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In this section you will find quick links to project discussion papers, reports, publications from before 2005. Be sure to search the database for other related downloadable material.

2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

2005

How can Corporate Responsibility Deliver in Africa? Insights from Kenya and Zambia
Mumo Kivuitu, Kavwanga Yambayamba, Tom Fox, September 2005

A number of core development issues are already central to the international CSR agenda including labour standards, human rights, education, health, child labour, conflict and environmental impacts. But what does this mean at the national level, particularly in those countries in which sustainable development challenges appear most intractable? Does CSR resonate among local stakeholders? This paper describes key aspects of the emerging CSR agenda in Kenya and Zambia - in order to explore what it would take to help unlock the potential private sector contribution to sustainable development in each country
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Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Discussion Paper
Tom Fox, June 2005

Every business entity has its stakeholders and its impacts on society, both positive and negative. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), broadly defined as the overall contribution of a business to sustainable development (SD), should therefore be equally valid for large and small enterprises.

This paper examines this apparent dissonance between the SME/CSR agenda and the SME/SD agenda. We take the position that CSR is a useful entry point from which to consider SMEs. We assume that there remains scope for reforming the CSR agenda to be more relevant to SMEs, and we explore how this might be achieved.
View PDF (79k)

2004

Defining Global Business Principles: Options and Challenges

Halina Ward, Tom Fox and Maryanne Grieg-Gran, with additional inputs from Liza Lort-Phillips November 2004, 22pp

What principles and standards should be used to judge business behaviour? This paper examines on what basis it might be possible to identify globally applicable minimum standards of behaviour, and highlights some of the choices that have to be made in any process that seeks to do so. The paper was written for Insight Investment to contribute to its work on Global Business Principles.
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The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and non-adhering countries: Opportunities and Challenges of engagement
Halina Ward, October 2004

This paper outlines some of the opportunities and challenges that the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises present for the public sectors of those countries that have not declared their intention to adhere to the Guidelines. It argues that there are potential benefits for non-adhering countries in engaging with the Guidelines’ policy processes, and seeking to harness the various processes associated with the Guidelines to the pursuit of domestic policy goals. There are challenges too: the paper points in particular to the implications of the Guidelines in the context of historical efforts to develop a multilateral investment liberalisation architecture.
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Corporate Social Responsibility and Development: In quest of an agenda Tom Fox, September 2004, 8pp

Published as part of a thematic section on CSR in the journal Development, this paper argues that there is an urgent need for more development-oriented CSR, which focuses on the enabling environment for responsible business in the South, and that brings the economic and equity aspects of sustainable development to the forefront of the agenda.
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Exploring the role of development cooperation agencies in corporate responsibility
Tom Fox and Dave Prescott May 2004, 12pp,
Appendix 1: Summaries of presentations and workshops 53pp,
Appendix 2: How donor agencies are enabling and supporting corporate social responsibility 32pp

This report explores how bilateral and multilateral donors can support business activity that contributes to sustainable development, particularly in developing countries. It argues that, by helping to create an 'enabling environment' for responsible business practices, donors can enhance the effectiveness of their aid and increase the contribution of business to poverty eradication. It is based on discussions at an international conference: ‘Development cooperation and corporate social responsibility: exploring the role of development cooperation agencies’, which took place in Stockholm on 22-23 March 2004.
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Linking Corporate Social Responsibility, Good Governance and Corporate Accountability Through Dialogue
Tom Bigg and Halina Ward, March 2004

Written at the invitation of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, this paper is intended to generate discussion on the potential for the creation of an international multi-stakeholder process to address some of the key gaps in the contemporary corporate responsibility agenda.
View PDF (50k)

Public Sector Roles in Corporate Social Responsibility: Taking Stock
Halina Ward, World Bank Group 2004

