Final report of analysis about
relationship existing between
CSR and competitiveness in the
textile/clothing sector
COSMIC Project
CSR Oriented Supply – chain Management
to Improve Competitiveness
Task 3
-
www.cosmic.sssup.it
Co – financed by European Commission
2009
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
INDEX
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………….3
SECTION 1: DESK RESEARCH …………………………………………………………………5
DESCRIPTION OF THE TWO CONCEPTS: “CSR” AND “COMPETITIVENESS” ………………..7
a. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility ………………………………………..7
b. The concept of Competitiveness ……………………………………………………….14
1. SUPPLY SIDE ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE PROCESSES/PRODUCTS ………………….. 22
1.a Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………25
1.b Evidences ……………………………………………………………………………38
1.c Experiences: THE GUCCI AND FILTEA CGIL EXPERIENCE …………………..44
2. MARKET DEMAND SIDE ANALYSIS …………………………………………………………. 50
2.a Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………51
2.b Evidences …………………………………………………………………………….59
3. CREDITS AND INSURANCE SYSTEM ANALYSIS …………………………………………… 67
3.a Evidences …………………………………………………………………………….67
3.b Experiences: THE POOL ANTI-POLLUTION, CO-REINSURANCE GROUP ….. 74
4. PUBLIC POLICIES ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………….... 78
4.a Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………80
4.b Evidences…………………………………………………………………………….84
SECTION 2: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH - QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS ………………..92
A. A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE FIRMS……………………………………………………………93
B. THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON THE FIRMS……………………………99
C.PERFORMANCES OF COMPETITIVENESS………………………………………………… 104
D. STATISTICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN CSR AND COMPETITIVENESS ………... 124
CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………...129
STATISTICAL APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………….. 133
MAIN BIBLIOGRAFY ………………………………………………………………………...188
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
INTRODUCTION
This document represents the second report of Cosmic Project. In the first report (Preliminary
analysis of textile sector in the three Countries), the structure of textile/clothing/tanning sector has
been investigated, and trade flows between different regions of the world have been analyzed. In
this second report we inserted the variable of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), seeking to
understand the relationship with Competitiveness in the sector. The research question we are going
to address is: “do firms that implement CSR-oriented strategies improve their competitiveness?”.
From a territorial point of view, the focus remains the same as the previous report: Italy, Spain and
France.
Every company operates within a competitive context, which significantly affects its ability to carry
out its strategy, especially in the long term. Social and environmental conditions represent a key
part of this context; there is a tight interdependence between business and society. Successful
corporations need a healthy society to sell and promote their products, and to find good resources; at
the same time a healthy society needs successful companies to get more innovative and efficient
products.
An investment in CSR could have different reasons: moral obligation, sustainability, but also
advantage to operate, and reputation; and this could mean for a company be competitive. Those
concepts are not easily translated into firms’ daily activities, especially when it comes to small and
medium enterprises. Moreover, integrating business and social/environmental demands more than
good intentions and strong leadership, because it requires adjustments in organization,
accountability, and incentives.
In the European case, the institutions decide to foster CSR among firms to promote it as a driver of
European competitiveness. The purpose is to keep European businesses globally competitive, and at
the same time ensuring the protection of society and the environment. However, more research is
necessary in order to measure and analyze the ways in which CSR can enhance competitiveness at
the sector level, and this research represents a step forward in this direction.
In particular, the purpose of this report is to explore the relationship between CSR and
competitiveness in the textile/clothing and leather sector, and the path we have chosen to verify that
is:
- clarifying what is the meaning of CSR and competitiveness;
- providing an overview of the literature and the policies implemented so far about the
relationship between CSR and competitiveness;
- analyzing the views of companies about the relationship between the two concepts, by means
of questionnaires.
The report starts with a description of the two main concepts: CSR and competitiveness. The
attempt is to analyze the existing literature and the main theories for both concepts. In particular,
the notion of CSR adopted by our research is stated, and an explanation of how companies can use
CSR tools is also given. . For the concept of competitiveness a literature review is provided, a
common definition is declared, and the key variables for measuring it are described.
The second part of the report is focused on what already exists in the literature and what
experiences have been made in terms of relationship between CSR and competitiveness. This part
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
of the document is divided according to four key factors of competitiveness: supply side analysis
and innovative processes; market demand side analysis; credits and assurance system analysis;
public policy analysis (at a national and local level); for each factor, we have identified the existing
literature review, and a collection of evidences and case studies on the use of CSR-related
instruments. The last section of the report analyzes the results of the questionnaire administered.
Indeed, we have considered appropriate to undertake a study in the field to measure the current state
of the relationship between CSR and competitiveness for sector’s firms. The questionnaires have
been addressed to a lot of firms of textile/clothing and leather sector operating in the three
countries; in particular we’ve collected 274 answers: 150 from Italy, 63 in France and 61 in Spain.
The questionnaire is a preparatory work for the last phase of the Cosmic Project (Task 4), as for
testing and implementation of CSR policies in some selected contexts.
In the last section of this report the main research results are summarized.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
SECTION 1 - DESK RESEARCH
The first part of this report summarizes the analysis about the relationship between CSR and
competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector carried out after drafting the preliminary report related
to the characteristics of the supply chain and productive sectorial peculiarities.
Before going deeply into the matter of relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in
the specified sector, it is important (in coherence with COSMIC Deliverable n° 2 contents) To
define the two key concepts, providing a short outline of main existing literature; these
interpretations have been the basis for the following analysis of relationship between the two
variables.
In this preliminary analysis it was considered, first of all, the suggestions Made by European
Commission in the European competitiveness report, 2008, chapter 5: Overview of the links
between Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitiveness.
In respect to the concept of CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility, an outline of the main available
literature definitions is provided in order to identify the most useful to our approach; successively
we’ve focused on main issues that fall under CSR heading, describing them and identifying the
main representative elements. Finally, we’ve differentiated between explicit CSR (based on
formalized tools adoption) and implicit one, based on intangible factors characterizing the
relationship between enterprises and their stakeholders.
The second preliminary investigated concept concerns competitiveness. In detail, we presented
some definitions of competitiveness related to territorial and structural dimensions of this concept,
following also those proposed by to the main institutions that in the past developed research and
promoted policies in this field (European Commission, OECD, World Economic Forum). For
each quoted definition of competitiveness, specific measurement tools were identified, with the aim
of giving a structured overview of the concept as well as of the key variables relating to it.
The collected information of this preliminary section has been useful to the following assessment
concerning the relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the
textile/clothing/leather sector and in the three specific countries (Italy, Spain and France). In
particular, the survey focused on the four competitive factors identified by the COSMIC
methodological approach; were analyzed:
- Supply - Chain management and Innovative processes among SMEs in the sector: the
analysis has been based on textile/clothing and leather SMEs dynamic efficiency and on
CSR adopted models, in order to investigate the relationship between them;
- Market demand side analysis: a final market destination study, on products made in EU
countries, has been carried out, focusing on Spanish, Italian and French best practices. The
attention has been devoted to two elements:
o upstream phases of the distributive systems (before the products enter the final
market), by identifying the main intermediaries and distribution channels;
o final-end consumers expressed preferences on the CSR-related features of the
chosen products.
- Credits and insurance system analysis: the role of main financial institutions in the three
studied countries and their CSR-related policies have been the subject of this item. Their
credit worthiness or assurance costs evaluation systems have been investigated in order to
find out the most interesting experiences aiming at awarding the most ethical behavior;
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
- Public policy analysis (at national and local level): in this part of the research the supporting
role of public policy in the promotion of CSR management models and other volunteer tools
by SMEs, has been analyzed (i.e. the existence of fiscal incentives or ways to simplify
bureaucratic procedures).
For each competitive factor, we identified a set of tools and sources adoptable for surveying the
existing relationship between competitiveness and CSR. In particular, for each competitive factor,
we:
carried out an academic literature review and/or survey on existing databases in order to
summarize the results of previous analysis or research (section named: Literature Review);
carried out a collection of evidences about the contributions given by the different
stakeholders (textile/clothing SMEs themselves, consumers and distribution firms, banks
and insurance institutes, public authorities) to the adoption of CSR related tools by
textile/clothing SMEs in the three focusing Countries (section named: Evidences);
finally, described two experiences (the first in the field of supply-chain management and the
second in the field of credit and insurance one) to be considered best practices (section
named: Experiences).
In respect to each analyzed section different sources of information were adopted. In relation to the
Literature Review, the sources have been the international academic literature and studies developed
at international level and oriented to provide evidences of relationship between CSR and
competitiveness; regarding Evidences, the sources have been the public documents and the
communication and information tools describing the different initiatives of excellence and the
obtained results; finally the Experiences have been the result of specific interviews and documents
given from contacted organizations.
The section criteria of adopted information related to Literature Review and Evidences have been
the following ones:
- literature review: the references considered the most interesting for SMEs and/or for
textile/clothing sector (both dimensional and sectorial criteria). In defining the categories of
CSR-related tools, where possible, we referred to the guidelines of the fifth chapter of the
European Competitiveness Report 2008, identifying the following ones: Workplace CSR
referring to how a company treats its Employees; Marketplace CSR which covers the ways in
which a company operates in relation to its suppliers, customers and competitors;
Environment-related CSR which describes the measures that a company can take to mitigate
its negative impact on the environment; Community-related CSR referring to the relations
between the company and the citizens and communities that may be affected by its
operations. Finally, we added the social accountability reporting and management systems,
cross-categories in respect to the previous ones.
- evidences: the selected references have been those of textile/clothing sector in the three
focused Countries (Italy, Spain and France) (sectorial and geographical criteria). In this case
public credibility and effectiveness of proposed actions in favor of SMEs (in particular of the
focus sector), have been the main selection criteria.
Finally, Experiences are two: the first related to the Supply - chain management topic and the
second related to the Credits and insurance system analysis.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
DESCRIPTION OF THE TWO CONCEPTS: “CSR” AND “COMPETITIVENESS”
a. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility
It is very tempting to provide a single and unique definition for the concept of CSR. Actually, this
matter has been a subject in the business community for quite a long time. However, the bulk of the
literature around this topic is a recent phenomenon that started in the mid 20th century. Having said
that, the objectives in this report are to provide a comprehensive definition of CSR, that is fit for use
into a real context such as the development of projects like COSMIC.
Evidence shows that an extensive range of activities and actions are coined ‘Corporate
Responsibility’. Moreover, one single definition may not be able to capture the widespread essence
of the term, due to its multidimensional features encompassed in the term (policies, processes,
initiatives, tools, etc). This “term is a brilliant one; it means something, but not always the same
thing, to everybody”1.
Often when referring to the field of corporate responsibility, additional phrases are used, such as:
• “corporate social responsibility” (CSR), is the most common expression, with a focus on
the role of business in the society, and local community. While it is quite clear that business
seek a profit from providing goods and services in response to society’s demands (real or
supposed), it is much less obvious what constraints should be put on its activities and who
should impose them for the safety of society. It represents the opposite of Milton
Friedman’s advocacy: “the business of business is business”2. Often, the modern conceptual
framework of CSR is tied together with stakeholder theory, formulated for the first time by
R. Edward Freeman in 1984. The stakeholder theory introduces a management approach on
CSR, no more as exclusive personal responsibility of businessman3. Thus, probably at this
point it starts a managerial holistic view of CSR, which cross the borders of “charity” and
“philanthropy”. A stakeholder is defined as “any group or individual who can affect or is
affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives” (Freeman, 1984) or activities;
and towards stakeholders – not just shareholders - an organization has some responsibilities
to deal with.
• “corporate sustainability”, initially used to emphasize the increasing importance of
environmental concerns and the building of eco-efficiency agenda in businesses. Currently
the concept of sustainability is more referred to the ability to sustain a high quality of life
for current and future generations. We can easily identify two sides of the phenomenon: an
internal sustainability, internally to the organizations, that means the capacity of long-term
prosperity/competitiveness; and an external sustainability, own of the society as whole, that
means the possibility on maintaining and renewing resources, with due respect for people
1
Cf. D. Votaw & S. P. Sethi (Eds.) The corporate dilemma. Englewood Cliffs, 1973, p.11.
2
Cf., for example, M. Friedman, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, The New York Times Magazine, 1970;
and M. Friedman Capitalism and freedom, Chicago, 1962.
3
If Howard R. Bowen should be called the “Father of Corporate Social Responsibility”, we have to keep in mind that his approach is
referred to businessman. H.R. Bowen, Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, New York, 1953
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
and environment. Well known is also the notion of “triple bottom line4” accounting, which
implies for organizations an attention to the traditional financial bottom line as well to
social and environmental bottom lines (three levels of sustainability).
• “corporate citizenship” (CC), originally referred to US corporate philanthropy, and now
more as emphasis on the role of organizations as citizen in global society. Common
understanding of CC is more general in scope, and is essentially a conflation of CC with
existing conceptions of CSR, with an attempting to define a new role for the corporation.
CC is a term widely known in the US, because the philanthropy aspect is still predominant
(C. Keinert, 2008). Corporations voluntarily assume responsibilities as a major actor within
society by contributing to the enhancement of the quality of community life through active,
participative, and organized involvement. Thus, in administering some of the
responsibilities of citizenship, companies are increasingly finding themselves held
accountable for their impacts on society and social rights, on individual or civil rights, and
on political rights (S. Waddock, 2006).
• “business ethics”, refers to general ethical systems applied in the context of profit-oriented
organizations. The subject is part of philosophical ethics (F. McHugh, 1988), and it is
related with “doing the right thing” (R. Sims, 2003). Business ethics is in part concerned
with the behavior of individuals as members of the company and wider society, but it is also
increasingly concerned with the values of business as a whole and how company integrates
values, such as honesty, trust, integrity, respect and fairness, into its policies, practices and
decision making (M. Blowfield and A. Murray, 2008). However, the relation between CSR
and business ethics theory is still quite debated at the present time.
For our research the more adequate definition is the one of Corporate Social Responsibility,
whereas some clarification is needed. This involves the evolution of the main concept about the role
of business in society, and it has a concrete topical framework. Trying to break down the term, it
can be explained as:
corporate: this word defines who the subject of the topic is; corporate is something relating to
a corporation, a body that is granted a charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity. For
this reason, when we talk about CSR, we can refer to a private as well a public institution,
with a profit making scope or not-for-profit organization5. CSR is relevant in all types of
organizations, regardless of size or sector of activity.
social: this word defines what the subject of the topic is; social is something relating to
society. In accordance with the definition, we can assume that also the environmental issues
are linked with the society, indeed the environment is a subset of our society. In this
framework we can bring back two sides of TBL - Triple Bottom Line : social sustainability
and environmental sustainability (both of the corporations and of the society as whole).
Thus, here we can find the management and the engagement of stakeholders.
4
The term was coined by John Elkington in 1994; the same author developed in 1995 the 3P formulation, “people, planet and profits”,
with similar logic of TBL.
5
For this reason we can have social reporting activities by a public institution (as an University), or specific CSR tools usable from both
for profit or not-for-profit organizations (such as stakeholder engagement).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
responsibility: this word defines the relation between “corporate” and “social”: the
corporations have some responsibility on society; the respect of sustainability logic
represents also the company’s capacity to perceive and evaluate the long-term
consequences of its behavior (Waddock, 2001). The term responsibility doesn’t imply a
mandated by law. On the contrary, the voluntary basis go beyond common regulatory and
conventional requirements, which the organizations would have to respect in any case; they
endeavor to raise the standards of social development, environmental protection and respect
of fundamental rights, reconciling interests of various stakeholders in an overall approach
of quality and sustainability (European Commission, 2001).
As previously mentioned, one can find several definitions of CSR. However, it is important to
distinguish between attempts deriving from academic literature and those from public institutions
and international bodies. The interest accrued in the years around this topic has demanded that some
institutions take a position on it. The reason lies not in a will to impose CSR aspects, but rather in
an effort to suggest a common framework to which refers to. It represents an attempt ensure that the
process of global economic and social change is managed properly and fairly. On the other hand,
type of definition of CSR is then directly by the companies: it is not uncommon to find an
interpretation of the concept, adapted to the context of the single organization, in accounting
activity or statement of mission.
For the purpose of this research, we decided to follow the institutional definition provided by the
European Commission in 2001. It represents indeed an effective, structured and valuable synthesis
of CSR definition:
“The CSR is a concept whereby companies [1] integrate social and environmental concerns in their
business operations [2] and in their interaction with their stakeholders [3] on a voluntary basis
[4]”
[1] In this case the subject identified by the European Commission is “the company”. Rather, the
definition of CSR could be extended also to subjects who are not firms, but still have a role in the
economic life of society. In general then, we might refer to “organizations”, meaning either those
public or private, profit or not-for-profit6 subject. Surely companies maintain the foremost role of
implementation of CSR theoretical framework, but it is not the only one possible.
[2] The integration of social and environmental concerns in business operations reflects the
sustainability theory, and the triple bottom line idea7.
[3] The responsibility of organizations is expressed towards all the stakeholders affected by
business and which in turn can influence its success. So the European definition of CSR follows the
approach of stakeholder theory, developed by R. E. Freeman since mid 1980s.
[4]
Finally, it is reaffirmed the voluntary approach on CSR ideas and policies.
For the sake of completeness, we reported some of the most important literature’s definition of
Corporate Social Responsibility:
6
7
See above, the explanation of the word “corporate”.
See above, the description of term “corporate sustainability”.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
[Social responsibilities] mean that businessmen should oversee the operation of an economic
system that fulfils the expectations of the public. William C. Frederick, 19608.
[CSR] refers to the firm’s consideration of, and response to, issues beyond the narrow
economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm to accomplish social benefits. Keith
Davis, 19739.
For CSR to be accepted by the conscientious business person, it should be framed in such a
way that the entire range of business responsibilities is embraced. It is suggested here that
four kinds of social responsibilities constitute total CSR: economic, legal, ethical and
philanthropic. Archie B. Carroll, 199110.
Without doubt, the application of CSR principles changes with respect to the context in which the
organization works. As previously mentioned, the same definition of CSR is a “cluster definition”
that fits its own contents to the reference context. Nevertheless, one can figure out a main
framework of CSR, with different areas (M. Blowfield and A. Murray, 2008).
An organization must first address the issue of CSR from an internal point of view. The benefits for
the society derived from CSR go through also an improvement of the same organization. It must
seek to achieve long-term internal stability and competitiveness, in terms of organizational
innovation and differentiation of its own products/services to market. From an internal perspective,
CSR should be addressed in the following areas:
Mission, vision and leadership:
o
Defining and setting the organization purpose, values and vision: often, an
organization gives its own definition of sustainability, outlining the principles that
will guide its activities;
o
Translating this into policies and procedures: after making a choice of CSR
standards that are to be reached, the structure of the organization may need to be
reviewed and adapted; as well as leadership needs to be coherent with chosen
principles.
Workforce activities: employees are one of the main stakeholders for an organization. The
human resource management deals with fundamental principles for the respect of
individuals; and it represents also an important strategic investment for productivity and
faithfulness by workers.
o
Employee
communication
representativeness);
o
Diversity management;
and
representation
(transparency
and
8
Frederick, W. C. (1960). The growing concern over business responsibility. California Management Review, 2, 54-61.
Davis, K. (1973). The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal, 16, 312322.
10
Carroll, A. B. (1991, July/August). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational
stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34, 39-48.
9
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
o
Work-life balance;
o
Health, safety and well-being;
o
Training and skill enhancement.
Marketplace activities: this area regards an important part of economic sustainability.
Indeed, by caring out some CSR performances, an organization can differentiate its
products or services. It is also the first approach to the outside, managing external
stakeholders relations.
o
Responsible customer relations (including marketing and advertising, accessibility
of structures/products/services);
o
CSR certification and labelling;
o
Fair competition.
From an external perspective, there are also areas that can benefit from the implementation of CSR
principles. This part refers to the possibility for sustainable development to be completed.
Supply chain activities: with the drive towards global markets and the removal of barriers to
trade and investment, boundaries have become blurry, permeable, and difficult to discern,
creating a situation in which it is difficult to discern between which stakeholders are
internal or external. It is the case of supply chain: what are the responsibilities of
organization regarding its supply chain? We could say that an organization must be able to
create an entire system of supply chain, complying with the established principles of CSR,
at least those considered essential and fundamental.
o
Driving social and environmental standards through the supply chain;
o
Promoting social and economic inclusion via the supply chain;
o
Building a control and promote system on CSR principles.
Stakeholder engagement: an effective CSR management must pay attention to stakeholders
by adopting integrative strategic management processes. It is desirable pursuing stakeholder
engagement policies, in which consultation and dialogue is carried out with the aim of
gathering important input and ideas, anticipating and managing conflicts, building
consensus among diverse views, and strengthening the company’s relationships and
reputation.
o
Mapping key SH and their main concerns;
o
Responding to and managing SH;
o
Accountability: transparent reporting and communication.
Community activities: Some firms choose to engage with communities where they operate
and exploit resources (economical, raw material and human) from. Those links could be
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
beneficial for both, generating mutual advantages. On the other hand, other firms may
prefer to function without those ties (i.e. a multinational corporation operating in a foreign
country). However, firms cannot afford to assume this individualist position, without
risking future problems with their stakeholders
o
Respecting and promoting the development of reference community
o
Using the community to facilitate the spread of CSR principles, through local
institutions and services
Environmental activities: This last point represents one of the three pillars of sustainability.
The trade-off between environmental activities and financial performance has become more
flexible over the years. Currently, firms understand that investments in the environmental
realm could foster positive results in the financial one. The eco-effectiveness requires
companies to rethink their technologies, their products and services, but can become an
important driver of competitiveness and innovation.
o
Resource and energy use;
o
Pollution and waste management;
o
Environmental product responsibility;
o
Environmental audits, certifications and labels;
o
Transport planning.
Thus, after an attempt to categorize the CSR concept, it is important to highlight the fact that there
is relevant difference between CSR theories (principles declared) from practice. Differences arise
because of competing interests, market priorities, financial difficulties, strong pressure to cut costs,
and changing SH relationships. CSR values need to be translated into action across the organization,
from strategies to day-to-day decisions (European Commission, 2001).
In general, it is common to find agreement around the respect of basilar CSR concepts (e.g. the
ending of workers exploitation). However, as it has been proved, to translate those concepts into
practices it is not an easy task. (e.g. due to competitiveness framework is necessary underpay
workers). Most of the CSR approaches used at present by companies are too limited, too defensive,
and above all too disconnected from corporate strategy which reduces its effectiveness in creating
competitive advantages. CSR initiatives have to be parallel, or even, central to the core business
strategies, rather tangential. The relevant CSR issue must be matched to the specific business; and it
is essential a shift from moral obligation (or charity) to a strategic view. The Corporate Social
Responsibility should be perceived as long-run profit maximization (Johnson, 1971).
Fostering CSR among organizations, several benefits could be observed A. Dayal-Gulati and M.
Finn, 2007):
1. Reducing cost and waste: this variable constitutes hidden opportunity costs. CSR played the
role of a heuristic that made it more likely for management to identify such cost savings.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
2. Accelerating product innovation: a focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility
could lead to faster rates of innovation in high-impact technologies (again CSR serves as a
heuristic, now with focus on the innovation process). CSR can also accelerate the
organizational innovation, implementing management system for specific standards and
certifications.
3. Creating and improving brand equity, increasing the value contained in a brand through a
product/service differentiation.
4. Improving employee productivity and attracting or retaining talented employees, through
equal treatment, benefits policies, incentives, and so forth.
5. Reducing various form of risk (legal, regulatory, political, reputational) with fair behavior;
and, consequently, avoiding competitive disadvantages.
6. Improving relationship with political and local entities, hedging risk (point 5), as well as
enhancing opportunities (social capital).
Some of these variables are typical of the competitive advantage and the strategy, others more
operational (such as the first one).
The European Commission stresses the relationship between CSR, sustainability, globalization and
competitiveness. The development of systematic responses to the expectations of society is a key to
competitive advantage for firms: proving this represents the reason of this project.
Although the CSR framework and its implementation change considerably depending on the
reference context in which the organization operates, there are some well-established and
internationally recognized tools for implementation of CSR policies. These instruments are
addressed to manage, measure and communicate CSR performance; indeed, they provide guidance
and benchmark for sustainability.
Once again, pro – activity demonstrated by the European Commission to disseminate and make
concrete the CSR framework leads us to refer to another official document of EC about it (2004)11.
The document regroups CSR tools under three main headings:
1. Socially responsible management, which includes instruments setting out standards of
performance and management issues used by organizations to embed CSR values into their
strategy and operations and drive performance improvement:
a.
codes of conduct: are formal statement of principles defining standards for
specific behavior; it could be at organization level, as well as at multi-level (e.g.
sector or trade association level)
b.
management standards: refer to a set of procedures, process steps and
specifications that an organization uses to manage a process or activity
(certifications on: workplace standards, quality management standards,
environmental management standards)
11
ABC of the main instruments of Corporate Social Responsibility, European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and
Social Affairs, 2004.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
a.
sustainability reporting: include a lot of qualitative information about the
organization, due also to the difficulties on measure some CSR performance12.
2. Socially responsible consumption, which describes market-based instruments (labels), mainly
addressed to consumers, certifying that the production and trading processes of a specific
product have respected a given set of criteria.
3. Socially responsible investment, illustrating the various approaches, products and instruments
offered to responsible investors (social, green and ethical funds, pension funds,
sustainability indexes, screening, shareholder engagement).
The tools discussed so far are part of what is known as “explicit” approach to CSR. It is always
management tools, with standards to follow, and with not an immediate and simple implementation.
If an organization does not use any of these tools, this does not necessarily means it is not involved
in any way with involved in sustainability actions. Indeed, there exists other type of implementation
of CSR, more informal and not at all times less effective. In literature this process is called “implicit
CSR” (Matten and Moon, 2004), or “silent CSR” (Jenkins, 2004), or also “sunken CSR” (Perrini et
al., 2006). It is very common among small and medium organizations, particularly embedded into
the local community in which they operate. Due to a strong intersection between local industrial
system and local community, it is frequent and easy for an SME to makes informal CSR policies in
local context, because of a strong presence of social capital (Chiesi, 2005).
b. The concept of Competitiveness
The absence of an univocal definition of “competitiveness”, both at theoretical and practical level,
is mostly due to the variety of perspectives and levels of analysis at which the concept may be
considered. By analyzing the different definitions of competitiveness provided by scholars,
institutions and practitioners, it is possible to set a common “ground”: competitiveness is generally
defined as “The ability of an ‘entity’ – a country, a region, an industry, a firm – to produce products
or services of a superior quality and/or at lower costs than other entities that act in the same
economic context”. What determines or influences the ability of an “entity” to prevail on its
competitors is the capacity to use as better as possible its own endowed resources in order to obtain
a better performance. Starting from this “common ground”, is important to identify the “entities”,
the actors on the competition “arena”. The literature distinguishes three basic typologies of these
actors:
1. A single firm or plant. At the firm level, the concept of competitiveness implies that
companies are able to produce goods and services more efficiently or effectively than their
relevant competitors; this performance is achieved by relying on some “competitive
factors”, with a particular focus on the productivity of some inputs. An OECD paper (2003)
states that “Competitiveness is primarily a matter of being able to produce goods that are
either cheaper or better than those produced by other firms”. Similarly, according to
Jenkins (1998), “A firm is competitive if it can produce products or services of a superior
12
Aid in this sense come from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a network-based organization that has pioneered the development of
a sustainability reporting framework (see www.globalreporting.com).
14
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
quality or at lower costs than its domestic and international competitors. It is therefore
synonymous of a firm’s long-run profit performance and its ability to compensate its
employees and provide superior returns to its owners”. A recent paper for the International
Energy Agency defines competitiveness at the firm level as “The ability to maintain and/or
to expand market position based on its cost structure” (Reinaud, 2005).
2. A cluster of firms, i.e. an industry, a sector, a branch or a local productive system (e.g. an
industrial district). At the sectorial level, the concept of competitiveness implies that the
competitive factors are activated and used by different “clusters” of companies (e.g. all the
companies operating in similar industrial sectors in different countries) to obtain a better
performance on the market (local and/or international markets). In this case, the competitive
performance is measured by aggregating the performance of the single firms operating in
the same cluster. This level is connected with the previous one, but not totally overlapping:
in fact, a competitive industry can be composed by a high number of competitive firms, but
also by some low-performing firms.
3. A territorial context (i.e. a country or a region). At the territorial level (country or region),
the concept of competitiveness is not limited to a market perspective, but it is also linked to
“standards of living” of a geographical area, so it cannot be considered a zero-sum game, as
one country’s or region’s gain doesn’t necessarily come at the expense of others. Moreover,
the competitiveness of a country or a region is the result of a wide range of drivers and
performances at the sector, firm and plant levels, and of their interactions with the
institutional and social factors, so this level cannot be considered as the mere “sum” of the
previous ones. The territorial dimension is closely related to the second question we
address, i.e. what is the “context” in which an entity faces up with its competitors.
Following the identification of the actors on the competition arena, we can move on the issue
referring to the “dimension” of competitiveness. At least three dimensions can be distinguished:
• International competitiveness. At the international level, competitiveness refers to the
success with which an entity (i.e. a country, a sector/industry, a firm/plant) competes
against overseas counterparts. The most important and widely-used definition of
international competitiveness are those provided by the OECD and the EC:
o “The degree to which (a country) under free and fair market conditions, produce
goods and services which meet the tests of international markets, while
simultaneously maintaining and expanding the real incomes of its people over the
longer term” (OECD)
o “Competitiveness is understood to mean high and rising standards of living of a
nation with the lowest possible level of involuntary unemployment, on a sustainable
basis” (EC Competitiveness Report).
• National competitiveness. At the national level, literature focuses on the measures of
competitiveness, such as levels and growth of Gross Domestic Product or Gross National
Product (SQW, 2006), GDP per capita (Porter et al., 1991) and international trade flows
(Mulatu et al., 2001). In the view of most authors, the fundaments of national
competitiveness rest on the efficiency with which resources are allocated and used at micro
level (i.e. at sectorial and/or firm level). Still, as the use of national measures of
competitiveness is often affected by various problems in identifying and understanding the
15
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
•
contribution of each variable on competitiveness, researches aimed at investigating national
competitiveness should not ignore a more disaggregated level of analysis.
Local competitiveness. Finally, the assumption of the local competitiveness perspective
implies the consideration of a series of factors related to the characteristics of a
territory/region, going beyond the behavior of local economic actors, having its roots in a
complex set of relations between them and the institutions and organizations historically
embedded in the territory itself. Most of all, two concerns based on theories pointing
towards the link between territorial localization and competitiveness appear to be crucial.
The first is that economic, entrepreneurial and technological activities tend to agglomerate
at certain places, leading to patterns of regional and local specialization. The second is that
the competitive performance and development of a firm seem to be determined to a
considerable extent by the conditions that prevail in its environment, and that the conditions
in the immediate proximity – in the local milieu - seem to be particularly important (Iraldo,
2002; Dicken and Lloyd, 1997; O’Sullivan, 1984).
After the identification of the competitiveness actors and arenas, the analyses deepen to the key
variables affecting competitiveness as well as the ways to measure them. As anticipated,
competitiveness is defined as the ability to efficiently and effectively use the resource endowed to
obtain better performance than other actors operating in the same “context”. Many factors influence
competitiveness according to the different levels of analysis. Furthermore, the variety of definitions
of competitiveness provided by scholars and institutions according to the different possible levels of
analysis runs parallel to the existence of many approaches and indicators aimed at measuring the
concept of competitiveness. In an attempt to systematize existing approaches, we may distinguish
two major approaches:
1. The first one tries to investigate the drivers of the competitiveness (e.g. the resource
productivity at firm level, the degree of internationalization at sector level).
2. The second approach focuses on the external effects of the competitive success (e.g. the
market performance measured by market share; the turnover growth rate; the financial
performance measured by ROI or EBTIDA at firm level; the welfare of a nation measured
by GDP per capita).
In order to provide the most useful conceptual framework a brief overview is provided about the
main definitions of competitiveness provided.
European Commission definition. The definition provided by the European Commission in its
annual Competitiveness Report (see section 2.a) mainly aims at proposing an analytical framework
to assess the impact of policies – including environmental policies – on competitiveness. This
definition stresses the importance of the so called “domestic factors” as dominant determinants of
competitiveness. Furthermore, the EU Competitiveness Report was redesigned in 2006 to contribute
to a solid analytical underpinning of the microeconomic pillar of Lisbon strategy, while continuing
to explore more specific aspects of competitiveness of the European industry (EC, 2007). It is not
worth that the microeconomic policy pillar of the Lisbon strategy covers many of the most relevant
policy areas to enhance productivity, which are hence of great importance for our study as well.
Actually, the EC Competitiveness Report stresses that:
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
• increased investment in R&D can significantly increase productivity growth, especially if
R&D and innovation are well integrated;
• stimulating entrepreneurship by easing the start and growth of companies as well as
enhancing conditions for SMEs to use the potential of the Single Market allows new ideas
to be transformed into value-added products and services and these to be traded
internationally, with an important positive effect on productivity;
• significant increases of output and consumption can also be achieved by reducing
unnecessary regulatory costs, thereby freeing resources for more productive uses. The
benefits will be felt particularly by SMEs, where such overheads represent a higher
proportion of their total costs.
The OECD definition. The above reported “official” definition of OECD of a nation’s
competitiveness emphasizes the ability of a country to produce goods and services which meet the
test of international markets, while simultaneously maintaining and expanding the real incomes of
its people over the long term. Anyway, it is necessary to clarify that a nation cannot be competitive
just from showing aggressive market practices through exports policy on world markets through
exports; it also needs to develop attractiveness for wealth creation activities. This policy, however,
does not guarantee, in the long term, a standard of living. Therefore in addition to the view of the
OECD competitiveness needs, balance in the economic imperatives with the social requirements of
a nation as they result from history, value systems and tradition.
The definition of the World Economic Forum. Another definition of competitiveness has been
provided by the World Economic Forum, which considers the level of productivity of a country as a
key element to determine the competitiveness. It defines the competitiveness as “the collection of
factors, policies and institutions which determine the level of productivity of a country and that
determine the level of prosperity that can be attained by an economy” (World Economic Forum –
Global Competitiveness Report, 2007). According to this view, the level of productivity defines the
sustainable level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy. In other words, more competitive
economies tend to be able to produce higher levels of income for their citizens. The productivity
level also determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy and, consequently,
the growth rate of the economy itself. The concept of competitiveness thus involves static and
dynamic components: although the productivity of a country clearly determines its ability to sustain
a high level of income, it is also one of the central determinants of the returns to investment, which
a central factor explaining an economy’s growth potential. Furthermore, according to the World
Economic Forum, the level of productivity – i.e. the level of competitiveness - is deeply linked to
the microeconomic productivity. Wealth is created in an economy at the microeconomic level, it
ultimately rests on the ability of the national firms to create valuable goods and services using
efficient methods. The microeconomic foundations of productivity build on three interrelated areas:
(1) the sophistication and capabilities with which domestic companies or foreign subsidiaries
compete, (2) the quality of the microeconomic business environment in which they operate, and (3)
the state of development of clusters that provide benefits through the proximity of related
companies and institutions.
