Theme: ‘Doing Well by Doing Good: New Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Inclusive Capitalism“

Dates: July 9-11, 2012; Location: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), India.

Submission dates:     Proposals: February 29, 2012
Final papers:April 30, 2012
Peer Review Decision: May 31, 2012

Selected papers/proposals will be submitted to a double blind review process and based on feedback, selected papers will be published in book of readings by Routledge publishing.

For more information on the research symposium, please click on the following link:

http://www.iimb.ernet.in/node/3095

Howlers and omissions exposed in world of corporate social responsibility

Please note that the deadline for our call for papers has been extended by one month!

Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility

Call for Papers for JBR Special Issue

Extended Deadline: February 15, 2012

Coca Cola has sold products in African markets for some time. Recently, the corporation began supporting local communities where conducting its business activities. Coca Cola now helps small retail entrepreneurs to build up their business and become partners with the company in order to create economic wealth in these poor countries. Critics contend that the major motive of Coke’s actions is to increase sales of an unneeded product. Which assessment of Coca Cola is more accurate?

Walmart currently is promoting its environmental and socially responsible activities. For example, the company has new trucking procedures in place and altered distribution centers to become more energy efficient and supports local communities by donating money for children’s summer camps and schools in regions where Walmart operates. The firm’s many detractors suggest that Walmart does not always act in a socially responsible manner. They point to the company’s history of squeezing suppliers, undercutting small local shops and paying sub-market wages to employees in the name of low prices. Has Walmart fundamentally changed is business model?

During the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP faced extreme criticism for its socially irresponsible behavior. This incident harmed many people from local community, far flung businesses on the Gulf, and the environment in terms of wildlife and native habitats. Not many years before the incident, BP was commended for being at the forefront of social responsibility and concern for future energy needs. What caused the apparent change in philosophy at the company?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key part of the management agenda of many companies. Companies often go to great lengths to promote their good works.  As the examples above show, some firms behave irresponsibly while at the same time acting positively on some dimensions—corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and responsibility can exist at the same time in the same firm. This paradox of acting both responsibly and irresponsibly reveals a kind of CSR-CSI ambidexterity and is a major phenomenon the call for papers is addressing.

Looking at the history of CSR, academic debate on what CSR is and how to define CSR is never ending. While Milton Friedman and Theodore Levitt (1958) promote the argument that companies are only responsible for maximizing profits and shareholder value, other CSR scholars suggest that companies have a broader range of obligations than financial ones (e.g., Carroll, 1974; Van Marrewijk, 2003). The debate continues on with many definitions of CSR and a host of related concepts. CSR is a cluster concept which overlaps business ethics, corporate philanthropy, corporate citizenship, sustainability and environmental responsibility. CSR is a dynamic and contestable concept that embeds in each social, political, economical and institutional context” (Crane et al., 2008). Consequently, a clear paradigm for CSR is still missing (McWilliams et al., 2006). Amstrong (1977) advocates focusing not on CSR but rather social irresponsibility because CSI is much easier to delineate what corporations and managers should not do. Armstrong defines corporate socially irresponsible behavior as “a decision to accept an alternative that is thought by the decision makers to be inferior to another alternative when the effects upon all parties are considered” (Armstrong, 1977, p. 185).

Some managers and corporations act irresponsibly as the recent examples of the world financial crisis, BP’s actions in the Gulf, the nuclear industry in Japan point in this direction. Managers sometimes behave irresponsibly when they consider only their selfish interests and aim mainly to maximize shareholder profits without considering other stakeholder interests.

Consequently, shareholder orientation encourages while stakeholder orientation reduces irresponsible behavior (Armstrong, 1977). Thus, stakeholder theory offers guidance to companies and managers’ for CSR by recognizing the need to take into account stakeholder groups. This theory is also very influential in clarifying for whom a corporation is responsible (Freeman, 1984). But stakeholder analysis fails to address a rather critical issue: for what a corporation is responsible. This question is important for management in making appropriate decisions relating to CSR, and marketers in developing suitable communication strategies about CSR. Clarifying the “for what” issue inevitably leads to an exploration of the limits of CSR and the occurrence of CSI.

