Abstract Title: Implementing CSR in Supply Chains Authors: Emmy Johansson and Stina Olén; Supervisor: Glenn Sjöstrand Date of submission: May 30, 2009   For decades there has been a debate about the environmental and social responsibilities of companies. The work conducted by corporations to meet the increasing demands from wider society to take responsibility is all summed up in the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Pressured to take responsibility also in the supply chains of their businesses, the corporations have increasingly integrated suppliers in their CSR strategies.   In this thesis the obstacles and possibilities with implementing CSR in supply chains are assessed, through a case study. The thesis is written on commission by a large Swedish industrial company that is working with implementing its CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations, and through using a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and CSR theory that implementing process is studied. Having understood that the process is affected by the norms, values et cetera that are inherent in the company, the aims of this thesis have been to understand and explain how the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the company’s CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations.   The thesis applies qualitative research methods with emphasis on primary sources. The main empirical data was gathered through ten interviews with employees at different levels in the company, but corporate documents with relevance for the implementation were also studied.   The results of this study indicate that the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the CSR strategy in supplier evaluations both positively and negatively. Firstly, it makes the reactive approach of the company, the unclear objectives and guidelines, the lack of commitment from the managers, and the lack of cooperation appear problematic for the implementation. Secondly, we conclude that the institutional embeddedness creates opportunities for an improved implementing process, as there are elements in the institutional identity that correspond with the strategy, but also that there are individual actors with much institutional resources that have potential to change the institution and create commitment towards the implementation.     Keywords: corporate social responsibility, supplier evaluations, implementing strategy, institutional theory, institutional embeddedness

<h1>Abstract</h1><p><strong>Title:</strong> Implementing CSR in Supply Chains</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Emmy Johansson and Stina Olén; <strong>Supervisor:</strong> Glenn Sjöstrand</p><p><strong>Date of submission:</strong> May 30, 2009</p><p> </p><p>For decades there has been a debate about the environmental and social responsibilities of companies. The work conducted by corporations to meet the increasing demands from wider society to take responsibility is all summed up in the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Pressured to take responsibility also in the supply chains of their businesses, the corporations have increasingly integrated suppliers in their CSR strategies.</p><p> </p><p>In this thesis the obstacles and possibilities with implementing CSR in supply chains are assessed, through a case study. The thesis is written on commission by a large Swedish industrial company that is working with implementing its CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations, and through using a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and CSR theory that implementing process is studied. Having understood that the process is affected by the norms, values et cetera that are inherent in the company, the aims of this thesis have been to understand and explain how the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the company’s CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations.</p><p> </p><p>The thesis applies qualitative research methods with emphasis on primary sources. The main empirical data was gathered through ten interviews with employees at different levels in the company, but corporate documents with relevance for the implementation were also studied.</p><p> </p><p>The results of this study indicate that the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the CSR strategy in supplier evaluations both positively and negatively. Firstly, it makes the reactive approach of the company, the unclear objectives and guidelines, the lack of commitment from the managers, and the lack of cooperation appear problematic for the implementation. Secondly, we conclude that the institutional embeddedness creates opportunities for an improved implementing process, as there are elements in the institutional identity that correspond with the strategy, but also that there are individual actors with much institutional resources that have potential to change the institution and create commitment towards the implementation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> corporate social responsibility, supplier evaluations, implementing strategy, institutional theory, institutional embeddedness</p>

Adottando l’approccio della sociologia del corso di vita allo studio delle traiettorie occupazionali, la ricerca analizza comparativamente i percorsi di fine carriera di individui 50-67enni in Europa. Lo studio si focalizza su un’analisi esplorativa dei percorsi di fine carriera e sull’analisi delle influenze esercitate dai contesti istituzionali, da comportamenti e attitudini gestionali di imprenditori e manager, dalle caratteristiche individuali sui late-career pattern. Dunque, la ricerca nel complesso include tre livelli: a) macro-sociale, sistemi di welfare e di produzione; b) micro-sociale, caratteristiche individuali; c) meso-sociale, pratiche gestionali d’impresa. La mia ipotesi è che le pratiche di age management si sviluppino secondo logiche coerenti con le strategie macro di gestione dell’occupazione degli anziani e che siano tipiche a livello di regimi di welfare/di produzione. Per rispondere alle domande di ricerca sono state applicate tecniche di analisi statistica monovariata e multivariata ai dati: 1) SHARE: Survey sulla salute, l’invecchiamento e il pensionamento in Europa, che analizza le biografie occupazionali di individui over50 in 19 paesi europei; 2) ASPA: Survey Activating Senior Potential in Europe che analizza attitudini comportamenti dei datori di lavoro nei confronti del lavoratori anziani. I paesi inclusi nello studio sono: Germania, Polonia, Svezia, Danimarca, Italia e Olanda. / By adopting the institution and agency-centered approach of the sociological life-course theories, the research analyses late career patterns of 50-67 years old individuals across Europe. I am in particular interested in understanding the prevalent late-career patterns in different countries and the influences exerted on them by institutional contexts, employers’/managers’ attitudes and behaviors and individual characteristics. So, overall, I consider three levels: the macro-social level (institutional context: welfare and productive regime), the micro-social level (individual characteristics) and the meso-social level (companies practices). My hypothesis is that age management practices are in line with macro institutional employment strategies for the older workforce and that they are typical at the level of welfare/production regimes. The empirical analysis consists of mono e multivariate statistical analysis using these data sources: 1) the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, on 50 years old individuals’ life courses in 19 countries all over Europe; 2) the Activating Senior Potential in Europe survey, on employers’ attitudes and behavior towards older workers in different EU countries. The countries included in my comparative study are: Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands.

