental aspects, assessed to be relevant and of interest for the given case. The LCA has been performed according to the methodology and guidance presented in the ISO 14040-standard to ensure a methodological structure with high credibility. The studied products are the three styles of jeans: Lean Dean Lost Legend, Tilted Tor Dry Royal Embo and Grim Tim Conjunctions. The main difference between the products can be found in what companies and in which countries the life cycle phases: cotton cultivation, fabric manufacturing and jeans production are conducted. The results of the study show that Grim Tim Conjunctions and Tilted Tor Dry Royal Embo have the best environmental performance and the worst environmental performance can be found in Lean Dean Lost Legend. The results are mainly caused by two main process contributors, the energy sources used for electricity and heating and the substances used in the dyeing, laundry and finishing processes. A sensitivity analysis on the results gathered from the LCA shows that Nudie Jeans is to the largest extent focusing on the right environmental aspects. The focus on organic cotton cultivation and the promoting of repairs are highly reflecting the environmental importance within the subject, however, the measures and targets regarding energy usage could be improved to better represent its environmental importance.

The Master 's thesis deals with the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the supply chain. The theoretical part of this work demonstrates the importance of socially responsible behavior by the firm itself and its suppliers. It explains principles, development and benefits of this concept, as well as relevant standards and other approaches of national and international organizations. The practical part is focused on Metrostav a.s. The results of the analysis of the existing system of work with suppliers in comparison with the requirements of the standard SA 8000 revealed several recommendations for improving procedures to selection, evaluation, monitoring and management of suppliers in the investigated company. At the conclusion of the work designed system is verified in practice.