Halina Ward’s report reflects on the work of the CSR Practice of the World Bank Group’s Investment Climate Department. The report draws from a series of reports on crosscutting CSR issues that are relevant in defining the role of public sector agencies, as well as outputs from country-level technical assistance work in Angola, El Salvador, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The report highlights a range of implications for public sector actors looking to develop their roles in supporting corporate social responsibility responsible business practice.
View PDF (306k)

Corporate Responsibility and Womens’ employment: the cashew nut case
Nazneen Kanji, March 2004

This second paper in the CRED Perspectives series looks at women's employment in the cashew nut sector. It uses research carried out in Mozambique and India to highlight the challenges of encouraging corporate responsibility in a sector in which there is currently little consumer or buyer pressure for higher standards.
View PDF (57k)

Better Management Practices & Agribusiness Commodities: Commodity Guides
IIED and Proforest in cooperation with Rabobank, March 2004

This report was written for the International Finance Corporation (part of the World Bank Group) and WWF, as part of a project that is exploring how useful the development and application of ‘Better Management Practices’ (BMPs) would be for a range of agribusiness commodities. It is intended as a basis for discussion regarding future work on BMPs and agribusiness commodities. For each of four selected commodities (cotton, palm oil, soy and sugar), it sets out background information on the sector; key environmental and social impacts; prospects for tackling these impacts through the adoption of BMPs; and preconditions, risks and strategic choices in relation to developing a BMP approach. The four commodity-specific chapters are preceded by a summary of common themes and potential approaches that emerge.
View PDF (458k)

Further information on the project is available via the IFC's Corporate Citizenship Facility website.

Enabling Corporate Investment in Peace
Jason Switzer, Halina Ward, February 2004

This report reviews the provisions of voluntary codes, guidelines and initiatives that address the relationship between business activities and violent civil conflict, and makes suggestions on a framework through which public policy makers can enable more-responsible investment, and strengthen the legitimacy and comprehensiveness of these voluntary norms.
View PDF (351k)

2003

The range of ways in which law and litigation already cut across the spectrum of CSR issues is highlighted, along with the implications for business management and public policy.
View PDF (165k)

Development Dimensions of the Global Compact
RING Alliance, July 2003

Prepared in collaboration with partners within the RING, this report focuses on the relationship between business and development in the context of the Global Compact's activities and presents a number of recommendations to reinforce the development dimension of the Global Compact.
View PDF (463K)

2002

Public Sector Roles in Strengthening Corporate Social Responsibility: A Baseline Study
Tom Fox, Halina Ward, Bruce Howard, October 2002

This report categorizes and discusses the range of roles that public sector agencies have played in providing an “enabling environment” for corporate social responsibility (CSR). The starting point is a broad definition of CSR that goes well beyond a more limited understanding of CSR as being about business activities that go “beyond compliance”. A broader definition that considers the overall potential commitment of business to sustainable development is better suited to understanding public sector roles in CSR.
View PDF (262k)

Corporate Citizenship: Revisiting the Relationship between Business, Good Governance and Sustainable Development
Halina Ward, Nicola Borregaard, Paul Kapelus, September 2002

This WSSD Opinion Paper draws on a bulletin board discussion hosted on the website of the RING Alliance to outline elements of an agenda for business and sustainable development.
View PDF (33k)

Corporate Accountability in search of a treaty? Some insights from foreign direct liability
Halina Ward May 2002, 12pp

What are the lessons when two English foreign direct liability cases against Thor Chemicals and Cape plc are understood in their South African policy context?
View PDF (71K)

Development Agency Round Table on Corporate Social Responsibility
Tom Fox, January 2002

This is Tom Fox’s report of a round table discussion on corporate social responsibility for bilateral development cooperation agencies which was hosted by the Department for International Development and the Canadian International Development Agency. The round table was held in January 2002, and the discussion was facilitated by IIED’s Halina Ward.

The report includes participating agencies’ reports of their corporate social responsibility-related activities at the time of the round table
View PDF (298k)

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