As a concern in the ways to measure competitiveness, it is important to bear in mind that
competitiveness itself may be considered at different levels of “aggregation”, each one may be
composed and influenced by different variables.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
The international dimension of competitiveness is clearly affected by factors such as the existence
and the nature of barriers to the circulation of persons and goods, the effects of globalization, etc.
At national level, a country’s competitiveness is always the result of the interaction between a wide
range of variables such as the exchange rate, real wages and other factor prices. It is also influenced
by many factors, such as the sophistication of company operations, the quality of business
environment, the employment rate or the efficiency of work, etc. Furthermore, industry or sectorial
competitiveness reflects a wide range of performances of its constituent firms, among which there
can also be some low performing firms.
At firm level, competitiveness may be influenced by its ability to produce the biggest amount of
output using a given quantity of inputs, by the quality of its human capital, by its ability to develop
and exploit technological innovations, etc. Still, individual plants within the same company may
present discrepant performances if compared to the firm’s average. .
Understandings of competitiveness, thus, have different focuses on each level and imply the use of
different measurement indicators. According to our framework of analysis, competitiveness can be
measured at:
a) Macro level (territorial: international/national);
b) Meso level (cluster: sectorial/industry/district);
c) Micro level (plant/firm).
a) At the macro level, measurements of competitiveness aim at describing how successfully a
country or a region (made up of different sectors and many firms) competes with counterparts in
other countries. As anticipated (see section 2.b), the most common indicators to compare
competitiveness between countries are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product
(GNP) (SQW, 2006), GDP per capita (Porter et al., 2001) and international trade flows (Mulatu et
al., 2001). The first three indicators are particularly interesting from our point of view, as they focus
on the effect of competitiveness on citizens’ “standard of living”, while the fourth indicator is very
similar to those used for ‘sectors’ and ‘industries’ as it basically underlines the ability of a country
to tackle the international competition. Degree of internationalization is considered a relevant
component of the “competitive abilities”, with particular reference to the capability to specialize in
global markets and, to a wider extent, to export to foreign countries. Indicators aimed at measuring
competitiveness at this level rely on the fact that a When comparing countries, a given country
competitive level can be gauged if it consistently export goods earlier than others do country can be
gauged to be competitive compared to other countries if it consistently exports goods earlier than
others do (Depperu, 2006; Rose, 1997; Feenstra and Rose, 1997).
b) At sectorial/industry level, competitiveness relates to the capacity of a sector to sell cheaper
and/or better-quality products and services, both in domestic markets and abroad. Competitiveness
at this level is often an effective indicator of the economic health of those countries and regions
where the sector/industry is located and, from our standpoint, it provides more meaningful evidence
than competitiveness at the firm level. In fact, the success of a single firm might be due to
company-specific factors that are difficult or impossible to reproduce. The success of a cluster of
companies (geographically localised) is often evidence of factors (possibly linked to environmental
factors) that might be extended or improved by means of a policy.
Measurements of competitiveness at the industry level especially refer to the ability of specific
industries to compete for market shares with businesses operating in the same sector but located in
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
other countries or regions. Most studies use trade (e.g. net exports), investment flows and market
shares as proxies or indicators of sectorial competitiveness (OECD, 2003). Other studies seek to
consider the drivers of trade competitiveness at the sectorial level, such as the Total Factor
Productivity and/or proxy measures of innovative capacity (mainly R&D expenditure and patent
applications) (Jaffe and Palmer, 1997).
The different localization usually affects the availability of production factors and inputs, including
natural resources (Peterson, 2003). Some authors (Iraldo, 2002; Zoboli, 1999; Fortis, 2000) focus on
the competitive advantage obtained by firms operating in a local system of production (as an
industrial district or regional cluster).
Finally, financial measurements such as operating profit and Earnings Before Interest, Tax,
Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), even if rarely, are also used in the literature as measures
of sectorial competitiveness (Carbon Trust, 2004).
c) At the level of firms/plants, competitiveness measurements relates to various aspects, such as the
ability to sustain market shares, to sustain independent existence on the market or to sustain
“normal” levels of profitability and returns. At the firm level, productivity is the key variable,
simply defined as the “measure of output per unit of input”. Productivity aims at measuring the
efficiency with which production is carried out; in other words, the ratio between the outputs and
inputs that make production possible (raw materials, labor, capital etc). Many studies identify as an
optimal measure of productivity the Total Factor Productivity, that is a synthetic measure of how
firms are organized, structured, use technology and are managed (for example: Jaffe and Palmer,
1997; Dofour, Lanoie and Patry, 1998; Berman and Bui, 2001).
To summarize, existing literature provides a wide range of variables to capture the concept of
competitiveness at firm level, such as:
• Output;
• Import or export performance (e.g. net exports);
• Market shares;
• Profitability;
• Labor Productivity or Total Factor Productivity (TFP);
• Productivity drivers (e.g. innovative activity measures, such as R&D expenditures or patent
applications);
• Cost of production;
• Ability to absorb costs of compliance within costs of production or to raise consumer prices
as a consequence;
• Plant location or locational decisions;
• Firm’s or plant’s survival over time on the market.
In conclusion, the following table provides a summary of the overall analytical framework
established on the concept of competitiveness as well as on and the different ways to measure it.
19
MEASUREMENTS OF COMPETITIVENESS – SUMMARY TABLE
Level of
Analysis
Measure of Competitiveness
International / National
Prosperity/Standard of living
(Performance)
MACRO
Indicator
References
Growth rate of real GNP
Jorgenson and Wilcoxen (1990)
Level and growth of GDP and GNP
Jorgenson (1991)
GDP per capita;
World Economic Forum (2007)
GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing
power
Esty and Porter (2001)
(Driver vs. Performance)
Depperu (2006)
Mulatu, Florax, Witaghen (2004)
International Trade
Net Export
Rose (1997)
(Performance)
Feenstra and Rose (1997)
International trade flows
Mulatu et al. (2001)
Productivity growth
Jaffe et al. (1995)
Market share
Peterson (2003)
Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation
and Amortization (EBITDA)
Carbon Trust Paper (2004)
Net Export
OECD (2003)
Productivity
(Driver)
Market Performance
Sector / Industry
MESO
(Performance)
Financial Performance (Performance)
International Trade
(Performance)
Investment
OECD (2003)
Investment flows
(Driver)
Leonard (1984;1988)
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Direct foreign investment
Productivity
Blazejcack (1993)
Jaffe and Palmer (1996)
Total Factor Productivity (TFP)
(Driver)
Lanoie, Patry, Lajeunesse (2001)
Innovation
R&D expenditure and Patent applications
Jaffe and Palmer (1997)
(Driver)
Peterson (2003)
Localization
Fortis (2000)
Zoboli (1999)
Resource endowment (Driver)
Cost of transport
O’Sullivan (1984)
Iraldo (2002)
Proximity
Dicken and Lloyd (1997)
Krugman and Obstfeld (1995)
Dofour et al. (2007)
Turnovers
Firm / Plant
MICRO
Levy (1995)
Market growth
Gray and Shadbegian (1993)
Market Performance
Market share
Gray and Shadbegian (1993)
(Performance)
Import or Export Performance (e.g. net
exports)
Cagatay, Koska and Mihci (2004)
Firm’s or plant’s survival over time on the
market
Levinson (1995)
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Bragdon and Marlin (1972)
Return on Equity (ROE) and
Russo and Fouts (1994)
Return on Assets (ROA)
Coeck and Verbeke (1997)
Economic Performance
(Performance)
Return on Sales
Levy (1995)
Freedman and Jaggi (1992)
Net Income
Brannlund et al. (1995)
Cash Flow (Equity and Assets)
Freedman and Jaggi (1992)
Return on Investment (ROI)
SQW (2006)
Financial Performance (Performance)
Gollop and Roberts (1983)
Estimated Cost Function
Sims and Smith (1983)
Efficiency (Performance)
Innovation (Driver)
Ability to distribute costs of compliance
Helland and Matsuno (2003)
R&D Expenditure
Jaffe and Palmer (1997)
22
1. SUPPLY SIDE ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE PROCESSES/PRODUCTS
This first section relates to the supply side analysis and innovative processes implemented by
enterprises of the textile/clothing and leather sector. The study design is composed by a literature
review, an analysis of the main evidences in three countries and the description of an experience of
excellence in the field of social supply – chain management.
Initially an analysis of the academic literature has been detailed. Special emphasis was given to key
researchers and case studies of the field. However, it is important to specify that not all the
researched documents focus on the three investigated EU countries (but specifically only three of
them), some of the details concern the specific sector, rather specific country. (textile/clothing and
leather one). Those articles examined CSR related tools concerning the environmental and social
management ones, the adoption of ethical codes of conduct and policies for defense of workers’
rights, tools of stakeholders management, and, finally, policies of (social and green) supply – chain
management. Having described CSR tools, perhaps the most interesting effects demonstrated by
researches and case studies in terms of competitiveness are related to the following topics: public
image and reputation (such as Perry P. & Towers N., 2009; Turcotte M.F., Bellefeuille S. & Den
Hond F., 2007; Murillo D. & Lozano J.M., 2009), rise of labour productivity (such as Ansett S.,
2007), reliability in the supply – chain relationships and commercial networking (such as Camuffo
A., Romano P. & Vinelli A., 2001; Ciliberti F., Pontrandolfo P. & Scozzi B., 2008; Graanfland,
2002), cost-efficiency and increase of market shares (examples are: Iraldo F., Testa F. & Frey M.,
2009; Hillary, 2004; Lesi, F. & , Andalontal, D., 2005), innovation processes (such as: Krozer Y.,
2008; Midttun A., 2007; Vilanova M., Lozano J.M. & Arenas D., 2009; Buyssey K., Verbeke A.,
2003); on this last subject, it’s important to notice that the concept of innovation has to be
interpreted both from technical and managerial - organizational points of views (such as the
application of innovative management standards, aiming at increasing the social and environmental
performances of enterprises).
In the second section the most interesting initiative promoted were collected last years in the sector
and involving also (or exclusively) the three specific countries. These can be considered the most
evident ones, and that have already provided positive effects for the adherent enterprises. They can
be considered a selection of best initiatives in the sector, aiming at increasing the competitiveness of
ethical and environmentally friendly enterprises. Initiative were selected and promoted directly by
enterprises (such as AFIRM Group, Elsewear, Clean and Unique, at international level, or Vera
Pelle Conciata al Vegetale consortium and Made in Green at national level), and by public actors
and adopted by enterprises (such as Ecolabel, EMAS APO and Distintivo de Garantía de Calidad
Ambiental). To the following detailed sectorial initiatives, it can be added the institutional
certifications and protocols of adhesion that can be pursued by all organization (and not only by
those operating in the textile/clothing and leather sector); the most important are:
o
o
SA8000 certification. This international standard aims to help companies in developing and
managing social accountability systems, with the objective to improve CSR-related issues
as child labor, health and safety and working hours. This model enable SMEs to be
independent in seeking an own CSR language by implementation of a specific management
system coherent with requirements of main international ILO conventions. In Italy 34
textile/clothing and leather enterprises have this certification, 1 in France and none in Spain.
OSHAS 18001 certification. This international occupational health and safety management
system represents a scheme aimed to provide organizations with a structured approach to
prevent and manage occupational health and safety risks. This model enables a systematic
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
evaluation of issues related with working people, and an independent and continuous
improvement process too.
o
EMAS (Reg. N. 761/2001/UE) certification. This European standard requires establishing an
effective environmental management system (EMS) on the basis of the review aimed at
improving its environmental performance. This instrument is a guarantee for establish a
better knowledge of the impacts and effects that an organization can have on the
environment; for predispose their control and improvement. Similar to EMAS (but with a
private nature) is international standard ISO14001:04. In Italy 27 are the EMAS registered
enterprises of the textile/clothing and leather sectors, 6 in Spain and none in France.
o
Global Reporting Initiative. It’s a network-based organization that has pioneered the
development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is
committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. The Sustainability
Report focuses on environmental, social and economic requirements, with the aim to
account and represent, qualitatively and quantitatively, the status of the practices in these
fields. If a Sustainable Report is in compliance with GRI requirements, it can be certified.
o
United Nations Global Compact. It is a strategic policy initiative promoted by UN for
businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally
accepted principles in the areas of human right, labor, environment and anti-corruption. If a
company adheres, it’s forced to respect the ten principles giving evidences of this
compliance. 16 French enterprises of the textile/clothing and leather sectors adhered to
UNGC, 8 Spanish ones and none from Italy.
o
Fairtrade Labelling. It is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a
partnership between producers and consumers. Fairtrade offers producers a better deal and
improved terms of trade. For producers Fairtrade means prices that cover the costs of
sustainable production, an additional Fairtrade premium, advance credit, longer term trade
relationships, and decent working conditions for hired labour. The FAIRTRADE
Certification Mark is a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations
International (FLO). It certifies that products meet the social, economic and environmental
standards set by Fairtrade. It’s important to notice that the Mark certifies products not
companies; it does not cover the companies or organizations selling the products.
Finally, in the third part the experience of one of the most important international brands in the
apparel sector (GUCCI) has been described, as an innovative example of supply chain management
sustainability-oriented, aimed at monitoring the entire supply chain. This experience is interesting
also because it has been carried out in accordance (and in cooperation) with the national sectorial
trade union FILTEA – CGIL.
24
1.a Literature Review
References
Ansett S. (2007)
Mind the Gap: A
Journey to Sustainable
Supply Chains
Employee
Responsibilities and
Rights Journal Vol. 19,
p.295–303
Krozer Y. (2008)
Life cycle costing for
innovations in product
chains
Journal of Cleaner
Description of contents
CSR tools mentioned
This article examines the evolution of Gap Inc.
and its work in developing an effective labor
assurance program (based on the principles of
international labor standards) and stakeholder
engagement strategy; in this sense the Gap Inc.
transformed
its
historically
conflictual
relationships with key stakeholders into
collaborative multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Particular attention is put towards Gap Inc.’s
learning in the process and how these new
insights innovated the company’s CSR strategy
over time.
Codes of conduct /
reporting / Certification
(SA8000) / Community
related CSR /
Workplace CSR
The paper indicates how few innovative actions
of companies aiming at reducing emission in the
chain of products, save costs of pollution
control and even provide net benefits for
companies in some cases. Ten cases are
presented: tomatoes, an animal fat, a vegetable
spread, a washing powder, a men’s shirt, an
Environment related
CSR (emissions
reduction and green
procurement);
Marketplace CSR
(Stakeholder
management).
Conclusions
Gap Inc.’s participation in two multi-stakeholder
initiatives with ETI and SAI enabled the company to
continue to develop new relationships and learn from
peer companies and other stakeholders, and it began
to challenge the internal and external status quo.
The company examined the findings and worked
internally to change practice not only to improve
working conditions, but also lower costs and to
improve relationships with suppliers.
The conclusion is that it is becoming important for
companies to integrate their acquired knowledge into
corporate strategy to make their programs sustainable
over the long term. Stakeholders are savvier at
shifting the lines of traditional responsibility with
more focus on companies and Gap Inc. has gone
through a cycle of institutional learning.
Although implementing environmentally friendly
alternatives is more expensive than implementing
end-of-pipe water treatment, the combination of sound
machinery, prudent use of resources and the higher
value sales that reduce monetary losses and enable
more durable materials provide opportunities for a
cost-effective changeover in the long run.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Production Vol. 16 p.
310 - 321
office armchair, a kitchen block, a television set,
a copier, and a car. The costs of pollution
control can in several cases be avoided or
reduced through focused actions in the life
cycle, including changes in suppliers, adaptation
of the manufacturing process and in consumers’
behavior. Costs and savings in the chains of
products are assessed with a decision support
model by comparing compliance and
preventative corporate strategies regarding the
far-reaching emission reduction.
This paper seeks to increase the understanding
of the antecedents of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) in small UK fashion
garment manufacturing firms.
Determining the
A review of CSR practice is used to inform the
antecedents for a
theoretical development of the wider aspects of
strategy of corporate
small business competitive advantage.
social responsibility by The paper focuses on the strategic importance of
small-and-medium-sized global sourcing decisions, evidenced by the
potentially catastrophic impact of stakeholder
enterprises in the UK
fashion apparel industry awareness of poor social standards in key
suppliers (which may result in business
Journal of Retailing and disruption or even failure). The athletic apparel
sourcing practices of five universities in the UK
Consumer Services, Vol.
concluded that poor public reputation and
16 p. 377–385
unacceptable business practices of suppliers
represent a risk to business continuity. This
Perry P. & Towers N.
(2009)
Workplace CSR and
management systems
(Ethical Trading,
Standard ISO 26000 /
SA8000, Codes of
conduct)
Companies’ decisions regarding demands for better
environmental qualities are difficult because the
demands differ and implementation is uncertain.
The model enables assessments of the costs of
compliance strategies by available technologies from
the past, in comparison with the costs of preventive
strategies by innovative solutions in life cycles of
products, in case companies have to comply with the
demands for far-reaching emission reduction.
The cases suggest that companies in several cases
benefit from the innovative strategies by saving costs
of emission reduction in comparison with the
compliance strategy, by generation of net benefit due
to better product quality (which increases sales) or by
lower costs in supplies and manufacturing.
CSR may be perceived as a potential source of
competitive advantage as well as a possible threat to
garment manufacturing SMEs lacking sufficient
resources to comply with the escalating CSR demands
of large UK retail buyers such as Marks and Spencer,
Arcadia and Primark. As well as complying with retail
buyers’ demands, the implementation of CSR within a
supplier’s business can help to reduce labor turnover,
attract better quality workers and increase
productivity. Implementing retailers’ standards
enables suppliers to enter into long-term strategic
alliances with their customers. However, for SME
suppliers who lack financial and human resources and
struggle to balance the day-to-day commercial and
ethical demands of their buyers, the implementation
of CSR is more likely to be problematic than for a
large firm with dedicated staff and financial resources
26
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
suggests that CSR has a role in supporting
business strategy. As well as the potential of
increased profitability, there are many other
strategic benefits supporting the business case
for CSR, which are intangible and therefore do
not appear on a firm’s balance sheet, such as
employee motivation and retention, reputation
management and management of investor
relations and access to capital. Good CSR can
help to establish good industrial relations which
lead to higher productivity levels and higher
employee morale, which in turn leads to less
absenteeism and turnover as well as attracting
better quality labor and lowering recruitment
costs.
for the task. The additional burden of meeting external
CSR requirements would lead to an increase in cost
which some SMEs would be unable to absorb.
Midttun A. (2007)
Corporate responsibility
from a resource and
knowledge perspective.
Towards a dynamic
reinterpretation of
C(S)R: are corporate
responsibility and
innovation compatible
or contradictory?
Corporate governance,
Vol. 7:4 p. 401-412-3
This paper seeks to explore the interplay
between corporate social responsibility and
innovation and questions the premise, often
underlying EU communications, that the two
agendas are in general mutually supportive. In
order to accommodate a closer fit the paper
argues for a dynamic reinterpretation of CSR.
Marketplace CSR
(innovation)
The paper documents the difficulties of assuming that
innovation policy and CR policy can easily be
mutually supportive. While the assumption of
compatibility and synergy may be reasonable for
some types of innovation and some types of CR (in
particular in the environmental field), it can hardly be
argued on a general basis. A core finding is the need
to differentiate between complementary static and
dynamic views. While much of the innovation
literature is dynamic in its nature, much of the CR
literature has traditionally been given a static
interpretation, with the effect of a not specific
identification of this relationship.
27
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Wijayasiri J. &
Dissanayake J.(2008),
The Ending of the Multi
- Fibre Agreement and
Innovation in the Sri
Lankan Textile and
Clothing Industry
OECD journal: general
papers - Vol. 200B/4,
Institute of Policy
Studies of Sri Lanka
Camuffo A., Romano P.
& Vinelli A. (2001),
Back to the Future:
Benetton transforms its
Global Network
Mitsloan management
review, Fall, p.46-52
This case study analyses the effect that the end
of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) has had
on innovation in the Sri Lankan textile and
clothing sector. The ending of the quota system
under the MFA led to an increase in the US and
EU markets which has motivated a large
number of innovations in the Sri Lankan textile
and clothing sector, with a consequent
development
of
this
area
and
the
implementation
of
philanthropic
local
initiatives. Some large companies have become
a total services provider, while others are trying
to establish their own brands. Product
innovations with foreign partners, process
innovations such as introduction of CAD/CAM,
and various marketing and organizational
innovations have been implemented.
Community CSR
In the 1980s, while the provocative magazine
and billboard advertisements of Italian clothing
company Benetton caught the consumer's eye,
the company's tremendous growth, outstanding
Marketplace CSR
financial performance and innovative strategies
were captivating the press, scholars and
(rules of evaluation of
practitioners around the world.
suppliers, regarding also
For many years, it was the archetypal example
ethical requirements)
of the network organization — that is, an
organization
based
on
outsourcing,
subcontracting and, more generally, on
relationships developed between a large
company and several small producers and
A number of innovations were undertaken by the
garment industry in Sri Lanka in order to face the
challenges of a post-MFA quota-free environment.
While competition in the export market has acted as a
catalyst to innovate, trade and processes of local
development have both been important as sources of
innovation. Import of better quality textiles and
accessories have allowed Sri Lankan garment
manufacturers to explore new products, while cutting
edge technology such as CAD/CAM technology, ERP
systems as well as other capital equipment which are
only available as imports have allowed the industry to
keep pace with global advances in technology and
compete in the global market.
For more than a decade, the network has been
considered the most flexible organizational model, the
one that ensures the highest degree of both
differentiation and integration. Network organizations
have developed especially in labor-intensive, mature
industries, such as textiles and apparel.
Benetton case illustrates how a company can design
and manage its supply - chain innovatively.
28
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
distributors, or both.
Turcotte M.F.,
Bellefeuille S. & Den
Hond F. (2007)
Gildan Inc. Influencing
Corporate Governance
in the Textile Sector
Journal of Corporate
Citizenship, Autumn
Murillo D. & Lozano
J.M. (2009),
Pushing forward SME
CSR through a network:
an account from the
Catalan model
Business Ethics: A
European Review, Vol.
18: 1 p. 7-20
Social standards have become important tools in
corporate governance. They are often presented
as voluntary initiatives in terms of Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) and are generally
based on the principle of multi-stakeholder
collaboration as a means to gain legitimacy.
When two NGOs discovered abuses of the
rights of the maquiladora workers who make
Gildan T-shirts in Honduras, it resulted in a
five-year controversy that ended only when the
company adopted the standard promoted by the
network of NGOs and unions
This paper presents the results of a Catalan
project in which an academic institution acted as
a practitioner to promote Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) in Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs). The project involved
the establishment of a working network with
intermediate organizations and the creation of
specific tools for the purpose. The paper is set
up as a case study, emphasizing inclusion,
representatively and legitimacy as key elements
for the successful construction of a network to
promote CSR in SMEs. It underlines the
assumptions behind the functioning of this
network and the learning findings from this
public–private initiative. Presented from a
Workplace and
management systems
(codes of conduct;
Certification SA 8000,
Oko-tex Standard 100)
Community related
CSR
The company was challenged both in Honduras and in
Canada by a coalition of activist groups that expanded
over time. Several organizations associated with the
anti-sweatshop movement joined because the lead
organizer of the campaign—MSN—was able to frame
the issue in terms that appeal to their specific interests
(e.g. in terms of unions’ rights for Solidarity Fund
FQL, in terms of human rights for Amnesty
International). Gildan responded by seeking to
endorse different standards. The result was that the
company endorsed a series of ethical codes of conduct
and certification programmes, each additional
standard posing more demanding or additional
requests on the part of the company.
The paper takes into consideration the relationship
with different typologies of competitive variables:
gain reputation and visibility on a highly mediasensitive issue, foster quality jobs, use of CSR
management tools to foster sustainable development
of the territories.
It opens up a path for future research, exploring how
network management and leadership can be seen as
key issues when talking about corporate social
responsibility (CSR) promotion in SMEs.
29
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
public policy perspective, the paper emphasizes
the need for coordination in terms of the
growing number of initiatives fostering CSR in
SMEs. It presents a brief account of the material
results, focusing on the process of creating a
consensus within the network.
Ciliberti F.,
Pontrandolfo P. &
Scozzi B. (2008),
Investigating corporate
social responsibility in
supply chains: a SME
perspective
Journal of Cleaner
Production Vol. 16 p.
1579–1588
This paper analyzes the practices adopted and
difficulties experienced by Small and Mediumsized Enterprises (SMEs) to transfer socially
responsible behaviors to suppliers that operate
in developing countries. In particular, a multiple
case study was conducted on five Italian
socially responsible SMEs operating in different
sectors (Consumer products; plaster, restoration
materials and demolition mortars; starting and
industrial batteries; apparel for children; and
furniture). It was found that companies use
different strategies as well as diverse
management systems and tools to address
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues
along their supply chains (SCs). The paper is
innovative mainly since few are the existing
studies that investigate the CSR practices
adopted by SMEs in the SC. Furthermore, it is
argued that the research can be helpful to SME
managers willing to deal with CSR issues along
their SCs, especially when developing countries
are involved.
Workplace,
Environment related
CSR, Management
systems (standards
SA8000, EMAS, ISO
9001/ 14001), and
social reporting.
The success of the companies is probably related to
their unique positioning in the market. Consumer
behavior is not a CSR driver; the companies decided
to engage in CSR due to the personal values of the
owner /entrepreneur. Some of the companies think
that in the future consumers will be motivated by CSR
principles. Raising awareness on the value of CSR
principles and advertising the effects of the adoption
of CSR socially responsible behaviors and practices
are means that companies can adopt to facilitate such
a process.
30
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Vilanova M., Lozano
J.M. & Arenas D.
(2009)
Exploring the Nature of
the Relationship
Between CSR and
Competitiveness
Journal of Business
Ethics, Vol. 87 p. 57–69
This paper explores the nature of the
relationship
between
Corporate
Social
Responsibility (CSR) and competitiveness. It
starts with the commonly held view that firm
competitiveness is defined by the market. That
is the question of what are the critical
competitiveness factors is answered by looking
at how companies and financial analysts
describe and evaluate a firm. To analyze this,
the article reviews the current state of the art on
the
relationship
between
CSR
and
competitiveness.
Social Accountability,
Community related
CSR and Workplace
CSR
Iraldo F., Testa F. &
Frey M. (2009)
Is an environmental
management system
able to influence
environmental and
competitive
performance? The case
of the eco-management
and audit scheme
(EMAS) in the
European Union
Journal of Cleaner
Production, Vol 17,
Based on the unique dataset of the EVER
project, this paper investigates whether or not an
EMS implemented within the EMAS Regulation
has any effect on firm performance both from
an environmental and a competitive point of
view. The enterprises of the dataset are both
industrial and services, both big and SM,
operating also in the textile/leather sector.
Environment related
CSR and management
systems (standard
EMAS)
It is argued that CSR and competitiveness relate
through a learning and innovation cycle, where
corporate values, policies and practices are
permanently defined and re-defined.
Thus, it is proposed that learning, considered as CSR,
is embedded in business processes; once it has been
integrated, in turn, it generates innovative practices,
and finally, competitiveness. The final sector of the
paper, proposes that CSR in practice consists of
managing inherent paradoxes generated by the tension
between CSR and business policies.
The EMSs, in spite of their application in many years,
have not yet achieved a high degree of ‘‘maturity’’ in
their implementation. Moreover, they are not fully
integrated in those corporate management dynamics
that would enable an organization to effectively
exploit its operational tools and instruments. This is
particularly clear with respect to ‘‘supply chain
management’’ and its effect on an organizations’
performance and on their abilities of valorizing the
certification towards the market and the stakeholders.
From this study it emerges that, with no doubt, the
implementation of an EMS according to EMAS
requirements provides a powerful impulse for an
organization’s innovation capabilities; moreover the
work also clearly emphasizes that simply adopting
EMAS is not a sufficient condition. In fact, only if an
organization
obtains
a
real
environmental
performance improvement by way of its EMS, then it
31
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
p.1444-1452
Hillary R. (2004)
Environmental
management systems
and the smaller
enterprise
Journal of Cleaner
Production, Vol 12,
p.561 - 569
can achieve better innovation capabilities. Moreover,
the EMS ‘‘maturity’’ is not a determinant per se of
competitive performances. To this end, it is the extent
to which an EMS permeates into the organizational
structure
that
it
can
strongly
influence
competitiveness. This implies that also a ‘‘young’’
EMS, if well-designed and implemented (as well as
adequately supported by investments), can provide
considerable competitive benefits.
The environmental impact of small firms is not
known either at national or regional levels.
Voluntary self-regulatory initiatives such as the
eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) and
the international environmental management
system (EMS) standard ISO 14001 seek to
provide all businesses with the means to
develop systematic approaches to improve
environmental performance. All purport to be
relevant and applicable to small and mediumsized firms; however, their uptake by SMEs has
been patchy at best and downright miserable at
worst. This paper sheds some light on the
barriers, opportunities and drivers for EMS
adoption by the SMEs.
Extensive benefits accrue to SMEs adopting formal
EMSs and this is widely reported in the analyzed
studies. These benefits may also arise in small firms
that implement non-formal EMSs.
Internal and external benefits, however, are real,
valuable and demonstrated in the studies and appear
possible to duplicate in other SMEs, but the large
majority of SMEs still remain unconvinced of the
need to tackle environmental issues.
Environment related
Customers are the key driver for the adoption of
CSR and management
EMSs and have influenced far beyond any of the other
systems (standards ISO stakeholders cited in the analyzed studies.
14001, EMAS, BS7750) Paradoxically, customers also show lack of interest in,
or are satisfied with SMEs current environmental
performance. Micro enterprises, in particular, found
their customers to be uninterested in their
environmental performance.
The SMEs are not homogenous sectors. It is diverse
and heterogeneous. Studies which seek to investigate
the sector and draw conclusions about it, are to some
extent, comparing not just apples and pears, but the
whole fruit bowl. This paper’s conclusions have this
32
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
limitation. It recommends future research to consider
parts of the sector either as sub-groups by size.
M. Longo, M.Mura,
A.Bonoli (2005)
Corporate Social
Responsibility and
corporate performance:
the case of Italian SMEs
Corporate Governance
vol.5 n.4 pp 28-42
Kristel Buyssey, Alain
Verbeke (2003)
Proactive environmental
The small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs)
are particularly sensitive to the problems
surrounding social responsibility: the small
entrepreneur ‘‘experiences’’ in person, together
with his family and his employees, the territory
in which he operates, and shares with them both
results and worries. The relationship he holds
with the Local Authorities is far closer and more
direct than that of a large business. The present
study examines a group of SMEs belonging to
various industrial sectors (including clothing
and shoes sectors) and operating in the Emilia
Romagna region in Italy. It has the following
objectives: to identify the various actions of
social responsibility adopted by the companies,
to analyze the motives that lead companies to
these initiatives, and to define an initial
reference model for the SMEs in which the
instruments and basic policies for the
implementation of social responsibility are
defined; finally the paper aims at clarifying the
role that such initiatives play in each company’s
attempts to render its operations competitively
advantageous.
This paper includes an empirical analysis of the
linkages between environmental strategy and
stakeholder management. In the research several
types of companies are involved (a large part of
Workplace CSR,
Marketplace CSR and
management systems
(standard SA8000)
On the basis of the analysis carried out using data
collected from the company sample, it has been
possible to identify the principal managerial
instruments used by the companies for the creation of
social value. In addition, it has been possible to
identify those companies (approximately 63 percent)
that adopt an integrated social responsibility approach.
The majority of analyzed small and medium-sized
companies have therefore perceived the social
responsibility concept and welcome it, not only
because they have moral or ethical reasons for doing
so (as is declared by 51 percent of the companies
examined), but also because they maintain that this
contributes to the growth of the company’s own value,
by means of an improvement in company image,
ensure of the fidelity of customers and improvement
in relationships with employees and with the local
community. Italian companies are avant-garde in the
acquisition of Standard SA8000 and companies are
beginning to circulate its first corporate social audit
and ethical codes. Initially, the relative investment
was made above all by the large companies, but this is
now spreading, as was found during the study, also to
the small ones.
Community and
Environment related
CSR
This study has interesting implications. The first
implication is that effective environmental
management requires the identification of important
stakeholders; the key stakeholders may vary
33
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
strategies: a stakeholder
management perspective
Strategic Management
Journal, Vol. 24, No. 5
May, pp. 453-470
Danish Commerce and
Companies Agency
(2008)
Small Suppliers in
Global Supply Chains:
how multinational
buyers can target small
and medium-sized
suppliers in their
sustainable supply chain
which SMEs) operating in several sectors,
among which the textile/clothing: the authors
explain that this sector is particularly well
represented. The green business literature
usually makes a distinction between firms that
are compliance driven (and merely aim to meet
legal requirements) and those that adopt more
proactive environmental strategies, thereby
taking into account a variety of forces over
government regulation. If the greening of
corporate strategies can be interpreted as an
attempt to meet these stakeholder expectations,
then the identification of salient stakeholders
becomes a critical step in corporate strategies.
In addition to the government regulations,
customers, shareholders and local community
groups
affect
corporate
environmental
management practices, especially the content of
environmental action plans.
substantially depending upon the environmental
chosen strategy and the relevant institutional context
faced by the firm. Their identification is the basis for
an effective green strategy.
Moreover, another result of this paper is that the
environmental management is closely related to the
development of green competencies in the enterprises;
in fact, the research demonstrated that an active
approach toward pollution prevention gives results in
multiple domains: investments in green product and
manufacturing technologies, in employee skills, in
organizational competencies, in formal (routinebased) management systems and procedures, and,
finally, in the reconfiguration of the strategic planning
process.
This report presents findings from a project
carried out by the Danish Commerce and
Companies Agency during the period June 2006
to January 2008. The objective of the project
has been to develop guidelines on how
multinational companies (MNCs) can target
small and medium-sized (SM) suppliers in their
sustainable supply chain management. The
project centers on sustainable supply chain
management, and more specifically on how
multinational companies (MNCs) can work with
SME suppliers in their sustainable supply chain
The guidelines are developed on the basis of findings
from SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe, but due to
their generic nature, they may also be applied to larger
supplier as well as suppliers in other regions. The
elements characterizing the guidelines are the
following ones:
- focusing on management systems as an
integrated part of business operations
- following up on written requirements
- continuing dialogue with stakeholders
- engaging in industry-wide initiatives
- engaging SMEs in capability-building activities
Marketplace CSR,
Environment related
CSR and Management
systems
34
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
management
Copenhagen
Lesi, F. & , Andalontal,
D (2005)
Comparative
Advantage: The Impact
of ISO 14001
Environmental
Certification on Exports
Environmental science
& technology, Vol. 39,
No. 7
management programs. This topic is relevant to
investigate because MNCs – particularly those
with well-known brands – are increasingly
introducing programs to ensure that their
suppliers
uphold
certain
social
and
environmental standards.
