The Impact of Third-Party Organizations on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Food Industry
Open Access
- Author:
- Shi, Jessica
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Community, Environment and Development and Agribusiness Management
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Daniel Azzara, Thesis Supervisor
Theodore Roberts Alter, Thesis Honors Advisor
Stan Ernst, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- corporate social responsibility
CSR
third-party organization
NGO
food industry
supply chain
water
United Nations
UN
sustainable development goals
SDGs
sustainability - Abstract:
- Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term that counters a corporation’s irresponsible behavior (Carroll, 2008); CSR demonstrates a concept of management where companies integrate solutions to environmental or social issues into everyday operations (UNIDO, 2023). Large corporations, particularly within the food industry, are big contributors to issues that are not considered to be corporately responsible such as with water pollution or ecosystem damage. To become more corporately responsible, businesses are beginning to set goals and initiatives related to reducing their negative environmental and social impact. There is a conflict between traditional shareholders and sustainability-minded stakeholders (employees, customers, consumers, environmentally and socially responsible investors) when setting goals and initiatives; traditional shareholders will demand actions that yield a higher profit, while sustainability-minded stakeholders will demand actions that yield an environmentally and socially responsible supply chain. Next, to achieve these goals and initiatives, businesses will partner with third-party organizations like an NGO to execute the project. The objective of this research is to determine the extent to whether third-party organizations positively influence a corporation’s corporate social responsibility actions. Research was conducted through documentary reviews of primary and secondary sources, as well as through the key-informant interview process. From the research gathered, it was determined that consumer and other stakeholder activism drives corporations to participate in CSR, and that collaboration between organizations helps facilitate the specific actions needed to become more corporately responsible. Third-party organizations help carry out a corporation’s project in the field as well as set the necessary standards and metrics for the rest of the industry to follow.