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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the link between community of place and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lombard industrial districts in Italy.Design/methodology/approach A brief literature review of international authors from the stakeholder approach and Corporate Community Relations (CCRs) field is presented. This paper refers to a survey of Lombard industrial districts conducted by ALTIS. The data were collected via a telephone survey from 834 firms.Findings The main finding is that managing CCRs is of major importance for company success. The results of the survey show that there are some tools and actions that Italian industrial district SMEs use to interact with their particular communities of place to develop effective and coherent relationships with their stakeholder groups. Moreover, although the survey shows that though SMEs do implement different CCR activities, they are not able to communicate these effectively through systematic communication strategies. However, the narrow sample includes only a sample of some Lombard districts. Nonetheless, the findings indicate that effective CCR seems to confer competitive advantage based on stakeholder responses and rewards sought.Research limitations/implications The framework could assist in supporting CCR developments between industrial districts as various players would know how to improve CCR activities. One further suggestion is that University and Research Centers could have a role to play in creating and communicating codified knowledge concerning community relations in industrial districts, while other public players still have to develop specific tasks in improving infrastructures.Originality/value This study is in line with the main focus of CCR, which is in striving to meet stakeholder and societal needs. However, industrial district SMEs have to learn how to communicate their CCR activities from the examples set by large Italian companies. The paper links the notion of CCR with tools and actions to develop meaningful relationships with both community of place and interest. Moreover, considering the survey results, a new framework for local player roles is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee commitment to an organisation is accepted as an important concept in organisation psychology. Yet commitment to a project on which an employee might be working is largely unknown. Additional complications arise when the project makes use of volunteers who donate their time for reasons other than pecuniary reward. The relationships between volunteers, organisations and projects represent a gap in the field of organisational commitment knowledge. This paper identifies from literature the values that inform and influence volunteer commitment levels. Known antecedents of commitment are developed to present a model which encapsulates the variables that should be recognised as influencing volunteer commitment levels within a project context. The paper proposes a conceptual model of volunteer commitment to a project using three categories of commitment: emotional, purposeful and contextual, and concludes that the next phase of the study will test this model and develop a tool that will enable the measurement of volunteer commitment in a project context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts in mining fields that revolve around the type and perceived impact of CSR projects seem to be daunting to solve. Such conflicts emerge from misconceptions among community stakeholders’ that lead to a failed company-community relationship. This inimical situation threatens peace, security, lives, and properties at the community level. To resolve the company-community conflicts, it is important to minimize the misconception among community stakeholders’ by identifying their preferences of CSR projects. However, the challenge of identifying these projects in mining fields is yet to be fully explored and understood. The aim of this paper is to identify community stakeholders’ topmost preferences of CSR projects for an effective company-community relationship and propose a path for community engagement. A sample of 604 respondents comprising community leaders’ and local residents’ from three regions which host Gold Mining Firms with level ‘A’ membership from the Ghana Chamber of Mines were drawn for this study. Using a questionnaire made up of close and open ended questions, a survey was conducted. With SPSS 16.0, the data on the close ended questions were analyzed with ranking and factor analyses while the open ended were drawn into teams to support the former. The results of the ranking analysis show that different group of stakeholders’ had a different preference for CSR projects. The factor analysis revealed that for effective company-community relationship both stakeholders’ preferred a Streamline Social Intervention and Improve Stakeholder Economic related CSR projects. Base on these findings, the study recommends that Mining firms’ should give maximum consideration to projects that seek the welfare of both stakeholders’ and have equal engagement with all stakeholders’. Also, managing expectations before, during and after mining should be a shared responsibility of all the stakeholders’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects upon how national culture influences on Corporate Social Responsibility practices. For this purpose, the metaphor of "organization as culture" was used as theoretical framework, and Sweden as case study by identifying elements from its history and language which have contributed to the acceptance and reinterpretation of CRS concept in the country. In conclusion, the paper presents the "socially responsible" condition as ambiguous and contextual, emphasizing on national culture as a variable which cannot be underestimated in the analysis of CSR initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social