Cette thèse s’inscrit au cœur du chantier de réflexion sur l’interaction entre les États et les entreprises multinationales qui s’impose dans le contexte de l’accélération actuelle du processus de mondialisation de l’économie capitaliste. Nous l’abordons sous l’angle plus particulier des multinationales et de leur engagement institutionnel au sein des organisations, associations, forums ou réseaux qui contribuent à la définition et parfois même à la gestion des différentes politiques publiques orientées vers le développement économique, l’innovation et le marché du travail. Quelles sont les différentes facettes de l’engagement institutionnel des filiales de multinationales au Canada ? Comment ces comportements peuvent-ils être influencés par les différentes caractéristiques et stratégies de ces entreprises ? Un modèle théorique large, empruntant des hypothèses aux nombreuses approches théoriques s’intéressant aux comportements généraux des multinationales, est testé à l’aide d’analyses quantitatives de données obtenues dans le cadre d’une enquête auprès des multinationales au Canada associée au projet international INTREPID. D’abord, cette thèse permet une opérationnalisation plus précise du concept d’« imbrication de la firme » à travers la notion d’engagement institutionnel. Elle met en évidence les différentes dimensions de ce phénomène et remet en question la vision « essentiellement » positive qui l’entoure. Les résultats de cette thèse viennent questionner de la centralité des approches macro-institutionnalistes, particulièrement celle associée aux Variétés du capitalisme, dans les études sur les multinationales. Ils réaffirment par contre l’importance des différentes approches économiques et démontrent plus particulièrement la pertinence de la théorie de la dépendance aux ressources et l’impact de la présence d’un acteur structuré venant faire le contrepoids aux gestionnaires. Malgré nos efforts de théorisation, nous sommes incapable d’observer un effet modérateur des facteurs stratégiques sur l’impact du pays d’origine dans la détermination de l’engagement institutionnel. Cette thèse offre des indications permettant de cibler les interventions institutionnelles qui cherchent à « attacher » les multinationales à l’économie canadienne. Elle met aussi en évidence la contribution d’acteurs indirects dans la consolidation des relations d’engagement institutionnel et plus particulièrement le rôle positif que peuvent jouer les syndicats dans certains forums ou réseaux. / This thesis participates in a wide reflection on the interaction between government and multinational companies that is required in the current context of an accelerated globalization of the capitalist economy. We approach this issue by focusing on the institutional engagement of multinationals within different organizations, associations, forums or networks related to various development, innovation or labor market policies. What are the different dimensions of the institutionnal engagement of canadian subsidiary of multinationals ? How are those behaviors influenced by the various characteristics and strategies of these companies ? A comprehensive theoretical model, borrowing from many approaches used to understand the general behaviors of multinationals, is verified by quantitative analysis using original data obtained through the author’s participation in the Multinationals in Canada survey associated with the global INTREPID research initiative. By highlighting the different facet of institutional engagement of the firm, this thesis establishes a more accurate operationalization of the broad concept of the “embeddedness”. Doing so, it put in question the essentially positive interpretation of the lather. The results reaffirm the relevance of various economics approach, but question the centrality of macro-intuitionalist approaches, particularly the Varieties of capitalism paradigm. Our analysis also illustrates the relevance of the Resource dependence theory and the impact of the presence in a firm of a structured actor able to counterbalance managers. Despite our theoretical venture, we were unable to observe a moderator effect of autonomy or power of the subsidiary on the country of origin influence on its institutional engagement behaviors. This thesis provides some insight for better targeting institutional and economical interventions that seek to ‘embed’ multinationals and their capital inside the Canadian economy. It also draws light to the contributions of different stakeholder in the consolidation of the institutional engagement of multinationals, especially unions for training forums or employers networks.