The present study reports the results of a survey
to firms in six countries that are Israel’s leading
trade partners, importing chemicals, textiles,
and produce. The survey results confirm that
while the international market still considers
price and quality as the paramount factors in
selection
of
suppliers,
environmental
management systems (EMS) are an important
feature that is frequently taken into
consideration. EMS certification appears to
signify a supplier who is managing the business
well and exhibiting ethical responsibility. The
European market proved to be more
environmentally conscious than those in other
industrialized parts of the world. EMS offer a
particularly valuable advantage for producers
wishing to reach European markets.
Environment related
CSR and management
systems (standards ISO
14001, EMAS)
The survey results confirm that while the international
market still considers price and quality as the
determining factors for selecting suppliers, EMS
certification for many firms is an important product
feature that is also taken into consideration. EMS
certification appears to imply a supplier who is
managing its business well and is showing ethical
responsibility. The fact that a supplier was awarded
the ISO 14001 or EMAS certification by an
independent entity enhances perceived reliability.
Importers feel more confident engaging a new
supplier, saving time and effort associated with
clarification and research prior to placing a purchase
order.
The survey conclusively supports the position that
firms wishing to expand their world markets will
improve their competitiveness abroad by receiving
ISO 14001 certification. The enhanced competitive
advantage conferred by ISO 14001 constitutes an
important message that needs to be disseminated by
policy-makers and industrial trade organizations
to companies around the world. Governments can also
consider additional incentives by offering various
forms of regulatory relief for certified industries. In
doing so, agencies may be able to improve local
environmental performance with relatively little
35
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
expenditure of public
enforcement activities.
Johan J. Graafland
(2002)
This paper analyses how C&A, as one of the
largest Western apparel companies, organises its
sourcing ethics, notwithstanding the financial
Sourcing ethics in the
pressure in the market. Based on interviews
textile sector: the case of
with Asian suppliers of C&A during the second
C&A
half of 2000, the opinions of external
stakeholders about the sourcing ethics of C&A
Business Ethics: A
is reviewed. Finally, an evaluation of C&A's
European Review,
sourcing ethics from a theoretical perspective is
vol.11 no.3
carried out.
Amaeshi, K. M., Osuji,
O. K. and Nnodim, P.
(2008)
Corporate Social
Responsibility in Supply
Chains of Global
Brands: A Boundaryless
Responsibility?
Clarifications,
Exceptions and
Implications
Journal of Business
Ethics 81:223–234
CSR can be broadly defined as an organisation’s
commitment to operate in an economically and
environmentally sustainable manner while
recognising the interests of its stakeholders. In
line with this broader definition of CSR, global
brands like Nike, GAP, Adidas and McDonalds
are often under intense pressure from groups
working for responsible supply chain
management. Much of this pressure is
channelled through the supply chain, since the
pressure groups sometimes find it difficult to
reach the global brands directly.
Since most of the firms along the supply chains
are likely to be Small and Medium scale
Enterprises (SMEs), this approach also exhibits
the tendency of giving an inaccurate impression
that SMEs are somehow shielded from engaging
in CSR practices, which runs against the ethos
of the CSR movement. In the contrary, there is a
Marketplace CSR and
Management systems
Workplace CSR and
Management systems
resources
and
coercive
Increasing competition in the clothing market tends to
reduce C&A's corporate social responsibility efforts.
Still, as shown by the positive decision of the
European board of C&A to continue the activities of
SOCAM and the efforts of this organisation to
improve the audit procedures, the difficult market
situation has not completely taken away C&A's
relatively high commitment to corporate social
responsibility.
Complex business laws and business structures differ
from country to country, undermining the
applicability of any emergent universal, moraleconomic principles. These prevalent conditions,
critics say, often allow multinationals the free moral
space to maximize profits and trump existing ethical
obligations.
This article seeks to challenge the often taken-forgranted-assumption that firms should be accountable
for the practices of their suppliers by espousing the
moral (and sometimes legal) underpinnings of the
concept of responsibility. Except where corporate
control and or corporate grouping exist, it identifies
the use of power as a critical factor to be considered in
allocating responsibility in firm–supplier relationship;
and suggests that the more powerful in this
relationship has a responsibility to exert some moral
influence on the weaker party. The article highlights
the use of code of conducts, corporate culture, anti36
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
rising call for SMEs to participate in both CSR
discourse and practice as well. This article,
therefore, examines if firms should be
responsible for the practices of their suppliers,
the extent of this responsibility and how they
could effectively translate such responsibilities,
if any, into practice.
Mamic, I (2005)
Managing Global
Supply Chain: The
Sports Footwear,
Apparel and
Retail Sectors
Journal of Business
Ethics 59: 81–100
Code of Conduct (CoC) sets guidelines on a
range of issues including child labour, forced
labour, wages and benefits, working hours,
disciplinary practices, the right to freedom of
association,
health
and
safety,
and
environmental practices.
The ILO embarked on an in-depth study of the
management systems and processes used to
implement Codes of Conduct in the sports
footwear, apparel and retail sectors with the
objective of providing useful examples and
lessons-learned to companies, policy-makers
and others interested in implementing their own
CoC or who are actively involved in this field.
Presented herein is a summary of the key
research findings of the ILO.
pressure group campaigns, personnel training and
value reorientation as possible sources of wielding
positive moral influence along supply chains.
Workplace CSR
Implementing a CoC across a supply chain is a
complex process that companies are still grappling
with, yet some have made more progress than others.
In this paper, it is outlined a framework for the
analysis of the management systems used by firms in
implementing their Codes of Conduct. Utilising this
framework as a foundation, it is summarized some of
the key research findings regarding the steps involved
in the creation of a shared vision, development of
understanding and ability, integration of the CoC into
operations, feedback, improvement and remediation
systems, and the role of dialogue in all of these
processes.
Most of what has been documented by this research in
terms of corporate systems did not exist 10 years ago
and has changed, in some cases dramatically, since
this research was carried out. The only certain thing
about the future is that the situation will continue to
evolve. This research provides a useful framework for
considering what various companies are doing to
affect their CSR goals down through their supply
chains.
37
1.b Evidences
The research aimed at collect evidence of ‘best initiatives’ in the three studied countries (Italy,
Spain and France) concerning the textile/clothing and leather sector. The list below briefly describes
the experiences which are divided into two categories: International and national initiatives.
INITIATIVES INVOLGING THE THREE COUNTRIES
Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 and Oeko-Tex® Standard 1000
The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 is a globally uniform testing and certification system for textile raw
materials, intermediate and end products at all stages of production. The tests for harmful
substances comprise substances which are prohibited or regulated by law, chemicals which are
known to be harmful to health, and parameters which are included as a precautionary measure to
safeguard health. A tested textile product is allocated to one of the four Oeko-Tex® product
classes based on its intended use. The more intensively a product comes into contact with the skin,
the stricter the human ecological requirements it must
Oeko-Tex® Standard 1000 is a testing, auditing and certification system for environmentallyfriendly production sites throughout the textile processing chain promoted at global level. The
secretariat is in Switzerland. To qualify for certification according to the Oeko-Tex® Standard
1000, companies must meet stipulated criteria in terms of their environmentally-friendly
manufacturing processes and provide evidence that at least 30% of total production is already
certified under Oeko-Tex® Standard 100. The certificate guarantees that the production process has
been audited by Oeko-Tex standards and part of their production has passed a test for harmful
substances according to Oeko-Tex 100 standards.
In terms of competitiveness this certifications allow firms to access supply chains which reward /
demand suppliers to gain this kind of certification and appeals to consumers that seek to purchase
environmentally friendly products. They’re very important certifications in this sector.
The Oeko-Tex® Standard certified organizations are 655 in Italy, 192 in France and 317 in Spain
Community ECOLABEL award scheme
It’s the ecological label promoted by European Commission (Reg. CE 1980/2000) whose objective
is to promote products which have the potential to reduce negative environmental impacts, as
compared with the other products in the same product group, thus contributing to the efficient use of
resources and a high level of environmental protection. Non deceptive and scientifically based
information on the environmental impact of products. The EU Decision 2002/371/CE defines the
requirements for textile/clothing goods.
Enterprises with Ecolabel certification gain visibility by EU initiatives related to awareness-raising
actions and information campaigns for consumers, producers, traders, retailers and the general
public, thus supporting the development of the Scheme. The Ecolabel allows the participation into
EU tendering processes that require this kind of certification and appeals to consumers that seek to
purchase environmentally friendly products. The conformity to Ecolabel makes easier the
compliance with future regulation in the field of environmental protection, stimulating continuous
innovation processes.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
In the textile/clothing sector the certified products are 12 in Italy, 2 in France and 1 in Spain.
Apparel and Footwear International Restricted Substances List (RSL) Management
Working Group (AFIRM Group)
It’s an initiative carried out in Europe and United States characterized by the participation of several
important trademarks of the textile, apparel and footwear sectors. It provides resources for
sustainable, self-governing Restricted Substances List implementation across the apparel and
footwear supply chain. The supply chain has knowledge about RSL and chemical safety, assuring
that consumers and workers are safer from the impact of harmful substances and the environment is
cleaner.
The adhesion gains the access to major retailers that participate in the AFIRM working group and
the access to USA and European markets by compliance with legislation (i.e. REACH in the EU)
via AFIRM participants.
ELSEWEAR
It’s an European initiative (promoted by Netherlands, but involving all EU countries) oriented to
promote environmentally friendly materials, clean production processes and good labor practices in
the textile/clothing industry. Recently Elsewear supported a specific project (Rank a Brand) aiming
at promoting enterprises whose policies and ways of production are based on transparency, fair and
environmental compatibility; Rank a Brand assures an accuracy of 99% of data diffused by
enterprises and concerning their ethical and environmental performances. The adherent
organizations to Elsewear are 14 from Italy, 6 from France and 6 from Spain.
Elsewear supports enterprises to join green initiatives and CSR actions and promotes their virtuous
initiatives diffusing them amongst consumers and retailers.
Clean & Unique
It’s an initiative involving all EU countries (first mover: Netherlands). It consists in a platform of
technical support and marketing for small fashion labels and fashion designers with a common
interest in green business. Clean & Unique stands for fair labor conditions and environmental
responsibility; it is a collective member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF): this means, that each
member has signed the Code of Labor Practices.
The associate benefit is related to the collective arrangements usable from small adherent
companies. Members make use of services and materials that minimize ecological impact whenever
is possible and feasible with costs minimization.
Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)
It’s an alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organizations. The secretariat is in the UK,
but it is formed by several corporations, international unions and NGOs from different Countries.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Its aim is to stimulate partnerships among different actors to improve livelihood of workers;
companies adherent to the ETI adopt the Base Code, which is the Code of conduct based on the ILO
labor conventions. 2 Spanish organizations adhere to this standard; 0 in Italy and France.
The ETI guarantees a marketing support to companies adhering to the Base Code, with a gain for
the access to supply chains that reward / demand this kind of initiative.
EURATEX and COTANCE initiatives
EURATEX is the European Apparel and Textile Confederation, the non-profit trade organization of
textile/clothing sector; COTANCE is the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and
Dressers of the European Community the representative body of the European Leather Industry.
Both have their headquarters in Brussels. Their mission is the promotion of the interests of
textile/clothing and leather enterprises while taking into account the European Union's institutional
framework and its international obligations.
Members of EURATEX are the main EU national trade association of textile/clothing sector: in
Italy Federazione Tessile della Moda, in France Union des Industries Textiles and Union Française
des Industries de l'Habillement, and in Spain Consejo Intertextil Espagnol.
Members of COTANCE are the main EU national trade association of leather sector: in Italy
Unione Nazionale Industria Conciaria, in France Fédération Française de la Tannerie-Mégisserie,
and in Spain Confederación Española de Curtidores.
Many are the initiatives carried out by EURATEX and COTANCE are in the field of CSR, above
all concerning the environmental protection; examples of promoted policies concern:
Chemicals - promotion of information exchange, transparency and continuous improvement
of health and safety;
IPP - promotion of environmentally friendly products and production methods;
IPPC - to achieve integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from industrial
activities Europe wide;
EcoLabel promotion - to promote the design, production, marketing and use of consumer
products and services that has reduced environmental impact during their entire life-cycle;
to provide consumers with better information on the environmental quality of products and
services
These principles are diffused in the sector by participation in several projects in which EURATEX
and COTANCE involve textile/clothing and leather enterprises, supporting them in the
experimental adoption of innovative technologies and managerial tools for minimizing their
environmental impacts (and, consequently, the risks connected with legislative non – conformity).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
INITIATIVES IN ITALY
Consorzio “Vera Pelle Toscana Conciata al vegetale”.
The Genuine Italian Vegetable - Tanned Leather is a consortium of Tuscan tanneries that revived
the ancient technique of vegetable-tanning and that today continue to produce vegetable-tanned
leather in its complete process. The Consortium’s aim is to promote the concept of 'vegetable
tanning' and to keep the Italian vegetable-tanning tradition alive, exalting the environmental quality
of this kind of processes. 30 are the organizations adhering to the Consortium: 26 tanneries and 4
enterprises adopting products by certified tanneries.
The participation to this consortium gains the access to the use of the Consortium trade mark “Pelle
conciata al vegetale”; this mark implies the certified origin of the product (Tuscany), that it has
been made with respect for the environment, guarantees the naturalness of leather, ensures the high
level of the tanning process in full respect of the rules UNI 10885. The consortium, also by public
initiatives, promotes this trade mark on the market.
CENTOPERCENTOITALIANO trade mark
It’s a national consortium constituted by a large a group of Italian producers specialized in “leather
goods” whose aim is that of safeguarding the Made in Italy trade mark, and its own tradition. In
particular the consortium aims at promoting the superior quality and social ethics of leather goods
produced in Italy under the consortium’s framework. In addition, it aspires to differentiate Italian
products to those produced elsewhere or those that are only assembled in Italy. The respect for
social ethics and the differentiation in respect to the job conditions represent one of the most
important values of the consortium.
The consortium (grouping 36 tanneries) provides a wide array of services (managerial, legal,
financial, etc) to the enterprises. The adherent enterprises can use the ‘100% Italiano’ trademark,
which certifies that the product was made entirely in Italy.
SERI.CO Trademark
SERI.CO is a sectorial warranty trademark that guarantees the quality and the adherence to health
and safety parameters of a fabric and its production system. The mark is issued by Certitex srl, an
independent certifying body, specialized in textile and clothing. The certification procedures
therefore offer maximum guarantee of impartiality and transparency giving the mark more value.
The Seri.co trademark can only be applied to finished garments. It is a total quality trademark
(containing also ethic requirements) focusing on Italian producers which have their headquarter and
production plants in Italy. 58 are the enterprises adhering to this trademark.
Many are the benefits for certified enterprises: consultancy; updating about relevant subjects for the
company throughout meetings, trainings and seminaries; discount on tests; discount on Oeko – Tex
certification; promotion of the company in SERI.CO web site.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
EMAS APO – EMAS Homogeneous Productive Ambit
This is an initiative promoted by the Italian EMAS/Ecolabel Competent Body concerning the
application of EMAS – Eco Management and Audit Scheme (Reg. CE 01/761) at cluster level. The
Italian EMAS Committee has approved a document specifically dedicated to EMAS application in
industrial clusters; it represents a guideline for a sort of cluster “EMAS registration” aiming at
rewarding (with a national APO certificate) those clusters implementing innovative processes of
environmental management. The cluster certificate is based on the implementation of a Cluster
formalized approach to EMAS oriented to simplify the EMAS adhesion to those enterprises located
in the certified district.
This approach aims at implementing common initiatives for SMEs located in the cluster and
oriented to obtain, as single organization, an EMAS registration. This approach is constituted by a
step by step method, reflecting the phases of EMAS registration and EMS implementation. In this
moment, in respect to the fashion sector, two are the clusters on the point of obtaining the APO
certificate: the Prato textile cluster and the Santa Croce leather cluster.
Cluster approach to CSR
This approach has been experimented in a EU project promoted by DG Enterprise and Industry and
aiming at promoting the diffusion of CSR related tools amongst SMEs operating in industrial
clusters. By the involvement of intermediary institutions, the initiative favored the creation of local
working groups (with local public and private actors) in order to simplify the implementation of
CSR related initiatives by SMEs of the characterizing sector (such as drafting of Social
Accountability Reports, implementation of Social Responsibility Management Systems,
Environmental Management Systems, Safety Management Systems, and so on).
This approach aims at simplifying the adoption of CSR initiatives by SMEs (characterized by a lack
of human and economic resources) operating in industrial clusters. In this moment this approach has
been experimented in the Santa Croce leather cluster and in the Empolese - Valdelsa clothing
cluster.
INITIATIVES IN SPAIN
Made in Green – (Textile supply - chain in Valencia)
Made in Green is a trademark promoted by AITEX (Asociacion de Investigacion de la Industria
Textil en la Comunidad Valenciana ) and certifies that the textile product, along the whole supplychain, has been made in the full observance of environmental laws and human rights. Main
requirements of Made in Green are the following ones:
- conformity to Oeko®Tex Standard 100
- conformity to ISO14001 or EMAS requirements
- conformity of productive sites to CCRS-AITEX standard (whose requirements are the same
of SA8000)
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
The trademark is publicized by AITEX and enterprises can use it in their marketing policies. 43 are
the enterprises of textile/clothing sector adopting this trademark.
Distintivo de Garantía de Calidad Ambiental
It’s a trademark of environmental quality promoted since 1994 by the Catalan Government. The
trademark guarantees clearness and transparency of information in terms of level of environmental
impact and promotes the eco – design, production with low environmental impact and sustainable
trade and consumption, defining for a panel of 27 products and services (among which the textiles)
specific criteria of conformity. The system is managed at regional level by the General Direction of
Environmental Quality of Regional Department for Environment and building industry.
This trademark is important because it’s promoted directly by a Local Authority; the enterprises can
use it to guarantee their environmental performances in front of public actors and market. In this
moment only 1 enterprise of the textile/clothing sector use this trademark.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
1.c Experiences: THE GUCCI AND FILTEA - CGIL EXPERIENCE
INTRODUCTION
This part of the Report analyzes the GUCCI experience on Social Responsibility. The experience
started in the 2004 after an agreement between GUCCI, one of the most important Italian fashion
brands, famous all over the world, and FILTEA - CGIL, the national sectorial trade union. This
experience is an innovative example of supply chain management sustainability-oriented aimed at
monitoring the entire supply chain, carried out by a cooperative approach between the Direction of
the world wide fashion brand and the trade union delegation.
This report represents the synthesis of meetings organized with the CSR Manager of GUCCI S.p.A.
(Dr. Rossella Ravagli) and the union leader for CSR policies of FILTEA - CGIL (Mrs. Cristina
Settimelli), those evidences emerged from documents supplied by both parties and from activities
outcomes.
This section, on the one hand, aims at describing the performed activities in order to retrace steps
and tools implemented in the process of attainment of purposes; on the other hand, It aims at
represent the impressions of those actors directly involved in this process and, finally, provide
evidence of the competitive results attained and those expected in mid term.
We would like to acknowledge the participation, support and willingness of GUCCI S.p.A. and
FILTEA – CGIL.
THE AGREEMENT GUCCI-FILTEA - CGIL: THE PATH AND THE OBJECTIVES
The years between late 1980s and beginning of 1990s was characterized by strong process of
externalization in the fashion sector.
Initially during this period, the output of production phases was characterized by local boundaries.
However, the effects of globalization, pushed the boundaries further, forcing firms to delocalize
production past national boundaries.
Trade unions needed to find out a way to reform the value chain, from the trade relations
perspective, characterized by the supply chain and from the impacts on human rights caused by
these relations.
A growing engagement on the product traceability is developed in the workers organization for the
modification of product processes.
The first difficulties to emerge are about the effort to return that theme at corporate governance to
integrate the processes decision making with these themes.
Since the new millennium, a growing interest around “ethic” products and handmade products
started to became popular in Italy as well as other parts of the world. Consumer pressure, amongst
other factors, forced companies to look for solutions for those demands. Initially, this can be
translated by the adoption of codes of conduct, followed by certification process and CSR
management programs.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
However, this process was not straight forward. Numerous experiences were not proactively
supported by the involved stakeholders (trade union and unitary union representation). In spite of
this, the consumers increasing interest, the engagement of the textile trade union and the interest of
some companies represented, from the beginning, one of the main challenges and produced a more
attention at the way how these instruments can be adopted and can spread and at the necessity to
ensure credibility at the instrument.
In the 2003 in the Florence province, the textile trade union, in particular the FILTEA - CGIL,
started a framed reasoning on the importance of stimulating companies on the social quality of their
production in order to face the international competition as total quality. The idea behind that was to
strength the unity of their members independently of their location. From this point of view the
trade union chooses to adopt the SA8000 standard in the bargaining. This standard assures a
minimum set of rights, sanctioned by ILO are respected in all company supply chain. Therefore,
companies became responsible for their workers conditions throughout their chain.
Around the same period, the Tuscany Region, intended to legislate CSR, what demonstrated a
significant institutional interest on the theme. These events took place in 2006.
Also the Italian Government was giving particular attention on sustainability themes meaning on
labor ethics, on safeguard human rights, on environmental safeguard.
In this context the idea of an agreement between GUCCI and FILTEA - CGIL concerning these
items flourished. In that period a group of GUCCI management started to demonstrate a high
interest on theme of the supply chain management with a progressive approach to the CSR
formalized tools. These tools allow defining appropriate ad effective check system and supply
control.
The common interests between GUCCI and the trade unions, and the advanced union relationship,
represented the base for the sharing of a common path on CSR theme in the sphere of supply chain
management. This contest lead up to the first draft of the agreement (Protocol of Agreement) in
June of the 2004, and latter on 8th September 2004 the final agreement was signed.
The agreement Brought about several novelties, whose the most interesting are:
GUCCI identifies the trade union as the favor interlocutor on these themes, through the
constitution of an equal committee. The committee had the role of ethical guarantee, of
certification process’s transparency and of control of the whole processes to be
implemented. This is an important result: the Trade Union is recognized as a useful
stakeholder, because has the access to all the information about the group chain in total
transparency. The trade union is in partnership with the company to guarantee the ethical
and environmental quality of productive processes.
GUCCI identifies the SA8000 certification as a tool to transfer the CSR culture to the SME
in the chain, but without impose the culture. Starting from the group leader to extend to all
the production chains with GUCCI brand.
finalizing the SA8000 tool to involvement and accompanying processes of chain
companies in order to ethical behaviors. This doesn’t schedule a punitive attitude towards
SMEs of the chain but it favors the return to regularity conditions in established times and
in accordance with the agreement protocol. If problems emerge with suppliers, GUCCI
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
reserves the right to maintain a business relation with the company, under condition that it
prepares appropriate tools to correct irregularities.
agreement to make controls on the companies by the auditor accredited by SA 8000
standard assuring the law compliance in the field of job contractual regulation and of health
and safety.
THE PATH FROM THE 2004 UNTIL PRESENT
GUCCI first step of the adoption CSR tools process was the implementation of social responsible
management adequate to the SA8000 standard.
The ethic committee first decision was a wide information and internal awareness campaign to
spread the CSR culture and to increase knowledge awareness in the company about the values, the
objectives and the expected results of the initiative. It was implemented through careful work with
the staff, to involve it and to make it aware on these themes. A joined meeting between
representatives of the trade union and management was organized, newsletters was sent to
employees with their pay slips were sent, and training courses planned and implemented. All these
initiatives focused on CSR themes.
After this first phase, a program of involvement/awareness of actors operating in the supply-chain
(suppliers and sub vendor) was developed. Initially they were informed about the path selected by
GUCCI, through the sending of a written communication that explained the choice made by the
GUCCI management and the CSR principles; successively they were involved in a seminar where
the underwritten agreement was explained, with detail of opportunities and added values.
After training courses and information campaign, GUCCI started the first sample checks in the
suppliers. The audit reports were always shared in the ethic committee and each time were chosen
times and ways of non-conformances management.
Besides the supply-chain ethic management, GUCCI decided to implement also a Social
Responsibility Management System in accordance with further SA8000 requirements. The SA8000
certification was obtained in July of 2007. The choice of the SA 8000 certification was based on the
management wish to adopt a tool which was not perceived as self referential (e.g. Ethic codes).
SA8000 is a managerial tool that need an independent audit and it fitted the contents of the 2001
Green Paper on CSR by European Commission (Promoting a European framework for CSR, DG
Employment and Social affairs). The good internal business relation and the relation with the trade
union favored the start of a structured path on these themes.
The plan of control over the production chain has been structured according to a schedule providing
a breakdown by sector of activity:
• 2007: start of activities on the sector of leather goods and jeweler
• Early of 2009: footwear
• Late 2009: clothing
By the end of 2010 the goal is to involve all categories of products and stores in a process of
adaptation to the requirements of the SA 8000 standard, moving towards the concept of genuine
total quality (not only products but also ethical and environmental) through a tiered approach to
membership of the scheme.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
ETHIC SUPPLY - CHAIN MANAGEMENT
In the supply chain management by GUCCI there are some important aspects:
a) Suppliers mapping: the process of development of its CSR program, the first important
moment was the identification and classification of suppliers. The adopted criteria were
different: geographical location, field of membership (type of product), the amount of work
that the supplier has with GUCCI (and hence the level of commercial importance of the
supplier), criticality of the situation of sub-sector where it operates (with reference to the
ethics of labor relationships), quality of production.
b) Audit: the second phase was the definition of tools for supply chain monitoring and control,
on the basis of risks resulted by mapping. Three are the main tools:
Third part Audit: the independent auditor carries out the verification activities in GUCCI and
in a number of annually fixed suppliers. The control system provided by SAI - Social
Accountability International - was very refined in recent years and, for example, at least one
review in the audit cycle period (3 years) must be unannounced (it is a SAI requirement,
both directly on the audited company and on the firms in the supply chain)
Second part audits: they are planned and carried out by GUCCI on companies in the supply chain. Since 2007 over a thousand inspections have been performed; they have raised the
awareness of the supply chain and continuously stimulated the adoption of ethical behavior.
Monitoring allows the firms to correct and work over time in terms of prevention. Checks
carried out by GUCCI are not scheduled.
Reports from interested parties (among which a prominent role is played by FILTEA). In the
event that a third interested party reports irregularities to a situation of a firm, the attention
of GUCCI is particularly high both for the importance that the reactions are to take in terms
of maintaining relationships with various stakeholders, and for the high probability that it is
highly critical situations (e.g. workers are not in rules, hidden laboratories, etc.).
Where irregularities are detected, the attitude of the company (unless situations of extreme
lawlessness) is to try to accompany the firms towards a process of improving of their behavior,
taking no punitive actions. If irregularities continue, the commercial relationship is terminated
(situations of relapse).
c) Training / information initiatives: these are initiatives addressed to the suppliers in the supply
chain. A training and information plan identifies the firms to be engaged; these subjects are
addressed seminars and training opportunities. In these occasions GUCCI emphasizes
business opportunities related to the adoption of these tools and the added value that can
result from their commitment (both direct benefits to the suppliers, and indirectly for
GUCCI). The basic idea is to provide management tools for social responsibility, through
the involvement of all stakeholders in its implementation.
With reference to the above recalled, an interesting example comes from the leather and footwear
industries. In these areas, the process of progressive introduction of the monitoring system is
currently in progress. Recently, a mapping of the process has been carried out and an information
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
seminar has been held on SA8000 and Social Responsibility: in this occasion the President of
GUCCI (an indicator of the high commitment) was present and introduced the meeting.
Subsequently letters were sent to the suppliers in which they reaffirmed the commitment and
importance of what the brand intended to pursue wanted to pursue, and then specific training and
information activities directed to small groups were organized and carried out. The following step
was the finalization of the auditing plan, currently in progress. The whole process has been
conducted continuously informing and involving the trade union. A positive result so far has been
obtained is the interest shown by many providers with respect to SA8000 direct certification
THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND INTERNAL RELATIONS
From an organizational perspective GUCCI counts with a dedicated CSR manager, which is
responsible for identifying and monitoring socio-environmental impacts, managing the certification
process, and leading all governance processes relating to the wider social and environmental
responsibility that may affect the company. The CSR Manager is allocated in the Human Resources
Department. This figure has as a major managerial role to communicate in a transversal way with
all other sectors and processes of the organization, and to create networks within the company.
The Company currently has an ethical code and a SA8000 certification that it is expanding to all
business segments. An example of this process of gradual extension of the culture in the Company
is the ongoing work with various corporate departments, including the Supply Chain Department,
Safety Department, Quality Control Department, aiming at integrating completely the
considerations related to CSR into their decisional processes.
CSR AND COMPETITIVENESS
The idea behind the strategy on CSR by GUCCI is the quality, understood as a quality product in
the total sense. The impression (shared by both contacts: Company and Trade Union) That as a
result of the current economic crisis, a revival of these issues and values will be revived. In
particular may take on a certain importance to the territorial dimension of production, the specific
areas of origin of production and aspects of tradition that characterize these contexts. The
sustainability can really become a competitive winning factor, a real element of differentiation.
Globalization tends to standardize processes, and to stand out in the market it is essential: this is the
business strategy that supports the choice of CSR in GUCCI.
The territorial dimension, as anticipated, is particularly interesting; in a production system with
industrial districts, promoting a virtuous behavior on the ethical business by GUCCI supply - chain
means increasing the competitiveness of the entire sector.
In particular among the areas where GUCCI believes it can claim to have found benefits for
themselves and for companies in the sector we can found: an increase in the motivation of its staff
and of the staff of the companies involved in the CSR processes, improvements to working
conditions for the workers in firms’ sector, also validated by external institutional sources.
Of course, being the whole process in consultation with the trade union and following the desires of
Tuscany Region in CSR field, the positive effects on institutional relations and trade unions have
been important since the beginning, and a desire to strengthen the existing climate of collaboration.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
One area however where GUCCI considered appropriate having more investments in the next years
is the enhancement of its commitment in terms of external communication, and commitment to new
targets in the environmental field.
Finally, unanimous opinion between GUCCI and FILTEA - CGIL is that the role of public subject
in promoting CSR is essential: Tuscany Region has provided significant financial resources and has
invested significantly in training (with Fabrica Ethica Project). After all in these processes the
dissemination of culture is to be considered crucial; address and capacity of the public system to
reward these choices are considered essential to their widespread.
CONCLUSIONS
GUCCI represents an emblematic example of a harmonized process of CSR - related practices
implementation in accordance with one of the main sectorial trade unions, not characterized by a
necessity of image recover. GUCCI chose the adhesion to certification systems with a process of
agreement with FILTEA – CGIL, not because there were scandals, but because it met a specific
commercial and social strategy. The Trade Union, on the other side, was involved in this experience
to modify its traditional approach of accusation, accepting the direct involvement in the agreement.
The current CSR oriented policy aimed at improve the performance of the supply chain, has already
significant results. In particular, the conditions of many suppliers in the sector of leather goods has
improved remarkably in terms of health and safety, and also the audits made by the ASL have
shown a relevant improvement. This brings benefits to all stakeholders of the fashion system, albeit
from an economic standpoint, this advantage has not yet been measured. Looking forward the idea
of GUCCI is to achieve a genuine process of stakeholder engagement, guided by a committee where
the Trade Union FILTEA (partner in this initiative) is a key player and proponent of policies to
involve companies of the supply chain.
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2. MARKET DEMAND SIDE ANALYSIS
The second section of this report concerns a marked demand side analysis of which firms in the
textile, clothing and leather sector are subjected to. This analysis is supported by a review of the
literature and a collection of evidences draw from firms operating in those sectors in Italy, Spain
and France.
The academic literature review has provided evidences that consumers’ behavior has been changing
in recent years. There is a growing awareness of firm’s behaviors and greater importance is given to
ethical practices (Uusitalo & Oksanen, 2004).
According to an EUROBAROMETER (2009) survey, the majority of interviewees affirmed that
product’s environmental impact is an important element when selecting products. Moreover,
product’s impact is viewed as a more important characteristic than brand when buying. However,
price and quality are still the leading points when making purchase decisions.
Nevertheless, the analyzed literature points out that customers awareness about product’s impact
and ethical consumption are increasing. Nickolls (2002), had identified a huge growth in the UK
retail market for fair trade products. Notwithstanding, several barriers on social responsibility still
need to be overcome. Studies (IPSOS MORI , 2007) argued that firms should use CSR to gain
competitive advantage and brand-equity, appealing to more conscious consumers. On the other
hand, a Swiss researcher (Meyer,2001), argues that companies should not focus only on green
oriented consumers, but should use clothes’ green aspects as a complimentary strategy to market
logic (design, quality, price, etc).
Furthermore, an OECD (2007) publication identified that in several cases, a gap between what
consumers answer about ‘how much they care’ for CSR and their actual purchasing behavior exists.
This study confirms findings from a UK (Morgan & Birtwistle, 2009) research which identified
that a large percentage of young population (15 – 24 years) does purchase a large share of their
clothes from fast fashion retailers, which sell cheap clothes, even though the majority of
interviewees declared themselves concern with the environment.
Although, the literature does not focus only on SMEs and firms from textile, clothing and leather
sector, it support the identified trend of increasing consumer awareness about ethics and firms
behavior which may influence their purchase decision making. In addition, it could stimulate more
firms to adopt CSR initiative and tools in order to increase their competitiveness.
As demonstrated by evidences collected in Italy, Spain and France, some firms are already
responding to consumers pressures and demands. Some of the encountered evidences had provided
a truly global scope of demand side concerns. As the suggested by the evidences, large retailers
have already implemented codes of conduct or regulations in order to guarantee their clients with
responsible and ethical products. Clearly this is only the beginning of a true responsible sector. As
demonstrated by best practices, the great challenge faced by retailers seems to be related to the
lower levels of the supply chain where production process is pulverized amongst SMEs. Some of
the initiatives described attempt to lock suppliers in by demanding the adoption of ethical codes or
norms and auditing their whole supply chain in order to guarantee the responsibility of their goods. .
From a methodological point of view it’s important to notice that, in the identification of the
evidences, we’ve evaluated the credibility of the described firms, brands and retailers, looking at the
opinion of important sectorial NGOs committed in the field of social responsibility. In particular
we’ve excluded those “names” considered by Clean Clothes Campaign (www.cleanclothes.org)
socially irresponsible or involved in scandals.
50
2.a Literature Review
References
Outi Uusitalo, Reetta
Oksanen (2004)
Ethical consumerism: a
view from Finland
International Journal of
Consumer Studies,28,3,
June 2004, pp214–221.
