Chapter 4: CSR Management on an Organizational Level

Question 1

Name three instruments of CSR management on the level of the organization and describe how they help to enhance the company’s CSR performance.

Answer 1

1. CSR Managers and Committees
   - Specific individuals or groups appointed to coordinate and/or take responsibility for managing ethics in their organization.
2. Risk Analysis and Management
   - Aims to manage and reduce risks related to CSR (pollution, product liability, human rights, corruption, climate change impacts,…)
3. Codes of Ethics
   - Explicit outlines of what type of conduct is desired and expected of employees from an ethical point of view within a certain organization, profession or industry.

Question 2

Why have codes of ethics been criticized?

Answer 2

Critical streams of research claim that codes of ethics “suppress” individuals’ moral instincts, emotions, and empathy in order to ensure bureaucratic conformity and consistency.

Question 3

What are the objectives of the UN Global Compact?

Answer 3

1. Mainstream the 10 principles in business activities around the world.
2. Catalyze actions in support of the broader UN goals such as the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

Question 4

What are the differences between company-internal and company-external CSR activities?

Answer 4

Company-internal CSR:

• in many cases targeting employees.
• leading to real organizational change.
• often incurring high cost for the company

Company-external CSR:

• often quick and easy to implement without changing the core of the organization
• frequently featured in CSR advertisements.
• highly visible to firm-external stakeholders such as customers, investors, and the wider public.

Question 5

Why do consumers appreciate to be informed about company-internal CSR activities?

Answer 5

Company-internal CSR activities are often not as visible to customers as external CSR activities. Information about internal CSR can help customers to judge if the company is also responsible in company internal matters.
With this information customers can better identify themselves with a company.

Question 6

What happens if companies focus on company-external CSR while neglecting the same ethical stance on the inside?

Answer 6

Imbalances between internal- and external-CSR can lead to emotional exhaustion, intention-to-quit, high turnover of employees.

Question 7

Which three different levels of stakeholder involvement are distinguished in the framework of Morsing/Schulz (2006)?

Answer 7

1. Stakeholder information strategy
2. Stakeholder response strategy
3. Stakeholder involvement strategy

Question 8

What is meant by an inside-out approach to the design of CSR strategies and an outside-in approach to the involvement of external stakeholders?

Answer 8

Outside-in Approach aims to involve external stakeholders in CSR strategy building.

Inside-out approach focusses on the core company interactions and business processes within the company first.