responsibility (SR) initiatives within a corporate environment (CSR) continue to be met with deep scepticism. My concern is with exploring this scepticism, which I argue is due to there being more to the underlying objectives of SR than has previously been investigated. I begin by outlining and substantiating my project as a social ontological enquiry, one in which I unpack key concepts to reveal the nature of SR. These ontological findings then underpin my argument that SR is problematically grounded in liberalist thinking, and CSR is in fact just one manifestation of SR. I advance the thesis that SR has emancipatory ends, of meeting human needs and flourishing, and that it is best explicated using feminist care ethics. The argument is then focussed on both shoring up and advancing the emancipatory project of SR. The scepticism of interest is revealed to be the incongruity between care and business; that businesses are deemed as being incompatible with SR, at least in their present capacity. Any claims to the contrary by the business community are branded inauthentic and the aforementioned scepticism ensues. The paper concludes with a brief discussion concerning implications for CSR initiatives and future changes and developments are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, companies have become increasingly concerned with demonstrating their social engagement with their stakeholders, including their employees. Responsible management of workers and the transparency of that management is the subject of analysis in this paper. Because there are differences in the reporting requirements in European countries, this study analyses social transparency as determined by national institutional characteristics. The research is focused on a sample of 195 companies listed on the main stock exchanges of Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The results show quantitative differences in information about responsible human resource management practices as well as homogeneity in the employment of reference standards, with the exception of companies in the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retaining engaged volunteers is crucial to many non-profit organizations. However, research on volunteer engagement is limited, and the distinction between job and organizational engagement in volunteers remains to be investigated. In this paper, we examine both organizational- and job-level engagement, and specifically, whether perceived organizational support would enhance volunteer engagement and associated attitudes. We surveyed 221 volunteers, and asked them about their perceptions of organizational support; their engagement with their volunteer job and the organization they volunteer for; satisfaction; commitment; and turnover intentions. Both organizational and job engagements had significant relationships with the attitudinal variables. However, we found that organizational rather than job engagement mediated the relationship between organizational support and volunteer satisfaction and commitment. While organizational engagement correlated with turnover intentions, neither job nor organizational engagement mediated the relationship between support and the intent to leave. Our findings advance the research on volunteer engagement, and highlight the importance of organizational engagement for this important, but too often overlooked, workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reason most frequently adduced by SMEs to avoid the implementation of CSR programs is their shortage of material resources. In this paper we propose the possibility that biotech SMEs supply the RSC with something they've got in abundance, that is, knowledge. Popular science thus becomes the focus of these programs, an affordable resource that can benefit them, and not only in reputation. Our study focuses on 32 SMEs settled in four Technology Parks in Andalusia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of Corporate Social Responsibility has been inclined to a business viewpoint that has transformed it into an instrument. Consequently, Corporate Social Responsibility seems to be a management style that might be disposable. In response, this article proposes a wider notion about Organizational Social Responsibility and its main objective is the statement of the relationship between Organizational Social Responsibility and morality. That means, to recognize Social Responsibility as an unavoidable part of human behavior foundations. To get so, this paper is fourfold: Organizational Social Responsibility concept, its ethical foundations, its relationship with values and private earnings and the necessity of an Organizational Social Responsibility promoted by the government in instead of being strictly voluntary developed. The main conclusion sets that Organizational Social Responsibility is always presented both in human behavior and organizational facts, therefore, it is not an optional choice. At the end of the work, suggestions for new research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context where the labor dimension is fundamental part in the lives of people, and especially in those with a disability, many sectors have driven from the Corporate Social Responsibility a positive change in this human dimension. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of the pharmaceutical industry in this area, and its remarkable proposal for social innovation that has advocated for the inclusion of people with disabilities in addition to enhancing this dimension. The results allow us to assess the positive contributions of major pharmaceutical laboratories, and on the other hand, the mere declaration of intentions of other actors, but without concrete facts. Until then, as a society we still have a gap remaining between persons with disabilities and the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present the profiles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Managers in the Global Compact member organizations in Colombia. This is one of the preliminary results of a research that aims to provide new elements for understanding how Social Responsibility (SR) is understood and managed in the country. It is an exploratory and descriptive work in which was applied an instrument designed from the core variables that has worked in similar international studies. The results show that the charge directly related to SR in Colombia is still emerging, has more differences than similarities with regard to academic education and it is a feature entrusted more to women than to men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study corporate volunteering through both theoretical and practical analysis of the situation in Spain. It outlines the conceptual framework and classification employed, the positive effects and synergies that flow from corporate volunteering and models and strategies for its development, then presents the main data on the extent and the reality of corporate volunteering in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A service learning project was recently incorporated into a short-term business study abroad program. The main objective was to assess whether there is a place for service learning projects and how they should be integrated into the program. A combination of two surveys were used, one taken before the project and one after. Reflection papers were also analyzed. The findings revealed the effectiveness of service learning in making business students not only aware, but also sensitive to poverty in a developing country. As a result, students may approach business decisions with a greater understanding of their impact on poverty and society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the increment in the level of contributions of an organization to the society, as an essential strategic goal, considering that such contributions are comprised of both the financial contribution, and an entire group of internal results and those which have an impact on society, that contribute to improve the people' quality of life. The elaborated procedure is used as a methodological base in order to develop and implement the Methodology for the Integral Evaluation of Companies. Based on the system approach applied to organizations and on the importance that is currently attributed to the knowledge management, it is made a proposal that allows the assessment of the level of contributions of an organization to the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) represents activities, implemented by a company in order to fulfill ethical requirements towards all target groups. Studies show that investing in the technologies which aim at preserving the environment and doing business in line with ecological requirements can increase the competitiveness of companies on the market. Having in mind the fact that numerous companies, during the production process produce some negative effects on the environment and the society, the requirements and the pressure of the social community is growing so that the companies start acting responsibly. This is very important for the environmental protection, exercising human rights and freedoms, meeting the requirements and the responsibility towards the consumer rights protection, companies' visibility and control by the general public. Corporate social responsibility urges companies to act responsibly towards the society, thus, that relationship is based on respecting all of the social, ethical, ecological and economic values important for the decision making process. Companies from the food industry have a special social responsibility to preserve the environment in which they operate, to provide healthy and secure food to the consumers and to raise the life quality of the wider community by introducing certain actions. In this context, the paper will analyze the importance and necessity of social responsibility of companies of the food industry. In developed economy, corporate social responsibility is becoming a very important factor for consumers when deciding which product to buy, which improves the competitiveness of the CSR companies. A successful involvement of the transition countries, such as Serbia, and their companies, into the international economy, requires of them to adopt standards of the global market, out of which CSR is considered a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between business objectives and social responsiveness toward stakeholders in terms of stakeholder management activity. It employs an empirical grounded study of the Canadian banking sector that involved semi-structured interviews combined with archival documents analysis. Findings suggest managers in mature industries with business growth-oriented objectives and a proactive responsiveness toward stakeholders are likely to engage in stakeholder management activities commonly associated with corporate social responsibility. Implications for managers include the need for multi-dimensional strategic planning. Implications for researchers suggest a need to re-conceptualize management studies to nurture interdisciplinary research on business strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at a workshop held by the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology on stakeholder relations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the 1950s to the 1980s in West Germany is presented. Topics include the development of CSR codes such as the Global Reporting Initiative, the origins of Corporate Social Accounting, and industrial relations in the German automotive industry. The symposium featured several historians including David Gilgen, Stephanie Hagemann, and Anna R. Balzer.