School of Business and
Economics, University of
Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä,
Finland
Clare D’Souza, Mehdi
Taghian, Rajiv Khosla
(2007)
Examination of
environmental beliefs and
its impact on the influence
of price, quality and
demographic
characteristics with respect
Description of contents
The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical
consumerism from the perspective of final
consumers. The trend towards globalization
places a new emphasis on the responsibility of
the individual consumer. Consumers require
social responsibility from corporations. Ethical
consumerism addresses the social and
environmental consequences of global trade.
Ethical consumer choices are also becoming a
factor in consumers’ lifestyles. As a result of
global competition, consumers may prefer also
locally manufactured or traditional products
because of their safety and familiarity. Ethical
and sustainable business practices are an
important
competitive
advantage
where
consumers value and rely on them. Giving a
report of ethical and unethical firms, the authors
look on the textile and clothing sector.
With increasing stakeholder demands (especially
consumers’ pressure on protection of the
environment), businesses have moved beyond
simply addressing environmental regulatory
issues and are introducing alternatives such as
new products that are classified as green. Some
businesses have developed environmentally
friendly packaging or implemented cause-related
promotions. However, at present, businesses find
difficulties to predict consumers’ reaction
towards green products with a degree of
CSR tools
mentioned
Conclusions
Marketplace CSR
(stakeholders
information on
firms’ products)
The results of this study indicate that final consumers
consider important ethical practices in production and
trade. The majority of respondents state that a firm’s
business ethics influence their decision making. The
respondents considered stores, manufacturers and
importers to have a very important role in informing
the public about the ethics of firms and products.
Stores can affect consumers’ decisions at the moment
of purchase. Consumers are often uncertain about
which firms act ethically and which act unethically:
they almost consider the firms stereotypically
unethical. The earlier studies suggest that negative
information about unethical actions has a stronger
effect on consumers’ attitudes than positive
information about ethical actions.
Environmental
related CSR
The analysis provides the motivations for
management:
(1) to build a strong competitive advantage for the
product, in terms of quality and price,
(2) to develop and project a profile of green consumer
based on demographics
(3) to meet customers’ expectations by genuinely
being as well as effectively being recognised by
consumers as being demonstrably socially responsible.
This strategy may offer the potential benefits of
improvement in market share and assist to achieve
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
to green purchase intention. accuracy that is necessary to enable the
development of new targeting and segmenting
Journal of Targeting,
strategies.
Measurement and Analysis This element presumably has contributed to the
for Marketing Vol. 15, 2, failure in green products development. The
research’s aim consists in an understanding of
69–78
green consumers and their characteristics. Issues
that have increasingly induced the slow
development of green products are strategic
issues stimulated by businesses, such as charging
higher prices or constraints on quality measures
for green products. In this paper, the authors
investigate and detail the design of a soft
computing model using Kohonen’s LVQ
technique for predicting the consumers’
purchase intention of green products.
The study doesn’t consider specifically only the
textile sector, but is generally related to green
productions.
EUROBAROMETER
Research (2009)
Europeans’ attitudes
towards the issue of
sustainable consumption
and production
In this research, 26640 EU citizens (plus
Croatians) have been interviewed about their
ways of products selection in respect to their
consumption choices. Slightly more than 80% of
EU citizens answered that a product’s impact on
the environment is an important element when
selecting the products to buy. A product’s impact
on the environment was viewed as more
important than the brand, or brand name. The
environmental impact, nevertheless, appeared to
be somewhat less important than a product’s
quality or price. Another variable analyzed
sustainable longer term profitability
Environmental
related CSR and
Certifications
- The 55% of respondents, who are fully aware of the
environmental impact of the products they buy or use,
said that this aspect is very important in their
purchasing decisions
- This proportion decreased to 27% for those admitting
knowing nothing about the impact on the environment
of the products they buy or use
- Two-thirds of respondents considering important the
environmental impact of the products, said that Ecolabelling plays an important role when they decide
their purchases (showing a high level of awareness
about the environmental impact of the products they
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
concerned the Ecolabelling, and the perceived
role of it in the purchasing decisions. Finally, an
evaluation concerning the adoption of green
codes of conduct by retailers, has been requested
to the interviewed citizens.
This research was not focused on a specific
sector, but it considered in general the
consumption tendencies
Pratima Bansal, Kendall
Roth (2000)
Why companies go green:
a model of ecological
responsiveness
Academy of Management
Journal. Vol, 43. No. 4,
717-736.
And community Ricerca
“Ipsos MORI” (2007).
The authors conducted a qualitative study of the
motivations and contextual factors that induce
Corporate Ecological Responsiveness. They
examined why some firms embrace ecologically
responsive initiatives, while others in similar
circumstances do not even comply with existing
legislation. The authors consider in the analysis
also SMEs (but not exclusively of the
textile/clothing sector).
Several studies identified motives for corporate
"greening," such as regulatory compliance,
competitive advantage, stakeholder pressures,
ethical concerns, critical events, and top
management initiative. They coded variables that
included cost reduction, increasing market share,
reaction to competitors, reaction to consumers,
building resources, survival, legislation,
avoiding penalties, license to operate, managing
risks, doing the right thing, and avoiding
personal risk.
The survey aimed at discovering the global
attitudes about climate changes. In particular, it
examined how the climate change are considered
buy or use)
- The Eco-labelling is considered less important for
those regarding the environmental impact rather not
important or not important at all.
- Four out of 10 EU citizens agreed that it is a good
idea to develop a voluntary environmental “code of
conduct” for EU retailers. A similar proportion,
nevertheless, thought that binding legislations would
be more effective.
Motivations for Ecological Responsiveness: it costs
nothing to do it, and it's:
the right thing to do from enterprises standpoint
the right thing to do from the consumer's
standpoint.
Environmental
related CSR,
Marketplace CSR
and Certifications
Environmental and
community related
Key Dimensions Differentiating Motivations: it is a
problem of providing something that the consumer
really wants, with the aim of increasing the market
share. Several respondents indicated that if
environmental science was more definitive in
assessing the ecological impacts of alternative
activities and if consumers were more demanding,
then they would more likely show more ecological.
The research underlines the importance for the
enterprise to have responsible environmental
behaviours to increase the “corporate brand equity”
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“Buone prassi e impatto sui
Brand Values”
Tandberg - B&P
communication
Fabio Iraldo (2000)
“Ecoinformazione a regola
d’arte”
Largo consumo, 20 (10),
pp.195-197
by consumers and employees. It wants, also, to
discover the efforts of the companies to become
more responsible. More than an half of the
global interviewed consumers said of preferring
to buy products and services from a company
with a good environmental reputation.
Almost the 80% of the global employees
consider important to have a job in an ethical
organization committed to the environmental
protection. More than an half of interviewed is
mined to buy products and services from an
enterprise with a good reputation about
environmental responsiveness.
This article is about the ISO 14021standard –
Environmental Labels and Declaration. The
objective of the standard is to promote and
favour the harmonization of “ environmental
claims” by new tools such as the Environmental
Product Declarations, aiming at guaranteeing the
environmental characteristics of the products in
an ecological marketing perspective.
The information have to be: clear, accurate,
specific, relevant, substantial (fitting with the
situation and its
objectives), reliable,
comparable, visible.
The perimeter of ethical values satisfied by the
brand is changing. Since not much time ago the
“La marca partner. Il nuovo brand had to satisfy four guarantees: quality,
patto”
safety, environmental respect, fair treatment of
employees. Now another variable is considered
CSR, Certifications
and the “competitive advantage”. For example the
developing of new technologies “environmentally
friendly” is suggest as fundamental factor to have an
increasing environmental responsibility in the
company. The survey evidences that in the future lots
of companies will stop to ignore their roles in respect
to their contribution to the climate changes, because
on the contrary their performances will be at a loss.
Environmental
related CSR
(ISO14021)
The development and the diffusion of the standard, in
the intention of ISO, could allow to consumers a more
conscious and informed choice. It wants to guarantee a
correct competition among the producers actively
engaged in these themes.
Community related
CSR
This paper evidences a big opportunity for who gives
attention to the demand petition. The article clarifies
that, in an outlook without answers, also a little answer
has a big consequence. It emphasizes the importance
of non-economical variables in this particular global
R. Lucchi (2009)
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
important: the quality of the relationship with the
consumer. Because of this, there is an attention
not only for the brand product but also for the
consumer’s welfare. The consumer requires also
sustainability but at the moment the
sustainability initiatives aren’t numerous. The
consumers feel the right to require more and
more.
phase, and the role that in the economical relationship
can be played by trust. The author ends the article
underling how the SMEs can answer to new
consumers’ behaviours.
This study investigates how consumers are
informed about the social and environmental
conditions under which products have been
produced. Consumers of OECD increasingly
attach importance to how companies buy from
Fliess, B. et al. (2007)
conduct their business, and the voluntary
adoption of CSR policies is spreading in the
"CSR and Trade:
private sector. But how do consumers know if
Informing
producers and sub-contractors collaborating
Consumers about Social
within global supply chains meet given
and Environmental
standards? The paper identifies four major
Conditions of
information strategies through which consumers
Globalised Production: Part
obtain
information
about
social
and
I", OECD Trade Policy
environmental
production
conditions:
certification and labelling, corporate reporting,
Working Papers, No. 47,
consumer guides and corporate marketing.
OECD Publishing.
As markets become more concentrated the
doi:10.1787/246322000033
growing power of large buyers and the crucial
role of effective communication in helping
bridge the observed gap between consumers’
attitudes and purchase behaviours, but also the
challenge and potentially trade-limiting impact
The survey data reviewed for this study suggest that
consumer demand for CSR products could grow if
ways can be found to bridge the gap between stated
interest and preferences on the one hand and actual
behaviour on the other one.
The research confirmed the existence of a gap between
what consumers say about how much they care about
CSR and their actual purchasing behaviour. This study
found that for all sectors surveyed, products are
available in the marketplace which originate from
production controlled by private voluntary social
and/or environmental standards. Often, these products
are not identified to shoppers as such. For instance,
many European consumers would not know if the
flowers they buy were produced in observance of
social and environmental standards. This can be
explained in part by the fact that for major
intermediary buying associations adherence by
suppliers to standards for CSR production is more
relevant than informing the final consumer at the end
of the supply chain about these high standards and that
some producers cannot financially afford to engage in
Social Trends n.107 Gfk
Eurisko.
Community related
CSR, environmental
related CSR
55
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
resulting from the increase in and diversity of
private social and environmental production
standards.
It’s important to notice that this paper doesn’t
focus on the three countries of our research, but
it’s an interesting approach good also for them
Morgan, L. R. and
Birtwistle, G. (2009)
An investigation of young
fashion consumers’
disposal habits
International Journal of
Consumer Studies 33
190/198
Arnt Meyer (2001)
What’s in it for the
customers? Successfully
marketing their CSR-proof products at the consumer
end. Making CSR visible to consumers hence remains
a challenge for companies and other stakeholders.
The demand for cheap fashion is high, and the
fast-fashion clothing market has grown
significantly in response to this trend. Fast
fashion has gained market share recently and
now accounts for one-fifth of the total clothing
market in the UK (Defra, 2008a). This
phenomenon has led to consumers purchasing
and disposing of ever-larger quantities of
clothing. A study of young males and females
between the ages of 15 and 24 reports that 38%
shop at Primark, 35% at Topshop/ Topman, 33%
at New Look, 31% at River Island and 24% at
H&M (Keynote, 2008). The purpose of this
paper was to examine the purchase behaviour
and disposal habits of young consumers and
suggest ways in which fashion consumption
could become more sustainable.
Also this paper doesn’t focus on Italy, Spain and
France.
Marketplace CSR
(product
information and
consumer
communication)
Most green marketing literature is strongly based
on the assumption that a consumer’s
environmental awareness is a pre-condition for
green purchasing.
Marketplace and
Environment related
CSR (product
information and
The findings of this study reveal that young female
consumers are unaware of the need for clothing
recycling. However, they agree that there is a general
lack of knowledge of how and where clothing is
disposed of, or even how it is made, such as the
environmental consequences of artificial fibres and
intensive cotton production. This lack of awareness is
thought to be a result of lack of media coverage.
Participants also stated that they might consider
modifying their clothing consumption and disposal
behaviour if they were more aware of the social and
environmental consequences.
Overall, there is concern about the environment, but
there is no correlation between awareness of the
environment and textile disposal behaviour and the
attitude to textile reuse and recycling. Fast-fashion
retailers now need to take responsibility for the
amount of fashion clothing sold through their stores by
instigating programmes in terms of textile disposal
methods similar to those implemented by Marks &
Spencer to increase the reuse and recycling of fashion
clothing.
This economic approach is based on the assumption
that green products are successful only if customers
perceive the products as superior to competitors’
conventional offerings. It leads to a positioning and
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
marketing green clothes
Business Strategy and the
Environment 10, 317–330
Freestone, O &
McGoldrick, J. (2008)
While following such a ‘behaviouristic’ green
marketing both scholars and companies seem to
have neglected that green products are bought
only if customers perceive the products as
superior to competitors’ offerings.
This paper argues that economic theory can give
additional valuable input to green marketing. A
first important step for marketing according to
the economic approach is to identify how
consumers perceive the products’ cost and
benefits.
consumer
communication)
For a number of years, scholars have argued that
a highly principled group of aware and ethical
consumers has emerged. ‘Shoppers are highly
Marketplace CSR
[Decisional Balance
Scale (DBS) &
communication strategy in which first of all those
added values are stressed that are most admired and
preferred by customers. Both the theoretical
reflections and the case studies showed that a green
product’s environmental superiority does not have to
be its core value added. Indeed, looking at the relative
importance of most products’ environmental
performance as perceived by customers a ‘green-only’
positioning strategy can be rather unsuccessful. In this
contribution, cost and benefits components were
specified for and illustrated with the example of
clothes.
Usually, to purchase green clothes consumers have to
accept significantly higher costs (especially product
price and search cost) and minor benefits (especially
visual appearance). The large majority of customers,
therefore, refuses to buy those products.
According to most green marketing literature,
companies should therefore target green consumers,
stress the product’s environmental superiority, and
fight consumption barriers.
In identifying and characterizing their target groups
both companies do not look too much at
environmental awareness. They rather try to
understand what their clients’ most important needs
are apart from every environmental reflection. Only in
a second step do the companies try to fulfil the needs
and to meet their own high-standing environmental
goals at the same time.
The results of this study provide new data to assist in
understanding motivations for changes in ethical
behaviour. These results provide evidence to support
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Motivations of the Ethical
Consumer
Journal of Business Ethics
81:223–234
Nicholls, A.J. (2002)
Strategic options in fair
trade retailing
International Journal of
Retailing & Distribution
Management 30, 1:6-17
aware of ethical issues and many are ready to put
their money where their morals are’’. Thus, there
is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that
shoppers take their morals, in addition to their
wallets, when they visit the high street. While
evidence supports the view that a shift in
consumer values is occurring, there is little
substantive empirical research that addresses
how this motivational process operates. It is this
gap in the existing knowledge that this paper
seeks to address.
UK market for fair trade goods has grown
enormously in the past five years. Driven by an
increase in ‘ethical consumerism’, which
embraces
consumers’
concerns
over
environmental issues, the subject has been
explored in the literature from three distinct
academic viewpoints: developmental economics;
business ethics; and marketing.
The paper argues that developing a fair-trade
offer can provide retailers with both an effective
example of good corporate social responsibility
and commercial opportunity.
Transtheoretical
model (TTM)]
Marketplace CSR
the application of the Decisional Balance Scale for
ethical decision-making to measure the positive and
negative motivational statements for the population
under study. Furthermore they demonstrate that the
DBS construct of the Transtheoretical Model has an
application in understanding ethical decision-making,
as hypothesized from earlier conceptual discussions.
The results suggest strongly that changes in ethical
behaviour can be effected by influencing the balance
of motives. They suggest a conceptually and
empirically grounded schema for researching and
classifying these motives, offering guidelines for
researchers, managers, campaigners and policy
makers, with a common interest in better
understanding the ethical consumer.
The paper argued that there is a growing market for
fair trade products in the UK that is only beginning to
be properly targeted by mass-market retailers.
Empirical and an academic review of the literature
support this view.
The paper concludes by arguing that, by engaging with
fair trade products, retail organizations can tap into a
new and growing market and, in the process, enhance
their own brand value.
58
2.b Evidences
The best experiences carried out in the three countries (Italy, Spain and France) and concerning the
textile/clothing and leather sector had been described in the following list; they mainly refer to
initiatives promoted by French, Spanish and Italian large retailers which select their suppliers
based on their ethical and environmental performances, or promote green and ethic products
among its consumers.
INDITEX GROUP (Zara, Pull and Bear; Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho,
Zara Home, Uterque)
Inditex is one of the world largest fashion distributors, with eight sales formats boasting 4.430 stores
in 73 countries.
Country: Spain
CSR topic: Labor safety and protection
Short description of initiatives: After the incorporation by Inditex of the Ethical Trading Initiative
(ETI) principles in 2005, Inditex aimed at introducing to its Base Code the Code of Conduct for
External Manufacturers and Workshops. This new Code is characterized by 11 requirements to be
respected: No forced labour, No child labour, No discrimination, Respect for freedom of association
and collective bargaining, No harsh or inhumane treatment, Safe and hygienic working conditions,
Wages are paid, Not excessive working hours , Environmental awareness, Regular employment.
The Code implementation implied that all suppliers and sub-contractors have to adhere to the code
requirements; in this sense the external manufacturers and suppliers, which subcontract work for
Inditex, shall be responsible for subcontractors’ compliance with the Code. External manufacturers,
suppliers and their subcontractors have to apply the Code’s principles to any homewoker involved
in their supply chain, and they must ensure transparency about their locations and working
conditions. All brands of Inditex Group have to implement and maintain programmes of
implementation and training of this Code . External manufacturers, suppliers and their
subcontractors shall appoint a senior member of Management who shall be responsible for the
implementation and enforcement of theCode. External manufacturers and suppliers and their
subcontractors shall communicate the Code to all employees and to their contractors,
subcontractors, suppliers, agents and homeworkers if they are involved in the Inditex Supply
Chain. In this process the transparency is considered one of the principal ingredients to assure
credibility; from this point of view, external manufacturers, suppliers and their subcontractors are
forced to allow Inditex and/or any third parties the former might appoint, to carry out inspections
and audits in order to verify the appropriate enforcement of the Code. For these purposes, they have
to provide the inspectors and/or auditors with the required information and the appropriate access to
the facilities and documentation required to ensure this verification. Such a system of selection and
evaluation of suppliers creates a relevant selection among the producers, based also on ethical and
environmental performances, in order to be part of an important group of distribution with an high
market share.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
H&M Group
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (operating as H&M), is a Swedish clothing company, known for its
fast fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children. H&M has more than 1.800
stores in 34 different countries and employs over 73.000 people.
Country: Headquarter in Sweden, but local offices (with administrative autonomy) are in France,
Italy and Spain
CSR topic: Environmental and social management
Short description of initiatives: One main feature for H&M is represented by environmental
protection, by the means of “Cleaner fabric production” initiative. To contribute to cleaner fabric
production, H&M tried to encourage the dye houses to take environmental considerations into
account in their activities. The process involves H&M’s auditors visiting the various facilities to
assess the potential of improvement and to demonstrate possible actions that can be taken; the final
target of this policy, in a long term view, is that of guaranteeing a compete environmental
monitoring on the supply chain.
Also from an ethical point of view, the policy promoted by H&M is oriented at controlling suppliers
and sub-contractors to avoid employing child labor or young workers. In case of non compliance
from suppliers, they act according to their policy: the family is contacted and in most cases the
family accepts that the child should continue to work with some kind of education until he or she
complete 15 years old (or the lawful age for working in the country in question, never younger than
14 years). Wages continue to be paid during the period of study so the family does not lose its
income. In certain cases, an older member of the household is offered work instead of the child.
With these policies, suppliers SMEs have a commercial stimulus to implement an environmental
management system and to better recruit their personnel. Also in this case, the ethical and
environmental performances are criteria for entering a large channel of trade.
ARMOR LUX
Armor Lux is a 70 year-experience French fashion group employing 640 persons, three factories and
a network of 30 boutiques; its production is inspired by the colors of the sea and values from
Brittany. It is also a company that has relied on the made in France quality production mark and
which promotes a unique know-how in the textile/garment field.
Country: France
CSR topic: Drafting of a charter of socially responsible behavior; it regards the social and
environmental fields
Short description of initiatives: Armor Lux promotes a social responsibility charter in which the
company commits itself to:
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
- comply with social regulations both at national and international level;
- promote sustainable development among its activities (particularly in economic, social and
environmental fields);
- follow the standard “fibre citoyenne” and demand its partners and suppliers the respect
those same principles
In January 2004 Armor Lux signed the United Nations’ Global Compact charter, inviting
companies to endeavor respecting a set of fundamental values in the fields of Human Rights, work
and environment.
Armor Lux is a member, since 2004, of the Comité 21 (French Council for environment and
sustainable development) and hence has committed itself on 5 points for the following 10 years:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
adopt responsible production and consumption habits and reduce carbon dioxide emissions
contribute to preserve bio diversity and promote sustainable tourism
respect cultural diversity and fight against exclusions
support environmental channels and social economy
reinforcement of international solidarity
In the field of ethical productions, since January 2005 Armor Lux signed a license contract with
Max Havelaar (France) permitting the marketing of garments made of fair-trade cotton. Since 2005
Armor Lux is a member of the ORSE (Study Center for Corporate Social Responsibility) and
regularly takes part in work groups on territorial anchoring and responsible purchases. Finally,
Armor Lux adhered, again in 2005, to the citizen fibre programme implemented by the NGO
Yamana, promoting a fairer economic, social and environmental development.
The ethical and environmental principles followed by Armor Lux represent requirements to be
respected by supplying firms; therefore Armor Lux creates a selection among its suppliers based
also on ethical and environmental requirements.
AUCHAN GROUP
Auchan is a French international retail group and multinational corporation headquartered in Croix.
It is one of the world's principal distribution group present in 12 countries with 175,000 employees.
Auchan has international branches also in Italy and Spain; Worldwide, Auchan has more than 1000
super and hypermarkets and more than 2000 small shops.
Country: France (with locations also in Italy and Spain)
CSR topic: Ethic values and quality principles mainstreaming
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Short description of initiatives: For the Auchan Group, CSR represents the mean for sharing its
ethical values with institutional interlocutors and commercial partners. Auchan establishes a
concrete partnership with selected companies; the group invest lots of energy and resources in these
partnerships, providing know how and support to partners when adopting efficient quality
management systems. The group add value to its suppliers allowing them to associate themselves
to one of the most important large retailer in Europe.
Auchan, after selecting its suppliers, develops an “entrepreneurial valorization” to make sure they
fit with the large retailer . In 2001 Auchan constituted a scientific committee with the objective to
deepen the ethics, quality and CSR of their commercial partners. The scientific committee is
composed by experts in various scientific disciplines and important personalities of the European
culture in the field of CSR. Since 2004 Auchan has been member of the UN - Global Compact.
Auchan represents big opportunity to local SMEs to become suppliers of the retailer and use the
Auchan brand. Thanks to the scientific committee SMEs can learn about CSR themes throughout
the large retailing group.
BASI SA (Lacoste, Armand Basi, Ferran Andrià)
ARMAND BASI SA is a textile retail company operating in Spain since 1948. It’s the holder of
such label as Chemise Lacoste (since 1962) and Armand Basi (1986). Since 1994 BASI SA started
to trade abroad (in 11 countries) and since 1995 it open its own shops around the world.
Country: Spain
CSR topic: Labour and human rights protection; ethic supply - chain control
Short description of initiatives: The Group signed a code of conduct for suppliers about
employment contracts, aiming at asserting the principles of protection of Human Rights (i.e.: no
discrimination, security and safety of workers, guarantee of minimum levels of wages, prohibition
of child labour, protection of health of young workers, and so on).
The inspections carried out by this Group are internal and external. Internally they implement
specific procedures whose adoption is verified by internal auditors; the second control regards the
labour condition of employees in some specific Countries where SMEs are located, such as: China,
India, Portugal and Peru.
There is also a Corrective Actions Management System if the auditing process discover a breach in
labour rights. This system implemented by BASI SA gives the possibility to guarantee good
conditions for workers or to correct wrong attitudes of suppliers. These elements aim at intensifying
the relationship between BASI SA Group and suppliers, based on the mutual trust.
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Group Textile CEPOVETT
Cepovett is a French international retail group headquartered in Villefranche-sur-Saône Cedex
which trades about 5.500.000 articles of clothing per year. The group works in more than 50
countries all over the world.
Country: France (with locations also in Italy and Spain)
CSR topic: Fair trade
Short description of initiatives: The Group decided to adopt a fair trade policy, in coherence with
its philosophy of sustainable development. Due to this reason, the Group proposes a specific type of
cotton, defined “fair”. The choice of fair trade reverberates on the entire textile supply – chain; all
the suppliers had been made aware of the sustainable development. The Group takes part in several
meetings to explain the way to integrate the sustainable development; it also elaborates specific
support for the communication on the differences between traditional cotton and that ‘fair’. Finally
CEPOVETT has the OEKO Tex Certification and adheres to the Fibre Citoyenne Programme.
The Group gives the opportunity to its supplier to implement sustainable development thanks to the
diffusion of a this new type of product. The suppliers are accredited on the basis of their level of
conformity to the fair trade trademark.
Grupo CORTEFIEL (Cortefiel, Pedro de Hierro, Springfild, Women’secret)
Grupo Cortefiel is one of the largest fashion retailers in Spain which, through its four brands –
Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield and Women´s Secret –is currently present in 48 countries
with more than 1400 points of sale across the World. Main locations of CORTEFIEL Group can be
found in nine European countries (among which Spain and France), with 970 stores that are directly
operated, and in 37 non European countries, where are 345 franchises. Grupo Cortefiel today is a
diverse and international group with a vocation to cover customer´s needs through its different
brands.
Country: Spain (with locations also in France)
CSR topic: Labor conditions requirements
Short description of initiatives: Grupo Cortefiel does not purchase merchandise or contract any
service with manufacturers or suppliers, which do not operate in accordance with specific fixed
ethical conditions and working practices.
These principles refer to suppliers, sub-suppliers and sub-contractors, and regard the respect and
dignity in treatment of their employees; in particular the requirements focus on:
- prohibition of physical, sexual, psychological or verbal abuse or harassment
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- protection of health, safety and hygiene of workers, in accordance with international
conventions
- prohibition in the use of child labor
- respect of compliance with the environmental laws and regulations.
In detail these principles are explained in the External code of conduct; in this code, the principles
of corporate conduct are transferred along the supply chain and must be accepted and observed by
all the suppliers. The Group gives the opportunity to respect the labor condition, and lays the basis
for a close relationship between the Group and their suppliers based on ethical behavior.
Together with the External code of conduct, an Internal Code of Conduct has been signed by the
Group Management; it reflects the ethical values, commitments and good practices of the company
and it is applicability to all employees.
LVMH Group – Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessy
LVMH Group is a world leader in luxury; it possesses a unique portfolio of over 60 prestigious
brands in five different sectors among which fashion and leather goods (with such famous brands as
Louis Vuitton, Celine, Berruti, Fendi, Kenzo, Emilio Pucci, etc.). The Group employs more than
75.000 persons in the world with more than 1000 stores only in the sector of fashion and leather
goods.
Country: France (with locations also in Spain and Italy)
CSR topic: Labor conditions requirements; partnership with suppliers based on ethical and
environmental requirements
Short description of initiatives: LVMH promotes responsible partnerships with all suppliers and
ensures their effective application by implementation of specific verification. Audits are conducted
on suppliers, particularly in countries where sensitivity to the standards defined by the ILO International Labor Organization is relatively recent. The principal purchasing managers in the
Group are undertaken in order to give a more concrete expression to LVMH's commitment to the
basic conventions of the ILO. In the field of environmental protection, LVMH has drawn up a
global charter that defines environmental protection criteria and goals. As part of LVMH core
management organization, an Environmental Affairs Department works to spread the special culture
of the environmental impact assessment, coordinates actions and encourages all of subsidiaries to
adopt the "best ecological practices" at all levels of production.
By mean of external audits, the LVMH Group stimulates the adoption of good practices by
suppliers, rewarding the most virtuous ones.
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Mango MNG holding, S.l.
Mango is a Spanish multinational clothing company based in Barcelona. It designs, manufactures
and market garments and accessories for women and men. With almost 6.000 employees, Mango
had more than 850 stores in 81 countries located on five continents in 2008. MNG by Mango is one
of the most famous brand names.
Country: Spain (with locations also in France and Italy)
CSR topic: Practices of environmental management and control of the supply – chain in respect to
environmental requirements
Short description of initiatives: All clothes-manufacture activities are carried out by third parties,
not owned by the Mango Holding and located in different countries. The priority in the field of CSR
concerns the implementation of environmentally friendly practices in all the areas of their influence.
These practices are related to two main kinds of actions involving manufacturers and factories and
promoted by the Mango MNG Holding:
• direct check, by external inspections, about the correctness of their production phases and
their ways of environmental management (treatment of water used in their processes, textile
remainders, wastes, etc.).
• prohibition of dangerous and harmful substances, and control to prevent their use , as
specified in their manufacturing instructions (which are drafted in accordance with the applicable
international legislation).
The effectiveness of environmental management of manufacturers and factories is considered by
Mango MNG Holding an important requirement in its activities. Mango MNG Holding adhered to
the UN – Global Compact.
COOP Italia
Coop Italia is the division of Italian Consumers’ Cooperative responsible for purchases, marketing
and quality controlling goods with COOP trademark. More than 3000 suppliers (among which
enterprises operating in the textile/clothing sector) are monitored in the world and rated on the basis
of specific protocols of evaluation
Country: Italy
CSR topic: Labor and environmental conditions; respect of SA8000 requirements; fair trade
Short description of initiatives: Coop Italia represents one of the most important brands in the field
of big retail. The brand sells a lot of products (among which textiles) and chooses its suppliers on
the basis of the respect of the laws on human rights and environmental safeguard.
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The relationship between the brand and its suppliers is based on opinions and experiences exchange,
so to guarantee the respect of COOP values. There is a suppliers control system as defined by the
SA8000 standard. For each periodical audit, if a no-conformity is found, the auditor requires
improvements activities; if these activities are not implemented, the supplier will be cut off COOP
suppliers list.
COOP stimulates the implementation of CSR - related tools in the field of human rights among
SMEs: these SMEs cannot afford to ignore this pressure in order to be able to continue to supply
the COOP brand.
COIN Group
Coin Group is leader in Italian apparel retail with a 4.51% market share. Coin Group operates under
two distinct brands, OVS industry and Coin. The Group is both distributor of luxury brands and
manufacturer of its own collections. As well as apparel, Coin Group also stocks accessories, health
& beauty products, and home decoration items. The Group is consolidating an expansion plan
abroad with the opening of new stores, in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and, recently, in
India.
Country: Italy
CSR topic: Code of conduct; definition of social and environmental requirements for suppliers
Short description of initiatives: Coin Group asks for the suppliers the adhesion to its social code of
conduct. Such in a way, Coin encourages the suppliers to comply their policies and behave to
established principles such as respecting human rights, employment law and environmental
protection; the suppliers have to guarantee the respect of these rules also by their sub-suppliers.
Coin Group, periodically, verifies the compliance of these requirements by committing audits to an
international certification organization . On the basis of the results of these audits, the suppliers can
continue to be accredited or not. These audits concern quality requirements and social and
environmental ones.
COIN Group creates a stimulus in adopting socially responsible behavior by suppliers: these SMEs
are constrained pay attention to these themes in order to be able to continue to produce to COIN or
OVS brands.
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3. CREDIT AND INSURANCE SYSTEM ANALYSIS
The third section of this report relates to the role of credit and insurance systems in stimulating and
awarding enterprises (and in particular SMEs) adopting CSR – related tools. Differently from the
previous sub-sections of this document, this part lacks of the literature review and is composed only
by an analysis of the main evidences in three countries and the description of an experience of
excellence in the field of insurance systems. In our research perspective, in fact, this theme has not
been yet studied in depth; the available papers in this field concern the analysis of the link existing
between CSR and financial performance (i.e.: Ziegler et al., 2007, Orlitzky et al. 2003), or studies
about the linkages between financial development and sustainable development (i.e. Scholtens,
2006), or, finally, surveys about the behaviors of investors in respect to social and environmental
performances of enterprises (i.e. Horton, Kember 2008). These examples, what’s more, never take
in consideration neither SMEs nor enterprises from the textile/clothing sector.
In respect to the collected evidences, these are many and concerning the three European countries
(in particular 11 experiences from Italy, 2 from France and 4 from Spain). The collected best
practices regard promotions and initiatives carried out by banks and credit institutes in favor of
SMEs, but they’re not exclusive of SMEs of the textile/clothing and leather sector. These initiatives
aim at supporting enterprises oriented to integrate social and environmental concerns into their
decisional processes and programmes of investment.
This section of evidences is followed by the description of one specific experience concerning the
agreement signed in 2004 between an Italian consortium (the Pollution Pool) and the biggest Italian
Trade Association (Confindustria) aiming at awarding (with a discount on policies for
environmental risks) the enterprises that implement and certify their Environmental Management
Systems. The economic advantage is evaluated in about – 20% of the assurance premium for
ISO14001 and EMAS certified enterprises. A specific focus on the textile/clothing and leather
sector is detailed.
3.a Evidences
The best experiences carried out in the three countries (Italy, Spain and France) and concerning the
textile/clothing and leather sector have been selected in the following table; they mainly refer to
initiatives promoted by French, Spanish and Italian bank groups aiming at awarding green and
social initiatives by SMEs (included those operating in the clothing/textile and leather sector).
These initiatives refer above all to investments in technical solutions for energy saving and
renewable energies; there are then some banks financing only specific ethical operations, and then
there are (even if rarely) experiences of easy-terms loans for enterprises with excellent ethical
and environmental performances, demonstrated by the implementation of formalized CSR
– related tools.
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NAME OF THE
INSTITUTE
COUNTRY and CSR
TOPICS
ITALY
Banca Etica
Social and environmental
management
DESCRIPTION OF INITIATIVES
Banca Etica is a financial institution that operates based on the idea of financial ethics which
means operating with transparency, providing access to credit, efficiency and social and
financial duty. Recently the Bank started to finance projects oriented to promote biologic
agriculture, renewable energies, energy saving and energy efficiency. They also have a credit
line for small business (professionals, individual entrepreneurs, and small companies) with
relevant activities in social and environmental fields. The Bank created a forum for SMEs to
give them the opportunity to deepen the benefits and critical aspects starting from CSR pattern.
This initiative gives the possibility to SMEs to finance projects that promote initiatives in
environmental protection and those with a social as well as economic scope. Opportunity to
deepen the CSR awareness.
