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The EU Puzzling CSR Regime and the Confused Perception by Ambassadors of Luxury Fashion Businesses: A Case Study from Pařížská

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  • Radka MacGregor Pelikánová
  • Robert K. MacGregor

Abstract

Despite a decades-long discussion about corporate social responsibility ("CSR"), there is little known about the evolution and meaning of the EU law on CSR and its perception by various stakeholders. The two objectives of this paper are: (i) assessing the evolution to the current EU law on CSR and (ii) making a case study about the perception of CSR by businesses from the luxury fashion industry supposed to be the leading CSR force, namely their ambassadors - CEOs and employees facing the clientele in Pařížská street in Prague. In order to address these two objectives, holistic and interdisciplinary research of economic, legislative and academic sources as well as a case study, entailing interviews and mystery shopping was performed. The exploration of the yielded data employed Meta-Analysis, content analysis, teleological interpretation, etc. The critical and comparative review of the evolution of the EU law on CSR shows piecemeal trends and a lack of permanent consent. This leads to the fragmentation and ambiguity, which is matched by the findings of the case study. The perception of the EU law on CSR is done differently by various CEOs of luxury fashion businesses, and there is an inconsistency between their attitudes and those of their employees facing the clientele. Such inconsistency undermines the effectiveness and efficiency of the CSR regime and needs to be corrected.Implications for Central European audience: Although the sustainability projected in CSR is critical, the EU law has undergone a complex and fragmented evolution leading to a partially mandatory framework. The understanding and application of such a framework about CSR and its reporting is a challenge. A Central European case study of luxury fashion industry businesses shows piecemeal trends and a lack of consent, and this even among CEOs and frontline employees of the same business. The implication of such an inconsistency is a decrease in the effectiveness and efficiency of the CSR regime, a devaluation of the CSR awareness and the need for corrections.

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  • Radka MacGregor Pelikánová & Robert K. MacGregor, 2020. "The EU Puzzling CSR Regime and the Confused Perception by Ambassadors of Luxury Fashion Businesses: A Case Study from Pařížská," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(3), pages 74-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlcbr:v:2020:y:2020:i:3:id:240:p:74-108
    DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.240
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    Cited by:

    1. Radka MacGregor Pelikánová & Robert Kenyon MacGregor & Martin Èernek, 2021. "New trends in codes of ethics: Czech business ethics preferences by the dawn of COVID-19," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(4), pages 973-1009, December.
    2. Eva Daniela Cvik & Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, 2021. "The Significance of CSR During COVID-19 Pandemic in the Luxury Fashion Industry - A Front-Line Case Study," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 109-126.
    3. Adam P. Balcerzak & Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, 2020. "Projection of SDGs in Codes of Ethics—Case Study about Lost in Translation," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, November.
    4. Radka MacGregor Pelikánová & Tereza Němečková & Robert K. MacGregor, 2021. "CSR Statements in International and Czech Luxury Fashion Industry at the Onset and during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Slowing Down the Fast Fashion Business?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate social responsibility (CSR); EU law; luxury industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development

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