The Editors of this JBR Special Issue welcome conceptual and empirical papers exploring these and related themes:

• Are universal definitions of CSR and CSI desirable?
• What are the boundaries of CSR and CSI?
• For what reasons and in what contexts are companies responsible/irresponsible?
  • Can progress be made in developing a general theory of corporate social irresponsibility
• What criteria should be used to contrast CSR with CSI?
• Is CSR masking/hiding illegal and/or irresponsible behavior?
• What are the arguments of the critics of CSR and CSI?
• How does culture or national origin affect CSR and CSI policies?
• How does CSR and CSI relate to “useful” breaking of the law?
  • How can damage of irresponsible behavior be prevented/reduced/controlled for?
  • How can corporations and government create effective programs to prevent corporate irresponsible behavior?
• How can/should CSR and CSI be measured?
• What competitive advantages (if any) are achievable by a coherent CSR or CSI strategies?
• Does CSR and/or CSI force business to lead government?
• What is CSR’s and CSI’s potential to reduce reputational risk?
• Can CSR and CSI serve as an insurance against product harm crises?

• What is the impact of CSR and CSI on stakeholders (e.g., stockholders, consumers or employees)?
• How do CSR programs address sustainability concerns?
• How do supply chain members participate in the CSR activities that involve major multinational firms?
• What is the level of consumer understanding and skepticism towards CSR and CSI?
• How do firms communicate CSR and CSI priorities to stakeholders?

Special Issue Editors: Patrick E. Murphy, Marketing, 394 Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, Murphy.72@nd.edu, 574-631-9092; Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, International Marketing and Management, WU Vienna, Augasse 2-6, 1090 Vienna, Bodo.schlegelmilch@wu.ac.at, +43 1 31336 5103.

Submissions: Papers should be sent in WORD format to one of the special issue editors by February 15, 2012.  The papers should comply with the Journal of Business Research guidelines.

References

Armstrong, S. J. (1977). Social Irresponsibility in Management. Journal of Business Research, 5, 185-213.

Carroll, A. B. (1974). Corporate Social Responsibility: Its Managerial Impact and Implications. Journal of Business Research, 2, 75-88.

Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. (2008). Corporate Social Responsibility – Readings and cases in a global context. (1^st ed.). US and Canada: Routledge, (Chapter 1).

Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. (1^st ed.). Boston, MA: Pitman.

Levitt, T. (1958). The Dangers of Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 36, 41-50.

McWilliams, A., Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43, 1-18.

Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Concepts and Definitions of CSR and Corporate Sustainability: Between Agency and Communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 44, 95-105.

—————————————————-

Professor Bodo B. Schlegelmilch,

Ph.D., D.Litt., Ph.D. (hon)

Dean

WU Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

Vienna University of Economics and Business

Augasse 2-6, 1090 Wien, Austria

Tel: +43-1-31336-5099 (direct)

+43-1-31336-5103 (secretary)

Fax: +43-1-31336-793

bodo.schlegelmilch@wu.ac.at

www.executiveacademy.at

Keeping it simple in a complex world?
Responsible leadership and the ethic of care in small firms
Wednesday 23 November 2011

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you cordially to attend the Seminar Series: Responsible Leadership for a Complex World. The first seminar will explore the nature of responsible leadership in small firms, arguing for the ethics of care as a suitable lens through which to understand the form that responsible leadership takes in this context.

This seminar is the first in a four part series of CSR-related events held in both Hull and London led by Hull University Business School and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), bringing together theory with practice and inviting participation not only in the seminars themselves but by putting learning into action.

About the speaker Prof Laura Spence is Director of the Centre for Research into Sustainability and a Reader in Business Ethics at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

The event is free to attend with refreshments and networking opportunities available from 5.30pm. Book online to reserve your place at this event.

For further information contact Julie Arnold:

Events and Widening Participation Manager

hubscomms@hull.ac.uk
T +44 (0)1482 463596

We look forward to welcoming you to the seminars!

