Corporate Social Responsibility In China: A Vision, An Assessment And A Blueprint

A Vision, an Assessment and a Blueprint

Benoit Vermander

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9789814520799
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Science General
• Index: Biological Sciences

Over the years, many corporations have been trying to determine what they can and should do to contribute to the sustainability of the economic, social and ecological environment within which they operate. Corporate social responsibility has become a key senior management issue worldwide and an increasingly debated topic in China. This book aims at helping companies operating in China to better assess and exercise their corporate social responsibility (CSR) in specific contexts. The purpose of this book is to show that CSR has a strong economic pay back in the long run, that it is a key success factor in nurturing corporate excellence, and that a sense of urgency and accrued inventiveness are required from companies operating in China.

Cross-disciplinary in scope, the book aims at helping students and analysts in political science, governance, international relations and Chinese studies to understand and appreciate the unique role that firms play in shaping a new China. It focuses on the relationship between the state, civil society and corporations in the Chinese context. It researches the conditions under which this relationship might result in redefining China's developmental model.

This practical, business-oriented book takes into account China's classical and contemporary thought on CSR. It is the result of a long research and collaborative process with several institutions and industry leaders.

Contents:

• CSR in the Chinese Context: A Vision:
  • What is CSR?
  • The Legal, Professional and Social Framework
  • Chinese Cultural Resources Relevant to CSR
  • CSR and Corporate Strategy
  • Corruption and Business Activities
• Thematic Analysis and Lines of Action: An Assessment:
  • Environmental Standards and Concerns
  • Safety Issues
  • Social Standards and the Working Force
  • Gender Equality/Training/Well-Being at Work
  • Conflict Management and Prevention
• Transversal Issues: A Blueprint:
  • Making Ethical Assessments: Finances, Engineering and Conflicts of Interests
  • CSR and Corporate Governance
  • Reports, Foundations, Projects and Networks
  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • The Role of the Corporation in Tomorrow's China
  • Conclusion and Prospects
  • Recommendations

Readership: Leaders and corporate executives, members of international institutions, governmental organisations and NPOs, as well as journalists, academics, researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students interested in strategy, management and China studies.

PART ONE

CSR IN THE CHINESE CONTEXT:

A VISION

Though the definition and implementation of CSR practices raise similar questions in China as in other parts of the world, it remains true that practical issues and priorities differ from one national or cultural context to another. Besides, the very size of China and its impact on the global economy make a number of issues more acute. This first part of the book will sketch and progressively enrich an approach to CSR that balances a global vision with an appreciation of the Chinese context in its legal, social and cultural dimensions. Through recapping how CSR and related concepts developed in the last decades, it will examine how these developments may help us to reinterpret Chinese cultural and social resources relevant for entrepreneurial activities. It will also investigate how corruption and misbehaviors adversely affect the understanding and implementation of a company’s social responsibility. Finally, it will try to integrate a China-based understanding of the CSR imperative into corporate strategies.

CHAPTERONE

What is CSR?

1.1. A Pragmatic Approach to CSR

“Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) is a term that refers less to any rigidly defined legal, ethical or technical code than to an evolving set of principles, attitudes and practices having both global and local dimensions. There is no rigorous definition of what the expression refers to: “Notwithstanding the plethora of studies and debates that have taken place over the course of the last quarter century, there still exists no commonly accepted definition of CSR,” states Stefano Zamagni.¹ And other authors write: “One of the challenges of examining the concept of CSR is simply identifying a consistent and sensible definition from a bewildering range of concepts and definitions that have been proposed in the literature.”² Acknowledging the plasticity of the term does not amount to rejecting it as meaningless or useless — far from it: “CSR” is an expression that crystallizes concerns and debates, the frontiers of which are mobile but are shaped by convergent forces. Let us first approach the realities “CSR” encompasses through an array of propositions that will showcase both its fluidity and its richness.³ In this chapter, we will focus on a global approach to CSR, highlighting documents, dimensions and concepts that have progressively shaped the field. The Chinese understanding of corporate responsibility has developed within this general framework. However, CSR with Chinese characteristics is also the product of official declaration and policies, specific legal dispositions, and Chinese cultural heritage, which will be the focus of Chapters 2 and 3.

One of the initiatives epitomizing the globalization of the values and issues that underlies a CSR-based corporate strategy has been the United National (UN) Global Compact, which formulates ten principles having to do with human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption.⁴ However, note that the Global Compact does not make explicit use of the term CSR; second, that it is not a regulatory instrument, but rather a forum and a network associating governments, companies, labor organizations, and various civil society coalitions. Still, the formulation of the Global Compact was testifying to the generalization of a set of concerns and policy directions that had been gaining ground throughout the 1990s. Nowadays, virtually every global corporation has a CSR policy or department, fostering a variety of projects that may have to do with education, food safety or the environment.⁵ The shifts in opinions and strategies occurring throughout the 1990s had been prepared by theoretical and social debates happening in the 1930s and 1970s on whether a firm should or should not sacrifice profits in the social interest.⁶ The abruptness of the debate was considerably mitigated from the 1980s on by a number of factors: concerns linked to the environment and to natural resources made the time factor in profit-seeking a critical element for rethinking the terms of the questions; social and cultural evolutions broadened the understanding of the finality of a company; the globalization process raised a new series of practical and ethical issues. Among other approaches, the concept of corporate citizenship was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, encouraging a shift in business organizations’ social involvement from a passive response to social pressure, and finally to a proactive engagement in social and environmental issues, and a belief that such engagement is part of corporate duty: companies need to develop in a way that preserves resources for long-term growth and fosters economic and social sustainability.⁷ In other words, the understanding of the responsibilities of a firm both toward its shareholders and its stakeholders has been and is still evolving according to an array of cultural, social, economic and international factors. This may already explain why CSR cannot be defined in a way that would delimitate its meaning and implications once and for all.

