CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTS: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS RELATED TO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

TLDR

Firms face growing stakeholder pressure to embed social, environmental, and economic responsibilities into operations and supply‑chain strategies. The study aims to assess how supply‑chain strategies incorporate the triple‑bottom line across 100 socially and environmentally responsible global companies. Using content‑analysis software and centering‑resonance techniques, the authors compared influential words in CSR reports from firms of varied industries, sizes, and regions. The analysis identified ten themes illustrating how top global companies integrate the triple‑bottom line, found institutional pressure as the primary driver, and revealed industry‑, size‑, and location‑specific emphases in upstream and downstream supply chains.

Abstract

Firms are increasingly under pressure from stakeholders to incorporate the triple-bottom line of social, environmental and economic responsibility considerations into operations and supply chain management strategies. This research uses content analysis software that performed centering resonance analysis to examine corporate communication to stakeholders through corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. The intent is to determine how supply chain strategies factor in to the triple-bottom line of 100 socially and environmentally responsible global companies. This research compares and contrasts the influential words in the CSR reports of firms from a range of industries, sizes and geographical regions. The content analysis revealed ten themes that provide a snapshot of how top global companies integrate and improve the triple-bottom line in internal operations and external supply chains. Findings indicated that while institutional pressure is the major driving force behind strategy development for all of the industries studied, companies emphasize different facets of social, environmental and economic responsibility upstream and downstream in supply chains based on industry, size and geographic location. The analysis revealed unique insights regarding corporate communications that other methodologies would not find.