978-1544351575 Lecture note Chapter 9

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Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, 5e

SAGE Publishing, 2020

Lecture Notes

Part V: A Strategic Perspective

Chapter 9: Strategy + CSR

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (5e) is organized into six distinct parts, each with

two chapters and a case study. Each part presents CSR from a different perspective.

Together, they draw on core concepts and innovative models to provide a comprehensive

overview of CSR, as well as detailing the practical challenges faced by firms that grapple

with this complex topic across all aspects of operations. Throughout the book and its

accompanying instructor materials, useful teaching tools, contemporary examples, online

resources, and provocative questions for discussion and debate allow easy application in the

classroom.

Part V is central to a comprehensive understanding of strategic CSR. Although the ideas

discussed in this book are relevant across functional areas in the business school, they find a

natural home in strategic management. Those firms able to incorporate CSR into strategic

planning and day-to-day operations will be best placed to build a competitive advantage that

is sustainable over the medium to long term.

Chapter Summary

Chapter 9 introduces Part V by explaining why traditional strategy perspectives (principally,

the resource-based and industry views) are insufficient to help firms craft a sustainable

competitive advantage in today’s increasingly complex business environment. This chapter

then introduces the concept of the CSR Threshold. This chapter also places CSR within a

competitive context, illustrating its strategic value because it serves to filter how firms

interact with their broad range of stakeholders and implement ideas. While strategy seeks

competitive success, a CSR Filter both enables and protects the firm in its pursuit of profit

and long-term viability.

Annotated Chapter Outline

1. Introduction

This section briefly frames the chapter by introducing the concept of strategy and

2. Vision, Mission, Strategy, Tactics

Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, 5e

SAGE Publishing, 2020

This section introduces strategy in more detail, distinguishing among the firm’s

3. Strategic Analysis

This section goes into more detail regarding some of the tools most commonly used

to analyze the firm and its environment as a prelude to a firm’s strategy. While the

4. Strategy Formulation

The primary purpose of this section is to draw a distinction between the tools used to

analyze the firm and its environment and the process by which a strategy is actually

5. Strategy Implementation

This section builds on the previous section to distinguish between the formulation of

a firm’s strategy and the implementation of that strategy. One way in which it does so

is by introducing the key concept of this chapter in more detail—the CSR Filter,

Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, 5e

Strategic CSR Debate

Motion: McDonald’s has passed through its CSR Threshold.

A strategic CSR perspective, in general, supports arguments that are in favor of

this motion. At a minimum, if this industry has not passed its threshold, it is on

the verge of doing so. For a long time, the fast-food industry has produced “food”

that is, objectively speaking, unhealthy. In spite of this, the firms in this industry

have continued to attract stakeholder support (e.g., employees have continued to

seek work in their stores, while customers have continued to consume their

products). More recently, however, there has been pushback from employees

seeking higher wages and consumers seeking healthier food. Given these shifts,

companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s face an existential threat—they have

brands that are highly valued but carry increasingly negative connotations. While

it will take a long time for both these companies to fail (if indeed they do), the

outlook for both is one of a gradual decline into obsolescence.

Suggested Answers to Questions for Discussion and Review

1. What does it mean for a firm to have a sustainable competitive advantage? What

is the best way for a firm to achieve this in business today?

The literal answer to this question is that the firm enjoys an advantage over its

competition that it can sustain/protect over the medium to long term. There has to be

2. Outline the resources perspective. Identify a firm and its core competency: How

does that competency meet the three tests proposed by Prahalad and Hamel that

define it as a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the firm?

The resources perspective is detailed in the section titled “Resource Perspective.”

Whatever firm the student selects, it is important that they discuss the firm’s core

Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, 5e

3. Conduct a five forces analysis of the social media industry. Where do we, the

public who use social media products, fit? Are we consumers or suppliers (or its

workers)?

The industry perspective is detailed in the section titled “Industry Perspective.”

Whatever industry the student selects, it is important that they draw on all five forces

4. What is the difference between a business-level strategy based on low cost and a

business-level strategy based on differentiation? How do these different

strategies affect a firm’s CSR Threshold?

The difference between these two archetypal business-level strategies is made clear in

the box titled “Business–level Strategies.” The way these two strategies affect a firm’s

CSR Threshold is also explained in this section and is illustrated graphically in Figure

5. If you were CEO of a firm, how would you apply a CSR Filter—what form might

it take? Can you think of a company that is successfully utilizing a CSR Filter

today?

Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, 5e

SAGE Publishing, 2020

An answer to this question will vary according to the student. Common to all