CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE AGRIBUSINESS: A RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

In this paper we analyze the relevance of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy for enterprises in the agribusiness. Based on an overview about existing approaches to cope with conflicts in the agribusiness, we define CSR and introduce a conceptual framework that provides insights into the determinants of CSR and its effects. These are in particular, the legitimacy and reputation, and finally, the performance of enterprises in the agribusiness. Being mutually confronted with multiple stakeholder goals and relationships, it could be notably promising for enterprises in the agribusiness to pursue a CSR strategy.Corporate social responsibility, reputation management, stakeholder theory, legitimacy, CSR, Agribusiness,

Corporate Social Responsibility in Agribusiness: Empirical Findings from Germany

The social responsibility of businesses has developed into a highly debated issue in recent years. Especially in agribusiness, recent scandals as well as information asymmetries concerning food production have led to high external pressure on firms from the wider public. Being confronted with a variety of stakeholder goals and relationships, it could be particularly advantageous for enterprises in agribusiness to pursue a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. Based on a literature review, we introduce a conceptual framework that provides insights into the determinants of CSR and its effects, in particular, on the legitimacy and reputation, and finally, the performance of enterprises in agribusiness. This contingency-theoretic approach allows a more thorough analysis of CSR strategies and has guided an empirical study. In 2008, 170 German agribusiness companies responded to an online survey, using a standardized questionnaire. The empirical findings provide in-depth insights into the perception of external pressure in various fields linked to food production (for instance, use of genetically modified organisms), the understanding of social responsibility by the agribusiness companies surveyed and the way CSR is integrated into the firms’ strategic management. We also present three clusters of companies that differ with regard to their dominant motives for pursuing CSR strategies.corporate social responsibility, CSR, agribusiness, survey, sustainability, food scandals, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Legitimating Business Activities Using Corporate Social Responsibility: Is there a Need for CSR in Agribusiness?

result, enterprises in the agribusiness sector are increasingly exposed to the public eye (Jansen/ Vellema: 2004). The perception of consumers and other stakeholders - which are according to Freeman “any group or individual who can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of the organization’s objectives” - is of growing criticism and risk-consciousness and manifests itself in changed attitudes towards food production (Jäckel/Spiller: 2006; Haddock: 2005). The use of GMO in agriculture, e.g., is regarded to be morally reprehensible (Becker: 1999). The BSE-crisis and other food scares led to growing consumer uncertainty and resulted in decreased meat consumption and in the increasing percentage of outspoken vegetarians and low-meat consumers (von Alvensleben: 1997; Staack: 2005). Moreover, the influence capacity of stakeholders is growing (Gerlach: 2006). As a result these factors have reduced the legitimacy of traditional (e.g., animal production) as well as new production technologies (e.g. bioenergy) in the agribusiness. In the long term the success of enterprises in the agribusiness can be affected by legitimacy losses. Against this background, legitimacy is regarded as a resource that guarantees the long-term survival of an enterprise (Palazzo/Scherer: 2006). Primarily the market based view in general management literature and the macro-institutional approach in neo sociological-institutionalism are employed to understand business operations embedded in societal structures. In this context legitimacy means the conformation of an organization with social norms, values and expectations (Oliver: 1996).Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

Strategies and challenges of internationalisation in BRIC-countries: Empirical results from the German agribusiness

The objective of this paper is to identify the strategies and instruments that agribusiness companies currently use to cope with the globalisation of agricultural markets. This aim is achieved by means of presenting the empirical results of an online and telephone survey that was undertaken between April and August 2010 with the participation of 113 German agribusiness firms. The majority of respondents expect that the importance of the markets in the BRIC countries will increase remarkably in the future. For developing international business activities, comparatively simple strategies such as direct and indirect exports via domestic and international traders are most widely used. This may be the result of challenges the agribusiness companies are facing in the context of handling international markets, especially in BRIC countries. --agribusiness,internationalisation,firm strategy,BRIC

Transformation of the readings of violence in Colombia

Colombia has not been indifferent to the use of violence by the armed actors and those who are subject to it. Any company aimed to characterize the Colombian armed conflict is not immune from controversy whether for the approach it uses, the prevalence of some facts over others or for the political interpretation of the events. Different readings of the armed conflict respond to a context and a reality determined by the vicissitudes of political, economic and social interests of each of the confronted parties (and of the society in general). They create a necessary framework to understand the analytic evolution of the armed conflict approach in regards to the treatment of the involved actors and to the policies designed to its intervention.Colombia no ha sido ajena a las variaciones en el uso de la violencia por parte de los actores armados y los depositarios de la misma. Cualquier empresa encaminada a caracterizar el conflicto armado colombiano no se encuentra exenta de controversias, sean por el enfoque utilizado, la preponderancia de unos hechos sobre otros o la lectura política que se le impregne a los fenómenos acaecidos. Las distintas lecturas del conflicto armado responden a un contexto y una realidad determinada por los avatares propios de los intereses políticos, económicos y sociales de las partes en confrontación y de la sociedad en general y constituyen un marco de referencia necesario para comprender la evolución analítica generada en torno al abordaje del conflicto armado respecto al tratamiento de los actores involucrados y a las políticas abocadas para su intervención

Media Analysis on Volatile Markets’ Dynamics and Adaptive Behavior for the Agri-Food System

The volatility of agricultural markets has increased remarkably in recent years. In spite of this, the way in which supply chain actors perceive market volatility has only rarely been analyzed. This paper seeks to close this research gap by presenting empirical findings about how the volatility of agricultural markets is perceived, how increasing market volatilities are being explained, and what adaptations to the volatile external environments are being suggested. Based on a large-scale media analysis, we have identified perceptions, which vary greatly over time, especially with regard to the perception of the threats and opportunities volatility creates for farms and firms and the most frequently identified reasons for volatile pricesagriculture, media analysis, public discourse, shared assumptions, volatility, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Production Economics, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,