Kina - Corporate social responsibility in the Chinese and Norwegian clothing sector

In the project Corporate social responsibility in the Chinese and Norwegian clothing sector we want to investigate how corporate social responsibiltiy is defined in China and Norway and to study how international ideas of corporate social responsibility a re disseminated to the clothing industry in these two countries. According to Waddock (2004) corporate responsibility is the degree of responsibility manifested in a company's strategies and operating practices as they impact stakeholders and the natural environment day to day. Since its revival in the 1990s, the concept of CSR has grown. At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development i Johannesburg, CSR was re-introduced as an important factor on the international policy agenda (Bendell, 2005). NGOs , consumer organizations and media have played an active role in the development, and can be seen as central stakeholders to the companies of today. The main research activities in the pilot project that is encompassed in this application will be to: ·Es tablish contacts with industrial organizations and corporate managers within the Chinese textile and clothing industry. ·Conduct informant interviews with representatives of these industrial organizations and corporations. ·Carry out a comparative surve y on attitudes towards CSR among Chinese and Norwegian business students ·Carry out a survey among management in Chinese industry. The CSR team at the University of Stavanger is currently developing the survey instrument.