Project Corporate Social Responsibility

The question of how business can contribute to addressing modern world challenges is at the center of current debates in business practice and management research. These debates address this question through the concepts of sustainability, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Factsheet

Lead school(s) Business School
Institute Institute Sustainable Business
Research unit Corporate Responsibility
Duration (planned) 01.09.2022 - 31.08.2026
Project management Prof. Dr. David Risi, Dr. Eva Schlindwein
Head of project Prof. Dr. David Risi, Dr. Eva Schlindwein
Partner VU Amsterdam
Oxford University
Keywords CSR, Sustainability, ESG, Swiss banking and insurance industry

Many companies, policymakers, and researchers have come to agree on the necessity of promoting efforts to move economies towards more sustainability. However, its implementation remains challenging, as it requires new ways of conducting business, including the systematic integration of social, environmental, and ethical concerns into business operations.

The Institute of Sustainable Business, in collaboration with VU Amsterdam and the University of Oxford, is undertaking a qualitative study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) to examine CSR implementation in the Swiss banking and insurance industries.

Approach

Our longitudinal research project includes three rounds of interviews (approx. 130 in total) with representatives of companies and their stakeholders, as well as documents about specific CSR projects and publicly available data on firms’ CSR implementation.

Aims

The SNF project aims to develop new approaches to promote CSR in the Swiss banking and insurance industries and to help companies integrate ESG and CSR principles into their decision-making.

Results

We expect first results after concluding the first round of interviews in autumn of 2023.