Corporate Social Responsibility in the Chilean Salmon Industry : Institutional Foundations and other Explanatory Factors

Abstract

The objective of the present thesis is to achieve a better understanding of CSR in a cross country context. It bases itself on a qualitative case study of the Chilean salmon industry with emphasis on the Norwegian companies that operate herein. The main theoretical framework is taken from organization theory, and bases itself on the rational and the normative institutional organization perspectives. The main goal is to identify the explanatory factors for the CSR measures in this industry. A secondary research question is whether the CSR measures of the Norwegian owned companies are conditioned by their Norwegian ownership. The study shows that a combination of rational and normative institutional explanatory factors explains the CSR measures in the Chilean salmon industry. Market demands and free trade agreements are identified as rational explanatory factors, whereas the influence from NGOs, from the industry association SalmonChile, society and culture, and company culture and leadership are amongst the most important normative institutional explanatory factors. Further the thesis shows that it is not so much Norwegian ownership per se, but rather the institutional foundations of the company and company leadership that determine the behaviour of a company regarding CSR. The study shows that the institutional foundations are vital for the understanding of company behaviour. As the institutional foundations vary from company to company, the need for studying Norwegian companies abroad on an individual basis and avoid making generalizations about their behaviour becomes very clear.