Corporate Social Responsibility in the Electronics Supply Chain – Motivations and Challenges of Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration’

Abstract

Multi-stakeholder collaboration is considered as an opportunity for addressing multifaceted issues that companies, governments and society face in an interconnected world. This paper explores motivations and challenges from a corporate perspective for engaging in multi-stakeholder collaboration and dialogue as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. The paper is based on a qualitative, multiple-case study design that focuses on the issue of ‘conflict minerals’. These minerals refer to minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in conditions of severe human rights violations. These minerals are used as raw materials for example in consumer electronic products, this linking the electronic industry to the human rights abuses. Intel, Motorola Solutions and Nokia were selected as case companies based on their proactive engagement in collaborative activities. Empirical data is obtained by in-depth, semi-structured interviews with management representatives in the case companies. The identified motivations are mostly linked to the complex nature of the problem and the fact that a diverse set of stakeholders is needed to address the problem. The challenges are mostly related to different backgrounds and perspectives of stakeholders. The findings demonstrate the importance of collective action when addressing complex CSR issues that reach beyond company boundaries.

Keywords

Conflict minerals, dialogue, responsible sourcing, stakeholder, supply chain

Published in

Publisher: Anadolu University Publications

Conference

Social Business if Good Business

SLU Authors

• Airike, Peppi-Emilia

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Aldberg, Julia

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Mark-Herbert, Cecilia

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Ethics
Business Administration

Publication identifier

• ISBN: 978-975-06-1708-9

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/50674