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Exploring Political Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Supply Chains

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Abstract

Businesses increasingly assume political roles, despite issues of legitimacy. The presented two case studies illustrate how businesses harness their political influence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices through collaboration and dialog with stakeholders and civil society actors. These cases are set around issues arising in global supply chains in sourcing activities where the core problem is associated with businesses managing extended responsibilities under conflicting institutional conditions. The article seeks to provide empirical examples of Political CSR and illustrates the role of deliberative democracy in contemporary business behavior. It adopts a Western business perspective, more specifically from an end-producer and retailer’s standpoint. Findings suggest that civil society is influential in driving these businesses to act responsibly. Joint collaboration is understood as key to strive toward holistic solutions. Political CSR theory remains an ideal, but offers fruitful grounds for speculating on what the political role of business is or could be and how this translates into pragmatic implications for businesses.

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Notes

  1. According to the Linneaus (1758) taxonomy, prawns are classified as “insecta,” so technically crustacean, such as tiger shrimp, are not fish, but treated as such within the fish category of a food retailer.

  2. 1 SEK ≈ 0.156652 USD.

  3. The data do not reveal the impact of fluctuations of the price of tiger shrimp, given that it represents value not volume.

  4. Facilitator: RESOLVE. Businesses: Intel, Motorola Solutions, Nokia, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard Company, AT&T, Sony, Toshiba, Advanced Micro Devices, Ford Motor Company, Verizon Communications, H.C. Starck, Research in Motion, General Electric, DELL, Telefonica, Sprint, Qualcomm.  Civil society actors: Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN), Enough Project, Partnership Africa Canada, Pact, Jewish World Watch. Industry associations: Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), iTSCi Secretariat, Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), World Gold Council. Governmental and intergovernmental agencies: US Department of State, US Agency for International Development (USAID), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) (RESOLVE 2013).

  5. Consisting of the following eleven states: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Abbreviations

ASC:

Aquaculture Stewardship Council

BSR:

Business for Social Responsibility

CEO:

Chief Executive Officer

CFS:

Conflict-Free Smelter

CSR:

Corporate Social Responsibility

DRC:

Democratic Republic of the Congo

EICC:

Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition

FMCG:

Fast Moving Consumer Goods

GeSI:

Global e-Sustainability Initiative

ICGLR:

International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

iTSCi:

International Tin Industry Association Tin Supply Chain Initiative

IUCN:

International Union for Conservation of Nature

MNC:

Multinational Corporation

MSI:

Multi-stakeholder initiative

NGO:

Non-Governmental Organization

PPA:

Public–Private Alliance (for Responsible Minerals Trade)

RSN:

Responsible Sourcing Network

SEC:

Securities and Exchange Commission

SEK:

Swedish Krona

SSNC:

Swedish Society for Nature Conservation

UK:

United Kingdom

UN:

United Nations

US:

United States

USAID:

United States Agency for International Development

USD:

United States Dollar

WWF:

World Wide Fund for Nature

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful for the participants and interviewees of the cases who have shared their insights with us. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions for improving this paper. All mistakes are our own.

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  1. Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7013, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Julia Patrizia Rotter, Peppi-Emilia Airike & Cecilia Mark-Herbert

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  1. Julia Patrizia Rotter
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Correspondence to Julia Patrizia Rotter.

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Rotter, J.P., Airike, PE. & Mark-Herbert, C. Exploring Political Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Supply Chains. J Bus Ethics 125, 581–599 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1927-4

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