Warm regards,

May Seitanidi

Dr. M. May Seitanidi

Senior Lecturer in Corporate Social Responsibility,

Chair of HUBS Research Ethics Committee

Hull University Business School, University of Hull-UK

The journal welcomes submissions from all disciplines for manuscripts that contribute to our academic understanding of the role of management in achieving global sustainability. These articles shall be subject to a double-blind review process overseen by an international editorial board. Submissions of theoretical work, empirical studies, book reviews, pedagogical tools and practitioner manuscripts are all encouraged. The journal shall solicit articles in both Spanish and English—with a corresponding review process to be conducted in either language.   The word length for a typical manuscript is between 6,000 to 10,000 words.

Journal Co-Editors

James Stoner, Fordham University, New York, USA

David Mayorga, Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Peru

Josep Maria, S.J., ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain

The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability is an official journal of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS) and is managed by the John Gokongwei School of Management of Ateneo de Manila University. For submission guidelines and other questions, please contact: editor@admu.edu.ph

Convocatoria de artículos

The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability es un peer-reviewed journal en que participan pares académicos dedicados exclusivamente a la publicación de investigaciones originales en el campo de la gestión y la sostenibilidad global. Sostenibilidad global es la amplia gama de cuestiones interconectadas que abarcan, pero no están limitadas a, la búsqueda de la preservación del medio ambiente, el empresariado social, la erradicación de la pobreza, la justicia social, la producción deseable y los patrones de consumo, la conservación de las especies, y una vida espiritual enriquecedora en este momento de la historia de nuestra especie en el planeta. El journal publica artículos sobre cómo las empresas productivas contribuyen al logro de la sostenibilidad global para crear formas de  justicia social y espiritualidad para el conjunto de  las especies.

El journal recibe artículos de todas las disciplinas que contribuyan a la comprensión académica de la función de gestión en el logro de la sostenibilidad global. Estos artículos estarán sujetos a un proceso de revisión, peer-reviewed, supervisado por un comité editorial internacional. Las presentaciones de trabajos teóricos, estudios empíricos, reseñas de libros, herramientas pedagógicas y manuscritos son bienvenidos. El journal recibe artículos en español o inglés, los cuales entrarán a un proceso de revisión que se lleva a cabo en los dos idiomas.  La extensión promedio de un manuscrito es de entre 6000 y 10000 palabras.

Co-Editores

James Stoner, Fordham University, Nueva York, EE.UU.

David Mayorga, Universidad del Pacífico, Lima, Perú

Josep María, SJ., ESADE Business School, Barcelona, ​​España

The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability es una publicación oficial de la Asociación Internacional de Escuelas de Negocios Jesuitas (IAJBS) y es administrado por la John Gokongwei School of Management of Ateneo de Manila University. Para recibir las  pautas de presentación y mayor información, se pueden en contacto con: editor@admu.edu.ph.

Responsibility”)

“Sustainability: Enabling a Transdisciplinary Approach”

Leuphana University of Luenburg, Lueneburg, Germany

29 February – 2nd March, 2012

A growing number of businesses is dealing with corporate sustainability issues. As corporate sustainability covers a wide range of complex topics such as emission reductions, biodiversity management, sustainability-oriented product and service innovation, sustainable supply chain management, or corporate influences on communities and regional development, its successful implementation depends on the contributions of experts from various disciplines in management, environmental science, psychology, sociology, economics, and related disciplines. In fact, the complexity of many sustainability challenges requires problem-solving approaches that transcend not only boundaries between academic disciplines but also between academics and practitioners. This is what transdisciplinarity is about.

Situated at one of Europe’s most reputable sustainable universities, the conference will enable leading researchers and high-level decision-makers to meet in a transdisciplinary setting with a goal of creating new insights to help move sustainability forward. To accomplish this, 60% of the participants (researchers and decision-makers) will be invited, while 40% will be selected by a rigorous peer-review of an international board.

The track “Transdisciplinarity in Corporate Sustainability” is offered by the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) and the The Academy of Business in Society (EABIS).

The deadline for abstract submission (500 words) is 31 October, 2011.

The full call is available at: http://www.leuphana.de/sustainability-summit