Corporate social and environmental responsibility in relation to theagricultural sector and the food supply chain: a case study ofWaitrose

摘要

The terms corporate social responsibility' and `corporate environmental responsibility' encompass the philosophy that businesses have a moral obligation not only to stockholders but also to the wider society and the environment (Freeman & Reed, 2004). Linked to this is the concept of the 'stakeholder' which here is taken as `any identifiable group or individual who can affect the achievement of an organisation's objectives or who is affected by the achievement of an organisation's objectives' (Freeman & Reed, 2004). It has been argued that all stakeholders have a right to be provided with information about how an organisation is impacting on them (Deegan, 2000). Corporate governance is the process via which corporations `are made responsive to the rights of stakeholders' (Demb & Neubauer, 2004). The mechanisms of corporate accountability are an active area of debate, e.g. in relation to whether environmental disclosures should be voluntary or subject to government legislation (Salama et al., 2006). Agriculture is the business of producing crops for direct use, or for raising livestock which is then utilised, by man. The main `food' crops produced worldwide are cereals, legumes, pasture grasses, root and tuber crops, vegetables and melons, nut and fruit trees, sugar beet, oil palm fruit and tomato (www.fao.org). In addition, there are commercially important non-food crops such as tobacco and cotton while substantial amounts of trees are used for wood or fuel. For many countries, agricultural land occupies a substantial proportion of the total land area. Also, agriculture linked with the food supply chain is a major contributor to the economy of many countries. The economy of many developing countries is greatly dependent on the export of food products.