Title: Issues and challenges of CSR practices in textile industry: an empirical study in Suzhou, China

Authors: Danqing Zhu, Kim Hua Tan

Addresses: The Zhu's Textile Co., Ltd, Suzhou, China. ' Nottingham University Business School, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK

Abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is emerging as one of today|s most important and hottest topics for firms &ndash big or small. Especially, manufacturing firms in developing countries such as China and India &ndash the world |manufacturing floor| – are under heavy scrutiny from many parties. There are mounting concerns of the limits of government legislative and regulatory initiatives to effectively capture all the issues that CSR addresses. This paper aims to research the status of CSR activities in China &ndash especially focusing on the textile industry in the Suzhou province. Textile industry has been attacked by NGOs for much of the river pollutions in the third world, but yet, a review of literature shows little is available on the status of CSR practises in the textile industry. This paper obtains data through a survey of 220 companies and in-depth case studies in the Suzhou textile industry. The findings reveal the emergence of CSR as corporate focus, but there are many barriers to its implementation.

Keywords: CSR implementation; corporate social responsibility; textile industry; China; textiles.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2008.021194

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2008 Vol.5 No.6, pp.759 - 772

Published online: 09 Nov 2008 *

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