ITALY
Monte dei Paschi di Siena
MPS Group
Environmental management
Promotion of technological
innovation in the field of
renewable energies
The Group has a lot of initiatives and funding to promote CSR among SMEs. The most
important are the following ones:
“FOCUS AMBIENTE”: it is an opening medium term financial package oriented to promote
the environmental certification costs for the adhesion to EMAS and ISO 14001.
“WELCOME ENERGY”: funding for companies that want to install photovoltaic plants,
combined with an insurance for material damage eventually produced during installation.
“FINANZA VERDE”: since 2009 the Group implements an energy policy that consists on:
investment for renewable energy and promotion of facilities to produce electric energy from
renewable sources, especially for the wind power sector.
“BANCA VERDE”: it gives some long term funding for investment to produce electric energy
from renewable sources or for electric energy with a low environmental impact. It also
provides credit for environmental management systems certification on EMAS and ISO
14001.
With these initiatives companies can finance implementation costs of Environmental
Management Systems and their certification. SMEs, could be stimulated to invest in
green technologies and renewable energies.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
ITALY
INTESA – San Paolo
Technological innovation in
the environmental and
energetic fields
The bank offers ethical investment services, with several investments in funds characterized
by an high social and environmental profile. To do that, the bank establishes an agreement with
associations of category to promote the access to credit for SMEs by trust. The bank provides
technical and institutional advice to support firms in gaining access to grants distributed by
European Union, in favour of research and technological development (for example renewable
energy).
The bank finances processes of clean energy rationalisation, it promotes the responsible use of
environmental resources, and it encourages the expansion of environmental management
systems (in accordance with ISO 14001/EMAS standards) among SMEs.
The bank also offers:
“INTESANOVA ENERGIA”, provides finance of up to 100% of investment costs in the field
of renewable energies, with up to 10 years repayment option.
“ENERGIA BUSINESS”: it is a medium – long term financing plan to facilitate the
acquisition and installation of small and medium photovoltaic plants; it can also be used for
investment in research and development and in solar energy. It gives the opportunity to deal
with the initial costs of the installation.
With these initiatives the bank gives the possibility of medium and long term financing for
projects of energy efficiency. The group operates with local actors to offer products and
services to support innovation, firms’ internationalisation and competitiveness
ITALY
Unicredit Bank
Gruppo Credito Cooperativo
Technological innovation in
the environmental and
energetic fields and support
to the implementation of
Environmental Management
Systems
ITALY
The bank created afunding to install photovoltaic systems in SMEs. It could be with or
without real guarantees and it covers up to 300.000 €, with a fixed or variable rate. It
repayments plans are between 2 and 15 years.
The Unicredit Group has EMAS registration and promotes five years easy-terms loans for
enterprises having the same environmental certification.
In general the initiatives proposed by Unicredit give possibility to SMEs to innovate their
energetic source of supply, adopting renewable ones. The easy – terms loans are, moreover,
another opportunity for EMAS small businesses in implementing improvement plans
The bank stipulated a convention with Legambiente to promote the use of Renewable Energies
through funding with facilitated conditions. The topics that can be funded are:
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Technological innovation in
the environmental and
energetic fields
- adoption of solar and photovoltaic systems
- adoption of wind systems
- adoption of biomass systems
- substitution of actual boilers with ones with higher energetic efficiency
- feasibility of studies to reach high efficiency on waste energy
These initiatives give the possibility to realize efficient plans to produce energy, differentiate
energy sources and rationalize the consumptions.
ITALY
Credito Cooperativo del
Friuli
Technological green
innovation and green
procurement
This bank promotes two main initiatives in this field:
“Energie Rinnovabili”: this is a funding package (characterized by prime rates) reserved to
companies aiming at adopting measures for the energy savings. The funding concerns the
purchase of photovoltaic and biomass systems, the replacement of fixtures, the reduction of
thermal dispersions, the installation of solar panels and the restructuring with certified EMAS
material.
“Prestito Energia Pulita”: the bank has developed a special financial formula, which allows
the SMEs covering the installation costs of photovoltaic systems with contributions from a
specific Energy Account.
These initiatives make possibility to realize efficient energy plans and cover high costs of
installation of systems of renewable energy.
ITALY
EmilBanca
Innovation in the field of
renewable energies
EmilBanca’s main initiatives are the following ones:
“Ecofinanziamento”: it is a financial package for investments in production of renewable
energy.
“Assurance of photovoltaic system”: it is an insurance for material and direct damages to the
photovoltaic plants (structures assembly, cabinets, stands, brackets, control and detection),
caused by any events. The annual premium is based on kWp comparable to the market value.
It provides several opportunities to SMEs interested in investing in the field of renewable
energy.
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ITALY
Banco Popolare Group
Stakeholder engagement
initiatives
ITALY
UBI Banca
Technological green
innovation and green
procurement
“Enterprises workshops”; the group organizes initiatives with actors from different sectors
with the aim of sharing experiences, ideas, best practice and forecasting trends and future
needs of the market references; on the basis of emerged scenarios, projects and solutions are
outlined to promote the competitiveness of enterprises.
The initiatives depend from the received proposals in the workshops. In the last years, the
Banks of the Group provided medium or long-term credits to the SMEs, evaluating also their
ethical and environmental performances
Package “Nuova Energia”: it is an initiative dedicated to entrepreneurs who invest in the
environmental sustainability of their businesses. In particular it is specialized in two lines:
- photovoltaic: the fund covers investments for construction and expansion of facilities for the
production of electricity from solar energy;
- renewable and energy saving: this line finances investments for the production of energy
from different renewable sources or initiatives of energy saving and improvement of energy
efficiency.
It offers loans or mortgages, with fixed or variable rates, covering up to 100% of the
investment, and it offers the opportunity to sign a bill that provides broad coverage against
direct and indirect risks.
ITALY
Etica SGR
Ethic investment
The bank builds and promotes mutual funds and other financial products that respect the
environment and human rights. It aims at promoting Responsible Finance. It promotes
investments only into socially responsible companies and countries, chosen in accordance with
social and environmental criteria; it gives advices for Socially Responsible Investments.
It gives the opportunity of an ethic fund to invest with a professional consultancy.
ITALY
Confidi Roma Gafiart
Gender equal opportunities
and development of micro –
entrepreneurship.
The initiatives carried out in Lazio Region by Confidi aims at guaranteeing the access to credit
to specific categories of entrepreneurs (women and micro enterprises) to carry out activities in
the field of environmental protection and business ethics. An example of these initiatives is the
agreement signed by Chamber of Commerce of Rome for which enterprises with a majority
participation of women can get funding for projects in energy saving and workers’ safety.
These initiatives can promote women’s entrepreneurship and promote ethical finance for the
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development of local micro enterprises.
FRANCE/ITALY
BNP Paribas - BNL
Environmental innovation in
the field of renewable
energies
FRANCE
Banque Popolaire
Technological green
innovation
Package “Energy Business”: it is a project designed to support enterprises in the acquisition
and installation of photovoltaic plants. The enterprise can install a photovoltaic system to
reduce energy consumption and to electricity generation, with a subsided credit for the
investment.
This initiative gives the possibility to install efficient plants to produce energy with a lower
cost of investment.
This bank promotes two main initiatives in this field:
“ProvAir”: the Bank created financing for the energy saving, such as: wood boiler, solar
thermal or photovoltaic plants, replacing an oil boiler with a heat pump thermal control, etc.
“Financer l’Eco - innovation”: it includes various credit options, especially for renewable
energy and for the environmental protection. It creates a guarantee fund for those operating in
the environmental sector; it also develops several funds to finance specific projects oriented to
the promotion of the sustainable development.
It promotes the sustainable development allowing the SMEs to invest in environmental
innovative projects.
SPAIN
Bancaja
Environmental management
SPAIN
BBVA
Energy and environmental
management and innovation
Bancaja offers to its business customers financial environmental management services, placing
at their disposal environmental consultants. The services are free of charge or at preferential
rates.
It gives the opportunity to SMEs to have a specialist environmental consultancy in respect to
environmental investments
“Plan Remedia”: this project offers opportunities for energy savings and the efficient
management of resources within four areas of activity: energy efficiency and investment in
renewable energies, environmental management, accessibility fitting and corporate
responsibility.It gives the opportunity to use incentives implementing environmental and social
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plans of improvement
SPAIN
CAJA Navarra
Social management and
reporting
SPAIN
Previsora General
Health and safety
management
The Spanish bank offers the chance to business customers to have their own social
responsibility reports. This is a pioneering initiative (at second year of implementation) which
allows customers to publish and communicate their efforts, progresses and improvements in
environmental, social and economic matters.
This initiative gives the possibility also for SMEs to draft social reports describing their CSR
initiatives, making their social and environmental performances a variable of competitive
diversification
Previsora General implemented three different typologies of insurances:
“Seguro de convenio colectivo”: it is an unique online service for companies related to legal
requirements for the protection of personal risks for their workers. The insurance coverage is
usually for industrial accident and permanent disability.
“Seguro de accidentes colectivo”: it includes the payment of collateral damages in case of an
accident, with the payment of compensation in case of incapacity (temporary or permanent) or
death.
“Seguro de vita colectivo”: the life insurance is designed for the employers. In case of death,
the insurance will pay to the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated a guaranteed capital.
In defining the insurance premiums, Previsoria General treats with respect the ethical
performances of enterprises, in particular in the field of health and safety of workers.
This insurance group gives lots of opportunity to SMEs, above all to assure workers from
industrial accidents. SMEs oriented to CSR are preferred and their premiums are lower.
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3.b Experiences: THE ITALIAN POLLUTION POOL
INTRODUCTION
This section deals with an Italian important experience, in the insurance sector: the agreement signed in 2004
between an Italian consortium (the Pollution Pool www.poolinquinamento.it) and the biggest Italian Trade
Association (Confindustria) aiming at awarding (with a discount on policies for environmental risks) the
enterprises that implemented and certified their Environmental Management Systems.
This report represents the synthesis of meetings organized with the functional foremen of the Pool (Dr.
Giovanni Faglia and Dr. Lisa Casali) and what emerged by the analysis of the documents furnished by them.
We would like to acknowledge the participation, support and willingness of Italian Pollution Pool.
THE ROLE OF ITALIAN POLLUTION POOL AND THE PROCEDURE OF RISK
ASSESSMENT
The Italian Pollution Pool is a co-reinsurance consortium, active since 1979; it consists of 38 insurance
companies and 4 professional reinsurers.
The main players in the environmental insurance market with a specific policy wording are Pool
Inquinamento, Chartis, XL Insurance, ACE, Chubb and Zurich Group.
The Pollution Pool deals with the technical assessment of the risks, technical visits, management of claims
and the study of environmental issues and their insurance.
Before the birth of the consortium the risk of pollution in Italy was secured only with the extension on
General Civil Liability Insurance (Responsabilità civile generale, RCG, in Italian), and only for the
accidental pollution.
The obligations for a company in case of pollution incidents are:
1. recovery of protected species and habitats;
2. compensation for damage to property, people and interruption of activities;
3. emergency measures and clean up of soil, subsoil and water.
The problem of improper environmental insurance coverage is that when the risk is underestimated, the level
of coverage is not sufficient.
The limited spread of specific policies for the pollution risks is motivated by several reasons:
• environmental issues are generally very technical and not of immediate and easy understanding;
• risk of incorrect assessments of potential pollution damage resulting from a specific productive
process;
• limited knowledge of legal requirements;
• underestimating of the costs for an environment reclamation;
• missing analysis of the damage that can be eventually caused to third parties;
• the difficulties in estimation of the efficiency of firm' prevention/protection measures;
• limited structures of Risk Management in a large number of enterprises;
• the inadequate knowledge of the insurance product and its costs;
• the lack of knowledge both of the risk and insurance products by brokers;
• the continuous use of the extension clause on accidental insurance policies RCG and limited
knowledge of its real coverage.
These issues are deeper if we consider SMEs, because of their lack of human resources and technical
competences and their difficulty in perceiving their real impact on environment.
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How do the policies work for the firms-customer? The firms contact the insurance agents, and consequently
they fill out a very specific questionnaire on pollution data that they produce. The agents transmit the request
to the insurance company (part of the consortium), which turns the request to the Pool. The Pool make a first
evaluation of the firm based on the completed questionnaire, thus it emits an assessment. The limits of
indemnity issued could reach a maximum of 40 million of euro. The Pool communicates to the company the
pure premium (the minimum) that is equal for all companies. The various companies can make loads on
premium and this fall in the remuneration for brokers, agents and companies themselves. The taxable
Premium has a 22.5% of tax (that is a very high percentage).
For the technical assessments the Pool uses a network of experts (environmental consultants, insurance
adjusters) across Italy; after the issue of the policy, they can audit directly the firms: this happens if:
1) the applying enterprise operates in a risky productive sector (examples are: chemical,
petrochemical, tanneries),
2) doubts arise from the questionnaire filled out by the firm.
About 230 inspections are made on average per year, on 3.000 total settlements. The firm, after the first
inspection, shall be reviewed every 2 / 3 years. The Pool may revise policies on the base of the inspections.
There are 4 policies wording offered by the Pool:
1. Environmental liability - settlements. This policy covers the 80% of the portfolio of the Pool and it is
composed of a basic warranty plus optional. The basic warranty is divided into two sections: civil
liability and clean up. The optional guarantees are: damage to protected species and natural habitats,
the decontamination of property and equipment, loading and unloading operations to third parties.
2. Environmental Liability – Contractors (Civil Liability and Clean Up).
3. Environmental Liability – Loading and unloading operations to third parties (mechanically)
4. Dangerous goods in transit by third party policy
Finally it’s important to notice that a similar experience of Pool Inquinamento exists in other European
Countries:
• in Spain, the Pool Espanol the Riesgos Medioambientales
• in France, the Assurpol
The main purpose of these entities is making the enviromental risk and liability a new focus for European
firms, also for the preservation of the long-term competitiveness in global market.
TERRITORIAL AND SECTORIAL PROFILE
In Italy the requests for pollution insurances come for a 75% from Northern Italy, 20% Centre Italy and 5%
in the South. It’s to be considered that 50% are from the Veneto Region because there is a regulatory
requirement to have a policy for waste treatment.
The main represented sectors are those liable to the IPPC – Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
Directive and Seveso regulation, with the most of enterprises operating in the following sectors: waste and
water treatment, chemical, petrochemical and engineering. Frequently they are big enterprises, having
economic resources to face the additional costs of insurance premiums. The SMEs, because of their lack of
human and economical resources and of technical competences, decide to renounce to these insurance
packages, often without perceiving their usefulness.
In the fashion sector, moreover, the enterprises are not always aware of their environmental impacts and of
the level of risks associated to their productive process (in particular for some productive phases of textile
and leather sectors). Because of this, SMEs of textile/clothing/leather sector with a policy are not a lot (about
2% of total number of issued policies).
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Sectorial distribution (%) of RC pollution policies in Italy (source: POOL RC Inquinamento, 2008)
In general, the textile/leather sector is under covered with respect to the environmental risk; as known, some
phases of the productive processes of the textile and leather sectors are characterized by a high risk of
environmental impact, for which the signature of a policy could be reasonably useful (also in respect to the
new environmental legislation, with the acknowledgement into the Italian legal system of the EU Directive
2004/35 on Environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage).
Unfortunately, as already outlined, the lack of human, economic and technical resources characterizing
SMEs (and textile/leather ones) represents a restraint to the adoption of this kind of solutions.
THE AGREEMENT “POOL – CONFINDUSTRIA”: AN AWARD TO CSR – RELATED
TOOLS ADOPTION
Environmental protection is a factor of competitiveness and sustainable development is a goal shared by the
major industrialized countries. For this reason, in 2004 the Pool has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with Confindustria (the biggest Italian manufacturing and services companies federation) with commitments
to:
• deepen together the main issues of concern relating to the prevention of environmental pollution
• verify the possibility to develop legislative and operational proposals, able to facilitate the perception
of environmental prevention as a factor of competitiveness' business
• provide that these proposals can be brought to the attention of the institutions (European Union,
Government and Parliament) and the general public as well as in the associative system of
Confindustria and insurance business
• define common actions for stimulating companies in adopting certified environmental management
systems.
For the immediate future:
• the Pool is committed to grant a reduction in the cost of pollution insurance for companies certified
with ISO 14001 and EMAS; the discount amounts about to 20% of the pure premium; it’s important
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to notice that the gross amount of the policy (without discount) has to be explicated in the estimate,
and the amount of certification discount has to be completely highlighted.
• Confindustria is committed to promote an educational and information activity with affiliates firms
about the agreement concluded with the pool.
In the first years of the Memorandum the policies drawing up have been very high; now their increase can be
considered constant. From the monitoring of certified companies, it was noted that the loss ratio is less than
those with no certification. Anyway, the 20% of the discount for the policy, in the Pool opinion, does still not
correspondent to a -20% of decrease of environmental risk (giving a net competitive advantage to
enterprises).
CONCLUSION
The agreement between Pool and Confindustria represents a very relevant experience; as from the initiative
of two market institutional actors (the biggest representative association of entrepreneurs and a big
consortium of insurances), this agreement allowed to define a specific monetary award for enterprises
adopting specific CSR – related tools (implementation of Environmental Management Systems), aiming at
preventing environmental damages and giving them a quantifiable economic competitive advantage.
This experience could represent a model for other future agreements between institutional, private and public
actors, with the same aim.
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4. PUBLIC POLICIES ANALYSIS
This last section aims at surveying the role of policymakers in stimulating and supporting SMEs (in
particular those operating in the textile/clothing and leather sectors) to adopt responsible initiatives and CSR
– related tools (by means of incentives, fiscal discounts, administrative simplifications, etc.)
The first step relates to the collection and analysis of main academic studies and research concerning the
relationship between public policies and CSR. The systematic literature review method has been, also in this
case, adopted; all main thematic areas of research have been mapped and main academic search engines
used. Main adopted keywords were: “public policies”, “CSR”, “SMEs”, “textile”, “leather”, “fashion”,
“apparel”, while the search engines used were Ebsco, Host e Jstor. The result has been a 20 papers
collections, of which nine have been selected and inserted in the following table.
The papers below provide an overview about public policies and their ability to stimulate the implementation
of CSR related tools by sectorial SMEs. Some papers deal with tools and indicators adopted by public
authorities, and the advantages deriving from it; others give a review of main policies implemented by
national European authorities in the different countries promoting CSR in a competitive perspective.
The second step analyzes Evidences carried out; a selection of initiatives, promoted by political institutions
in the three Countries which supported or provided incentives for the adoption of CSR related tools and
practices by SMEs of the three mentioned sectors, has been proposed. Sources of information where :
websites, official documents published by public authorities and direct interviews. In this section, the
information described onto the spreadsheet are the following:
-
Public Authority: reference to the Public Authority that promoted the initiative;
-
Country: reference to the specific Country (Italy, France or Spain);
-
CSR topics: detailing the CSR - related tool(s);
-
Policy instruments: detailing the policy reference (national law, regional law, ministerial regulation,
etc.);
-
Main contents: short description of the initiative;
-
Tools: detailing the instrument adopted by the Local Authority to support or reward the adoption of
CSR practices by SMEs. The following categories have been selected (again in accordance with
European Commission 2008): rewards, grants, fiscal incentives, economic incentives, information
instrument, mandating instrument;
-
Competitive benefit: taking into consideration the benefits connected with the adoption of the CSRrelated tool promoted by the Public Authority for SMEs of the textile/clothing and leather sector;
In total 37 public policies have been analyzed, most of which Italian (87%); Spanish 8% and French 5%
initiatives represent only a small share. The following chart details interest areas of promoted policies; 42%
of the selected policies concerned the Workplace CSR (safety of workers, initiatives anti – discrimination,
etc.).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
7%
9%
Environmental related
CSR
7%
Workplace CSR
Community related CSR
Management system
33%
42%
Market CSR
Accountability
2%
In respect to incentives system, public authorities have a relevant role in the set up of CSR practices
implementation; nevertheless, this practice cannot sustain the continuous maintenance of their adoption. On
the other hand, systems of fiscal incentives to the adoption of CSR related tools (above all the formalized
ones) proved to be more effective.
10%
15%
Informational instrument
15%
Grants
Reward
Fiscal incentives
Economic incentive
17%
38%
Mandating instrument
5%
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4.a Literature Review
References
Description of contents
M. de la Cuesta
Gonzales, C. Valor
Martinez (2004)
“Fostering Corporate
Social Responsibility
through public
initiative: from the UE
to the Spanish Case”.
This paper, makes a critical analysis of current
international, European and national initiatives to
foster CSR among companies, such as standards
issued by UN, ILO and OECD or initiatives
directly promoted and implemented by
governments.
Journal of Business
Ethics 55: 275-293
A. Tencati, F.Perrini,
S.Pogutz (2004)
“New tools to foster
corporate socially
responsible behaviour”.
, Journal of Business
Ethics 53: 173-190
The authors show the main results of a research
project developed by Bocconi University, called
CSR-SC, in order to promote the proactive social
role of Italian enterprises, with an attention on
SMEs’ involvement. The research shows some
indicators that can be used to check and
demonstrate organizational performance. Such
indicator can be qualitative, quantitative (physical
and technical) or economic-monetary. The CSRSC standard organizes the indicators according to
a three-level frame work: Categories, Aspects,
Indicators. The indicators are for example:
Composition
of
employees,
Shareholder
remuneration, Market development etc.
CSR tools
mentioned
Conclusions
The paper focuses on the Spanish case, as an example of the
failure of an exclusively voluntary approach, because most
actions have been carried out by companies with no
common guidelines, governmental support, or independent
Accountability
verification. The authors say that Spanish national and
and Management
regional governments, should give priority to some policies
systems
such as: make the public sector accountable for its
economic, social and environmental performance and
Market place CSR
consult stakeholders before making decisions which can
affect them; try to integrate issues of corporate
accountability with issues of good governance; use ethical
and social criteria in government purchases; give local
authorities tools for promoting local CSR among SME.
The authors identify the possible advantages, for
companies, deriving from participation in the CSR-SC
project; these enterprises increased:
- corporate trust and reputation, improving the relationships
Accountability
with different stakeholders;
and Management - better market position in relation to the increased demand
systems
for ethical products (goods and services);
- easier access of companies to the financial markets and
Workplace and
especially to ethical, environment and sustainability
Marketplace CSR oriented funds operating in accordance with Socially
Responsible Investing (SRI) principles;
- possible fiscal, economic and administrative incentives,
given by the Governments in order to reward socially
responsible companies.
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ENSR
“European SMEs and
social and
environmental
responsibility”.
The article shows some different national policies
to support European SMEs implementing CSR. In
particular, examples from France, Spain and Italy
are underlined.
Workplace CSR
Community
related CSR
2002, Observatory of
European SMEs, N°4
The French public sector provides several fiscal incentives
to support
the enterprises’ donations on non-profit
organisations. It, also, identifies a number of specific
measures to facilitate the insertion of people with special
difficulties, such as long-term unemployed, disabled, young
unemployed.
In Italy the main public policy to support CSR activities
among SMEs is given by fiscal exemptions to
sponsorship/patronage activities.
In Spain, some fiscal benefits are provided for those
enterprises that take part in social activities through
foundations.
Perrini F. (2007)
“Encouraging CSR in
Italy: the enabling role
of government in
mandating, motivating,
and supporting
responsible business
practices”
Working Paper N°35.
AA.VV. (2008)
“Politiche di CSR
promosse dalle
istituzioni e dalle
associazioni
imprenditoriali in Italia,
lavoro e qualità della
vita”.
This paper explores the most relevant Italian CSR
initiatives. It analyzes the government policies
that promote the analysis, verification and
validation of CSR practices such as regional laws,
national and regional initiatives.
This research monitors the initiatives carried out
by public institutions and by Trade Union to
promote and to spread the adoption of CSR related tools and initiatives by Italian companies.
The research examines the intensity and the
quality of public institution engagement regarding
their commitment to the CSR themes. The
intensity is measured by the number of initiatives
and laws; instead, the quality is measured by the
Workplace CSR
Environment
related CSR
Workplace CSR
Several CSR initiatives have been promoted in response to
the rising level of public attention to environmental
protection, safety, and respect for workers’ rights and
human rights in general
The authors show the main results coming out from the
research about: equal opportunities, work life balance, work
inclusion
disabled
people,
support
to
female
entrepreneurship, certification on work quality and safety.
The survey allows to understand how the public institutions
and the trade union interventions promote the CSR between
Italian companies. The main limit emerging from the study
is that only in few cases, the initiatives to promote CSR are
based on the attempt to converge the efforts of the actors
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Osservatorio Operandi
nature of initiatives carried out by public
institutions. The monitoring is focused on the
promotion of CSR experiences regarding the
workers.
having differences rules and competences (institution, trade
unions, enterprises, etc..)
R. Steurer, S. Margula,
G. Berger (2008)
“Public policies on CSR
in EU member states:
overview of
government initiatives
and selected cases on
awareness raising for
CSR, sustainable public
procurement and
socially responsible
investment”.
ESDN Quarterly
Reports, June
L. Alberada, J.M.
Lozano, A. Tencati, A.
Midttun, F. Perrini
(2008)
“The changing role of
governments in
corporate social
responsibility: drivers
and responses”
Business Ethics: a
This report examines public policies on CSR. It
describes the policy instruments that governments
adopt to support CSR initiatives amongst SMEs. It
distinguishes between Fostering philanthropy and
charity and Fostering Socially Responsible
Investment and instruments such as soft legal,
financial or economic ones.
Policy makers can choose from a broad spectrum of CSR
policy instruments (from informational to legal
Community
instruments). Raising the CSR awareness is an important
related CSR
political task, and it should be promoted by a mix of
instruments. The success factors are various, and the most
Management
prominent are the following two:
systems
- CSR initiatives should focus on the specific needs of
companies of different sizes from different sectors
Market place CSR
- new platforms or centres for CSR should cooperate
closely with existing institutions and structures (such as
Chambers of Commerce or regional trade unions).
This paper focuses on the analysis of the new
strategies adopted by governments in order to
promote and encourage businesses to adopt CSR
values and strategies. The research compares CSR
initiatives and public policies in three European
countries: Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom,
and focuses on governmental drivers and
responses.
In this report, the vision and the strategy of governments in
promoting CSR are analyzed, taking into account the new
relationships that governments are establishing with the
various social agents, such as businesses and social
organizations. There is a general consensus among all
actors, governments, businesses and NGOs in terms of CSR
policies concerning the necessity of new partnership
strategies and a multistakeholder approaches. In order to
achieve such results, governments will have to analyze the
different perceptions and expectations of the different
agents. Moreover, the government’s role entails much more
than promoting and encouraging. It means working as a
Community
related CSR
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European review
Volume 17 Number 4 .
AA.VV. (2007)
“The CSR Navigator:
Public policies in
Africa, the Americas,
Asia and Europe”
GTZ,
Berger, R. Steurer, A.
Konrad, A. Martinuzzi
(2007)
“Raising awareness for
CSR in EU member
states: overview of
governments initiatives
and selected cases”.
Final report to the EU
High-level group on
CSR, May
mediator between businesses and NGOs.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the Bertelsmann
Stiftung had jointly explored how governments
Community
can contribute to shape a fair and balanced
related CSR
process of globalization by working together with
private actors and civil society. Incorporating
Market place CSR
CSR into national policies can be seen as a first
important step towards this new, shared
governance approach.
This report shows government initiatives at the
national level aiming at raising CSR awareness in
EU Member States. These initiatives were
analysed by using a three-step policy study
format:
1. systematic review of the Compendium on
Community
national public policies on CSR in the EU and
literature. A telephone survey among public
related CSR
administrators from Member States regarding
Market place CSR
CSR awareness raising.
2. selection and analysis of three interesting good
practice cases from different Member States
3. summary of results of the survey and the case
studies, with a special focus on success factors
and challenges of different CSR policies and
policy instruments.
The research has developed CSR public policy profiles for
each of the 13 analyzed countries (including France). These
profiles are the basis of the CSR Navigator, a tool designed
to map CSR public policy instruments and to choose
measures appropriate to a country’s particular situation.
Governments addressing CSR topics use the following
instruments:
- informational or endorsing instruments (campaigns,
guidelines, trainings),
- partnership instruments (networks, partnerships,
dialogues),
- financial or economic instruments (economic
incentives, subsidies, grants),
- mandating instruments (regulations, laws, and
decrees).
83
4.b Evidences
Public Authority
Sardegna Region
Tuscany Region
Cortes Generales
Government
Ministère de l’ecologie,
del’energie, du
developpment durable
et de l’amènagement
du territoire
Ministerio de trabajo e
immigracion –
direccion general de la
economia social del
Country
Italy
Italy
Spain
CSR topic
Environmental
related CSR
Environmental
related CSR
Workplace
CSR
France
Environmental
related CSR
Spain
Community
related CSR
Policy
instruments
Environmental
Energy Plan 2006
Regional Law n. 39
/2005 "Disposizioni
in materia di
energia”
The Organic Act
3/2007
“Les prix
enterprises et
environment”.
“Law 49/2002”.
Main contents
The Region carried out programs to
stimulate the use, among SMEs, of solar
energy through thermal and photovoltaic
technologies. The Regional Government is
also involved in programmes aiming at the
development of other alternative energy
sources, such as hydrogen.
The Region promotes investments in
technologies for energy saving and
renewable energies deployment,.
The Region also stimulates initiatives
providing funds, grants and subsidising
interest. It promotes the assistance of the
SMEs in accordance with European act for
environmental protection’s rescue. The act
stimulates industrial research and the
competitive development of renewable
sources.
It includes a package of measures to ensure
equal opportunities between genders in the
public and private sectors. The law outlines
the principle of equality and the exclusion of
all kinds of discrimination. In this way the
application of equality in the political, legal
and living conditions is assured
.
It is a prize for enterprises implementing
best practices for environmental protection,
for sustainable development and tested ways
of reducing impacts of products’ life cycle.
Companies receive tax credits for donations
made to charities, social institutions or
programs benefiting the local community.
Credits can be of up to 35% of the amount of
Tools
Informational
instrument
Grants
Economic
incentives
Informational
instrument
Competitive benefit
Use of renewable sources
Resource efficiency
Use of renewable sources
Resource efficiency
Improvement of labour
conditions (and of their
productivity)
Increase of human capital
Reward
Fiscal
incentives
Corporate reputation
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
trabajo autonomo y de
la responsabilidad
social de las empresas.
Workplace
CSR
Government
Italy
Management
system
INAIL
(National Institution
for the assurance
against industrial
accident)
Ministero del lavoro e
della previdenza
sociale
Government
Italy
Workplace
CSR
Italy
Workplace
CSR
Italy
Workplace
CSR
“Legislative decree
38/2000”.
Ministry decree the
12th December
2000: “Nuove
tariffe dei premi per
l’assicurazione
contro gli infortuni
sul lavoro e le
malattie
professionali delle
gestioni: industria,
artigianato,
terziario, altre
attività e relative
modalità di
applicazione“
“Fondo
interprofessionale
per la formazione
continua”.
Law 53 March the
8th 2000.
the donation or up to a maximum of 10% of
basis assessment for program realization.
Tax deductibility can span for up to 10
years.
The decree aims at improving labour
conditions. It disciplines interventions to
improve labour safety. It refers to programs
and projects for health and safety at work,
such as renewal of machineries and systems,
workplace renovation, implementation of
management systems. This type of
interventions can be financed by the
government.
INAIL provides 10% discount on insurance
premium
to
enterprises.
Interested
enterprises (if small or medium) must be
operating for at least for 2 years and must
comply with health and safety regulation.
INAIL
asks
improvements
and
interventions to be indicated. The law
require companies to implement a safety and
health management system
The Institute disposes financial resources
from the “National plan on safety training ”.
The beneficiaries are workers which are
inclined to improve their labour condition.
The law promotes a work-life balance
initiative. Workers are stimulated to manage
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Increase of human capital
Economic
incentive
Improvement of labour
conditions
Cost efficiency
Grant
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Increase of human capital
Improvement of labour
conditions
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Emilia Romagna
Region
Workplace
CSR
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Regional Law 17
August the 1st 2005
(referred to
National Law
598/94).
Workplace
CSR
Tuscany Region
Italy
Marketplace
CSR
Regional Law 17 of
May the 8th 2006.
Management
system
Workplace
CSR
Tuscany Region
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Piano di sviluppo
economico
regionale 2007 –
2013.
Management
system
Marketplace
CSR
Campania Region
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Regional decree
02/2008.
their workload allowing enough time for
their work as well as for their private life
commitments (such as family needs).
It promotes enhancement of the labour,
health and safety conditions.
It encourages investment for innovation
technology,
environmental
protection,
organizational and commercial innovation
and, labour safety.
Aimed at the management of CSR
development based on equal opportunities
and equal rights, no discrimination, people
valorisation and territorial cohesion.
It support initiatives to promote CSR such as
training activities. The Region provides
information, communication and promotion
initiatives that guarantee the diffusion of
those initiatives among organizations and
citizens. The law describes benefits for
SMEs aiming at implementing certifiable
management systems.
The plan envisages operational tools for the
promotion of CSR through direct support to
certified enterprises. It grants a reduction of
0,50% on IRAP (regional tax on productive
activities) rate for SMEs with SA8000 and
EMAS certifications, and 0,35% for
enterprises
with
ISO14001.
SMEs
participating on this initiative can apply for
further incentives.
It provides grants for the implementation of
management systems in accordance with
ISO 14001, EMAS, Ecolabel regulation,
SA8000 and ISO 9001.
The Region
provides up to 20% of
Increase of human capital
Improvement of labour
conditions
Economic
incentive
Promotion of innovation
Cost efficiency
Information
instrument
Economic
incentive
Improvement of labour
conditions
Cost efficiency
Improvement of labour
conditions
Fiscal
incentive
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
Fiscal
incentive
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Corporate reputation
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
implementation costs.
Cost efficiency
Management
system
Piemonte Region
Italy
Workplace
CSR
Management
system and
accountability
Piemonte Region
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Workplace
CSR
Umbria Region
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Valle d’Aosta Region
Veneto Region
Lazio Region
Italy
Italy
Italy
Management
system
Management
system
Workplace
CSR
Regional Law
34/04
It gives fiscal incentives (tax breaks) for the
implementation of tools and instruments to
improve safety of workers. The interventions
can be technological, infrastructural and
managerial ones.
Fiscal
incentive
Documento Unico
di programmazione
(DOCUP) 20002006.
It offer special consultancy services for
environmental management certification and
for Social Balance certification. The Region
finance up to 75% of the certification
consultancy costs.
Grant
Regional Decree
598/94
Regional decree
28/2004
Regional decree
01/2008
Regional Law 16
September the 18th
2007
It provides grants for the acquisition of
assets which sustain projects and
investments in innovation technology and
safety. The Region covers up to 70% of the
costs related to the implementation of safety
management systems or consultancy for
improvements in the fields of environmental
protection and safety
The Region offer environmental, quality,
safety and CSR management systems
support. It covers up to 15% of the costs of
development of management systems.
