Managing Supply Chain Risks Through Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives: Comparisons Between South Africa and the UK

So much pressure abounds for supply chains to deliver goods and services in the right quantity and quality, to the right place and at the right time and at the least cost possible. Increasingly, supply chain operations, be it local, national, or global, face numerous unpredicted challenges that expose them to performance inadequacies. It is, however, noted that organisations that effectively manage their environmental, social and economic risks are better positioned to deliver competitiveness and economic value-added services. Given differential institutional contexts and conflicting stakeholder expectations, the key question is how organisations adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept as a risk mitigation approach to their supply chain operations. The purpose of this chapter is to provide deeper insights into the key factors that are most likely to influence organisational decisions towards social responsiveness as a risk mitigation tool. Based on institutional and stakeholder theories, this research investigates those key factors that influence organisational CSR initiatives in supply chains for the United Kingdom and South Africa based organisations. Research Approach: The research adopted a mixed methodology that employed a comparative case study approach, semi-structured questionnaires and content analysis to analyse and explain the institutional and stakeholder influences on organisational CSR in supply chains for United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa (SA) based organisations. Findings and Originality: The findings revealed that terms such as ‘corporate sustainability’ and ‘corporate social investment’ are used by the case sample organisations in the UK and SA to represent concepts of CSR. Corporate Social Responsibility perspectives for organisations in the two countries are dominated by cohesive and mimetic isomorphism pressures within the institutional settings. The research found that stakeholder perceptions are important influences to organisations’ choices in prioritising CSR initiatives. Essentially, the research shows similarities of explicit and implicit CSR perspectives in both countries, suggesting convergence of CSR diverse perspectives. However, divergences in CSR decisions have been revealed in stakeholder groups and the specific CSR issues for sample organisations in different industries within the two countries. The research led to the development of a conceptual framework for analysing and understanding CSR perspectives in different national contexts. Research Impact: The research makes a significant contribution to the specialist body of knowledge by providing insights into CSR practices in the two countries from an institutional and stakeholder perspective. Practical Impact: This research developed a conceptual framework for analysing and understanding CSR perspectives in different national contexts. The framework has practical application in CSR strategy development within organisations with cross-national operations. By starting with institutional environmental analysis, organisations can develop appropriate CSR responses to the prevailing pressures within different business and regional contexts.