Acknowledgement
The accomplishment of this thesis benefits of the help and direction from my dear
supervisor—Prof. Mammo Muchie. Prof. Muchie is always happy and willing to help
me solve the confusions and direct me approach to the final result of the thesis. On
top of that, Prof. Muchie is an easy-going and open-minded person, whom is also a
good friend to me. Without his encouragement, I would not finish this final work in
my master study. Thank you very much, Mammo!
Furthermore, I would like to show my grateful feeling to Prof. Li Xing, who once
taught me and was my project supervisor in the 8th semester. Prof. Li is a
warm-hearted and discipline-keeping person, with whose supervision I accomplish
my master study in time. He is always patient to help me out with questions in terms
of administration and rules. Thank you very much, Li!
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Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an American academic concept has already
been discussed for more than four decades in the academic field and adopted by the
corporations in the developed countries for more than 20 years. Now it is blossoming
in China, which has become an important part of the supply chains for the capitalist
world system. Under the international context and the domestic context, the four
major players in CSR implementation—the Chinese government, the subsidiaries of
TNCs in China, the SOEs and the NPOEs—have different understandings and
performances in reality.
In this thesis, I am going to explore how do the four players understand CSR by
asking two questions: 1. How does the Chinese Government understand CSR and
what policies does it issue? 2. How do the Corporations in China (SOEs, NPOEs and
subsidiaries of TNCs in China) react and perform in CSR implementation?
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Abbreviation
CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility
UN
United Nations
ILO
International Labour Organization
WTO
World Trade Union
TNCs
Transnational Corporations
SOEs
State-Owned Enterprises
NGOs
Non-Governmental Organizations
SAI
Social Accountability International
SA 8000
Social Accountability 8000
ISO
International Organization for Standardization
NPOEs
Non-Public Owned Enterprises
FDI
Foreign Direct Investment
PRC
People’s Republic of China
GDP
General Domestic Product
AA 1000
Account Ability standards 1000 series
SR
Social Responsibility
OECD
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
CPC
Communist Party of China
CSPGP
China Society for Promotion of Guangcai Program
SMEs
Small-Medium Sized Enterprises
RMB
Renminbi
SGCC/ SG
State Grid Corporation of China
ACFTU
All China Federation of Trade Unions
CNCP
China National Petroleum Corporation
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Content
Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………i
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………ii
Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………..iii
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.1.1 Background of CSR Under the International Background………………………….……1
1.1.2 Background of CSR in China…………………………………………………………….4
1.2 Problem Formulation…………………………………………………………………….……..7
1.3 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………8
1.3.1 Information and Data Collection…………………………………………………………9
1.3.2 Theory Study…………………………………………………………………………….11
1.4 Chapter Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..14
Chapter 2 Theory Reviews
2.1 Overview of CSR……………………………………………………………………………..15
2.2 Milton Friedman’s View on CSR……………………………………………………………..16
2.3 R. Edward Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory……………………………………………………19
2.3.1 The Notion and History of Stakeholder Approach………………………………………19
2.3.2 Process of Stakeholder Management……………………………………………………21
Stakeholder Analysis for Enterprise Strategy…………………………………………..22
Values Analysis for Enterprise Strategy………………………………………………..22
Social Issues Analysis for Enterprise Strategy………………………………………….23
Chapter 3 Empirical Part
3.1 The principles from the International Organizations………………………………………….25
3.2 The Policies or Reports from Chinese Central and Local Governments……………………..27
3.2.1 Policies and Guidelines from CPC and the Central Government……………………….28
Policies towards FDI…………………………………………………………………….28
The 11th Five-Year Plan and Harmonious Society……………………………………….28
Amendment of the Law on Employment Contract………………………………………29
Amendment of Company Law of PRC…………………………………………………..30
Guangcai Program………………………………………………………………………..31
3.2.2 Report from Jiaxing City Government, Zhejiang Province……………………………31
Self-Awareness of CSR………………………………………………………………..33
Public Perception of the CSR Implementation in NPOEs……………………………..33
Factors that Affect CSR Implementation by NPOEs…………………………………...35
3.3 CSR Implementation in Both Local Corporations and TNCs in China……………………….36
3.3.1 TNCs’ Case Study—Wal-Mart…………………………………………………………..38
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3.3.2 CSR Understanding by Chinese Corporations………………………………………….40
SOEs’ Understanding and Performance………………………………………………..40
NPOEs’ Understanding…………………………………………………………………41
Chapter 4 Analysis
4.1 The Government’s and the CPC’s Understanding of CSR…………………………………….42
4.1.1 The External and Internal Factors That Affect the Government’s Attitude of CSR…….42
4.1.2 The Measures Adopted by the Government on CSR Implementation…………………..44
4.2 The Subsidiaries of TNCs’ Understanding of CSR………………………………45
Wal-Mart Case Study…………………………………………………………….46
4.3 The SOEs’ Understanding of CSR……………………………………………….47
4.4 The NPOEs’ Understanding of CSR……………………………………………..49
Chapter 5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………50
Reference……………………………………………………………………………54
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