It grants a Regional contribution to firms
which obtain ethics and social certifications.
The Region covers up to 100% of
certification costs.
It describes CSR as a tool to improve labour
quality. It defines the requirements to gain
access to funding for projects related to
work life balance.
Improvement of labour
conditions
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Cost efficiency
Grant
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Increase of human capital
Improvement of labour
conditions
Increase of human capital
Economic
incentive
Improvement of labour
conditions
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Marche Region
Calabria Region
Autonomous Province
of Trento
Italy
Italy
Italy
Management
system
Workplace
CSR
Workplace
CSR
Regional Law 228
February the 16th
2005.
Piano regionale per
lo sviluppo e il
lavoro 2008.
Piano regionale per
le politiche del
lavoro 2008-2010.
Accountability
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Region
Italy
Management
system
Regional decree
18/2005
Accountability
and
management
systems
Liguria Region
Italy
Workplace
CSR
Environmental
related CSR
Regional law
30/2007
The Region gives to SMEs incentives for the
implementation of eco-management and
Social Responsibility System. The Region
manages a database of socially responsible
SMEs.
It grants financial resources to cover up to
90% of implementation costs of corporate
and inter-corporate projects concerning
work-life balance. SMEs’ workers have
many opportunities, such as: crèche for their
children, disability benefits, opportunity to
use remote working solutions.
It gives incentives for enterprises that
implemented labour projects such as, parttime jobs; facilitator for paternity and
maternity leave. SMEs have 2.600€
incentive for each worker that can have
flexibility for two years.
The decree enforces disciplinary regulation
for SMEs aiming at adopting CSR tools.
The initiatives that could be funded are: the
adoption of social and environmental report,
and implementation of CSR management
systems in accordance with SA 8000
It promotes services to improve labour
conditions. The Region provides grants to
companies and local entities for the adoption
of CSR initiatives in the fields of human
resources and environmental management;
codes of conduct; accountability models.
The Region created a database for a socially
responsible employers, registered firms can
benefit from HR outsourcing initiatives.
Grant
Reward
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Corporate reputation
Improvement of labour
conditions
Increase of human capital
Grant
Improvement of labour
conditions
Grant
Cost efficiency
Improvement of labour
conditions
Reputation improvement
Grant
Cost efficiency
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Management
system
Initiatives promoted by
Provincial Chambers
of Commerce
Italy
Workplace
CSR
Environmental
related CSR
Announcements of
competition
proposed by many
Provincial
Chambers of
Commerce
Management
system
National Government
Italy
Law 93/2001.
Environmental
related CSR
Municipalities
(e.g. Langhirano,
municipalities of
Province of Florence)
Management
system
Italy
Local regulations
Environmental
related CSR
Workplace
CSR
State, Regions
Italy
Management
system
These Chambers of Commerce issue official
notifications to promote the adoption and the
implementation of management systems and
certifications that are recognized at a
national and international levels. They
finance projects for first time certification.
SMEs can apply for funding for external
specialist consultancy, for workers training
and for auditing services. Grants vary from
each different Chambers of Commerce
depending on the typology of certification.
The organizations that have an EMS which
complies with EMAS Regulation can obtain
the renewal of some environmental permits.
These permits are for air emissions,
discharge, and IPPC plants. It allows
organizations to bypass the full procedures
of renewal of environmental permit.
Some municipalities grant tax breaks for
waste collection, especially for waste
disposal rate (TIA). The reduction (only in
the variable share) only benefits enterprises
that have an environmental management
system. The initiative intends to provide a
tangible benefit for enterprises that invest in
the correct environmental management of
their activities.
It allows tax credits for enterprises that are
EMAS certified . This measure is applied to
a wide range of firms to motivate and
support SMEs certification. These measures
could also be applied to incentive
employment of new workers.
Improvement of labour
conditions
Grant
Reputation improvement
Cost efficiency
Corporate reputation
Mandating
instrument
Economic savings
Resource efficiency
Fiscal
incentive
Fiscal
incentive
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
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Management
System
National Government
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Legislative decree
152/2006
Cortes Generales
Governments
Spain
Workplace
CSR
Law 43/2006.
State, Minister
responsible for equal
opportunities
France
Workplace
CSR
“Equally Label”.
Foresee the reduction of expenses,
performance bonds and financial guarantees.
This measures are part of an initiative which
perceive businesses as responsible not only
for their ordinary management functions but
also, in some specific cases, for remediation
of sites or goods and cross-border shipment
of waste. ISO 14001 certified or EMAS
registered companies are recognised. That
initiative aims at mitigating the needs for
financial security to cover risks related to
discharges in environmentally sensitive
areas.
It is a result of a social dialogue between
representatives of industries and unions
(included the Spanish confederation of
SMEs). The objective is the improvement of
employment stability and jobs quality. It
contains measures to promote employment;
the changing on labour laws improving the
temporary contracts; and improvements for
unemployed welfare.
It was introduced in 2004, and in 2006 it was
extended to SMEs. It aims at boosting
equality and professional diversity through
companies. Enterprises wishing to obtain the
label must apply to an independent body
(AFAQ – AFNOR). It is a way of
recognising companies that wish to
demonstrate their long-term commitment for
gender equal opportunities in the workplace.
Economic
incentive
Mandating
information
Informational
instrument
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
Improvement of labour
conditions
Improvement of labour
conditions
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Workplace
CSR
Emilia Romagna
Region
Italy
Environmental
related CSR
Management
System
“Social Quality
label”.
The region is working on this label based on
responsible production criteria and not only
on product quality criteria. It seeks to
integrate various different schemes and
certifications such as SA 8000, ISO 14001,
EMAS, Ecolabel and OHSAS 18001.
Informational
instrument
Corporate reputation
Cost efficiency
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SECTION 2 - EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS
In order to investigate the existing relationship between competitiveness and CSR-related performances, we
carried out a specific questionnaire among firms on textile/clothing/tanning sector (the full questionnaire is
available on cosmic website).
METHODOLOGY
The questionnaire has been administered in Italy, France and Spain, the three Countries object of our study.
During the 2009 spring period we identified the target group, in collaboration with the Chambers of
Commerce of each Country involved. Thus, the sectorial trade associations (national and local level) and the
sectorial trade unions had a key role on this process of firms identification .
We contacted about 700 firms, in the three countries, from June to October 2009; and we tried to
differentiate the origin area (or reference district) of the firms. Another differentiation in which we kept
attention was about the affiliation sector: textile, clothing and tanning.
The system used to contact the firms was essentially telephone interviews. In some cases, if asked by the
firm, we emailed or faxed the questionnaire. The interviews and data collection were carry out by Sant’Anna
research Group (for Italy and France ), the partner Empolese Valdelsa Cluster Development Agency and
Fondaca - Active Citizenship Foundation (for Italian area), and Center of innovation and Conceptual
development of New Products (CID) of the Universitat de Girona (for Spain).
The structure of the questionnaire was brief and well focused on the topics of CSR and competiveness. Our
scope was to reach the greatest number of firms, gathering the essential information to build a solid
framework on the real relationship between CSR and competitiveness. The questions were 11, all closed
questions except for the second one: "how many employees do you have", which required a number to be
inserted.
The questions were divided in three main areas:
• Who is the firm: sector, number of employees, reference suppliers, market and clients (A)
• Which CSR tools the firm use: certification, CSR initiatives, choice of suppliers, environmental issue
• CSR and competitiveness: the relationship perceived by the firm, and the measure of competitiveness
of the firm in the last 5 years.
In the following sections (A, B and C) we’ve synthesized the results of questionnaires; in the final section
(D) we’ve briefly outlined a first correlation between CSR and competitiveness variables, on the basis of the
obtained results. Further details of data are available in the Appendix.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
A) A FRAMEWORK ABOUT THE FIRMS
The questionnaires totally collected are 274 total: 150 from Italy, 63 from France and 61 from Spain.
These proportions respect the level of diffusion of textile/clothing and leather enterprises in the three
countries (see the first report of COSMIC project: Preliminary analysis of textile/clothing sector).
This first part of the analysis is aimed to define a framework about the companies in our sample study. We
have tried to balance and diversify the sample. However, we must take into account the variety and
complexity of supply chain on clothing/textile/tanning sector, that is very broad and difficult to disentangle,
especially amongst SMEs.
Summary of the sight of firms in our sample:
• The questionnaires collected are 274 - 150 from Italy, 63 in France and 61 in Spain.
• The prevalent sector is “clothing” with 137 companies, followed by “textile” and “tanning” with 77
firms each (the question could have multiresponses).
• The firms have got a mean of 41 employees each, with a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 650.
• 41,1% of the suppliers are located in the same nation as the interviewed firm.
• The main reference client results to be “other companies of the textile and clothing”, with a 42,5%.
• Geographically speaking, the final market is mainly national and other European Countries.
Your company works in which sectors (question 1)
The first question is to identify the affiliation sector of the respondents.
In general, the prevalent sector is “clothing” with 47,1% of the total firms. As evidenced by the data below,
some firms marked more than one sector (with a maximum of two), in particular: 16 firms are from both
textile and clothing sector, 1 is from both textile and tanning sector (for a total of 291 choices for 274 firms).
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When analysed by country, both Italy and France, present a general equilibrium amongst the three sectors.
However both countries have a prevalence of clothing firms. Spain, is also dominated by the clothing sector,
with a small percentage of textiles but absent of tanning firms. Italy is the dominant country for tanning with
71,4% of the firms, followed by France with 28,6%. Clothing is the leading sector in Italy and Spain, with
46% and 39,4% of the firms respectively. In France, clothing account for only 14,6% of the sample total.
Textiles, on the other hand, is France leading segment with 31% of the firms. Italy has 54,5% of the firms
and Spain 14,3%.
How many employees (including part-time, seasonal and home-workers) do have your company?
(question 2)
This second question is the only “opened question”. We didn’t propose a range of choice, so the firms could
provide us the exact number of employees. In brief we can find a mean of 41 employees, a median of 15, and
a mode of 10. We have made a grouping with nine ranges. The more numerous are the first two: between
zero and-10 and between 11 to-20, with 61% of the total firms.
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A cross analysis between employees grouping and the three sectors, evidenced a substantial balance.
From a geographical point of view, your suppliers are mainly… (question 3)
At this third question the respondents are 271 (three missing), with the possibility on multiresponses (for a
total of 389 choices made). From the total, 41,1% of firms have suppliers mainly at national level; 27,5% are
located in other European Countries; 17,2% are from neighborhood areas; and 12,6% are located in Asian
Countries.
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Suppliers: geographical area
Italian firms outsource their supplies mainly from local and national suppliers; France and Spain, on the
other hand, outsource mainly from national and European suppliers.
Country*Suppliers: geographical area
When analysed by sector, textile and clothing mainly use suppliers from national level. Tanning relies
equally onto local and national suppliers.
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Sector* Suppliers: geographical area
What is your main reference client? (question 4)
At this fourth question there are 273 respondents (one missing, multiresponses possible for a total of 325).
The main reference client is “other companies of the textile and clothing”, with 42,5% of total; it is followed
by large scale/retail trade with 18,2%, other companies from different sector and retail shop with 16,9%
each; last final consumer with 5,5%.
Main reference client
When matching “main reference client” data by individual country a considerable differentiation between
sectors can be noticed. The Italian clothing sectors has the majority of its clients in the supply chain and
retail shops, while the tanning sector concentrates its clients on ‘other companies of textile and clothing’
(60,3%). France is characterised for a more homogenised clients distribution, with the exception of the
“other companies but from a different sector” option. However, one must consider that there are less French
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than Italian firms in the sample. Finally, for Spanish position we notice a net prevalence for other companies
(from textile/clothing as well from different sector) as main clients; so, the Spanish firms that make up our
sample come from a middle range of the entire supply chain.
From a geographical point of view, your final market is mainly… (question 5)
There are no missing answers for this fifth question, and multipleresponses are possible with a total of 425.
The final market, geographically speaking, is mainly national (40,5%) and localized in European Countries
(33,9%).
When matching data of final market from a geographical point of view and single sectors, a different
situation is found in each Country. In Italy, there is a prevalence of local final market in the tanning sector
(39,6%), followed by national market (32,9%). The clothing as well as textile sector registered a prevalence
of national market (respectively 43,3% and 41,5%), followed by market localized in other European
Countries (for both fields roughly 29%). In France, we find a net prevalence of national market for textile
(60,6%), and for clothing (48,6%). Opposite to what was observed in Italy in the tanning sector, there is an
equitable distribution between national and European markets (37,2%), with a small concentration in local
markets. Finally, in Spain the dominant markets are concentrated in EU Countries (others in the clothing
sector, and national level for textile).
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B) THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON THE FIRMS
What certification do you have? (question 6)
From our sample 127 (46%) firms have at least one certification, 107 of which have more than one. A total
of 147(54%) firms do not have any kind of certification. Most firms’ certificates from the clothing sector
are in France and Spain. Italy holds most of the certificates for tanning and textile sector respectively.
Not a single firm holds any of the following certificates: SA8000, OHSAS 18001, Ecolabel or EPD. The
more widespread certification is the ISO9000, which accounts for 42,5% of certified companies (and 19,7%
in total). The “ethical product label” has 32,3% of firms certified (15% in total). Many companies have
chosen not identified categories of certification: in general "something else", or referring to “other
environmental certification/labeling” (for details about sectorial or local certifications, see section 1.b of this
report).
The ISO 9000 family addresses "Quality management". This means what the organization does to fulfill: the
customer's quality requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer
satisfaction, and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.
French companies with ISO9000 certification are 14, the 22,2%; Italian and Spanish percentages are also
high, with respectively 19,3% (30 enterprises) and 18% (11 enterprises). With respect to each sector,
tanning has a 37,7%, textile 20,8% and clothing 16%.
In respect to the certification in environmental field, the main certifications are : ISO 14001, EMAS and
other environmental certification/label.
The ISO 14000 family addresses "Environmental management". This means what the organization does to:
minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to achieve continual improvement
of its environmental performance. 8% of Italian firms (12 enterprises) are certified ISO14001, as well as the
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4,8% of French (3) and 21,3% of Spanish ones (13). With respect to sector: certificated firms are 7,8% of
textile, 10.2% of clothing and 10,4% of tanning.
The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a management tool for companies and other
organizations to evaluate, report and improve their environmental performance. Only Italian firms have
EMAS certification, for a total of seven, mainly from the Tanning sector (5); 1 in the textile sector and 1 in
the clothing one.
Finally, for the certifications concerning ethical standard, some adhesion for “ethical product label” was
encountered. More than half of Spanish firms (60,6%) assert having this certification (39 enterprises),
especially in the clothing sector (33). Italian (1,3%) and French (3,2%) companies have low percentages.
What initiatives do you have done over the past 5 years? (question 7)
The aim of this seventh question was to analyze the participation and activism of individual company
towards ethical/social initiatives. As evidenced from the list of initiatives proposed (below), different
stakeholders were considered to whom the company could turn to. Activities and initiatives outside the
company were also investigated, with regard to local community or accession to international initiatives; and
finally the CSR auditing/reporting system.
85 firms declared that had not participated or promoted any initiative over the past 5 years. The remaining
189 companies had participated to more than one initiative.
Count
1. Drafting and adoption of codes of ethics and/or codes of conduct
58
2. Benefits for employees (e.g. flexibility of individual working hours, requests for part time
contracts, convention with sports and cultural centers, collaborations with trade unions,
etc.)
98
3. Sophisticated system for the evaluation of staff (e.g. balance of competences, processes for
evaluating the potential etc…)
13
4. Agreements and partnerships with customers and suppliers to promote ethical products
and/or eco-compatible (e.g. shared advertising campaigns, manufacturing consortia, etc ...)
29
5. Editing of Social/ Sustainability and/or Environmental Annual Balance or Report
10
6. Adherence to ethical and/or environmental initiatives at international level (e.g. accession to
the Global Compact, to standard AA1000)
45
7. Initiatives for the local community (e.g. support for local projects, sponsorship of events
promoted by associations or local groups, open doors, etc...)
71
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Looking at country level, we notice that: 63,3% of Italian firms, 55,5% of French firms and 96,7% of
Spanish firms had participated at least to one initiative; When analyzing by sector, firms that participated in
at least one initiative are: 63,3% from textile, 78,8 from clothing and 58,4% from tanning. Interesting to
notice that firm’s size had influenced levels of participation. In each proposed initiative, firms with 10
employees or less had a participation level smaller than the general average.
Which of the following elements do you keep in consideration choosing your suppliers?
(question 8)
The questionnaire proposed some alternatives from which companies could choose. Two of these choices are
referred to CSR elements (“environmental compatibility of raw materials, auxiliary products or services
purchased” and “If the suppliers have ethical or environmental certifications”); the other three choices
referred to quality or price area (“price of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased”, “quality
of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased” and “If the suppliers have quality certifications”).
With a percentage of 82,1% the quality of raw materials/products/services is the preferred characteristic
considered when choosing suppliers, followed by price with 63,9% of the responses. The possession of an
ethical or environmental certification is preferred to a quality certification (22,5% and 13,9% respectively).
There is a low percentage of answers regarding the environmental compatibility.
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ANSWER
COUNTRY
SECTOR
YES/
NO
SPAIN
FRANCE
ITALY
TANNING
APPAREL
TEXTILE
YES
49
45
81
46
92
46
NO
12
18
69
31
45
31
YES
55
52
118
16
23
14
NO
6
11
32
61
114
63
YES
4
7
26
14
12
16
NO
57
56
124
63
125
61
YES
4
15
19
10
17
12
NO
57
48
131
67
120
65
YES
39
8
15
11
41
14
NO
22
55
135
66
96
63
Price of raw materials,
auxiliary products or services
purchased
Quality of raw materials,
auxiliary products or services
purchased
Environmental compatibility
of raw materials, auxiliary
products or services
purchased
If the suppliers have quality
certifications (e.g. iso 9000)
If the suppliers have ethical
or environmental
certifications (e.g. EMAS,
SA8000,..)
Data in number of answers
In respect to the 5 answers:
Price of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased: Both from country and
sector analysis more than half of companies considered this variable when choosing their
suppliers
Quality of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased: this resulted to be the most
selected item for firms choosing their own suppliers. Up to 80% of companies selected this indicator,
by individual Country and sector
Environmental compatibility of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased: this CSR
indicator, concerning the environment, is not largely considered. The higher percentage is in Italy
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If the suppliers have quality certifications (e.g. iso 9000): although as indicated by the survey, the
quality of products/materials are the indicator in which companies pay more attention when
selecting their suppliers. However, this characteristic does not appear to be measured by
certification and international standards.
If the suppliers have ethical or environmental certifications (e.g. EMAS, SA8000,..): surprisingly,
Spanish firms pay particular attention when choosing their suppliers. The choice is made based on
possession of ethical / environmental certification.
Finally, when analyzing the eighth and the third questions (“From a geographical point of view, your
suppliers are mainly...”), we find that: price is kept in consideration mainly from Asian suppliers (75,5%);
quality from European suppliers (92,5%); quality and ethical/environmental certifications again from Asian
suppliers (20,4% and 44,8%). Those that opt for local suppliers keep in consideration the environmental
compatibility more than the firm itself (22,3%). [ Bear in mind that the suppliers’ geographical area are:
Local for 67 firms, National for 160 firms, Localized in other European Countries for 107, Localized in USA
for 2 firms, Localized in Asian Countries for 49 firms, Elsewhere for 4 firms.]
With regard to environmental issues what do you do in your company? (question 9)
This ninth question represents the last indicator to measure CSR performances in companies. There are
several choices for proposed actions that can contribute to environmental management. In respect to the
different answers:
The use of internal environmental audits has been indicated by 118 enterprises (43% of total
interviewed); this number is high on Spanish firms, 72,1%, followed by Italian 36,7%, and French
30,1%. In relation to sector, tanning has 49,3%, clothing 41,6% and textile 40,2%.
The measurement of impacts by environmental indicators is carried out by 110 enterprises (40%).
From a geographical point of view 60,6% in Spain, 40% in Italy, and 20,6% in France. With regard
to the sector: 57,1% of tanning, 38,9% of textile, and 31,4% of clothing firms.
The participation at a consortium plant is common in Italy (34,7%) especially in the tanning sector
(62,3%). Spanish and French firms have 29,5% and 23,8% respectively. Most experiences regard
tanning and textile sectors (characterized by higher environmental impacts in their processes).
Totally 85 enterprises (31%) answered Yes, while 189 (69%) No
The use of products with reduced environmental impacts is experimented by 134 enterprises (49%)
in respect to 140 (51%); the percentages are 83,6% in Spain, 39,3% in Italy, and 38% in France. In
respect to sector, tanning has 53,2%, followed by textile with 46,7% and clothing with 45,9%.
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C) PERFORMANCES OF COMPETITIVENESS
The last question is based on a self-evaluation about some key elements for competitiveness of a company.
The aim was to have a large sample of firms, and therefore representative of all countries and sectors
participating in the research.
In your opinion, manage the environmental and social elements of your business does also help to
maintain better competitive performances or face better the impact of economic crisis? (question 10)
Italy
France
Spain
Total
Not at all, it costs and therefore is
counterproductive
10
4
4
18
A little, the social and environmental
performances don’t impact with the
competitiveness
48
8
14
70
Enough, also if there is no a direct and
strong relation
57
17
33
107
Very much, the social and
environmental performances could
influence the competitiveness
19
11
3
33
We don't know
15
20
7
42
Textile
Clothing
Tanning
Total
Not at all, it costs and therefore is
counterproductive
7
11
2
18
A little, the social and environmental
performances don’t impact with the
competitiveness
19
33
20
70
Enough, also if there is no a direct and
strong relation
26
56
33
107
Very much, the social and
environmental performances could
influence the competitiveness
9
13
13
33
We don't know
14
22
9
42
As results show, a large number of enterprises consider social and environmental issues important for
maintaining good performances in periods of crisis, also if this relationship is not directly perceived. Low in
the three countries is the number of subjects considering this relation clear (only 12%), with a higher
percentage of France. At sectorial level, it’s interesting to notice that a large part of enterprises considering
rather important these tools for facing the crisis, belongs to the clothing sector (that is the most interested
from issues concerning the international supply – chain management). In short, we can say that these topics
are perceived important by enterprises of this sector, but not yet as strategic competitive variables.
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For your firm, in the last 5 years, how do you consider…
(1: very bad – 2: scarce – 3: acceptable – 4: good – 5: very good – 6: we don’t know)
(question 11)
The results should represent a trend of the last five years. The higher level of self perceived competitiveness
is for “Level of satisfaction about the consideration that your customers and suppliers have of you”, with a
mean of 4,05. The fewer level of competitiveness are recorded with “Impact of energy costs” and “invoice
trend”, with respectively a mean of 2,84 and 2,79, and a mode of 2 (=scarce).
Descriptive Statistics
N
Mean
Mode
270
2,84
2
b) Invoice trend
271
2,79
2
c)
270
3,49
3
d) Productivity of staff
271
3,75
4
e)
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients
272
3,33
4
f)
Level of demand for your products from new clients
272
3,12
3
g) Level of technical innovation in your company
269
3,53
4
h) Level of organizational innovation of your company
269
3,22
4
a)
Impact of energy costs
Motivation and participation of company staff
i)
Level of satisfaction about the consideration that your customers and
suppliers have of you
270
4,05
4
j)
Intensity and quality of relationships with local stakeholders
268
3,48
4
k) Ease of access to credit from banks and financial institution
267
3,27
3
l)
267
3,66
6
Level of appeal in your business for new members and partners
An analysis for each answer follows.
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a) IMPACT OF ENERGY COSTS
The perception of the impact of energy cost results very negative for the Italian companies (21,6% of “very
bad”), and “scarce” for a high percentage of Spanish firms (75%). France registered a 40,3% of acceptable
cases. Cross-analyzing the impacts of energy costs and the possession of environmental certification, no
improvement is shown. The trend for companies which are certified ISO 14001 and those that aren’t’ is very
similar.
ISO 14001 (yes or no) – question 6 * Impact of energy costs: stacked graph
On the other hand, companies that possess a generic certification - “other certification/label” – appear to be
in a worse situation, with a higher peak value for "scarce".
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Other environmental certification/label (yes or no) – question 6 * Impact of energy costs: stacked graph
These results tend to confirm an opinion (evidenced in the previous literature review in Iraldo, Testa, Frey,
2009) that only if a Management System is well implemented can give good results in terms of cost
efficiency.
b) INVOICE TREND
The level of Invoice trend is considered acceptable for high percentage of French (41,9%) and Italian
(41,6%) companies. Pretty much different the situation for Spanish firms, with an 80% of “scarce” invoice
trend. With regards to sector, major problems are registered by clothing firms, for which the 59,8% of
invoice trend is scarce.
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The picture of the invoice trend for companies with at least one certification does not change compared to
the general framework: curve shifted to the perception remains low, with a clear predominance for "scarce"
consideration.
Firms with at least 1 certification
With regard to question n° 7 (initiatives), the companies that draw up agreements and partnership with
customers/suppliers don’t present differences with companies who don’t. For the more quoted levels of
perception, we find the following percentages:
Firms with
agreements/
partnership
Firms without agreements/
partnership
Scarce level
34,5%
37,64%
Acceptable level
38%
35,06%
Good level
17%
17%
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c) MOTIVATION AND PARTICIPATION OF COMPANY STAFF (e.g. satisfaction
demonstrated by the workers, employees’ suggestions to the firm, level of work integration
between employees, etc.)
Smaller firms show a smaller variance between the levels of motivation and participation of staff.
Employees Grouping – question 2 * Motivation and participation staff: stacked graph
It could be useful to understand the relation between the adoption of policies about human resources
management and the motivation perceived by companies about their employees. To do that, we can link
some answers of the 7th question (initiatives done in the past 5 years, benefits for employees plus system of
evaluation) with the 11th (motivation and participation of staff). As we can see, in terms of benefits for
employees (such as flexibility of individual working hours, requests for part time contracts, convention with
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sports and cultural centers, collaborations with trade unions, etc.) we have an interesting result (for classes
Good and Very good the percentage of Yes is rather high), while there is no relationship between the
perception of increase of motivation of staff and the implementation of sophisticated systems for the
evaluation of staff (e.g. balance of competences, processes for evaluating the potential etc..)
Benefits for employees
Sophisticated systems for
the evaluation of staff
Yes
No
Yes
No
47
53
Very
good
14
18
Don’t
know
0
1
3
97
3
29
0
1
Very bad
Scarce
Acceptable
Good
1
3
8
18
28
79
0
4
3
23
4
103
d) PRODUCTIVITY OF STAFF (e.g. staff skills, quality of work performed, level of not
absenteeism, etc..)
Also in this case, smaller firms show a smaller variance between the levels of productivity of staff. However,
a peak value on “good level” for each companies’ dimension is also noticed.
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Employees grouping – question 2 * Productivity of staff: stacked graph
The graph below demonstrates a strong connection between the middle ranges “good” and “acceptable” for
both motivation and for productivity of the staff.
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e) LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR YOUR PRODUCTS FROM YOUR TRADITIONAL
CLIENTS
The graph below tries to represent the level of demand of products from traditional clients (competitiveness
indicator) with the typology of final reference client. In general, an acceptable and good level was perceived
for this indicator; and a similar situation was registered when linking this competitiveness variable with final
market – geographical point of view (following graph).
The companies with retail shop as final client register a higher level of “acceptable” at the expense of
“good”.
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients * Client – question 4
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Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients * Final market – question 5
f) LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR YOUR PRODUCTS FROM NEW CLIENTS
Again, when comparing data on traditional clients and new clients, it is noticeble that companies that mainly
deal with "other companies of the same sector", have a weak perception (bad and scarce) from new clients.
Present again the crosses made with the indicator on traditional clients for new clients, we note that for
companies that have as customer reference "other companies but from different sector" is less negative the
level perceived. In respect to the localization of final market, productions addressed to national and European
markets seem to suffer more than the others in terms of new clients.
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Level of demand for your products from new clients * Client – question 4
Level of demand for your products from new clients * Final market – question 5
Does the attractiveness for new client depend on certifications? With respect to the firms of our sample, the
curve is flatly moved on higher level, with 42,4% on acceptable (vs 40% general) and 45,3% on good (vs
31% general).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Firms with at least 1 certification
Even more clearly is the advantage for companies with at least one certification, excluding the quality
certification (ISO900): the 52,8% perceived the level of demand for products from new clients as “good”, to
the detriment of lower levels.
Firms with at least 1 certification (ISO9000 excluded)
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
g) LEVEL OF TECHNICAL INNOVATION IN YOUR COMPANY (e.g. development
and launch of new products, use of raw materials or auxiliary products innovative,
acquisition of technologically advanced equipment for production, new technologies for
abatement of pollutants, new materials to more energy-efficient etc..)
Spanish firms (71,7%) and firms in the clothing sector (48,8%) have shown a good level of technical
innovation during the past five years.
The level of technical innovation for the companies with a ISO14001 or an EMAS certification is moved in
positive standards. Among the firms who perceived their technical innovation “very good”, the 28% has a
certification. Among the firms with an environmental certification (ISO14001 or EMAS), the 64,7%
perceived technical innovation as “good” (against 45,5% of who doesn’t have a similar certification).
Technical innovation * Environmental certification (ISO14001 and EMAS)
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h) LEVEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION OF YOUR COMPANY (i.e. new
internal figure in charge of areas such as environment and safety, planning tools and training
of personnel, etc..)
Now we try to match the possession of one certification (question 6) with the level of organizational
innovation. As you can see from the chart below, the 58,5% of the firms with at least 1 certification says that
the level of organizational innovation is “good”, compared to 36,4% of total firms (moved on “acceptable
level”).
Organizational innovation * one certification
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
i)
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION ABOUT THE CONSIDERATION THAT YOUR
CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS HAVE OF YOU
All companies from three Countries show a “good” level of satisfaction about them.
Consideration of you * Country: stacked graph
Also for the level of consideration from customers and suppliers, the situation does not change significantly
between companies who claim to have concluded agreements with customers and suppliers to promote
ethical products and/or eco-compatible and those who claim not to have: the companies, generally, have a
good sense of their own image.
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Consideration of you* agreements and partnerships
j) INTENSITY AND QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL
STAKEHOLDERS (public authorities and control bodies, associations and local
communities, representatives of categories and trade unions, etc..)
Spanish firms had demonstrated a better level of relationships with local stakeholders (good for 79,3%).
With a similar trend, Italy and France had a more homogenized distribution of variables More distributed the
situation for scarce and good variables.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Relationships with local stakeholder * Country: stacked graph
Regarding sector, tanning, as well as clothing registered good levels of relationship with local stakeholders.
On the other hand, textiles demonstrated a uniform level of responses throughout variables.
Relationships with local stakeholder * Sector: stacked graph
The last choice of question 7 is about the initiatives carried out for local community. The 50% of companies
that participated in some local initiatives affirm to have a good relationship with the local community (11,4%
“very good”).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Initiatives for the local community (yes-no)
Finally, if we test the perception of the relations with local stakeholders just for the firms with a CSR
certification (no quality certifications, so ISO9000 excluded), we can observe that the curve trend is similar
with the general one. However, the percentage of the level “good” is definitely higher: 84% vs. 43%, to the
detriment of “acceptable” and “scarce” levels.
Firms with at least 1 certification (ISO9000 excluded)
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k) EASE OF ACCESS TO CREDIT FROM BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
In relation to competitiveness’ indicator “access to credit” there is a high number of companies in France and
Spain that don’t have knowledge about it. Interesting to notice the peak value on “acceptable” level for
Spanish companies
Access to credit * Country: stacked graph
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
l)
LEVEL OF APPEAL IN YOUR BUSINESS FOR NEW MEMBERS AND
PARTNERS (entry of new members, attainment offer, proposals for mergers, etc.)
From a sector point of view, business in general felt that their appeal for new members is not very good.
“Textile” registered minor variances between answers (as well as in other indicators) . Very similar are the
“tanning” and “clothing” trends, with a value peak on “good” perception.
Appeal in your business for new members * Sector: stacked graph
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
D) STATISTICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN CSR AND COMPETITIVENESS
The links between the CSR practices and competitiveness have deeply investigated by researchers and
practitioners with different approaches and perspectives but the results are not univocal. The European
Commission, in its Annual Competitiveness Report 2008, has provided an overview of these studies
clustering the effects of CSR on competitiveness, in 6 indicators of firm’s competitiveness: cost structure,
human resource performance, customer perspective, innovation, risk and reputation, management, and
financial performance.
In this section we aim at exploring these relationships, by testing whether the effects of CSR practices on
firms’ competitiveness are statistically supported.
Firstly, we investigated if there is a statistically significant correlation (by means of Spearman test) between
the different measures of competitiveness, as perceived by the sampled organizations, and the adoption of
specific CSR initiatives. To measure the competitiveness we used the answers to the question n.11 and built
a set of categorical variables.
CSR is a very wide-ranging concept, which is one reason why measuring its uptake and impact presents
complex methodological problems The adoption of CSR practices was measured using the set of questions
above described, that investigate whether a firm has adopted a specific initiative. According to the
classification proposed to the mentioned Report, we tried to retrace the single initiative to the four main
areas: workplace, market-place, environment, and community. Furthermore, we create a fifth category
including the so-called formal CSR tools, that are structured and complex tools that can have an effect on
more than one CSR area as above defined.
The table below shows the results of the correlation analysis between different measures of competitiveness
and CSR initiatives. The numbers in bold highlight that the result of correlation is significant and the number
of stars represents the level of significance: three stars means the level of significance is more than 99%,
while one star means that it is more than 90%.
124
Formal CSR Initative
Intangible performance
Innovation
performance
Market performance
ISO
14001
EMAS
Environmental related-CSR
Ethic
label
Other
certif.
Monitori
ng
system
Audit
Raw
material
and pdt
Workplace-related CSR
Codes of
Conduct
Benefits
employ.