The pragmatic approach that nowadays characterizes the quest for defining and implementing CSR is illustrated by a number of recent publications and programs. The ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility provides companies of all sizes with more recent and detailed criteria and insights than the Global Compact might have done. The ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility and the User Guide on ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility (the latter is published by the European organization NORMAPME, see Box 1.1), among other companion publications, provide their readers with a flexible but still precise and up-to-date definition of CSR.⁸ The ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility was launched by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on November 1, 2010 as a guidance paper (and not as a standard to be used for certification purposes or in contracts).

Box 1.1 The User Guide on ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility

“CSR addresses the voluntarily responsible behavior of enterprises toward society and presupposes legal compliance. Societies differ: by nation, history, culture, language, religion, level of education, way of thinking, density of regulation and other factors. In European nations, many CSR-related activities are regulated, a significant distinction from other regions. Different societies want to develop but also to maintain their special character. So, behaving in a socially responsible manner is something full of dynamics because societies’ needs and demands are locally specific and subject to continuous change.”

Source: NORMAPME User Guide for European SMEs on ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility, 2011, p. 5, http://www.normapme.eu/public/uploads/files/csr%20user%20guide/User%20guide%20ISO26000_version%20EN_final_18072011.pdf, accessed July 31, 2013.

While the ISO 26000 tries to encompass different national and professional contexts, the cultural dimension of CSR is stressed from the start (Box 1.2). Cultural particularities should not be seen as an excuse for escaping from the responsibilities attached to CSR, but rather as a reason for deepening and refining the analysis that leads to its actual implementation.

Box 1.2 CSR as a Cultural Construct

“CSR refers to an organization’s moral obligation toward others who are affected by the organization’s actions. An organization’s social responsibilities are always shaped by the culture and the historical period in which the organization operates. Just as a society’s values, norms and mores change over time, so does the definition of what is socially responsible behavior.”

Source: Sims, R.R. (2003), Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fail, London: Praeger, p. 44.

The ISO 26000 has been preceded by SA8000, an auditable certification standard encouraging organizations to develop, maintain and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace. The standard, developed in 1997, measures the performance of companies in eight areas: child labor, forced labor, health and safety, free association and collective bargaining, discrimination, disciplinary practices, working hours and compensation. Its practical character makes it particularly useful for assessing social standards within factories. The direct impact of the standard remains very modest in scope: in September 2012, China was the third country out of 66 for the number of facilities certified, with a total of 485 factories representing less than 340,000 workers.⁹ However, the standard has certainly inspired national regulations and helped to normalize conceptions of what a socially responsible workplace is meant to be.

Note that the role played by the standards’ adoption has proven to be essential in the process through which countries and industry sectors develop an understanding of a CSR-based integrated approach. Quality management cannot be easily separated from a set of values that foster social responsibility. China’s apparel and textile industry provides one with a most interesting example of the process that leads from management concerns inspired by the progressive globalization of an industrial sector to a set of explicitly ethical and social stipulations (see Box 1.3).

Box 1.3 China’s Textile Industry: From ISO 9000 to CSC9000T

Though technically not CSR-related, the ISO 9000 family of standards focuses on quality management systems. Over a million organizations worldwide are independently certified, making ISO 9001 (the first and leading standard of the family of standards) one of the most widely used management tools in the world today. China now accounts for a quarter of all certifications. Additionally, China’s apparel and textile industry has built up its own standards, with explicit reference to CSR values and the establishment of a responsible global supply chain. The CSC9000T is based upon the Chinese laws and regulations and relevant international conventions; it is also a management system for improving social responsibility management, while the ISO 9000 is a quality management system. Although the purposes of the two management systems are different, they apply the same management model, enabling local enterprises familiar with the ISO 9000 management to implement the CSC9000T more easily.

Sources: ISO 9000 — Quality Management, International Organization for Standardization, http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/management-standards/iso_9000.htm, accessed May 24, 2013. See also: CSC9000T Document, Responsible Supply Chain Association, http://www.csc9000.org.cn/en/CSC9000T_Document.asp, accessed May 24, 2013.

In October 2011, the European Commission endorsed a similarly pragmatic approach when it approved a new European Strategy on CSR for 2011 to 2014. It defined CSR as the “responsibility of enterprises f...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• PART ONE: CSR IN THE CHINESE CONTEXT: A VISION
• PART TWO: THEMATIC ANALYSIS AND LINES OF ACTION: AN ASSESSMENT
• PART THREE: TRANSVERSAL ISSUES: A BLUEPRINT
• Bibliography
• Index