دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی افشای مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکت در بخش جنگلداری حوضه کنگو - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

The Congo Basin (CB) region is highly relevant in both environmental and social terms. Due to the various roles and meanings that forests play in the region, it becomes urgent to understand how forestry companies disclose their (alleged) corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. This work aims at identifying which CSR themes are more often disclosed by companies, and verifying geographical patterns according to their headquarters location, in a region where studies on the subject are scarce. A grid of CSR themes enabled the analysis of the website contents of 37 forestry sector firms operating in the CB. Companies were divided in three geographical regions, according to the location of their headquarters: West, Africa, and Asia. The results suggest that the companies value timber certification and prefer to focus on disclosing environmental themes related to their operations. Education and health are the most disclosed themes, in line with contractual obligations. There is a clear relation between the disclosure and the geographical origin of the companies: Western companies disclose more than their Asian and African counterparts. The near-absence of disclosure around human and workers' rights by Asian companies is notorious.

Conclusion

The region of the CB is environmentally and ecologically relevant for the planet and is subject to significant socio-economic development challenges and pressures. Due to the several roles and meanings that forests assume in the region, it becomes urgent to understand how logging companies disclose their (alleged) CSR activities, by identifying themes and searching for patterns. The main conclusion of this study is that disclosures of the forestry sector companies operating in the CB are associated to the socio-economic culture of their countries of origin, as well as of the final consumers. Wood certification and the environmental themes (including forest protection, sustainability, and environmental responsibility) were the most disclosed items. Whilst additional studies are necessary to draw unequivocal conclusions, this may be due to (i) the high environmental sensitivity of the industry and convenience to act in areas of operation, and (ii) the need to reach environmentally demanding export markets. Since information on the logging company does not reach the final consumer, as they are each in opposite extremes of the supply chain, there is no need to maintain brand reputation. Hence, CSR activities are not critical for the decision-making process. Because market pressure focuses more on the product than on the company, disclosure focuses on wood certification.