Влияние заинтересованных сторон на адаптацию стратегий КСО международных компаний в России: кейс производителей продуктов питания

Research Motivation
Nowadays, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has ceased to be an element that companies treat as an additional burden to the main goal of making a profit. This concept has undergone significant changes over the past 70 years. The newest global standard is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were adopted at a global level by the UN in 2015 (reference to the UN). Today, the SDGs have become an important part of the strategy of large international companies – including the FMCG sector, which, due to the size of their business, large amounts of cash flows and a developed infrastructure, have a significant impact on the implementation of these goals. SDGs has transferred the focus of CSR from company strategic advantage (Frynas, 2015) to the necessity of sustainability integration into all business processes to achieve UN goals, as this helps to minimize the damage to the planet, which is already considered significant (Rendtorff, 2019). SDGs also help to deal with mismatching between the goals of the macro and micro levels which means more efficient strategy making at all the company levels (Dyllick & Muff, 2016). Nevertheless, the adaptation of such strategies varies across markets, especially if we are talking about countries that have been isolated from the capitalist world for a long time and whose institutions have developed according to completely different scenarios (Kapoor & Dhamija, 2017; Li et al., 2010; Mahmood & Humphrey, 2013; Yang & Rivers, 2009). Moreover, adaptation can also be influenced by the crisis situations, for example, the recent Covid-19 pandemic which could potentially influence CSR strategy of many companies worldwide (Crane, 2020). There is still limited research on corporate social responsibility strategies in Russia, especially on how the subsidiaries of international companies adapt their CSR strategies and initiatives to the Russian realities. Therefore, it is not only necessary to clarify the peculiarities of the Russian stakeholders but also to help companies, which are already on the market, to adapt more efficiently.
International food manufacturers have been chosen for this research since they ensure the food security of the inhabitants of the countries in which they operate, and thus are under the closest supervision of the state and various stakeholders which influence companies to engage and manage relationships with a lot of stakeholders all over the world.
After all, as David Brower said in 1977 – “Think globally, act locally”. These words perfectly reflect the principle by which companies should approach the issue of CSR strategies in different
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countries, since it is adaptation to other realities that helps business to be more effective, and in the case of corporate social responsibility, also valuable.
The subject of the research is the adaptation of the CSR strategy, the object of the research is CSR strategy.
Research goal
The goal of this research is to make proposals on how to adapt international companies CSR strategies to the Russian environment due to local stakeholders’ peculiarities. To achieve the goal, the following research questions were raised:
• Does the type of CSR strategy of international food companies change at the Russian market?
• What are the peculiarities in the relationships with stakeholders in Russia for global food producers and how do they adapt their CSR strategies or practices because of them?
• How do CSR strategies in Russia change in times of crisis for food producers at the example of Covid-19?
To attain the research goal, the following objectives are set:
• Define theoretical and methodological foundation of CSR strategy and stakeholder
management.
• Describe relationships between stakeholder peculiarities and CSR strategies of the international food producers.
• Analyze how CSR strategies adapt to the Russian environment and to the crisis situations in Russia in the form of the multiple case-analysis.
• Generalize findings and suggest improvements for the more efficient adaptation for already existing and potentially new international food producers at the Russian market.
As for the methodology of this study, the case study method with two research techniques will be used: a content-analysis of the CSR reports made by the international food producers both at the global and at the Russian level, and interviews with representatives of such companies who are responsible for the CSR strategy in Russia. The interviews were conducted with a semi-structured approach and were analyzed with the help of the qualitative content analysis. Questions were
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dedicated to the type of strategy subsidiaries use at the Russian market and to the local stakeholder peculiarities. Moreover, one set of questions is also dedicated to the Covid-19 crisis and how companies did change strategies due to its influence. Sources of information at this work are journal articles and books on management and CSR, industry reports and companies report both at the global and at the Russian levels.
The structure of the study is the following: first, the main concepts regarding CSR are researched and reviewed, among them are the works by Bowen, Carroll, Ackerman, Davis, Blagov (Bowen, 1953; Carroll, 1979; Davis, 1973; Ackerman, 1976, Blagov, 2015). Then the stakeholder theory is introduced as an important stage in the creation of the strategic CSR. It is shown through the works of Freeman, Carroll, and Mitchell (Freeman, 1984; Carroll, 2009; Mitchell et al., 1997). Several main concepts of strategic approach to the CSR are presented (Porter & Kramer, 2011; Dyllick & Muff, 2016) and framework of CSR strategy creation are discussed (Baumgartner, 2014). Further, various concepts of the influence of various factors on the change in the CSR strategy of international companies (institutional, stakeholders) are considered (Matten & Moor, 2008, Campbell, 2007, Yang & Rivers, 2009). Since the emphasis in this work is made specifically on stakeholders, the greatest emphasis will be placed on them; nevertheless, the difference in stakeholders is explained by institutional theory, therefore, two main concepts from this area are also considered: Williamson’s institutional model and Wheatley’s model of national business systems (Williamson, 2000; Whitley, 1999). A brief context of CSR in Russia is given based on a scientific article by Fifka and analytical reports from Skolkovo and Effie Russia (Fifka, 2014; Effie & KPMG, 2020; IEMS SKOLKOVO Business School, 2016). The following is a methodological rationale for the choice of a qualitative analysis of multiple case studies. Then, the cases were examined with the help of interviews and analysis of non-financial reporting, patterns, and differences in the adaptation of CSR strategies to the Russian market were revealed. As a result, specific initiatives were proposed to improve the adaptation of CSR strategies of international food companies in Russia.