CSR Initiatives Across the Value Chain

Abstract

The value chain is a widely used framework to assess and manage corporate profitability. This paper explores how companies manage their CSR efforts along this framework. We develop a generic value chain that has three links upstream and one link downstream. We analyze qualitative data from CEO letters that accompany the CSR reports of 32 global companies across four industries, in order to assess the relative emphasis of the five links in our value chain. We document differences across industries and also between U.S and non U.S. firms, in the CSR initiatives that the companies undertake and highlight.

Keywords: value chain, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, supply chain