The notion that corporations would voluntarily devote resources to serve non-shareholder interests seems to contradict the purpose of commerce. Yet, corporate social responsibility ranks among the most prominent aspects of contemporary capitalism, reaching – in the words of one author – a point of nearly universal adoption among businesses. Over four decades of empirical testing has provided no incontrovertible evidence to support the belief that businesses benefit, even in the long run, from responsible behaviour. Peculiarly, then, it appears that corporations are defying the logic of competitive markets by investing in CSR en masse without an established business case for doing so. Inspiring the work is a research question rooted in the observation of a counter-intuitive: if not profit, in every circumstance, what is turning the attention of nearly every major corporation away from their bottom line and towards social interests? The thesis explores what other factors may lay behind the business community’s curious adoption of CSR, including a new hypothesis that corporate leaders may be diverging from the normative ideal of rational choice and following boundedly-rational patterns of behaviour. It argues that CSR is a form of risk-averse corporate behaviour from a private sector that has seen tremendous growth and gain since the end of the Second World War.

Problem: Because an organizations’ profits are generally derived from product sales, it is important to recognize the relationship between consumers’ purchase intentions and organizational involvement in socially responsible practices. A gap exists in the research and studies conducted on consumer social responsibility as it relates to purchase intentions from a consumer perspective. H1: A positive association exists between an organization’s involvement in CSR programs and consumers’ purchase intentions. Thus, consumers are more likely to purchase an organization’s product if that organization is involved in socially responsible practices. RQ1: Are consumers aware of specific organizational involvement in socially responsible programs? RQ2: Are consumers aware of a lack of specific organizational involvement in socially responsible programs? Significance of Problem: Despite evidence that consumers appear to feel strongly about organizational involvement in socially responsible programs, research has shown that social responsibility was not a dominant goal in a majority of companies studied. Value: The relationship between CSR and consumers’ purchase intentions is important to understand because often CSR is dismissed as merely another public relations’ tool. However, understanding the underlying reasons consumers make purchases in relation to CSR would contribute to the understanding of CSR as a strategic management function overall. Methodology: Using a combination of interviews and emailed surveys, consumers were asked questions to determine the association between organizational involvement in socially responsible programs and consumers’ purchase intentions. Additionally, consumers were asked to identify their awareness of specific organizational involvement in socially responsible programs / Department of Journalism

Organisationers engagemang i Corporate social responsibility (CSR) är betydelsefullt för dess intressentgrupper. För att undersöka vilken inverkan arbete med CSR har på intressenterna har vi valt att fokusera på anställda, och hur deras identifiering påverkas av organisationers arbete med CSR. Detta är också studiens syfte som vidare även behandlar vilka av CSR-aspekterna ekonomi, etik och filantropi som är väsentliga för anställda. Frågeställningarna som studien besvarar är följande: Hur påverkas de anställdas identifiering med organisationen av uppfattningen om dess arbete med CSR? Vilka specifika CSR-aspekter influerar en anställds identifiering med en organisation? För att ge svar på studiens frågeställningar användes en kvantitativ metod bestående av en webbaserad enkätundersökning. Enkäten skickades ut till 189 anställda i olika organisationer där det erhölls 72 svar. För att testa studiens hypoteser fortskred uppsatsen i att materialet från enkäten bearbetades statistiskt genom korrelationsanalyser och regressionsanalyser. Resultatet i studien indikerade på att där föreligger ett samband mellan anställdas identifiering med en organisation och CSR. Därutöver påvisades det även att ekonomi var den CSR-aspekt som var mest väsentlig för anställdas identifiering. Studiens resultat bidrar därigenom till forskningen. Vår slutsats blir genom resultatet att ett samband mellan CSR och identifiering föreligger samt att CSR-aspekten ekonomi är den mest väsentliga för personalens identifiering.

Title: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in Rapidly Growing Firms – As a way of Strengthening the Corporate Brand Authors: Frida Dahlin and Anna Ledel Supervisor: Thomas Helgesson Examiner: Venilton Reinert Level: Bachelor thesis Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, Corporate brand, Gazelle companies Research question: How can gazelle companies develop CSR strategies to strengthen their corporate brand? Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate how Swedish gazelle companies are taking their rapid growth into consideration when working with CSR as a way of strengthening their corporate brand. This paper aims to examine how Swedish gazelle companies are managing their CSR strategies and if the fact that they are fast growing firms is affecting their strategic work, and in that case how. This paper aims to contribute with a better adjusted model of CSR that is applicable in the context of rapidly growing firms. Methodology: A deductive and qualitative method was chosen for a deeper, more detailed and descriptive explanation of the considered subject. Theoretical frame of references: Theories regarding previous research of corporate brand, CSR, reputation management and rapidly growing firms are brought forward. Empirical findings: Primarily data was collected and presented from three rapidly growing firms in Sweden. Conclusion: A new model has been developed that is aimed for gazelle companies to use when working with and developing CSR strategies as a way of strengthening the corporate brand.

