New Tools to Foster Corporate Socially Responsible Behavior

According to the Green Paper presented by the European Commission in July 2001, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is “a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001b, p. 6). On this basis, in 2002, the Italian Government, and especially the Italian Ministry of Welfare, launched an initiative called CSR-SC (social commitment) in order to foster the proactive social role of Italian enterprises, with great attention on SME involvement. The technical partner of the Italian Ministry of Welfare for this initiative is Bocconi University. The goal of this contribution is to present the main results of CSR–SC research project developed by Bocconi University. The paper provides a detailed picture of the general scheme designed to carry out the research project and a review of the different methodologies used to support the solutions proposed.

[1]  Peter F. Drucker,et al.  Converting Social Problems into Business Opportunities: The New Meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility , 1984 .

[2]  D. Payne,et al.  Evolution and Implementation: A Study of Values, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility , 2002 .

[3]  Julia Bamford,et al.  Small Firms and Industrial Districts in Italy , 1989 .

[4]  P. Pruzan,et al.  Building corporate accountability : emerging practices in social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting , 1997 .

[5]  R. Gulati,et al.  Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue: strategic networks , 2000 .

[6]  Alessandro Lomi,et al.  Interorganizational relations in the Modena biomedical industry , 1999 .

[7]  M. Porter,et al.  The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy. , 2002, Harvard business review.

[8]  J. Elkington.  Cannibals with Forks , 1997 .

[9]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage , 1998 .

[10]  M. Friedman,et al.  Capitalism and Freedom , 1963 .

[11]  B. Lev.  Intangibles: Management, Measurement, and Reporting , 2001 .

[12]  E. Brenda,et al.  Evolution and Implementation: A Study of Values , 2002 .

[13]  M. Clarkson.  A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance , 1995 .

[14]  John Elkington,et al.  Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st‐century business , 1998 .

[15]  Implementing environmental certification in Italy: managerial and competitive implications for firms , 1997 .

[16]  日本規格協会.  JIS Q 14001 : 1996 (ISO 14001 : 1996)(Reaffirmed : 2002) : environmental management systems : specification with guidance for use , 2002 .

[17]  A. Carroll.  Corporate Social Responsibility , 1999, The Routledge Companion to Corporate Social Responsibility.