Corporations as Political Actors – A Report on the First Swiss Master Class in Corporate Social Responsibility

Rasche, Andreas; Baur, Dorothea; Huijstee, Mariëtte van; Ladek, Stephen; Naidu, Jayanthi; Perla, Cecilia; Schouten, Esther; Valente, Michael; Zhang, Mingrui

doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9418-0

Cited by 31 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Yet, it seems that there is a gap in the literature about the adoption of "international accounting standards" by global firms (Jamali, 2010). Apparently, the so-called accountability standards were assisting businesses in taking into account their stakeholders' interests (see Rasche, Baur, Van Huijstee, Ladek, & Naidu, 2008). The accountability standards represent voluntary predefined norms and procedures for organisational behaviour with regard to social and/or environmental issues and are often valid on a global level (Rasche, 2010).…”

Section: The Csr Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the Sustainable Tourism Agenda Through Strategic CSR Perspectives

Camilleri

2013

Tourism Planning & Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper links the corporate social responsibility (CSR) paradigms to the sustainability agenda. The objective is to sharpen the strategic base of responsible behaviour in tourism enterprises. The design follows a comprehensive literature review about sustainable tourism from a hospitality industry perspective. Theoretical underpinnings suggest that the tourism and hospitality industries are continuously witnessing changing attitudes on the part of both the consumers and the enterprises. This contribution provides some details about the sustainability agenda as it explains how it emerged following Brundtland's report. Afterwards, it identifies key contributors who raised the issue of sustainable tourism as well as CSR policies, including intergovernmental committees and non-governmental organisations. It is believed that synergistic and shared value approaches are relatively straightforward and uncomplicated. Therefore, such notions are more easily taken up by academics or by tourism and hospitality stakeholders. There is continuous discourse in many international fora, conferences, seminars and colloquia about sustainable tourism, responsible behaviour and the related subjects. However, the discussions are usually characterised by presentation of theories which define the concepts, rather than being practical workshops which identify the business case and how to trigger active participation in the tourism industry. Relevant literature indicates that value-driven approaches focus on improving tourism and hospitality business performance through effective and efficient practices in their workplace environments. This contribution suggests that long-term sustainability can be reached if industry practitioners successfully address their societal and community deficits.

show abstract

Section: The Csr Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the Sustainable Tourism Agenda Through Strategic CSR Perspectives

Camilleri

2013

Tourism Planning & Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The national and international laws have failed to hold corporations accountable for their actions (Bondy et al, 2012). Apparently, the so-called accountability standards were assisting businesses in taking into account their stakeholders' interests (see Rasche et al, 2008). The accountability standards represent voluntary predefined norms and procedures for organisational behaviour with regard to social and/or environmental issues and are often valid on a global level (Rasche, 2010).…”

Section: International Standards For Sustainability Reportingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, it may seem that there is still no formal model that can be used as a yardstick to evaluate the standards' strengths and weaknesses. The accountability standards reflect a shift towards a 'quasi-regulation' that is based on a substantive (outcome-based) and reflexive (process-based) law approaches (Rasche et al, 2008). A 'substantive' law approach is regulated by prescribing predefined outcomes, whereas a 'reflexive' law approach is regulated by prescribing procedures to determine outcomes in a discursive way (see Hess, 2001).…”

Section: International Standards For Sustainability Reportingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Reporting

Camilleri

2015

Corp Reputation Rev

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This conceptual paper sheds light on some of the major intergovernmental benchmarks, guidelines and principles for corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate governance and sustainability reporting. It reports on several governments' regulatory roles as their societal governance is intrinsically based on interdependent relationships. There are different actors and drivers who are shaping CSR communications and policies in relational frameworks. This paper mentions some of the countries that have already introduced intelligent substantive and reflexive regulations. It also shows how certain businesses are stepping in with their commitment for sustainability issues as they set their own policies and practices for laudable organisational behaviours. Very often, corporate businesses use non-governmental organisations' regulatory tools such as process and performanceoriented standards. These regulatory instruments focus on issues such as labour standards, human rights, health and safety, environmental protection, corporate governance and the like. Afterwards, this paper discusses about the relationship between governance and sustainability. It makes reference to some of the relevant European Union Expert Group recommendations for non-financial reporting and CSR audits. Relevant academic contributions are indicating that customers are expecting greater disclosures, accountability and transparency in sustainability reports. This contribution contends that the way forward is to have more proactive governments that raise the profile of CSR. It maintains that CSR communications and stakeholder engagement may bring shared value to business and society. Ultimately, it is in the businesses' interest to implement corporate sustainability and responsibility and to forge fruitful relationships with key stakeholders, including the regulatory ones, in order to address societal, environmental, governance and economic deficits.

show abstract

“…Some companies also operate in contexts with weak institutional capacity, such that they may inadvertently find themselves responsible for the provision of public goods -such as waterwhich were traditionally considered to be roles of nation states (e.g. see the discussion by Cecilia Perla in Rasche et al, 2008). Especially in such contexts -but also in those with sound regulatory frameworks -there are compelling reasons for companies to proactively engage with communities about water values and benefits and to thereby play a more active role in contributing towards IWRM aspirations.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sharing the benefits from water as a new approach to regional water targets for mining companies

Kunz

Moran

2014

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Most major mining companies have articulated strategies and targets to minimise the impacts of operations on surface and groundwater resources. However, the focus tends to be on mitigating negative impacts. In this field note, we make two contributions to assist mining sites in playing a positive role in implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) aspirations. First, we introduce the notion of "water benefits" as a pathway for operationalizing regional IWRM objectives at a mine site level. Second, we propose a decision making framework to facilitate investment in water benefits. The framework comprises of five steps: (1) Select system boundary wherein benefits are to be delivered; (2) Quantify water availability; (3) Determine potential benefits; (4) Identify acceptable benefits; and (5) Implementation and monitoring. For a site to deliver water benefits that extend beyond the legal obligation of the company, we contend that there must be a sound business case. We therefore distinguish between steps that should be decided by the business (steps 1, 2 and 4) from those that should be completed in collaboration with the broader community (steps 3 and 5).Within this field note we do not test the practical utility of the framework in an empirical setting and as such it is not intended to be prescriptive. Rather, we seek to provide a foundation for scholarly/industry debate about how decision makers at a mine site level could take a more active role in contributing towards IWRM aspirations. We conclude that a "water benefits" perspective offers a novel basis for establishing regional water targets and could serve numerous advantages at a site-level including improved recognition about the value of water and improved understanding and mitigation of strategic water-related risks.

show abstract

Corporations as Political Actors – A Report on the First Swiss Master Class in Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract: firms as political actors, global governance, stakeholder collaboration, conflict zones, corporate accountability, political responsibility, NGO legitimacy, consumer responsibility, hard and soft law, human rights,

Cited by 31 publications

References 41 publications

Advancing the Sustainable Tourism Agenda Through Strategic CSR Perspectives

Advancing the Sustainable Tourism Agenda Through Strategic CSR Perspectives

Valuing Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Reporting

Sharing the benefits from water as a new approach to regional water targets for mining companies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About