Both academic and practical attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been increasing over the past few decades. Past research on CSR largely focuses on the positive side of corporate social issues management, explaining why and how firms engage in CSR activities and how such engagement influences corporate financial performance. Paying little attention to the negative side of social issues management, this research has generated little understanding as to why firms, even those with a strong record of CSR investment, commit irresponsible activities. In this study, we focus on corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) and explore the antecedents and consequences of CSiR. From a strategic management perspective, we propose four key antecedents of CSiR, including selective management of stakeholders, technical orientation, past history, and performance pressure. We also propose that CSR moderates the negative effect of CSiR on corporate financial performance. We used an unbalanced dataset of large U.S. corporations from 1991 – 2009 to test our theory, and most of the hypotheses were supported. We discuss the implications of our findings and the contributions of this study to research on organizational misconduct, stakeholder theory and strategic management.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur företag definierar socialt ansvar samt varför företag redovisar sitt sociala ansvar. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom sju semistrukturerade intervjuer, där respondenter fick besvara frågor kring socialt ansvar och deras redovisning. Studiens resultat visar på att socialt ansvar är ett begrepp som är beroende av situation och individ, definitionen av socialt ansvar är även kopplat till vilken verksamhet företag bedriver.  Vilken tolkning företaget gör av begreppet socialt ansvar, leder till att syftet med redovisningen av det varierar. En anledningen till att företag väljer att redovisa sitt sociala ansvar är för att de anser att det är ett sätt att visa sina intressenter vad företaget har gjort, en form av marknadsföringsmaterial. Vidare kan det sociala ansvaret även redovisas av den anledning att företag anser att det är en naturlig del av verksamheten, i likhet med företagets redovisning av de miljömässiga och ekonomiska delarna. Orsaker till dessa variationer är för att socialt ansvar är kontextberoende, vilket gör att det inte finns något rätt eller fel när det gäller vad socialt ansvar är.

Syfte och frågeställningar: Att undersöka vilka budskap om CSR som företag i en kritiserad bransch förmedlar i marknadskommunikation. Dessutom att få indikationer på hur denna kommunikation uppfattas av studenter som ingår en generation som är kritisk till marknadskommunikation och reklam. Metod och material: En textanalytisk del av ett antal reklamfilmer och annonser från McDonald’s, Max och Burger King, detta utifrån retoriken. Fokusgruppsdiskussioner med ett antal studenter för att få en bild av deras uppfattning av dessa reklamfilmer och annonser. Huvudresultat: De tre företagen fokuserar på ämnen som de antingen förväntas ta ansvar för, eller som de har kritiserats för, dessa ämnen berör sociala eller miljömässiga frågor. Studenterna som deltagit uppskattar ansvarstagande, men är kritiska till reklam. Beroende på vilket företag som är avsändare ifrågasätter de i olika grad företagens egentliga syfte med kommunikationen.

The doctrine of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged and developed rapidly as a field of study. It is a framework for the role of business in society, setting standards of behaviour to which a company must subscribe to impact society in a positive and a productive manner at the same time as abiding by values which exclude profit seeking at any cost. The emergence of ethical investment, social enterprise, business ethics, environmental practices, a human rights approach to recruitment and employment conditions, and investment in the community are examples of such impacts. This research examines the Islamic perspectives of CSR, and argues that, CSR is not a subject alien to Islam, as it is deeply inscribed in Shari'ah. In particular, the thesis has showed the relevance of CSR as a globally accepted practice to Islamic banks. The Islamic banking system has an in-built dimension that promotes social responsibility, as it resides within a financial trajectory underpinned by the forces of Shari'ah injunctions. These Shari'ah injunctions interweave Islamic financial transactions with genuine concern for ethically and socially responsible activities at the same time as prohibiting involvement in illegal activities or those which are detrimental to social and environmental well-being. To further investigate whether the stakeholders of Islamic banks truly subscribe to the idea of CSR, this study provides empirical evidence based on a survey which was conducted on seven stakeholder groups (customers, depositors, local communities, managers, employees, regulators and Shari'ah advisors) of Islamic banks in Malaysia. The findings of this study reveal that stakeholders of Islamic banks in Malaysia have generally positive views of CSR. One of the most important reflections of their positive attitude is that CSR factors are evidenced as one of the important criteria in their banking selection decisions. Overall the study provides a clear justification and indication from a theoretical point of view and empirical evidence from stakeholder perspectives about the relevance and significance of CSR to Islamic banks in Malaysia.

