Setting the frame

The conceptual framework is presented in form of a cycle in which companies exist, i.e. with an external and a company internal environment which together define the CSR response and performance.

The internal environment can be seen as a combination of organisational culture, structure, governance and strategy. The external environment can be understood as a combination of economic, social, ecological, institutional and legal factors to which regional and sectoral factors can be added.

The impacts of the CSR response and performance are principally but not exclusively external to the company that means in the economy, society and ecology.

To measure the impacts of CSR, this project will take into account three key factors:

• The nature of CSR responses to sustainability trends, issues and events (TIE)
• The way in which CSR strategy links the CSR response to the CSR performance
• The nature of the CSR performance whithin the companies which directly informs CSR impact

The project will measure the impact of CSR accross three dimensions :

1. Competitiveness, economic growth & quality of jobs, ecological impact
2. Geographic level of impact – International, supra-national (EU) national, regional, sub-regional (city/community) and the Firm
3. Sectoral level of impact (Automotive, Retail, ICT, Construction, Textiles)

The conceptual development of the framework comprises four elements. First, it defines the approach to measure and explain the relationship between motivations for CSR and CSR performance. Second, the conceptual framework integrates current theories on links between performance and impact and how this is measured.

The third element is an additional assessment of the current state of how companies themselves present their economic, social and environmental impacts arising from CSR and how they judge these impacts. The forth and last task necessary to complete the background analysis is a document analysis that is conducted to gain an overview of current national and EU policies supporting CSR and societal impact.