Community
related CSR
Mkt place CSR
Staff_evau
l
Intern._ini
tiat
Local_
comm
CSR
Report
SC_agr
eem
GSCM_
env
GSCM_
envethc
ert
Turnover
0.0380
0.2021
***
-0.3542
***
-0.2908
***
-0.0925
-0.0268
-0.2193 ***
-0.3187
***
0.1929***
0.0293
-0.3217
***
0.1228
**
0.1711*
**
0.0547
0.0294
-0.2093
***
Demand
traditional
customers
0.1113*
0.1048*
0.0924
0.0866
0.1080*
0.1384**
0.1107*
0.0713
0.1239**
0.0611
0.0505
0.0991
0.0807
0.0325
0.0789
0.1080*
Demand new
customer
0.1382**
0.0681
0.2653
***
0.2718
***
0.1546
***
0.1525**
0.1360**
0.1767***
0.0219
0.0495
0.2232***
0.0795
0.0983
0.0958
0.0315
0.2590
***
Business
attraction
0.1489**
-0.0522
0.5316
***
0.5097
***
0.5314
***
0.2939
***
0.3732***
0.5660***
0.3150***
-0.0143
0.5826***
-0.188
**
0.0654
0.1684
**
-0.0127
0.5255
***
Technical
innovation
0.1993
***
0.1420**
0.1903
***
0.2244
***
0.3775*
**
0.3300
***
0.3149***
0.1724***
-0.0723
0.0154
0.2265***
0.0250
0.1716
***
0.2332
***
0.0924
0.2591
***
Organization
al innovation
0.2810
***
0.1472**
0.3453
***
0.3693
***
0.4434
***
0.3798
***
0.2995***
0.3872***
-0.0875
0.0443
0.3949***
0.0863
0.1629
***
0.0672
0.1441*
*
0.3923
***
Personnel
motivation
-0.0855
-0.0243
-0.2765
***
-0.2575
***
-0.1102
*
-0.1533
**
-0.1578 ***
-0.2796***
0.1721***
-0.0103
-0.2775
***
0.0743
0.0939
0.0603
0.0974
-0.1429
**
Personnel
productivity
-0.0745
0.0267
-0.4104
***
-0.3567
***
-0.2415
***
-0.2501
***
-0.2627 ***
-0.3345***
0.2320***
0.0862
-0.3737
***
0.1330
**
0.0096
0.0462
0.0546
-0.2943
***
Reputation
-0.0397
0.0017
-0.0326
0.0044
0.0884
0.0191
-0.0453
0.0047
0.0772
0.1005
-0.0489
-0.0239
0.0022
-0.0632
0.0808
0.0361
Relation with
stakeholder
0.1578**
0.0446
0.3280
***
0.3131
***
0.2828
***
0.3123
***
0.2548***
0.3831***
-0.1261**
-0.0273
0.3253***
0.1596
**
0.0831
0.1100*
0.1758
***
0.3110
***
Relation with
credit
0.1319**
0.1861
***
0.0446
0.0040
0.2282
***
0.1961**
0.0888
0.0207
-0.1789
***
-0.0043
0.0323
-0.0499
0.1303
**
0.1139
*
0.1505
**
0.1634
**
***
p < 0.01
**
p < 0.05
*
p < 0.1
By describing the results shown in the table, we use some of the key findings of our analysis to test the main
hypotheses of our study: which is the relationship between CSR practices and competitive performance?
Summarizing, the results of our correlation test support the following findings:
-
According with a number of studies that have argued that CSR can be a route to innovation through the
use of social, environmental or sustainability drivers to create new ways of working, new products,
services, processes and new market space, our correlation test highlights that, in the investigated sectors,
innovation performance is the most competitive measure related to CSR initiatives. In particular, specific
environmental practices, much more adequate for SMEs than complex management system such as
formal EMS.
-
Other CSR initiatives, not environment related, are correlated with innovation, in particular organization
performance. The adoption of codes of conduct as well as ethic product label, the participation to
international CSR initiative could stimulate organizational innovative changing.
-
The adoption of CSR initiatives, not focused on employees such as the definition of benefits for
employees (e.g. flexibility of individual working hours, requests for part time contracts, etc.) is not only
not correlated with personnel motivation and productivity, but, in some cases, it is negatively and
significantly correlated to them. We refer, in particular, to the relation between personnel productivity
and some initiatives such as, ethic label, codes of conducts, international initiatives.
-
There are strong positive correlation between business attraction, that is the level of appeal in the
business for new members and partners (entry of new members, attainment offer, proposals for mergers,
etc), and some CSR practices such as ethic labels, codes of conducts, international initiatives,
environmental audits, green supply chain practices (considering, in the suppliers selection, that suppliers
have an ethical or environmental certification, such as ISO14001, EMAS, SA8000, etc.). Obviously,
these results can be interpreted in two ways, attractive business are more sensitive to CSR issues and so
the CSR tools are more diffused among organizations. On the contrary, the adoption of such CSS
initiatives makes a business more attractive for new members and partners.
-
In many cases there is a positive correlation between CSR initiatives and relation with stakeholders. This
confirms what clearly emerges in the literature: CSR usually requires dialogue and cooperation with
stakeholders, both inside and outside the company; this engagement with external non-profit
stakeholders might drive corporate innovative solutions.
-
The extent to which CSR can help to drive custody loyalty and demand remains a matter of considerable
debate. The first findings of our analysis do not provide positive evidence on this potential effect. In one
case, some elements for further investigations emerge. The ethical codes and other ethic and
environmental certification are positively correlated with level of demand from new clients (new
markets) while it is negatively related to the global trend of turnover. At first glance, this could seem a
contradiction, but it could be explained by the fact that some CSR initiatives such as ethic products can
attract new customers. However, it is a niche market choice, that can rarely influence the whole turnover.
The analysis of the level of dependency between the CSR practices, on one side, and the competitive
performance, on the other, has confirmed the existence of some kind of relations among the two variables,
that need to be investigated more in depth.
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
For this reason, we applied a regression analysis13 using ordered probit14 models in order to test, for the
textile/clothing/tanning sector, the following hypotheses:
H1. Does the adoption of environmental practices stimulate technical and product innovations in an
organization?
H2. Does the adoption of an environmental management system complied with ISO 14001 requirements
stimulate technical and product innovations in an organization?
H3. Does the adoption of an ethic code of conduct stimulate technical and product innovations in an
organization?
The following figure shows the results of the test of hypotheses . We defined an equation with the measures
of competitiveness as dependent variables. Analyzing the results of the correlation tests depicted in the
previous section, we selected the innovation performance (INNOV) as dependent variable. A factor analysis
of the two innovation measures (technical and organizational) (Cronbach’s alpha15 = 0.73) confirmed the
existence of a single factor scale.
As independent variable we select the adoption of an environmental management system complied with ISO
14001 (ISO 14001), the adoption of an ethic code of conduct (ETHIC_COD), and environmental practices
(ENV_RELATED). Regarding the last variable, a factor analysis of three environmental practices
(Cronbach’s alpha16 = 0.72) confirmed the existence of a single factor scale. Furthermore, we considered also
the influence organization’s size as exogenous variable.
Ordered probit regression
Number of obs
LR chi2(4
4)
Prob > chi2
Pseudo R2
Log likelihood = -589.49548
INNOV
Coef.
ENV_related
iso_14001
empl
ethic_cod
.5260085
.4209209
.0015828
.4110117
Std. Err.
z
P>|z|
.089605
.2300347
.0009417
.1769362
5.87
1.83
1.68
2.32
0.000
0.067
0.093
0.020
=
=
=
=
260
88.81
0.0000
0.0701
[95% Conf. Interval]
.350386
-.0299388
-.000263
.0642232
.701631
.8717806
.0034286
.7578003
The results deliver good reasons to believe that there is a positive relationship between some CSR practices
and innovation performance at firm level.
In detail, the adoption of environmental practices increases the probability that an organization increases the
level of technical and/or organizational innovation (the relation is significant at 99% and the coefficient is
13
In statistics, regression analysis refers to techniques for the modelling and analysis of numerical data consisting of values of a
dependent variable and of one or more independent variables. The dependent variable in the regression equation is modelled as a
function of the independent variables, corresponding parameters ("constants"), and an error term. The error term is treated as a
random variable and represents unexplained variation in the dependent variable
14
The ordered probit is a generalization of the popular probit analysis, used for ordinal multinomial dependent variables.
15
Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0 to 1. When alpha is .8 or over, the set of indicators is often deemed sufficiently reliable. Alpha
scores of between .6 and .8 are sufficient for measures that have not yet been tested in the literature.
16
Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0 to 1. When alpha is .8 or over, the set of indicators is often deemed sufficiently reliable. Alpha
scores of between .6 and .8 are sufficient for measures that have not yet been tested in the literature.
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
0.5). The adoption of an EMS complied with ISO 14001 standard is as well as positively related to
innovation but the relation is slightly lower and weakly supported at statistical level.
Finally, the third hypothesis tested in our model, is also supported: the adoption of an ethic code of conduct
is positively related to the Innovation (the relation is significant at 95% and the coefficient is 0.4).
The statistical tests measuring the fitness of the models show that the LR chi2 test is significant at 99% and
the pseudo R square is 0.07.
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CONCLUSIONS
This analysis aimed at analysing the relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the
textile/clothing and leather sector, with a particular focus on three EU countries: Italy, Spain and France.
The main topics emerged in this report can be summarized as follows:
- An univocal definition of Corporate Social Responsibility doesn’t exist. After a short outline of
different definitions and interpretations of this concept, in our research we’ve decided to follow the
institutional definition provided by the European Commission in 2001. It represents indeed an
effective, structured and valuable synthesis of CSR definition: “The CSR is a concept whereby
companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their
interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis”. Each part of this definition has been
specified in detail.
- The absence of an univocal definition of “competitiveness”, both at theoretical and practical level, is
mostly due to the variety of perspectives and levels of analysis at which the concept may be
considered. Competitiveness is generally defined as “The ability of an ‘entity’ – a country, a region,
an industry, a firm – to produce products or services of a superior quality and/or at lower costs than
other entities that act in the same economic context”. After an outline of this concept definitions,
we’ve detailed a series of variables (import and export performance, market shares, labor and total
factor productivity, cost efficiency, etc.) aiming at capturing the concept of competitiveness at firm
level. That’s the reference of competitiveness characterizing this research.
- The first section of the document relates to the supply side analysis and innovative processes
implemented by enterprises of the textile/clothing and leather sector. In the literature review the most
interesting effects demonstrated by researches and case studies in terms of competitiveness are
related to the following topics: public image and reputation, rise of labour productivity, reliability in
the supply – chain relationships and commercial networking , cost-efficiency and increase of market
shares, innovation processes (both from technical and managerial - organizational points of views).
Among the evidences, a selection of best initiatives in the sector, aiming at increasing the
competitiveness of ethical and environmentally friendly enterprises, have been collected. These
initiatives were promoted directly by enterprises (such as AFIRM Group, Elsewear, Clean and
Unique, at international level, or Vera Pelle Conciata al Vegetale consortium and Made in Green at
national level), and by public actors and, then, adopted by enterprises (such as Ecolabel, EMAS APO
and Distintivo de Garantía de Calidad Ambiental). In this section, the third part takes into
consideration one of the most important international brands in the apparel sector (GUCCI), as an
innovative example of supply chain management sustainability-oriented, aimed at monitoring the
entire supply chain. This experience is interesting because it has been carried out in accordance (and
in cooperation) with the national sectorial trade union FILTEA – CGIL. GUCCI represents an
emblematic example of a harmonized process of CSR - related practices implementation in
accordance with one of the main sectorial trade unions, not characterized by a necessity of image
recover.
- The second section of this report concerns a marked demand side analysis of which firms in the textile,
clothing and leather sector are subjected to. This analysis is supported by a review of the literature
and a collection of evidences drawn from firms operating in those sectors in Italy, Spain and France.
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The academic literature review has provided evidences that consumers’ behavior has been changing
in recent years. There is a growing awareness of firm’s behaviors and greater importance is given to
ethical practices; according to an EUROBAROMETER (2009) survey, the majority of interviewees
affirmed that product’s environmental impact is an important element when selecting products.
Nevertheless, the analyzed literature points out that customers awareness about product’s impact
and ethical consumption are increasing. Furthermore, an OECD (2007) publication identified that in
several cases, a gap between what consumers answer about ‘how much they care’ for CSR and their
actual purchasing behavior exists. This study confirms findings from a research in UK which
identified that young population does purchase a large share of their clothes from fast fashion
retailers, which sell cheap clothes, even though the majority of interviewees declared themselves
concern with the environment. As demonstrated by evidences collected in Italy, Spain and France,
some firms are already responding to consumers pressures and demands. Some of the encountered
evidences had provided a truly global scope of demand side concerns. As the suggested by the
evidences, large retailers have already implemented codes of conduct or regulations in order to
guarantee their clients with responsible and ethical products. 11 groups of retailing sector operating
in the three countries have been taken into consideration in this research and details of their
initiatives have been furnished.
- The third section of this report relates to the role of credit and insurance systems in stimulating and
awarding enterprises (and in particular SMEs) adopting CSR – related tools. Differently from the
previous sub-sections, this part lacks of the literature review and is composed only by an analysis of
the main evidences in the three countries and the description of an experience of excellence in the
field of insurance systems. In respect to the collected evidences, these are many and concerning the
three European countries (in particular 11 experiences from Italy, 2 from France and 4 from Spain).
The collected best practices regard promotions and initiatives carried out by banks and credit
institutes in favor of SMEs. These initiatives aim at supporting enterprises oriented to integrate
social and environmental concerns into their decisional processes and programmes of investment.
This section of evidences is followed by the description of one specific experience concerning the
agreement signed in 2004 between an Italian consortium (the Pollution Pool) and the biggest Italian
Trade Association (Confindustria) aiming at rewarding (with a discount on policies for
environmental risks) the enterprises that implement and certify their Environmental Management
Systems. The economic advantage is evaluated in about – 20% of the assurance premium for
ISO14001 and EMAS certified enterprises. A specific focus on the textile/clothing and leather sector
is given.
- The last section of the desk research aims at surveying the role of policymakers in stimulating and
supporting SMEs (in particular those operating in the textile/clothing and leather sectors) to adopt
responsible initiatives and CSR – related tools (by means of incentives, fiscal discounts,
administrative simplifications, etc.). The first step relates to the collection and analysis of main
academic studies and research concerning the relationship between public policies and CSR. The
papers provided an overview about public policies and their ability to stimulate the implementation
of CSR related tools by sectorial SMEs. Some papers deal with tools and indicators adopted by
public authorities, and the advantages deriving from them; others give a review of main policies
implemented by national European authorities in the different countries promoting CSR in a
competitive perspective. The second step analyzes Evidences; a selection of initiatives, promoted by
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
political institutions in the three Countries which supported or provided incentives for the adoption
of CSR related tools and practices by SMEs of the three mentioned sectors, has been proposed. In
total 37 public policies have been analyzed, most of which Italian (87%); Spanish 8% and French
5% initiatives represent only a small share. The interest areas of promoted policies concern policies
about the Workplace CSR (safety of workers, initiatives anti – discrimination, etc.)
- In the 2nd section of the research, a specific questionnaire among firms on textile/clothing/tanning
sector has been diffused. About 700 firms, in the three countries, have been contacted, differentiating
them on the basis of the origin area and in respect to the affiliation sector: textile, clothing and
tanning. The questionnaires totally collected are 274 total: 150 from Italy, 63 from France and 61
from Spain. These proportions respect the level of diffusion of textile/clothing and leather
enterprises in the three countries (see the first report of COSMIC project: Preliminary analysis of
textile/clothing sector). A descriptive analysis of answers is available in the sections A and B of the
Empirical research section; in respect to the relationship existing between CSR practices
implementation and competitiveness, the results are available in the sections C and D. We
summarize the most interesting ones:
o
the good implementation of an EMS (Environmental Management System), in
accordance with international standard, seem reasonably increase the cost efficiency
of an enterprise
o
enterprises that implemented benefits for employees (such as flexibility of individual
working hours, requests for part time contracts, convention with sports and cultural
centers, collaborations with trade unions, etc.), affirmed that the motivation and
participation of company staff in their activities is high, or very high
o
a high number of enterprises (more that 50%) with at least 1 certification (with the
exclusion of ISO9000) declared that their market shares, in respect to new clients, in
the last five years increased
o
the level of technical and organizational innovation for the companies with a
certification (in particular ISO14001 and EMAS) is moved in positive standards,
with important shares of enterprises evaluating that their processes of innovation are
good or very good. This result is confirmed also in the statistical correlation between
these variables: the correlation test highlights that, in the investigated sectors,
innovation performance is the most competitive measure related to CSR initiatives.
Finally, also in the regression analysis, the results deliver good reasons to believe
that there is a positive relationship between some CSR practices and innovation
performance at firm level. In detail, the adoption of environmental practices
increases the probability that an organization increases the level of technical and/or
organizational innovation (the relation is significant at 99% and the coefficient is
0.5). The adoption of an EMS complied with ISO 14001 standard is as well as
positively related to innovation, but the relation is slightly lower and weakly
supported at statistical level. Finally, the adoption of an ethic code of conduct is
positively related to the Innovation (the relation is significant at 95% and the
coefficient is 0.4).
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
o
the participation to initiatives with local communities is considered by a high
number of enterprises important for increasing their local relationships with
institutions and other local actors; also in the statistical correlation we’ve obtained a
positive link between CSR initiatives and relation with stakeholders. This confirms
that CSR usually requires dialogue and cooperation with stakeholders, both inside
and outside the company;
o
there are strong positive correlations between business attraction, that is the level of
appeal in the business for new members and partners (entry of new members,
attainment offer, proposals for mergers, etc), and some CSR practices such as ethic
labels, codes of conducts, international initiatives, environmental audits, green
supply chain practices (considering, in the selection, those suppliers with an ethical
or environmental certification, such as ISO14001, EMAS, SA8000, etc.)
Generally, the collected data (and their elaborations) demonstrated interesting results, that potentially can be
further deepened. Other elaboration will be developed in the next months to obtain further interesting
indications to the policy makers.
132
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
STATISTICAL APPENDIX
The following tables are a punctual summary on the data processing done for the questionnaire.
QUESTIONNAIRES COLLECTED
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
Italy
150
54,7
54,7
54,7
France
63
23,0
23,0
77,7
Spain
61
22,3
22,3
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Your company works in which sectors (question 1)
Sector Frequencies
Responses
N
settore
Textile
Percent Percent of Cases
77
26,5%
28,1%
Clothing 137
47,1%
50,0%
Tanning
77
26,5%
28,1%
Total
291
100,0%
106,2%
133
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Crosstabs Case Processing Summary
Valid
N
Missing
Total
Percent
N
Percent
N
Percent
6,2%
257
93,8%
274
100,0%
textile, clothing, tanning * textile, clothing, tanning 17
Country*Sector Crosstabulation
Sector
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Italy
France
Spain
Total
Count
42
63
55
% within sector
54,5%
46,0%
71,4%
Count
24
20
22
% within sector
31,2%
14,6%
28,6%
Count
11
54
0
% within sector
14,3%
39,4%
,0%
Count
77
137
77
150
63
61
274
How many employees (including part-time, seasonal and home-workers) do have your company?
(question 2)
N
Valid
274
Missing
0
Mean
41
Median
15
Mode
10
Minimum
0
Maximum 650
134
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Employees Grouping
Frequency Percent
Valid
0-10
101
36,9
11-20
66
24,1
21-30
24
8,8
31-50
27
9,9
51-80
20
7,3
81-110
9
3,3
111-150
12
4,4
151-200
7
2,6
201-
8
2,9
Total
274
100,0
Employees Grouing * Sector - Crosstabulation
Sector
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Employees Grouping
0-10
11-20
21-30
31-50
Count
24
55
27
% within $sector
31,2%
40,1%
35,1%
Count
17
27
26
% within $sector
22,1%
19,7%
33,8%
Count
6
11
8
% within $sector
7,8%
8,0%
10,4%
Count
9
11
9
101
66
24
27
135
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
% within $sector
11,7%
8,0%
11,7%
Count
8
12
1
% within $sector
10,4%
8,8%
1,3%
Count
3
5
2
% within $sector
3,9%
3,6%
2,6%
Count
4
6
3
% within $sector
5,2%
4,4%
3,9%
Count
2
5
0
% within $sector
2,6%
3,6%
,0%
Count
4
5
1
% within $sector
5,2%
3,6%
1,3%
Count
77
137
77
51-80
81-110
111-150
151-200
201-
Total
20
9
12
7
8
274
From a geographical point of view, your suppliers are mainly… (question 3)
Suppliers Frequencies
N
Suppliers: geograhical area Local
Percent Percent of Cases
67
17,2%
24,7%
160
41,1%
59,0%
Localized in other European Countries 107
27,5%
39,5%
2
,5%
,7%
49
12,6%
18,1%
4
1,0%
1,5%
389
100,0%
143,5%
National
Localized in USA
Localized in Asian Countries
Elsewhere
Total
136
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Country * Suppliers Crosstabulation
Suppliers: geograhical area
Local National
Italy
Localized in
other
European
Countries
Localized
in USA
Localized in
Asian
Countries
Elsewhere Total
57
100
30
1
13
3
204
France
8
35
36
1
12
1
93
Spain
2
25
41
0
24
0
92
Total
67
160
107
2
49
4
389
Sector*Suppliers Crosstabulation
Suppliers: geograhical area
Local National
Localized in other
European Countries
Localized in
USA
Localized in
Asian Countries
Elsewhere
Textile
21
45
23
0
12
1
Clothing
11
85
61
0
34
1
Tanning
41
40
29
2
6
2
What is your main reference client? (question 4)
Main
Large scale retail trade
N
Percent
Percent of
Cases
59
18,2%
21,6%
137
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
reference
client
Other companies of the textile and clothing
138
42,5%
50,5%
Other companies but from a different sector
than textile/clothing/tanning
55
16,9%
20,1%
Retail Shop
55
16,9%
20,1%
Final consumer
18
5,5%
6,6%
Total
325
100,0%
119,0%
Sector * Client * Country Crosstabulation
Italy
France
Spain
Large
scale
retail
trade
Other
companies
of the textile
and clothing
Other
companies
but from a
different
sector
Retail
Shop
Final
consumer
Total
Textile
13
27
6
4
2
52
Clothing
20
28
1
29
5
83
Tanning
4
35
18
1
0
58
Total
37
90
25
34
7
-
Textile
6
8
2
8
2
26
Clothing
6
8
0
8
1
23
Tanning
7
6
5
6
3
27
Total
19
22
7
22
6
-
Textile
0
11
0
0
0
11
Clothing
9
25
24
2
5
65
Total
9
36
24
2
5
-
From a geographical point of view, your final market is mainly… (question 5)
138
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Final Market Geographical area Frequencies
N
Percent Percent of Cases
Local
65
15,3%
23,7%
National
172
40,5%
62,8%
Localized in other European Countries 144
33,9%
52,6%
Localized in USA
24
5,6%
8,8%
Localized in Asian Countries
17
4,0%
6,2%
Elsewhere
3
,7%
1,1%
Total
425
100,0%
155,1%
Sector * Final market * Country Crosstabulation
Final Market Geographical area
Italy
Fran
ce
Local
Natio
nal
Locali
zed in
other
Europ
ean
Count
ries
Locali
zed in
USA
Locali
zed in
Asian
Count
ries
Elsew
here
Total
Textile
10
27
19
5
3
1
65
Clothing
12
45
31
10
5
1
104
Tanning
36
30
17
4
3
1
121
Total
58
102
67
19
11
3
-
Textile
2
20
11
0
0
33
Clothing
7
18
12
0
0
37
Tanning
3
16
16
4
4
43
139
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Spai
n
Total
12
54
39
4
4
-
Textile
1
8
3
1
0
13
Clothing
0
19
42
2
2
65
Total
1
27
45
3
2
-
The Corporate Social Responsibility on the firms
What certification do you have? (question 6)
Count
SA 8000
OHSAS 18001
ISO 14001
EMAS
Ecolabel
EPD
no
274
yes
0
no
274
yes
0
no
246
yes
28
no
267
yes
7
no
274
yes
0
no
274
yes
0
no
222
Other environmental certification/label
140
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
yes
51
Oecotex
1
no
233
yes
41
no
220
yes
54
no
222
yes
48
EN- 13501
1
ISO 9001
1
Norma EN 166002:2006
1
TS 16949
1
none
147
Ethical product label
ISO 9000
Something else
Any
Sector * ISO14001 * Country Crosstabulation
Sector *ISO 14001 * Country Crosstabulation
Italy
France
no
yes
Total firms
Textile
41
1
42
Clothing
60
3
63
Tanning
47
8
55
Total
138
12
150
Textile
24
0
24
Clothing
17
3
20
141
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Spain
Tanning
22
0
22
Total
60
3
63
Textile
6
5
11
Clothing
46
8
54
Total
48
13
61
Sector * EMAS * Country Crosstabulation
EMAS
no
Italy
France
Spain
yes Total firms
Textile
41
1
42
Clothing
62
1
63
Tanning
50
5
55
Total
143
7
150
Textile
24
-
24
Clothing
20
-
20
Tanning
22
-
22
Total
63
-
63
Textile
11
-
11
Clothing
54
-
54
Total
61
-
61
Sector * Other environmental certification/label * Country Crosstabulation
Other environmental certification/label
no
yes
Total
142
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Italy
Textile
37
5
42
Clothing
62
1
63
Tanning
55
0
55
145
5
150
Textile
22
2
24
Clothing
17
3
20
Tanning
22
0
22
Total
59
4
63
1
10
11
Clothing
18
36
54
Total
19
42
61
Total
France
Spain
Textile
Sector * Ethical product label * Country Crosstabulation
Ethical product label
Italy
France
Spain
no
yes
Total firms
Textile
40
2
42
Clothing
63
0
63
Tanning
55
0
55
Total
148
2
150
Textile
23
1
24
Clothing
18
2
20
Tanning
22
0
22
Total
61
2
63
Textile
5
6
11
143
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Clothing
21
33
54
Total
24
37
61
Sector * ISO9000 * Country Crosstabulation
ISO 9000
Italy
France
Spain
no
yes
Total firms
Textile
32
10
42
Clothing
58
5
63
Tanning
40
15
55
Total
121
29
150
Textile
19
5
24
Clothing
13
7
20
Tanning
20
2
22
Total
49
14
63
Textile
10
1
11
Clothing
44
10
54
Total
50
11
61
What initiatives do you have done over the past 5 years? (question 7)
Count
Drafting and adoption of codes of ethics and/or codes of conduct
58
Benefits for employees (e.g. flexibility of individual working hours, requests for part time
98
144
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
contracts, convention with sports and cultural centers, collaborations with trade unions, etc.)
Sophisticated system for the evaluation of staff (e.g. balance of competences, processes for
evaluating the potential etc…)
13
Agreements and partnerships with customers and suppliers to promote ethical products and/or
eco-compatible (e.g. shared advertising campaigns, manufacturing consortiums, etc ...)
29
Editing of Social/ Sustainability and/or Environmental Annual Balance or Report
10
Adherence to ethical and/or environmental initiatives at international level (e.g. accession to the
Global Compact, to standard AA1000)
45
Initiatives for the local community (e.g. support for local projects, sponsorship of events
promoted by associations or local groups, open doors, etc...)
71
Country * Initiative Crosstabulation
Code
s of
ethic
s
Benefits
for
employe
es
System
evaluati
on staff
Partnershi
ps with
customers
/ suppliers
CSR
Reporti
ng
Initiatives
internation
al level
Initiatives
local
communi
ty
Tot
al
firm
Italy
12
62
2
18
8
3
50
95
Franc
e
4
23
10
5
0
3
13
35
Spain
42
13
1
6
2
39
8
59
Total
58
98
13
29
10
45
71
189
Sector * Initiative Crosstabulation
Cod
es
of
ethi
cs
Benefit
s for
employ
ees
System
evaluat
ion
staff
Partners
hips
with
custome
rs/
suppliers
CSR
Report
ing
Initiative
s
internati
onal
level
Initiativ
es local
commu
nity
Tot
al
fir
m
145
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Textil
e
11
21
3
10
2
9
18
49
Clothi
ng
42
51
9
13
2
36
30
10
8
Tanni
ng
8
32
3
9
6
2
28
45
Total
58
98
13
29
10
45
71
18
9
Employees Grouping * Codes of ethics Crosstabulation
Count
Firm with Codes of ethics % on total firms for employees group
Employees Grouping
0-10
10
9,9%
11-20
11
16,7%
21-30
5
20,8%
31-50
6
22,2%
51-80
12
60%
81-110
4
44,4%
111-150
2
16,6%
151-200
3
42,8%
201-
5
62,5%
Total
58
21,16% of total firms
Employees Grouping * Benefits for employees Crosstabulation
Count
146
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Benefits for employees % on total firms for employees group
Employees Grouping
0-10
36
35,6%
11-20
29
43,9%
21-30
6
25%
31-50
11
40,7%
51-80
4
20%
81-110
2
22,2%
111-150
4
33,3%
151-200
2
28,6%
201-
4
50%
Total
98
35,8% of total firms
Employees Grouping * System evaluation staff Crosstabulation
Count
System evaluation staff % on total firms for employees group
Employees Grouping
0-10
1
0,9%
11-20
2
3%
21-30
1
4,2%
31-50
3
11,1%
51-80
0
-
81-110
1
11,1%
111-150
2
16,7%
151-200
1
14,3%
201-
2
25%
147
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Total
13
4,7% of total firms
Employees Grouping * Partnerships with customers/suppliers Crosstabulation
Count
Employees
Grouping
Partnerships with customers/
suppliers
% on total firms for
employees group
0-10
4
3,9%
11-20
12
18,2%
21-30
2
8,3%
31-50
7
26%
51-80
1
15%
81-110
0
-
111150
2
16,7%
151200
1
14,3%
201-
0
-
Total
29
10,6% of total firms
Employees Grouping * CSR Reporting Crosstabulation
Count
CSR Reporting % on total firms for employees group
Employees Grouping
0-10
1
0,9%
11-20
4
6%
21-30
0
148
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
31-50
2
7,4%
51-80
1
5%
81-110
0
-
111-150
2
16,7%
151-200
0
-
201-
0
-
Total
10
3,6% of total firms
Employees Grouping * Initiatives international level Crosstabulation
Count
Employees
Grouping
Initiatives international
level
% on total firms for employees
group
0-10
6
5,9%
11-20
7
10,6%
21-30
4
16,7%
31-50
4
14,8%
51-80
11
55%
81-110
2
22,2%
111150
3
25%
151200
4
57,1%
201-
4
50%
Total
45
16,4% of total firms
149
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Employees Grouping * Initiatives local community Crosstabulation
Count
Initiatives local community % on total firms for employees group
Employees Grouping
0-10
22
21,8%
11-20
17
25,7%
21-30
8
33,3%
31-50
10
37%
51-80
7
35%
81-110
0
-
111-150
5
41,7%
151-200
1
14,3%
201-
1
12,5%
Total
71
25,9% of total firms
Which of the following elements do you keep in consideration choosing your suppliers? (question 8)
PRICE OF RAW MATERIALS, AUXILIARY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PURCHASED:
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
no
99
36,1
36,1
36,1
yes
175
63,9
63,9
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Italy France Spain Total
Price
no
69
18
12
99
150
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
yes
81
45
49
175
Total
150
63
61
274
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Price
no
31
45
31
99
yes
46
92
46
175
Total
77
137
77
274
QUALITY OF RAW MATERIALS, AUXILIARY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PURCHASED:
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
no
49
17,9
17,9
17,9
yes
225
82,1
82,1
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Italy France Spain Total
Quality
no
32
11
6
49
yes
118
52
55
225
Total
150
63
61
274
151
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Quality
no
14
23
16
49
yes
63
114
61
225
Total
77
137
77
274
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY OF RAW MATERIALS, AUXILIARY PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES PURCHASED:
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
no
237
86,5
86,5
86,5
yes
37
13,5
13,5
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Italy France Spain Total
Environment
no
124
56
57
237
yes
26
7
4
37
Total
150
63
61
274
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Environment
no
61
125
63
237
yes
16
12
14
37
152
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Total
77
137
77
274
IF THE SUPPLIERS HAVE QUALITY CERTIFICATIONS (E.G. ISO 9000):
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
no
236
86,1
86,1
86,1
yes
38
13,9
13,9
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Italy France Spain Total
Quality certification
no
131
48
57
236
yes
19
15
4
38
Total
150
63
61
274
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Quality certification
no
65
120
67
236
yes
12
17
10
38
Total
77
137
77
274
IF THE SUPPLIERS HAVE ETHICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATIONS (e.g.
ISO14001, EMAS, SA8000, etc.):
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
153
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Valid
no
212
77,4
77,4
77,4
yes
62
22,6
22,6
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Italy France Spain Total
CSR certification
no
135
55
22
212
yes
15
8
39
62
Total
150
63
61
274
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
CSR certification
no
63
96
66
212
yes
14
41
11
62
Total
77
137
77
274
Price of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased * Suppliers: geographical
area Crosstabulation
Local National
Price
Localized in
other
European
Countries
Localized
in USA
Localized in Elsewhere Total
Asian
Countries
no
24
64
27
2
12
1
99
yes
43
96
80
0
37
3
172
154
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Total
67
160
107
2
49
4
271
Quality of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased * Suppliers: geographical
area Crosstabulation
Local National
Quality
Localized in
other
European
Countries
Localized
in USA
Localized
in Asian
Countries
Elsewhere Total
no
16
33
8
0
7
0
49
yes
51
127
99
2
42
4
222
Total
67
160
107
2
49
4
271
Environmental compatibility of raw materials, auxiliary products or services purchased *
Suppliers: geographical area Crosstabulation
Environmen
t
Loca
l
Nationa
l
Localized
in other
Europea
n
Countrie
s
Localize
d in USA
Localized
in Asian
Countrie
s
Elsewher
e
Tota
l
no
52
140
90
2
46
3
236
yes
15
20
17
0
3
1
35
Tota
l
67
160
107
2
49
4
271
If the suppliers have quality certifications * Suppliers: geographical area Crosstabulation
155
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Local National
Quality
certification
Localized
in other
European
Countries
Localized
in USA
Localized
in Asian
Countries
Elsewhere Total
no
59
134
88
2
39
3
234
yes
8
26
19
0
10
1
37
Total
67
160
107
2
49
4
271
If the suppliers have ethical or environmental certifications * Suppliers:
geographical area Crosstabulation
CSR
certificati
on
Loc
al
Nation
al
Localize Localize
d in
d in
other
USA
Europea
n
Countri
es
Localize
d in
Asian
Countri
es
Elsewhe
re
Tot
al
no
57
141
66
2
27
2
211
yes
10
19
41
0
22
2
60
Tot
al
67
160
107
2
49
4
271
With regard to environmental issues what do you do in your company? (question 9)
Do you conduct internal environmental audits?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
no
156
56,9
56,9
56,9
yes
118
43,1
43,1
100,0
156
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Audits * Country Crosstabulation
Italy France Spain Total
no
95
44
17
156
yes
55
19
44
118
Total
150
63
61
274
Audits
Audits * Sector Crosstabulation
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Audits
no
46
80
39
156
yes
31
57
38
118
Total
77
137
77
274
Do you measure regularly your impacts with environmental indicators?
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
no
164
59,9
59,9
59,9
yes
110
40,1
40,1
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Impacts * Country Crosstabulation
Italy France Spain Total
Impacts
no
90
50
24
164
157
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
yes
60
13
37
110
Total
150
63
61
274
Impacts * Sector Crosstabulation
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Impacts
no
47
94
33
164
yes
30
43
44
110
Total
77
137
77
274
Do you participate in the management of consortium plant (or collective plant) to limit your impacts on
the environment (e.g. consortium purifier plant, a collective energy production, etc...)?
