Purpose – This paper aims to examine the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as propagated by ISO 26000, the global comprehensive guidance standard for CSR, compare it to and position it vis-à-vis other contemporary interpretations of CSR and formulate a critique on the standard’s definition of CSR. Methodology/Approach – This paper aims to examine the definition of CSR as propagated by ISO 26000, the global comprehensive guidance standard for CSR, compare it to and position it vis-à-vis other contemporary interpretations of CSR and formulate a critique on the standard’s definition of CSR. Findings – ISO 26000’s definition of CSR is ‘out of the ordinary' when compared to instrumental CSR definitions that are currently dominant, as it propagates an explicit moral perspective on corporate responsibilities towards society. While it resembles aspects of earlier definitions of CSR, this paper argues that the standard, being the end result of a global stakeholder dialogue, tries to make a strong plea for the return of morality in the CSR debate. Also, it is concluded that the ISO 26000 definition of CSR has several shortcomings, especially on the subject of corporate governance, which are addressed. Practical/implications – While the main gist of this paper is of a theoretical nature, it may have implications for practice as well. For instance, it may inform critical examinations of corporate commitments to CSR through adopting ISO 26000, and may inform future revisions of the standard. Originality/Value – This paper is the first to examine the ISO 26000 definition of CSR in a structured and detailed way.
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There are lots of definitions of quality, and also of quality in education. Garvin (1984)discerns five approaches: the transcendental approach, the product-oriented approach, the customeroriented approach, the manufacturing-oriented approach and the value-for-money approach. Harvey and Green (1993) give five interrelated concepts of quality as: exceptional, perfection (or consistency), fitness for purpose, value for money and transformative. A new definition of quality is needed to explain recent quality issues in higher education. This article describes a quality concept with four constituents: object, standard, subject and values. The article elaborates on the values. Four value systems derived from Beck and Cowan (1996) are transformed into four value systems on quality and quality management: control, continuous improvement, commitment and breakthrough. These value systems make it possible to explain some recent developments in quality management in higher education.
The concept of business sustainability has been investigated, reviewed, and criticized by a plethora of scholars. What constitutes the essence of business sustainability—and its relationship to the actual state of our planet—is still an integral part of the discourse on business-society relations. Recently, Dyllick and Muff (Organization & Environment, 29:156–174, 2016) have reviewed literature in order to uncover what constitutes ‘true’ business sustainability, explaining the apparent absence of a coupling between corporate sustainability initiatives and the state of the planet and explore how this coupling can be strengthened. As such, the authors provide many relevant pointers for answering the question: when is business truly sustainable? This paper aims to respond both critically and constructively to Dyllick and Muff’s article by addressing three points: the somewhat confusing conception of what actually comprises ‘true’ business sustainability, the authors’ choice not to address the underlying economic model and the model of consumer behavior, and the types of sustainability intelligence that, in our view, business needs to develop to truly become a force for spurring sustainable development. We use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a case in point to illustrate our argument. In doing so, this paper aims to add to a firm-centered conceptualization of the business-society interface in a constructive way to stimulate further discourse on the concept, and to make a theoretical contribution with respect to coupling mechanisms in the realm of business sustainability.
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SmartCulTour will propose and validate innovative interventions directed at sustainable cultural tourism that supports the development of European regions rich of tangible and intangible cultural assets.The project will focus on:. Concepts: By developing new definitions of (sustainable) cultural tourism, cultural tourism destinations, sustainable development, and resilience;• Measurement: By identifying and testing a framework of sustainability and resilience indicators and a Decision Support System for measuring and monitoring cultural tourism and its impacts;• Procedure: By testing and presenting innovative and creative tools for stakeholder engagement, particularly art-based methods, a serious game and service design;• Outcome: By recognizing state-of-the-art and innovative cultural tourism interventions through existing case studies and by trialling specific interventions within six community-led Living Labs.Partners:KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Split (Croatia), MODUL University Vienna (Austria), University of Lapland (Finland), Ca’Foscari Università di Venezia (Italy), UNESCO (France), CIHEAM-IAMZ (Spain), Toerisme Vlaanderen (Belgium), Quantitas (Italy)