The collapse of WorldCom (USA 2002), Enron (USA 2001), Exxon Valdez (USA 1989) and Union Carbide (India 1984) has inevitably invited tighter scrutiny from the public on unethical business practices. In order to be competitive in today's market economy, businesses need to be socially responsible and sensitive to the interests of various stakeholders, including the environment and society in general. / A study of senior managers' perceptions of CSR is vital as they are the most influential people in an organization, possessing the requisite power and resources to achieve its expectations. The petrochemical industry is chosen in this study due to its highly environmentally sensitive nature. In this research project, the CSR perceptions of senior managers in the petrochemical industry in Malaysia are examined from the perspectives of their demographic attributes, specific organizational characteristics and organizational culture. The main objectives are to study the CSR perceptions of senior of senior managers in the Malaysian petrochemical industry, to analyse the complex relationships among the moderating variables and CSR perceptions, as well as study the relationships among the four types of responsibilities of Carroll's (1979) CSR construct. Multivariate analysis, namely MANOVER, is used to analyse the complex relationships among senior managers' CSR perceptions, their demographic attributes, organizational characteristics and organizational culture. / The research findings indicate that there are simultaneous relationships among the variables correlated with the CSR perceptions of senior managers. These findings can provide useful guidelines in formulating organisational CSR policies, and human resource recruitment policy, as well as in designing training programs to increase CSR awareness among the employees. The CSR perceptions of the senior managers surveyed support Carroll's (1979) CSR model that the economic and legal responsibilities are viewed as more important than ethical and discretionary responsibilities. The relationships among the four types of responsibilities are also found to be consistent with the literature. Content analysis is used to supplement the quantitative analysis to give an overview of CSR in the Malaysian petrochemical industry by understanding the organisational culture pertaining to CSR. It is important to note that all participating companies are committed to being socially responsible in protecting the environment, despite the different levels of emphasis given in their organisational documents. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007

This research investigates the responsiveness of companies in the Australian packaging supply chain to stakeholder concerns about the environmental impacts of packaging. The National Packaging Covenant (NPC), which was introduced in 1999, is based on the principle of shared responsibility for the 'life cycle' environmental impacts of packaging. This principle is commonly referred to as 'product stewardship' (PS). The primary focus of the thesis is corporate environmental policies and practices, but within a broader institutional framework. The institutionalisation of PS as a relatively new framework for corporate behaviour is occurring within an 'organisational field' at several levels. At the broadest (macro) level it is being institutionalised through the interaction of the state, industry associations and environmental non-government organisations (ENGOs) in policy processes. Within the packaging supply chain (meso level) it is being institutionalised through changes to corporate policy and practice within different sectors of the packaging supply chain, including raw material suppliers, packaging manufacturers, product manufacturers (brand owners) and retailers. Within individual firms (micro level) PS is being institutionalised through the interaction of functional groups with different interests, allegiances and stakeholders. At a macro level the institutionalisation of PS as the solution to the perceived 'packaging problem' is linked to the relative power of the industry coalition in policy negotiations and the deregulatory approach to policy making within federal and state governments. Within this environment, companies have sought to maintain or enhance organisational legitimacy by developing policies and practices that institutionalise PS in the way they do business. The responsiveness of companies in different industry sectors is evaluated by examining the PS policies and practices of 30 large companies in the Australian packaging supply chain. The results show that companies are acting to reduce the environmental impacts of packaging, but most are only doing the minimum required to meet public expectations. The research also found a significant gap between the performance of the beverage and packaging manufacturers and retailers. This reflects, at least in part, the fact that beverage and packaging manufacturers have a longer history of exposure to interest group pressure on this issue. Decision-making within individual companies is also driven by corporate policies on environmental and social responsibility, which in turn appear to be linked to industry sector, company size and country of origin. Most companies are focusing on strategies which achieve both environmental and financial savings. This reflects the competitive nature of the industry and the pressure being imposed on companies, by their customers, to reduce supply chain costs. It is also consistent with the voluntary and flexible nature of the NPC, which allows individual companies to choose strategies that support other business objectives. However, while this approach is likely to achieve incremental improvements, it may not meet the expectations of some government agencies and ENGOs for more rapid and substantial reductions in packaging waste. Companies in the packaging supply chain face a continuing challenge to maintain their legitimacy in the face of ongoing stakeholder concerns about their products.