CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) / "BASE OF THE PYRAMID" (BOP)

IIIES strives for an in-depth understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility and "Base of The Pyramid". To gather this information, we work with:

• large companies from the private and profit-making economy and the social economy,
• NGOs working within this field,
• research teams,
• influential individuals in the public sector.

Our research concerning BOP and CSR has similar themes; both are concerned with issues of sustainability.

CSR:

• CSR strategies and management in large companies from the social economy.
• CSR, sustainable development and Social Entrepreneurship.
• The role of values in CSR and the transition towards sustainable development.
• The role of "social capital", territorial anchoring, economic citizenship, the "social issue" and social aspects as part of sustainable development.
• The way economic enterprise, market processes and democratic processes are expressed, especially from the perspective of deliberative democracy.
• Social Innovation and CSR: business management and innovation on issues of “weak interest” (according to the dominant social consensus and to influential individuals).

BOP :

• Strategies for the creation and management of BOP markets in the Southern hemisphere.
• Strategies for the creation and management of BOP markets in the Northern hemisphere.
• Social economy and BOP.
• BOP processes and procedures as generic sustainable innovation approaches.

Our research covers areas such as:

• The exploration, comprehension and analysis of situations in which organisations (whether private or public) invest in BOP markets or, in a more general sense, express "standard" business functions with participation in more collective issues including a societal and ecological dimension.
• Modelling action strategies and principles to develop new CSR – BOP offers and organisations. These strategies include taking into account stakeholders involved in the projects in question.
• How do CSR policies allow private and public businesses to contribute to a more socially sustainable society, renewing their models and pursuing their objectives in the long term? (Thesis by Rodolphe Vidal, UVSQ REEDS Laboratory).

Partnerships:

• BOP Network
• REEDS UVSQ Team
• Business Economics Chair, Ecole Polytechnique
• Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (Johnson Business School- Cornell University)

Contact :
Marion Cesselin, Project Manager
Email : cesselin@essec.fr