Joint Sustainability Governance Group: Paper Development Workshop

The joint Sustainability Governance Group (SGG), consisting of members from CBS Sustainability Centre and Centre for Business and Development Studies held a paper development workshop yesterday.

During the workshop, Sarah Castaldi, the new head of SGG, introduced the two papers of visiting PhDs, Onna Malou and Max Nagel.

Paper 1 (work in progress) - Onna Malou van den Broek (Visiting PhD Student, Kings College, London):
'Does CSR Open Political Doors? Bringing Back Socio-Political Contextual Elements'.
A good Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) track-record is presumed to open political doors. Once access is gained, firms are better positioned to influence public policies. This relationship between CSR and political access is conceptualized from a resource-based perspective: CSR creates strategic organizational resources for firms, such as enhanced sociopolitical legitimacy, trustworthiness, knowledge  and reputation. But is it really that simple?

Discussant: Steen Vallentin
 
Paper 2 (work in progress) - Max Nagel (Visiting PhD Student, Friedrichshafen, Zeppelin University):
Alike and yet different?: Attitudes towards CSR in local government
This paper investigates variances in attitudes towards CSR and role perceptions of civil servants dependent on their actual policy environment. Three types of policy environment in local government are distinguished: General; Culture; Order/Security. The empirical basis of the paper is a survey study (N=98) and expert interviews (N=33) conducted in the City of Monchengladbach, Germany in 2018 & 2019.

Discussant: Jeremy Moon