Sarah HeinenCorporate Social Responsibility

About this book deutschenglish

Caused by several crises and scandals, especially meat production and processing has been repeatedly in the spotlight of public concern over the last years. This is a risk for the reputation of the whole branch. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility can provide the opportunity for a company e. g. to enhance their reputation and to prevent scandals. To benefit from these advantages it is not only important for companies to act in a responsible manner, but also to inform their stakeholders about their CSR involvement in a convincing way. The introduction of a CSR standard could support a reliable CSR communication.

Given this background, this book investigates the implementation and communication of CSR in the German pork value chain, to find out where further action is needed and to give recommendations regarding this topic. This analysis is based on the stakeholders’ requirements for the pork branch, on the companies’ activities and on the framework conditions of the branch.

The results show that there are difficult framework conditions for a credible CSR communication between companies and consumers in the pork branch. The surveyed companies have already implemented CSR activities. The extent of these activities varies between the different fields of CSR and depends on various characteristics of the companies. So far especially external stakeholders are not very well informed about companies’ CSR commitment. The studies reveal differences between the stakeholders’ requirements and companies’ CSR activities. Consumers would consider respective CSR criteria in their purchase decision if information were available for them. They rate third party certified labels as the most credible source of CSR information. Companies evaluate a standardization of CSR for the pork industry very heterogeneously. So far, quality standards yet existing for the branch can only be used for CSR communication to a limited extent.

In summary it can be stated that more companies’ activities are required regarding CSR implementation and communication. Besides, branch initiatives concerning CSR could have positive effects on the reputation of all firms. To support a reliable CSR communication of the companies different possibilities of CSR standardization are developed that consider the characteristics of the branch.

Ihr Werk im Verlag Dr. Kovač

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