International business under adversity : a role in corporate responsibility, conflict prevention and peace

214 Pages·2008·0.93 MB·English

by  Gabriele G S Suder

International Business under Adversity
To David,Chantal and Caroline
In memory of Wladimir Sachs
co-author,colleague and friend
International Business
under Adversity
A Role in Corporate Responsibility, Conflict
Prevention and Peace
Edited by
Gabriele G.S. Suder
Associate Dean of Global Management,Professor of
International Business,CERAM Business School Nice –
Sophia Antipolis,France

Edward Elgar
Cheltenham,UK • Northampton,MA,USA
© Gabriele G.S.Suder 2008
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in
a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic,
mechanical or photocopying,recording,or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing,Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number:2008927954

ISBN 978 1 84720 374 8
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd,Bodmin,Cornwall
Contents
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
List of contributors ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xii
PART I FOUNDATIONS
1. Introduction to the role and responsibilities of international
business in our contemporary world 3
Gabriele G.S.Suder
2. Human rights and multinational corporations:the Global
Compact and continuing evolution 8
David Atkinson and Richard Pierre Claude
3. Corporate social responsibility:an international law
perspective 25
Alice de Jonge
PART II CRITICAL ISSUES
4. Instruments of peace? How businesses might foster religious
harmony 47
Timothy L.Fort
5. Expropriation of minority shareholders or social dividend?
Beware of good corporate citizens 57
Wladimir M.Sachs and Marleen Dieleman
6. Information management and communication technology for
conflict prevention and peace 73
Jeffrey Soar
PART III DEALING WITH BEST AND WORST PRACTICE
7. Adversarial allies:the evolving China–India nexus 93
Nikhilesh Dholakia
v
vi Contents
8. Corporate social performance in a post-transition context:
the case of Polish firms 104
Renata Kaminska-Labbé and Beata Buchelt
9. The sustainable peace roles of international extractive
industries 119
Duane Windsor
PART IV THE BIG PICTURE – TOOL KITS
10. Sustainable enterprise and sustainable futures 139
Malcolm McIntosh
11. Corporate social responsibility as a new orientation in
response to crisis management of sea changes and
navigationaldeadreckoning 150
Ihsen Ketata and John R.McIntyre
12. Corporate responsibility in peace,conflict reduction and
crisis prevention:human security for thriving
markets – a tool kit 168
Gabriele G.S.Suder and Jonathan Lefevre
Index 191
Figures
1.1 Mitigation focus for business profit and community benefit 6
5.1 Expropriation audit 66
5.2 Social capital audit 67
8.1 Promotion of social responsibility by sector 113
8.2 Promotion of social responsibility by ownership structure 113
12.1 Social dominance orientation (SDO) map:the impact of
MNE specificities in conflict 185

vii
Tables
6.1 Performance of procurement activities 84
8.1 Aspects of CSR mentioned in the mission statement by sector 111
8.2 Aspects of CSR mentioned in the mission statement by
ownership type 112
8.3 Existence of a corporate code of conduct by sector 112
8.4 Existence of a corporate code of conduct by ownership
structure 113
8.5 Specific actions by sector 114
8.6 Specific actions by ownership type 115

viii
Contributors
David Atkinson,Helsinki School of Economics at Mikkeli,Finland
Beata Buchelt,Cracow University of Economics,Poland
Richard Pierre Claude,Professor Emeritus,University of Maryland,USA
Alice de Jonge,Monash University,Melbourne,Australia
Nikhilesh Dholakia,University of Rhode Inland,USA
Marleen Dieleman, National University of Singapore Business School,
Singapore
Timothy L.Fort,George Washington University School of Business,USA
Renata Kaminska-Labbé, CERAM Business School Nice – Sophia
Antipolis,France
Ihsen Ketata, Georgia Tech Center for International Business Education
and Research,Georgia,USA
Jonathan Lefevre,Deloitte Mexico,Corporate Governance,Mexico
Malcolm McIntosh,University ofCoventry,ARCHS,Coventry University,
UK
John R.McIntyre,Executive Director,Georgia Tech Center for International
Business Education and Research,Georgia,USA
Wladimir M.Sachs,ESC Rennes School of Business,France

Jeffrey Soar,University of Southern Queensland,Australia
Gabriele G.S.Suder,Associate Dean of Global Management,Professor of
International Business,CERAM Business School Nice – Sophia Antipolis,
France
Duane Windsor,Rice University,USA
ix
Preface
Gabriele G.S. Suder
International Business under Adversity:A Role in Corporate Responsibility,
Conflict Prevention and Peace, analyses the essential issues of a corporate
responsibility entailed by firms’international activities.The wide spread of
specific sets of values,ways of thinking and living,infrastructures and tech-
nologies is commonly associated with the motivations of conflict, crisis
andterrorism.What is the true impact of international business on values,
what on certainties and uncertainties in host communities? Does interna-
tional business activity accelerate crisis or peace? How can we conceive the
“change agent”role of a corporation in a broad cultural and socio-political
context? What is the true purpose of corporate citizenship and corporate
social responsibility (CSR)?
The objective ofthis book is twofold.One,it is to help understand nodes
of interconnectivity between business profit and community benefit in
responsible activities that respect the larger business environment,commu-
nities and the planet as a whole, and that encourage peace. Two, it is to
provide a starting point for upstream mitigation,in which collective action
allows disruption to be avoided at its very roots.
A diversity of contributions, surrounding the leading argument, shed
light on issues covering the role of minority groups in corporate networks,
the possible bridges between cultural,corporate and political communities
worldwide, the potential roles of international business and industries in
promoting peace and conflict prevention in developing countries,the inter-

national legal and institutional framework,and the issues that corporations
and communities share in this context.1
On the basis of a review of theory and practice, and a collection of
research studies and case examples, the authors propose vehicles of miti-
gation and develop a tool kit to help solve goal incompatibility and hier-
archy imbalance for the benefit of all.
The reader will discover, ultimately, that returns on conflict prevention
investments,CSR and responsible business are part of the intangible assets
that constitute the know-how of top management and international
business leaders.Similar to other corporate citizenship or CSR initiatives,
conflict prevention contributions are only considered appropriate for
x