University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS Presentations, academic, and non-academic publications related to this research project: Conference Presentations of papers: • Laudal, Thomas: Earlier version of study II presented at the Political Science Conference “Fagkonferansen i Statsvitenskap” in Trondheim, Norway, 3-5 January 2006 • Blindheim, Bjørn-Tore: Early version of study XIII presented at the 13th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, Vesterås, Sweden, June 2006. • Blindheim, Bjørn-Tore: Early version of study III at The sixth annual colloquium of the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS), Barcelona 20-21 September, 2007. • Laudal, Thomas: Early version of study II presented at the ISIAM conference, Agadir, Morroco, 9-10 April 2007. • Laudal, Thomas: Early version of study VIII presented at the EABIS conference at Cranfield School of Busiiness, UK, 11-12 September 2008. • Laudal, Thomas: Early version of study X presented at the CRR Conference at the University of Vaasa, Finland, 8-9 September 2009. Presentations on conferences / seminars • Laudal, Thomas (2008): Presentation at the IEH/Fritt Ord seminar in Oslo 5 March 2008. • Langhelle, Oluf (2008): Presentation at the National CSR conference on CSR in Stavanger, 11 November 2009. • Participation in KOMpakt working group on CSR and SMEs, Autumn – Spring 2007/2008. • Participation in the Norwegian “Speilkomiteen” under Standards Norway on the ISO 26000. In newspapers / magazines • Blindheim, Bjørn-Tore (2007): Article on CSR in the clothing industry, Vårt Land, • Blindheim, Bjørn-Tore (2007): Article on CSR in the clothing industry, Forskning.no • Laudal, Thomas (2007): Article on CSR and municipality investments in Stavanger Aftenblad, • Laudal, Thomas (2008): Article reviewing the state of CSR in the Norwegian Magazine ”Ny Tid”, September 2008. • Laudal, Thomas (2009). Article in Tekstilforum no. 4, 2009, Etikk på kinesisk og norsk (Tekstilforum is the leading clothing publication of the clothing sector in Norway) University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS Notes to the KOMpakt Working Group on CSR and SME’s • Fitjar, Rune Dahl and Laudal, Thomas (2008): Bedrifters samfunnsansvar og små og mellomstore bedrifter. Working Paper, February 2008. • Blindheim, Bjørn-Tore and Langhelle, Oluf (2008): Bedrifters samfunnsansvar. Working Paper, February 2008. University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS Contents INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES................................................... 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 The Norwegian and Chinese Clothing Industry ................................................................. 19 Outline of the Report .......................................................................................................... 27 INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND DISSEMINATION OF CSR........................................... 37 Study I: Results from the clothing surveys in Norway and China .................................... 37 Study II: May we Determine the CSR Potential of the International Clothing Business?.................................................................................................... 51 Study III: Explicit and Implicit Institutional Manifestations of CSR................................. 73 Study IV: Measuring Orientations Towards Corporate Citizenship ............................... 101 Study V: CSR attitudes and practise in small- and medium sized enterprise (SME) clothing companies in Norway.................................................................... 129 Study VI: Little Big Firms? CSR in a Norwegian Small Business Market..................... 171 Study VII: The ability and willingness of the SME to embrace social responsibility - the significance of knowledge supply............................................ 191 Study VIII: Drivers and Barriers for CSR: Do We Need to Distinguish Between SMEs and MNEs? .................................................................................... 227 Study IX: Executives’ perceptions of the link between CSR and profits in the Scandinavian textile industry: Long run vs. short run effects........................... 253 Study X: What determinies a strong CSR Impact? Case: European Clothing Retail ........................................................................................................ 271 Study XI: Is the CSR craze good for society?: A discussion of the welfare economic approach to CSR..................................................................................... 301 Study XII: Towards a political conceptualization of corporate social responsibility ........................................................................................................... 325 Study XIII: A Reinterpretation of the Principles of CSR: A Pragmatic Approach ................................................................................................................. 353 CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD......................................................................... 371 CSR in SMEs and in medium sized companies ............................................................... 371 Towards a new research agenda: The political and normative nature of corporate social responsibility................................................................................. 375 Future research ................................................................................................................. 379 ENDNOTES ........................................................................................................................... 381 Ingen del av denne rapporten kan reproduseres i noen form uten skriftlig tillatelse fra Rogalandsforskning ©. University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Introduction This report is the result of a 3 year research programme funded by the Norwegian Research Council with the title International developments and the dissemination and implementation of CSR in the Norwegian clothing sector . The overall aim of the project was to follow the international development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and to study how CSR disseminates and influences the clothing branch in Norway at the chain and firm level, with a special focus on small- and medium sized firms. And further, to measure attitudes towards -and implementation activities of CSR and identify barriers towards effective CSR implementation on the company level. At the outset, the project focused on 4 key research questions: 1. How does the evolvement of an international CSR framework contribute to the development, institutionalization and dissemination of CSR in the clothing industry? How does the branch, chains and firms adopt and contribute to the international developments of CSR? 2. How does eventually such an institutionalization and dissemination of CSR in the clothing industry manifest itself a) on a branch level?, and b) on the chain/company level? 3. How can obstacles and barriers of adapting CSR in small and medium sized companies be removed? 4. What are the explanatory factors behind firms’ decisions to implement CSR tools or not? The research questions where to be answered by document studies; interviews with key stakeholders; a survey measuring basic attitudes to CSR in clothing companies; and case studies of CSR perceptions and implementation in small- and medium sized companies. In their approval of the project, the Research Council asked for a stronger focus on CSR in the supply chain within the clothing sector. This is reflected both in the case studies included in this report and in the surveys developed. It also initiated research collaboration between the University of Stavanger/International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS) and Bejing Institute of Clothing Technology (BIFT) (now Bejing Institute of Fashion Technology (BIFT). This report consists of a number of articles probing the above research questions. The research questions and an extended focus on the supply chain have served the function as organising principles for the different sub-parts of this research project. Some 1 University of Stavanger / International Research Institute of Stavanger AS research questions, however, have been dealt with less extensively, while other research questions became more important. This is partly a result of the fact that the project was organised around articles and sub projects – thus the main part of this report consists of a collection of articles. Partly it reflects the research process. As the project developed, other research questions became increasingly important. Although it came as no great surprise, it became clearer during the project that the concept itself, Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) , is and continue to be a contested concept. Much work, therefore, has been devoted to analytical and conceptual discussions and attempts to clarify what the contested nature of the phenomenon of CSR actually consist in. How should it be defined? How should it be understood? What are its defining characteristics? And which perceptions of CSR can be identified in the clothing industry? Different conceptions