Valid
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
no
189
69,0
69,0
69,0
yes
85
31,0
31,0
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Consortium plant * Country Crosstabulation
Italy France Spain Total
Consortium plant
no
98
48
43
189
yes
52
15
18
85
Total
150
63
61
274
Consortium plant * Sector Crosstabulation
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
158
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Consortium plant
no
52
120
29
189
yes
25
17
48
85
Total
77
137
77
274
Do you ever have experimented and adopted raw materials or auxiliary products with reduced
environment impacts?
Valid
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
no
140
51,1
51,1
51,1
yes
134
48,9
48,9
100,0
Total
274
100,0
100,0
Products reduced impact * Country Crosstabulation
Italy France Spain Total
Products reduced impact
no
91
39
10
140
yes
59
24
51
134
Total
150
63
61
274
Products reduced impact * Sector Crosstabulation
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Products reduced impact
no
41
74
36
140
yes
36
63
41
134
Total
77
137
77
274
159
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
CSR and Competitiveness
In your opinion, manage the environmental and social elements of your business does also help to
maintain better competitive performances or face better the impact of economic crisis? (question 10)
CSR/competitiveness * Country Crosstabulation
Italy France Spain Total
CSR/
competitiveness
Not at all, it costs and therefore is counterproductive
10
4
4
18
A little, the social and environmental performances don’t
impact with the competitiveness
48
8
14
70
Enough, also if there is no a direct and strong relation
57
17
33
107
Very much, the social and environmental performances could
influence the competitiveness
19
11
3
33
we don't know
15
20
7
42
149
60
61
270
Total
CSR/competitiveness * Sector Crosstabulation
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
CSR/
competitiveness
Not at all, it costs and therefore is counterproductive
7
11
2
18
A little, the social and environmental performances don’t
impact with the competitiveness
19
33
20
70
Enough, also if there is no a direct and strong relation
26
56
33
107
9
13
13
33
We don't know
14
22
9
42
Total
75
135
77
270
Very much, the social and environmental performances could
influence the competitiveness
160
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
CSR/competitiveness * client Crosstabulation
Large
scale
retail
trade
Not at all, it costs and
therefore is
counterproductive
Other
companies of
the textile and
clothing
Other
companies but
from a different
sector
Retail
Shop
Final
consumer
Total
4
8
3
4
2
18
A little, the social and
environmental performances
don’t impact with the
competitiveness
14
44
12
16
1
70
Enough, also if there is no a
direct and strong relation
25
46
31
20
6
106
Very much, the social and
environmental performances
could influence the
competitiveness
11
15
8
4
0
33
4
23
1
10
9
42
58
136
55
54
18
269
We don't know
Total
CSR/competitiveness * Market Crosstabulation
Local National
Not at all, it costs and
therefore is
counterproductive
A little, the social and
environmental
performances don’t impact
Localized in
other
European
Countries
Localized
in USA
Localized in
Asian
Countries
Elsewhere Total
4
14
7
1
2
0
18
15
44
38
4
4
1
70
161
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
with the competitiveness
Enough, also if there is no a
direct and strong relation
24
51
67
11
7
1
107
8
25
18
7
3
0
33
We don't know
12
34
13
1
1
1
42
Total
63
168
143
24
17
3
270
Very much, the social and
environmental
performances could
influence the
competitiveness
For your firm, in the last 5 years, how do you consider (1: very bad – 2: scarce – 3: acceptable – 4: good –
5: very good) (question 11)
Descriptive Statistics
N
Minimum Maximum Mean Mode
Impact of energy costs
270
1
6
2,84
2
Invoice trend
271
1
6
2,79
2
Motivation and participation of company staff
270
1
6
3,49
3
Productivity of staff
271
1
6
3,75
4
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients
272
1
6
3,33
4
Level of demand for your products from new clients
272
1
6
3,12
3
Level of technical innovation in your company
269
1
6
3,53
4
Level of organizational innovation of your company
269
1
6
3,22
4
Level of satisfaction about the consideration that your customers
and suppliers have of you
270
1
6
4,05
4
Intensity and quality of relationships with local stakeholders
268
1
6
3,48
4
Ease of access to credit from banks and financial institution
267
1
6
3,27
3
162
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Level of appeal in your business for new members and partners
267
Valid N (listwise)
254
1
6
3,66
6
IMPACT OF ENERGY COSTS
Impact of energy costs * Country Crosstabulation
Italy
very bad
Count
% within Country
scarce
acceptable
good
3
36
21,6%
1,6%
5,0%
13,3%
39
8
45
92
26,4%
12,9%
75,0%
34,1%
42
25
9
76
28,4%
40,3%
15,0%
28,1%
28
5
1
34
18,9%
8,1%
1,7%
12,6%
3
4
2
9
2,0%
6,5%
3,3%
3,3%
4
19
0
23
Count
% within Country
very good
Count
% within Country
we don't know Count
% within Country
Total
Total
1
Count
% within Country
Spain
32
Count
% within Country
France
2,7%
Count
30,6% ,0%
148
62
8,5%
60
270
% within Country 100,0% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%
ISO 14001 * Impact of energy costs Crosstabulation
very bad scarce acceptable good very good we don't know Total
ISO 14001 no
35
82
70
29
7
20
243
163
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
yes
Total
1
10
6
5
2
3
27
36
92
76
34
9
23
270
EMAS * Impact of energy costs Crosstabulation
very bad scarce acceptable good very good we don't know Total
EMAS no
yes
Total
36
92
73
30
9
23
263
0
0
3
4
0
0
7
36
92
76
34
9
23
270
Other environmental certification/label * Impact of energy costs Crosstabulation
very
bad
Other environmental
certification/label
scarce acceptable good
very
good
we don't
know
Total
no
34
53
71
33
7
22
220
yes
2
39
5
1
2
1
50
36
92
76
34
9
23
270
Total
Question 9 (affirmative answers)* Impact of energy costs Crosstabulation
Impact of energy costs
very
bad
scarce acceptable good
very
good
we don't
know
Total
internal environmental audits
19
52
23
7
4
10
115
measure of impacts with
environmental indicators
18
49
21
9
5
5
107
consortium plant
16
32
21
9
2
3
83
products with reduced environment
impacts
17
62
30
9
5
8
131
164
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
INVOICE TREND
COUNTRY * INVOICE TREND Crosstabulation
INVOICE TREND
very
bad
Count
Italy
% within
Country
Count
France % within
Country
Count
Spain
% within
Country
Count
Total
% within
Country
scarce acceptable
good
62
very
good
we don't
know
12
40
33
1
8,1%
26,8%
41,6% 22,1%
,7%
4
14
6,5%
22,6%
1
48
7
4
0
1,7%
80,0%
11,7%
6,7%
,0%
17
102
95
46
1
6,3%
37,6%
35,1% 17,0%
,4%
26
9
0
41,9% 14,5%
,0%
Total
1
149
,7% 100,0%
9
62
14,5% 100,0%
0
60
,0% 100,0%
10
271
3,7% 100,0%
INVOICE TREND * Sector Crosstabulation
SECTOR
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
INVOICE TREND very bad
Count
7
4
6
17
165
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
scarce
Count
30
61
19
102
acceptable
Count
24
46
31
95
good
Count
10
19
19
46
very good
Count
1
1
0
1
we don't know Count
3
5
2
10
75
136
77
271
Total
Count
CSR VS Competitiveness* INVOICE TREND Crosstabulation
INVOICE TREND
very
bad
CSR VS
Competitiv.
Not at all, it costs and
therefore is
counterproductive
Count
A little, the social/
environmental
performances don’t
impact with
competitiveness
Count
Enough, also if there is
no a direct and strong
relation
Count
Very much, the social
and environmental
performances could
influence the
competitiveness
Count
We don't know
Count
% within
CSR/compet.
% within
CSR/compet.
% within
CSR/compet.
% within
CSR/compet.
scarce acceptable
6
8
3
33,3%
44,4%
16,7%
5
28
24
7,2%
40,6%
1
45
,9%
42,1%
1
9
3,0%
27,3%
4
10
good
very
good
we
don't
know
1
0
0
5,6% ,0%
12
,0%
0
34,8% 17,4% ,0%
39
17
36,4% 15,9% ,9%
12
8
8
0
69
100,0%
4
107
3,7% 100,0%
0
36,4% 24,2% ,0%
16
18
100,0%
,0%
1
Total
3
33
9,1% 100,0%
0
3
166
41
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
% within
CSR/compet.
Total
9,8%
24,4%
17
100
6,3%
37,3%
Count
% within
CSR/compet.
39,0% 19,5% ,0%
94
7,3% 100,0%
46
1
10
35,1% 17,2% ,4%
268
3,7% 100,0%
MOTIVATION AND PARTICIPATION OF COMPANY STAFF (e.g. satisfaction demonstrated by
the workers, employees’ suggestions to the firm, level of work integration between employees, etc.)
Employees Grouping * motivation and participation staff Crosstabulation
MOTIVATION AND PARTECIPATION STAFF
very
bad
Employees 0-10
Count
% within
employees
11-20
Count
% within
employees
21-30
Count
% within
employees
31-50
Count
% within
employees
51-80
Count
% within
employees
scarce acceptable
2
5
2,0%
5,1%
1
7
1,5%
10,6%
1
1
4,2%
4,2%
0
3
,0%
11,5%
0
2
,0%
10,5%
36
good
very
good
we don't
know
40
15
1
36,4% 40,4%
15,2%
1,0%
27
12
0
28,8% 40,9%
18,2%
,0%
8
1
0
54,2% 33,3%
4,2%
,0%
15
2
0
23,1% 57,7%
7,7%
,0%
2
0
0
78,9% 10,5%
,0%
,0%
19
13
6
15
Total
99
100,0%
66
100,0%
24
100,0%
26
100,0%
19
100,0%
167
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
81110
Count
% within
employees
111150
Count
% within
employees
151200
Count
% within
employees
201-
Count
% within
employees
Total
Count
% within
employees
0
2
4
3
0
0
,0%
22,2%
44,4% 33,3%
,0%
,0%
0
3
4
1
0
,0%
25,0%
33,3% 33,3%
8,3%
,0%
0
2
5
0
0
0
,0%
28,6%
71,4%
,0%
,0%
,0%
0
1
5
1
1
0
,0%
12,5%
62,5% 12,5%
12,5%
,0%
4
26
32
1
1,5%
9,6%
4
107
100
39,6% 37,0%
11,9% ,4%
9
100,0%
12
100,0%
7
100,0%
8
100,0%
270
100,0%
Question 7 * motivation and participation staff Crosstabulation
motivation and participation staff
very
bad
Code of ethics
no
Count
% within code
ethics
yes Count
% within code
ethics
Benefits for
no
Count
scarce acceptable
2
24
,9%
11,3%
2
2
3,5%
3,5%
3
18
62
good
very
good
94
30
29,1% 44,1%
14,1%
45
6
2
78,9% 10,5%
3,5%
79
53
18
we don't
know
1
Total
213
,5% 100,0%
0
57
,0% 100,0%
1
172
168
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
employees
% within code
ethics
yes Count
% within
benefits
Evaluation
staff
no
Count
% within
benefits
yes Count
% within
evaluation
1,7%
10,5%
1
8
1,0%
8,2%
4
23
1,6%
8,9%
0
3
,0%
23,1%
45,9% 30,8%
28
10,5%
47
14
28,6% 48,0%
14,3%
103
97
29
40,1% 37,7%
11,3%
4
3
3
30,8% 23,1%
23,1%
,6% 100,0%
0
98
,0% 100,0%
1
257
,4% 100,0%
0
13
,0% 100,0%
PRODUCTIVITY OF STAFF (e.g. staff skills, quality of work performed, level of not absenteeism,
etc..)
Employees grouping * Productivity of staff Crosstabulation
Productivity of staff
very
bad
0-10
Count
% within
employees
11-20
Count
% within
employees
21-30
Count
% within
scarce acceptable
1
2
1,0%
2,0%
0
2
,0%
3,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
23
good
very
good
we
don't
know
Total
51
23
0
23,0% 51,0%
23,0%
,0%
30
12
1
31,8% 45,5%
18,2%
1,5%
13
2
0
37,5% 54,2%
8,3%
21
9
100
100,0%
66
100,0%
24
,0% 100,0%
169
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
employees
31-50
Count
% within
employees
51-80
Count
% within
employees
81110
Count
% within
employees
111150
Count
% within
employees
151200
Count
% within
employees
201-
Count
% within
employees
Total
Count
% within
employees
0
0
,0%
,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
0
0
,0%
,0%
1
4
,4%
1,5%
11
14
1
0
42,3% 53,8%
3,8%
,0%
6
0
0
68,4% 31,6%
,0%
,0%
3
0
0
66,7% 33,3%
,0%
,0%
5
1
0
50,0% 41,7%
8,3%
,0%
2
0
0
71,4% 28,6%
,0%
,0%
2
1
0
62,5% 25,0%
12,5%
,0%
126
40
1
36,5% 46,5%
14,8%
,4%
13
6
6
5
5
99
26
100,0%
19
100,0%
9
100,0%
12
100,0%
7
100,0%
8
100,0%
271
100,0%
Question 7 * productivity of staff Crosstabulation
productivity of staff
very
bad
scarce acceptable
good
very
good
we don't
know
Total
170
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Code of ethics
no
Count
% within code
ethics
yes Count
% within code
ethics
Benefits for
employees
no
Count
% within code
ethics
yes Count
% within
benefits
Evaluation
staff
no
Count
% within code
ethics
yes Count
% within
evaluation
1
4
,5%
1,9%
0
0
,0%
,0%
1
3
,6%
1,7%
0
1
,0%
1,0%
1
4
,4%
1,6%
0
0
,0%
,0%
59
111
39
27,6% 51,9%
18,2%
40
15
1
70,2% 26,3%
1,8%
78
70
21
45,1% 40,5%
12,1%
21
56
19
21,4% 57,1%
19,4%
97
117
38
37,6% 45,3%
14,7%
2
9
2
15,4% 69,2%
15,4%
0
214
,0% 100,0%
1
57
1,8% 100,0%
0
173
,0% 100,0%
1
98
1,0% 100,0%
1
258
,4% 100,0%
0
13
,0% 100,0%
Motivation staff * Productivity Crosstabulation
Productivity
Motivati
on staff
very bad
Count
% within
motivati
very
bad
scarc
e
accepta
ble
good
very we
good don'
t
kno
w
Total
1
0
0
2
1
0
4
25,0
%
,0%
,0%
50,0
%
25,0
%
,0%
100,0
%
171
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
on
scarce
Count
% within
motivati
on
accepta
ble
Count
% within
motivati
on
good
Count
% within
motivati
on
very
good
Count
% within
motivati
on
we don't
know
Count
% within
motivati
on
Total
Count
% within
motivati
on
0
2
20
3
1
0
26
3,8%
,0%
100,0
%
5
1
107
,0%
7,7%
76,9%
11,5
%
0
1
66
34
4,7%
,9%
100,0
%
0
100
,0%
,9%
61,7%
31,8
%
0
0
12
77
11
11,0
%
,0%
100,0
%
0
32
,0%
,0%
12,0%
77,0
%
0
0
1
10
21
65,6
%
,0%
100,0
%
0
0
1
,0%
,0%
3,1%
31,2
%
0
1
0
0
,0%
100,0
%
,0%
,0%
,0%
,0%
100,0
%
1
4
99
126
39
1
270
36,7%
46,7
%
14,4
%
,4%
100,0
%
,4%
1,5%
LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR YOUR PRODUCTS FROM YOUR TRADITIONAL CLIENTS
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients * Client Crosstabulation
172
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Client
Large
scale
retail
trade
Other companies of
textile/clothing
Other companies
but from a
different sector
Retail
Shop
Final
consumer
Total
very bad
1
4
1
1
0
5
scarce
8
20
4
9
2
37
acceptable
20
53
21
30
5
105
good
28
54
28
13
9
112
very good
2
3
1
2
2
10
we don't
know
0
2
0
0
0
2
59
136
55
55
18
271
Total
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients * Final market Crosstabulation
Final market
Local National
Localized in other
European Countries
Localized in
USA
Localized in
Asian Countries
Elsewhere Total
very bad
1
4
4
0
1
0
5
scarce
7
25
15
1
2
0
37
acceptable
21
66
58
8
5
1
106
good
31
64
61
13
7
2
112
very good
3
9
5
2
2
0
10
we don't
know
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
63
170
143
24
17
3
272
Total
173
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Question 7 * Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients Crosstabulation
traditional clients
agreements
and
partnerships
with
customers
and suppliers
to promote
ethical
products
and/or ecocompatible
no
editing of
Social/
Sustainability
and/or
Environmenta
l Annual
Balance or
Report
no
Count
% within
agreements
ye
s
Count
% within
agreements
Count
% within
social
report
ye
s
adherence to no
ethical and/or
environmenta
l initiatives at
international
level
ye
s
Count
% within
social
report
Count
% within
internationa
l init.
Count
% within
internationa
very
bad
scarc
e
acceptabl
e
good
very
good
we
don't
kno
w
Total
4
36
93
100
9
1
243
1,6
%
14,8
%
38,3%
41,2
%
3,7%
,4%
100,0
%
1
1
13
12
1
1
29
3,4
%
3,4%
44,8%
41,4
%
3,4%
3,4%
100,0
%
5
36
104
107
9
2
263
1,9
%
13,7
%
39,5%
40,7
%
3,4%
,8%
100,0
%
0
1
2
5
1
0
9
,0%
11,1
%
22,2%
55,6
%
11,1
%
,0%
100,0
%
4
36
85
91
10
2
228
1,8
%
15,8
%
37,3%
39,9
%
4,4%
,9%
100,0
%
1
1
21
21
0
0
44
2,3
%
2,3%
47,7%
47,7
%
,0%
,0%
100,0
%
174
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
l init.
LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR YOUR PRODUCTS FROM NEW CLIENTS
Level of demand for your products from your traditional clients * Client Crosstabulation
Client
Large
scale
retail
trade
other
companies of
the textile and
clothing
Other companies but from a
different sector than
textile/clothing/tanning
Retail
Shop
final
consumer
Total
very bad
Count
3
10
3
1
1
14
scarce
Count
8
34
3
12
0
51
acceptable
Count
24
38
32
31
6
109
good
Count
22
47
16
9
10
85
very good
Count
2
3
1
2
1
8
we don't
know
Count
0
4
0
0
0
4
Total
Count
59
136
55
55
18
271
Level of demand for your products from new clients * Final market Crosstabulation
Final Market
locals nationals
very bad
localized in other
European Countries
localized in
USA
localized in
Asian Countries
elsewhere Total
5
9
6
1
3
0
14
scarce
13
35
22
4
2
0
52
acceptable
21
69
67
8
6
2
109
175
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
good
20
49
43
9
3
1
85
very good
2
6
5
2
3
0
8
we don't
know
2
2
0
0
0
0
4
63
170
143
24
17
3
272
Total
Question 7 * Level of demand for your products from new clients Crosstabulation
new clients
very
bad
agreements
and
partnerships
with
customers
and suppliers
to promote
ethical
products
and/or ecocompatible
no
% within
agreements
ye
s
Count
acceptabl
e
good
very
goo
d
we
don't
kno
w
13
49
98
73
7
3
243
5,3%
20,2
%
40,3%
30,0
%
2,9
%
1,2%
100,0
%
1
3
11
12
1
1
29
3,4%
10,3
%
37,9%
41,4
%
3,4
%
3,4%
100,0
%
13
52
107
79
8
4
263
4,9%
19,8
%
40,7%
30,0
%
3,0
%
1,5%
100,0
%
1
0
2
6
0
0
9
11,1
%
,0%
22,2%
66,7
%
,0%
,0%
100,0
%
13
52
90
61
8
4
228
% within
agreements
editing of
no
Social/
Sustainability
and/or
Environmenta
l Annual
ye
Balance or
s
Report
adherence to
Count
scarc
e
no
Count
% within
social
report
Count
% within
social
report
Count
Total
176
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
ethical and/or
environmenta
l initiatives at
international
ye
level
s
% within
internationa
l init.
5,7%
22,8
%
39,5%
26,8
%
3,5
%
1,8%
100,0
%
1
0
19
24
0
0
44
2,3%
,0%
43,2%
54,5
%
,0%
,0%
100,0
%
Count
% within
internationa
l init.
LEVEL OF TECHNICAL INNOVATION IN YOUR COMPANY (e.g. development and launch of
new products, use of raw materials or auxiliary products innovative, acquisition of technologically
advanced equipment for production, new technologies for abatement of pollutants, new materials to
more energy-efficient etc..)
Country * Technical innovation Crosstabulation
Technical Innovation
very
bad
Italy
Count
% within
country
11
13
7,5%
8,8%
5
11
8,1%
17,7%
0
4
France Count
% within
country
Spain
Count
% within
country
Total
Count
% within
country
scarce acceptable
,0%
6,7%
16
28
5,9%
10,4%
36
good
very
good
we don't
know
63
21
24,5% 42,9%
14,3%
18
23
3
29,0% 37,1%
4,8%
8
43
13,3% 71,7%
62
5
Total
3
2,0% 100,0%
2
29
23,0% 48,0%
10,8%
62
3,2% 100,0%
0
8,3% ,0%
129
147
60
100,0%
5
269
1,9% 100,0%
177
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Technical innovation * Sector
Sector
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Technical innovation very bad
Count
1
9
6
16
scarce
Count
4
16
10
28
acceptable
Count
17
29
18
62
good
Count
39
66
31
129
very good
Count
10
12
11
29
we don't know Count
3
3
1
5
74
135
77
269
Total
Count
CSR/competitiveness * Technical innovation Crosstabulation
Technical Innovation
very
bad
Not at all, it costs and
therefore is
counterproductive
Count
a little, the social and
environmental
performances don’t impact
with the competitiveness
Count
enough, also if there is no
a direct and strong relation
Count
% within
CSR
competit
% within
CSR
competit
% within
CSR
scarce acceptable
3
2
16,7%
11,1%
8
9
11,6%
13,0%
2
9
1,9%
8,4%
5
good
6
27,8% 33,3%
18
very
good
2
3
26,1% 40,6%
4,3%
62
20,6% 57,9%
0
11,1% ,0%
28
22
we
don't
know
Total
18
100,0%
3
69
4,3% 100,0%
12
11,2% ,0%
0
107
100,0%
178
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
competit
Very much, the social and
environmental
performances could
influence the
competitiveness
Count
we don't know
Count
% within
CSR
competit
% within
CSR
competit
Total
Count
% within
CSR
competit
1
0
3,0% ,0%
4
20
12,1% 60,6%
2
8
5,1%
20,5%
16
28
6,0%
10,5%
12
8
24,2% ,0%
12
3
30,8% 30,8%
7,7%
61
0
128
28
22,9% 48,1%
10,5%
33
100,0%
2
39
5,1% 100,0%
5
266
1,9% 100,0%
LEVEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION OF YOUR COMPANY (i.e. new internal figure in
charge of areas such as environment and safety, planning tools and training of personnel, etc..)
Organizational innovation * Sector Crosstabulation
Sector
Textile Clothing Tanning Total
Organizational innovation very bad
4
9
3
16
scarce
15
29
10
51
acceptable
30
34
27
85
179
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
good
22
53
28
98
very good
3
6
6
13
we don't know
1
3
2
6
75
134
76
269
Total
ISO 14001 * organizational innovation Crosstabulation
Organizational innovation
very
bad
ISO
14001
no
Count
% within ISO
14001
yes
16
51
6,6%
21,1%
0
0
Count
% within ISO
14001
scarce acceptable
,0%
Total Count
% within ISO
14001
,0%
good
81
51
5,9%
19,0%
we don't
know
77
11
33,5% 31,8%
4,5%
4
21
14,8% 77,8%
16
very
good
85
Total
6
2,5% 100,0%
2
0
7,4% ,0%
98
13
31,6% 36,4%
4,8%
242
27
100,0%
6
269
2,2% 100,0%
EMAS * organizational innovation Crosstabulation
organizational innovation
very
bad
EMAS no
Count
% within
EMAS
scarce acceptable
16
51
6,1%
19,5%
84
good
very
good
93
12
32,1% 35,5%
4,6%
we don't
know
Total
6
262
2,3% 100,0%
180
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
yes
Count
% within
EMAS
Total Count
% within
EMAS
0
0
,0%
,0%
16
51
5,9%
19,0%
1
5
1
14,3% 71,4%
14,3%
85
98
13
31,6% 36,4%
4,8%
0
7
,0% 100,0%
6
269
2,2% 100,0%
Other environmental certification/label * organizational innovation Crosstabulation
organizational innovation
very
bad
Other
environmental
no
Count
% within other
environmental
certification
/label.
yes
Count
% within other
environmental
Total Count
% within other
environmental
scarce acceptable
16
51
7,3%
23,3%
0
0
,0%
,0%
16
51
5,9%
19,0%
good
very
good
we
don't
know
57
12
6
35,2% 26,0%
5,5%
2,7%
41
1
0
16,0% 82,0%
2,0%
,0%
98
13
6
31,6% 36,4%
4,8%
2,2%
77
8
85
Total
219
100,0%
50
100,0%
269
100,0%
Ethical label * organizational innovation Crosstabulation
organizational innovation
very
bad
Ethical
no
Count
15
scarce acceptable
51
82
good
61
very
good
13
we don't
know
6
Total
228
181
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
label
% within ethical
label
yes
6,6%
22,4%
1
0
2,4%
,0%
16
51
5,9%
19,0%
Count
% within
6.marchi etici
Total Count
% within
6.marchi etici
36,0% 26,8%
3
5,7%
37
0
7,3% 90,2%
,0%
85
98
13
31,6% 36,4%
4,8%
2,6% 100,0%
0
41
,0% 100,0%
6
269
2,2% 100,0%
ISO 9000 * organizational innovation Crosstabulation
organizational innovation
very
bad
ISO
9000
no
Count
% within ISO
9000
yes
Count
% within ISO
9000
Total Count
% within ISO
9000
scarce acceptable
16
43
7,4%
19,9%
0
8
,0%
15,1%
16
51
5,9%
19,0%
63
good
very
good
we don't
know
81
8
29,2% 37,5%
3,7%
22
17
5
41,5% 32,1%
9,4%
85
98
13
31,6% 36,4%
4,8%
Total
5
216
2,3% 100,0%
1
53
1,9% 100,0%
6
269
2,2% 100,0%
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION ABOUT THE CONSIDERATION THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND
SUPPLIERS HAVE OF YOU
Country * Satisfaction about the consideration that your customers and suppliers have of you
Crosstabulation
Satisfaction about the consideration that your customers and suppliers have
182
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
of you
very
bad
Italy
Count
% within
country
France
Count
% within
country
Spain
Count
% within
country
Total
Count
% within
country
scarce
acceptable
good
very good
we don't
know
Total
1
1
31
92
20
2
147
,7%
,7%
21,1%
62,6%
13,6%
1,4%
100,0%
0
0
5
31
21
6
63
,0%
,0%
7,9%
49,2%
33,3%
9,5%
100,0%
0
1
5
51
2
1
60
,0%
1,7%
8,3%
85,0%
3,3%
1,7%
100,0%
1
2
41
174
43
9
270
,4%
,7%
15,2%
64,4%
15,9%
3,3%
100,0%
INTENSITY AND QUALITY OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS (public
authorities and control bodies, associations and local communities, representatives of categories and
trade unions, etc..)
Country * relationships with local stakeholders Crosstabulation
relationships with local stakeholders
very bad scarce acceptable
Italy
Count
% within country
France Count
% within country
12
27
8,1%
18,2%
1
12
1,6%
19,4%
34
good
very good we don't know
57
12
23,0% 38,5%
8,1%
22
13
4
35,5% 21,0%
6,5%
6
Total
148
4,1% 100,0%
10
62
16,1% 100,0%
183
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Spain
Count
% within country
Total
1
5
1,7%
8,6%
14
44
5,2%
16,4%
Count
% within country
4
46
1
6,9% 79,3%
1,7%
60
116
17
22,4% 43,3%
6,3%
1
58
1,7% 100,0%
17
268
6,3% 100,0%
Relationships with local stakeholders * Sector Crosstabulation
Sector
Textile
very bad
Clothing
Tanning
Total
3
11
1
14
scarce
11
23
11
44
acceptable
17
25
18
60
good
28
62
35
116
very good
7
4
8
17
we don't know
7
8
4
17
73
133
77
268
Total
Initiatives for the local community * Relationships with local stakeholders Crosstabulation
Relationships with local stakeholders
very
bad
Initiatives for
the local
community
no
Count
% within local
community
yes
Count
scarce acceptable
11
38
5,6%
19,2%
3
6
44
good
very
good
81
9
22,2% 40,9%
4,5%
16
35
8
we
don't
know
15
Total
198
7,6% 100,0%
2
70
184
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
% within local
community
Total Count
% within local
community
4,3%
8,6%
14
44
5,2%
16,4%
22,9% 50,0%
60
11,4%
116
17
22,4% 43,3%
6,3%
2,9% 100,0%
17
268
6,3% 100,0%
CSR VS competitiveness * Relationships with local stakeholders Crosstabulation
Relationships with local stakeholders
very
bad
CSR/
competit
Not at all, it costs
and therefore is
counterproductive
Count
% within
CSR
competit
A little, the social
and environmental
performances
don’t impact with
the
competitiveness
Count
Enough, also if
there is no a direct
and strong relation
Count
Very much, the
social and
environmental
performances
could influence the
competitiveness
% within
CSR
competit
% within
CSR
competit
Count
% within
CSR
competit
scarce acceptable
5
6
29,4%
35,3%
8
12
11,6%
17,4%
0
15
,0%
14,2%
0
3
,0%
9,1%
good
very
good
we
don't
know
3
1
1
5,9% 17,6%
5,9%
1
19
23
3
27,5% 33,3%
4,3%
18
60
9
17,0% 56,6%
8,5%
8
18
3
24,2% 54,5%
9,1%
Total
17
5,9% 100,0%
4
69
5,8% 100,0%
4
106
3,8% 100,0%
1
33
3,0% 100,0%
185
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
We don't know
Count
% within
CSR
competit
Total
Count
% within
CSR
competit
1
7
2,5%
17,5%
14
43
5,3%
16,2%
13
11
1
32,5% 27,5%
2,5%
59
115
17
22,3% 43,4%
6,4%
7
40
17,5% 100,0%
17
265
6,4% 100,0%
EASE OF ACCESS TO CREDIT FROM BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Country * Ease of access to credit Crosstabulation
Ease of access to credit
very bad scarce acceptable
Italy
Count
% within country
France Count
% within country
Spain
Count
% within country
Total
Count
% within country
43
good
very good we don't know
21
27
36
14
14,2%
18,2%
29,1% 24,3%
9,5%
1
5
1,7%
8,3%
8
5
42
3
0
13,6%
8,5%
71,2%
5,1%
,0%
30
37
107
47
15
11,2%
13,9%
40,1% 17,6%
5,6%
22
8
1
36,7% 13,3%
1,7%
7
Total
148
4,7% 100,0%
23
60
38,3% 100,0%
1
59
1,7% 100,0%
31
267
11,6% 100,0%
186
COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
LEVEL OF APPEAL IN YOUR BUSINESS FOR NEW MEMBERS AND PARTNERS (entry of new
members, attainment offer, proposals for mergers, etc.)
Country * Level of appeal in your business for new members and partners Crosstabulation
Level of appeal in your business for new members and partners
very bad scarce acceptable
Italy
Count
% within Country
France Count
% within Country
Spain
Count
% within Country
Total
Count
% within Country
good
very good we don't know
41
30
14
13
3
27,9%
20,4%
9,5%
8,8%
2,0%
12
4
6
2
2
20,0%
6,7%
10,0%
3,3%
3,3%
0
8
7
37
2
,0%
13,3%
11,7% 61,7%
3,3%
53
42
19,9%
15,7%
27
52
7
10,1% 19,5%
2,6%
46
Total
147
31,3% 100,0%
34
60
56,7% 100,0%
6
60
10,0% 100,0%
86
267
32,2% 100,0%
Level of appeal in your business for new members and partners *Sector Crosstabulation
Sector
Textile
Clothing
Tanning
Total
Level of appeal in your business
very bad
12
29
13
53
for new members and partners
scarce
13
20
10
42
8
12
8
27
13
37
6
52
1
4
2
7
we don't know
27
32
35
86
Total
74
134
74
267
acceptable
good
very good
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
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Main websites:
-
http://www.armandbasi.com/
http://www.armorlux.com/
http://www.bancaetica.com/Default.ep3
http://www.bancopopolare.it/
http://www.banquepopulaire.fr/
http://www.bbva.com/TLBB/tlbb/jsp/esp/home/index.jsp
http://www.bccfc.it/home/home.asp
http://www.bnl.it/wps/portal
http://www.cajanavarra.es/es/
http://www.creditocooperativo.it/
http://www.e-coop.it/portalWeb/coop.portal
http://www.emilbanca.it/portal/page?_pageid=2681,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
http://www.eticasgr.it/
http://www.gafiart.it/
http://www.groupe-auchan.com/
http://www.grupocortefiel.com/en/index.asp
http://www.hm.com/it/
http://www.inditex.com/en
http://www.intesasanpaolo.com/scriptIbve/retail20/RetailIntesaSanpaolo/ita/home/ita_home.jsp
http://www.lecedre.com/
http://www.lvmh.com/
http://www.lvmh.com/
http://www.mps.it/
http://www.previsorageneral.com/
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
-
http://www.ubibanca.it/pagine/Home-IT.aspx
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/
http://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/home.htm
https://www.bancaja.es/
http://www.cleanclothes.org
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COSMIC Project: Final Report of analysis about relationship existing between CSR and competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector
Authors:
Battaglia Massimo – Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Bianchi Lara - Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Cautillo Anna - Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Espinach Xavier – University of Girona
Ghiringhello Daniel - Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Testa Francesco - Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Project coordinator:
Frey Marco - Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies
Acknowledgments to:
- ASSA, Associazione Lavorazioni Conto Terzi, Santa Croce s/Arno (PI)
- Associazione Conciatori, Santa Croce s/Arno (PI)
- Associazione Industriali di Firenze, Empoli Department (FI)
- Camera di Commercio, Industria e Artigianato, Pisa
- Camera di Commercio, Industria e Artigianato, Prato
- Chamber of Commerce and Industry of France, Paris
- Confartigianato Empoli (FI)
- Confederazione Nazionale Artigianato, Empoli
- Consorzio Conciatori Ponte a Egola (PI)
- FILTEA CGIL, Firenze
- GUCCI Group, Firenze
- Istituto di Economia per le Fonti dell’Energia e dell’Ambiente, Bocconi University, Milano
- Italian Pollution Pool, Milano
INFO:
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna – MAIN Lab
P.za Martiri della Libertà, 33
56127 Pisa (Italia)
www.cosmic.sssup.it
[email protected]
193