Politicising government engagement with corporate social responsibility: “CSR” as an empty signifier

Governments are widely viewed by academics and practitioners (and society more generally) as the key societal actors who are capable of compelling businesses to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR). Arguably, such government involvement could be seen as a technocratic device for encouraging ethical business behaviour. In this paper, we offer a more politicised interpretation of government engagement with CSR where “CSR” is not a desired form of business conduct but an element of discourse that governments can deploy in structuring their relationships with other social actors. We build our argument through a historical analysis of government CSR discourse in the Russian Federation. Laclau and Mouffe's (Hegemony and socialist strategy: Towards a radical democratic politics,Verso Books, London, 1985) social theory of hegemony underpins our research. We find that “CSR” in the Russian government’s discourse served to legitimise its power over large businesses. Using this case, we contribute to wider academic debates by providing fresh empirical evidence that allows the development of critical evaluation tools in relation to governments’ engagement with “CSR”. We find that governments are capable of hijacking CSR for their own self-interested gain. We close the paper by reflecting on the merit of exploring the case of the Russian Federation. As a “non-core”, non-western exemplar, it provides a useful “mirror” with which to reflect on the more widely used test-bed of Western industrial democracies when scrutinising CSR. Based on our findings, we invite other scholars to adopt a more critical, politicised stance when researching the role of governments in relation to CSR in other parts of the world

Managerial Mindsets Toward Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Auto Industry in Iran

Despite a plethora of empirical evidence on the potential role of senior management in the success of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Western-dominated organizational contexts, little attempt has been made to document the various managerial mindsets toward CSR in organizations in Muslim-dominated countries in the Middle East region. To address this existing lacuna of theoretical and empirical research in CSR management, this paper offers a qualitative case study of CSR in three manufacturing firms operating in Iran’s auto industry. Based on an inductive analysis of the qualitative data, three types of managerial mindset toward CSR are identified: conformist, self-seeker, and satisfier. While it is evident that these different mindsets of Iranian managers seek to serve managerial ends and short-term self-interests, they fall short of core values of Islamic ethics and CSR

The Pyramid of Nonprofit Responsibility: The Institutionalization of Organizational Responsibility Across Sectors

acceptedVersio

Towards a resistance management strategy for Helicoverpa armigera in Bt-cotton in northwestern China: an assessment of potential refuge crops

Transgenic Bt-cotton now dominates the cotton-growing belt in northwestern China where there are few natural plant refuges to act as sources of moths susceptible to Bt toxin. As an initial step towards developing an insect resistance management (IRM) plan for the pest moth, Helicoverpa armigera, on Bt-cotton in this part of China, we assessed the potential of six crops grown in two configurations to act as refuge hosts for susceptible moth production in both broad-acre and small-holder farms. Egg and larval abundance indicated that H. armigera had a preference for chickpea, pigeon pea, and corn, over cotton, sorghum, and benne (sesame). There were no significant differences in egg or larval abundance between plot and strip configurations of these crop hosts. We found that sorghum was not attractive to H. armigera, contrary to the findings in other cotton production areas. Moreover, chickpea, pigeon pea, and corn were determined to be potential refuge hosts based on egg and larval abundance over the growing season. From the adult moth population dynamics in broad-acre and small-holder farms, the efficiency of alternative refuge crops, and local agricultural practices, we recommend that spring corn be grown as a strip crop as part of an IRM strategy to improve the probability of Bt-susceptible moth production and mating with resistant moths in broad-acre farms. In small-holder farms where current agricultural practices are entrenched, wheat and summer corn should be evaluated as refuge crops in the future