World History

Author: Silvia Segnini

Supervisor Kai Kristensen

Business Performance Management Master Thesis

PROPOSAL FOR A HOLISTIC CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Aarhus, 2004

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TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

p.4

1.THE EVOLUTION FROM CSR TO CSP IN THE ACADEMIC LITERATURE 1.1 The origins of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility 1.2 The distinction between Social Responsibility and Social Responsiveness 1.3 The concept of Corporate Social Performance p.6 p.7 p.8

2.THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 2.1 CSR and the debate on the nature of the firm 2.2 The duty aligned perspective: CSR in ethical theory 2.3 The instrumental perspective: CSR in economic theory 2.4 Reconciling two paradigms p.11 p.12 p.13 p.14

3. THE SEARCH FOR A LINK BETWEEN CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC RESULTS 3.1 Thirty years of empirical research 3.2 The ambiguous link between CSP and contemporaneous financial performance 3.3 Further inquiry into direction of causation p.17 p.20 p.25

4. MEASURING CORPORATE SOCIAL PERFORMANCE 4.1 Operationalization of the CSP concept in academic research

4.1.1Reputational indexes 4.1.2 Content analysis 4.1.3 Perceptual measures

p.31

p.32 p.33 p.35

4.2 Validity Issues in existing CSP constructs 4.3 Indications for the development of an organizational tool for assessing CSP

p.35 p.37

5. CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPES IN CSR 5.1 Definition of CSR in the business context 5.2 Corporate outlooks on CSR 5.2 Specific features of CSR in the European and American contexts 5.3 The case of Denmark 5.4 Study cases: Novo Nordisk and Danfoss

5.4.1 Novo Nordisk 5.4.2 Danfoss

p.39 p.41 p.43 p.45 p.47

p.46 p.50

6. MAPPING ORGANZATIONAL TOOLS FOR CSR 6.1 Existing instruments for the implementation of CSR in the business organization. 6.1.1 General Guidelines and Statement of Principles 6.1.2 Ratings provided by investment agencies 6.1.3 Accountability and Reporting Frameworks 6.1.4...