Work integration social enterprises (WISE) are under pressure in two different regards. On the one hand, they have to participate in the market and compete with other firms, ensuring that they are sustainable in terms of prices, costs and quality. On the other hand, they endeavour to offer a means of social integration through employment. WISE must therefore show their efficiency from both an economic and a social perspective, justifying their usefulness and legitimacy to all the social actors. In order to be seen as socially legitimate they must do more than simply abide by the legal regulations; they must resort to accountability tools that provide greater transparency and responsibility than any other market entity. This paper presents an accountability model based on our experience with Aragonese WISE, theories of accountability in NPOs and a review of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to mainstream adaptation to climate change into development planning and ongoing sectoral decision-making is increasingly recognised, and several bilateral and multilateral development agencies are starting to take an interest. Over the past years at least six development agencies have screened their project portfolios, generally with two goals in mind: (1) to ascertain the extent to which existing development projects already consider climate risks or address vulnerability to climate variability and change, and (2) to identify opportunities for incorporating climate change explicitly into future projects. As each portfolio screening was conducted independently, the broader lessons emerging from the screenings have not been systematically analysed. In this paper we assess the screening activities to date, focusing on both the results and the methods applied. Based on this assessment we identify opportunities for development agencies to expand their current focus on the links between climate and development. Most agencies already consider climate change as a real but uncertain threat to future development, but they have given less thought to how different development patterns might affect vulnerability to climate change. The screenings undertaken have shown the need to take a comprehensive approach to adaptation and its integration into development planning and sectoral decision-making, and a number of policy initiatives have been taken to promote such integration. We provide some initial guidance as to how portfolio screening can be carried out in a way that would allow agencies to assess systematically the relevance of climate change to their ongoing and planned development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To analyse two important effects of the level of social concern in the firm. First, the effect on the labour force composition, i.e. do particular types of concerns attract certain kinds of employees? Second, the effect on the wage level within the firm, i.e. do firm-provided social concerns substitute for money wages, or are they provided as an additional compensation? Design/methodology/approach - Empirical analysis using a survey on more than 2,000 firms, linked to administrative data for each employee in the firms. Estimates wage equations using the IV approach to deal with endogeneity of the level of social concerns. Two competing theories aiming to explain the use of social concerns toward employees, the compensating wage differential theory and corporate social responsibility, are compared. Findings - Finds indications in favour of the compensating wage differential theory when looking at wage effects at the firm level, whereas looking at the target group level finds that white-collar workers might experience higher levels of social concerns without having lower wages, which contrast the theory of compensating wage differentials. Originality/value - The paper compare two well-established theories within two different disciplines - the compensating wage differential theory from economics, and CSR from management. This is done using solid empirical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper situates the field of action known as "corporate social responsibility" within the theoretical context of global capitalism. I posit that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a field of action that is shaped through the interplay of popular pressures and the response of corporations to such pressures thereof. Specifically, I analyze this field as consisting of a symbolic struggle over the meaning of the term "social responsibility." I analyze a set of corporate practices relating to CSR and show how they shape the notion of responsibility in ways that diffuse its radical transformative potential. In particular, I look at various corporate strategies designed to prevent the use of law as means for bringing about greater corporate accountability. I also discuss particular agents that mobilize the CSR field. Specifically, I discuss the establishment of corporate-sponsored and corporate-oriented NGOs and analyze the role they play in structuring the CSR field. I designate such organizations as MaNGOs (Market Non-Governmental Organizations) and suggest that such organizations shape notions such as "social responsibility" and "social change" in ways that are amenable to business and employers' concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper written by Professor Delbert Miller about the future direction of industrial sociology is critiqued. Miller addressed the related two related themes which are the need for sociology departments to remodel offerings to compete for students in the educational marketplace and the importance of sharpening the discipline's identity as a specialization directed at business and industry. As a result of the proposed changes in the discipline, students would become viable candidates for personnel, human resources and industrial relations positions. Miller was not suggesting that sociology departments or industrial sociologists have absolutely avoided applications. Rather, neither has sufficiently developed such programs to brake the loss of sociology majors to university units that promise more marketable training.