Originally published as Corporate Governance Volume 6 Number 4, 2006
ISBN: 1 84663 146 7
Guest Edited by: Gilbert Lenssen, Wojciech Gasparski, Boleslaw Rok, Peter Lacy
This Special Issue draws on papers presented at the European Academy of Business in Society Fourth Annual Colloquium in Warsaw, Poland, December 2005.
The event was hosted by the Leon Kozminski Academy of Entrepreneurship and Management and the Warsaw School of Economics. It was part of the EABIS led project, “The European Platform for Excellence in CSR Research”, supported by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Research Programme.
The Colloquium and this Special Issue are an attempt to lift debate to another level on both corporate responsibility and competitiveness in order to push the boundaries of knowledge. They are also an attempt to build the platform for serious understanding at the level of corporate strategy and public policy.
Contents:
Responsible competitiveness: reshaping global markets through responsible business practices
The purpose of the paper is to explore the theoretical underpinnings and practical implications of responsible competitiveness, where responsible business practices become a driver of national and regional competitiveness.
The Lisbon Strategy after the mid-term review: implications for innovation and life-long learning
This paper aims to investigate the interaction between the sustainability of the European social model and the European Union's revised Lisbon Strategy and its focus on jobs and growth. The success of this strategy – following its five-year mid-term review in 2005 – depends on attempts to renew European competitiveness through, for example, innovation and life-long learning and well-designed reforms of the European social model.
Corporate social responsibility as a new paradigm in the European policy: how CSR comes to legitimate the European regulation process
Since its Green Paper (2002) entitled “Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility”, the European Commission multiplies communications and actions about corporate social responsibility (CSR). The purpose of this article is to question the emergence of CSR as a paradigm of the European referential in terms of public policy.
The political economy of CSR in Western Europe
The paper explores the relationship between old and new embeddedness by examining how 17 West European nations and the USA are ranked on “old” embeddedness dimensions and comparing this ranking with “new” CSR rankings of nationally aggregated industrial performance.
The government's role in promoting corporate responsibility: a comparative analysis of Italy and UK from the relational state perspective
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the changing role of governments promoting corporate responsibility (CR) as a result of the challenges raised by globalization.
Developing the wider role of business in society: the experience of Microsoft in developing training and supporting employability
Two of Microsoft's corporate responsibility initiatives linked to the development of employment in Europe are described and it is shown how these activities have created sustainable competitive advantage for Microsoft through an analysis of industrial organization economics and the resource-based view of the firm.
Key models for delivering sector-level corporate responsibility
The purpose of this paper is to provide a blueprint for an optimal model of sectoral corporate responsibility (CR), through exploring a variety of current approaches. The necessity for a more sector-wide approach is discussed and the best way to make it happen identified.
Learning together: new partnerships for new times
The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of the learning that has emerged from two initiatives in which a multinational company, Unilever, and an international non-governmental organization, Oxfam have worked together: the Sustainable Food Laboratory Initiative, a project focusing on the global food production system, and “Exploring the Links”, a joint research project exploring the links between wealth creation and poverty reduction in one country, Indonesia.
Investing in health care management: a way to explore the future value outlook of the health care sector
This paper aims to show the need for Europe to invest more in health care management training. It should be seen as a catalyst for accelerating the restructuring of the sector.
Opportunities and limitations of CSR in the postcommunist countries: Polish case
The conditions determining the success of CSR in Poland have been defined in this paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various sociological research. The paper finds that the main obstacles of CSR are: negative image of business, dysfunctional legal background, corruption, weakness of the III sector, difficult economic situation of many companies, the lack of an ethics and ethical standards, and difficult situation on the job market.
Sustainable competitiveness in global value chains: how do small Danish firms behave?
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have increasingly become integrated into global value chains, where they face social and environmental requirements from multinational buyers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of SMEs with respect to sustainable supply chain management in global value chains.
The impact of higher education on students' and young managers' perception of companies and CSR: an exploratory analysis
The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of higher education on students' and young managers' perception of companies and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The research is based on an electronic questionnaire for students and alumni of different institutions of higher education in Nantes (France).
Using stakeholder dialogue as a source for new ideas: a dynamic capability underlying sustainable innovation
The purpose of this research is to attempt to gain a deeper understanding on the firm's ability to integrate stakeholder insights into the process of organizational innovation from a sustainable development viewpoint.
Hardwiring and softwiring corporate responsibility: a vital combination
This case study paper has the purpose of showing that both processes of hardwiring and soft wiring together is essential for embedding corporate responsibility across a global organization to achieve lasting change.
Corporate social responsibility from a “stakeholder view” perspective: CSR implementation by a Swiss mobile telecommunication provider
The purpose of this research is to show how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is actually implemented and managed in business practice by a mobile communications provider in Switzerland. Based on this presentation the paper aims to analyze whether this implementation in the firm is consistent or not, to the responsibilities derived from the stakeholder view framework as it has been proposed by Post et al. (2002).
The social-competitive innovation pyramid
The purpose of this article is to define a logical process through which social needs can be investigated and integrated into corporate strategy, thus allowing management to meet the expectations of its stakeholder.
Voluntarism as an organizing principle for “responsible organizations”
The aim of this paper is to promote the concept of organizational voluntarism, borrowed from political philosophy and to stimulate feedback and debate as to its efficacy in furthering the discourse on corporate responsibility.
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