University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

3. CSR in administration-society relationships
4. Relational governance
Source: Albareda et al. 2008, page 352
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The authors contend that the model can be used to better understand the role of
government in public CSR policy as it demands an analysis of the overarching CSR
policy framework and its implementation in terms of specific policies and
programmes (Albareda et al. 2008: 351). This in turn requires a detailed analysis of
government CSR policy (in terms of the government’s vision, objectives, strategies
and priorities), the internal government CSR structure (e.g. organisational structures),
CSR responsibilities of different levels of government (e.g. the role of regional and
local government), the scope of the CSR policy (i.e. whether domestic or
international), and lastly the CSR role of other organisations (e.g. government
agencies).
The model has a number of important strengths. First, it can be used in a systematic
way to compare and contrast the public CSR policy of a range of countries. Indeed,
the authors have employed the model in an effective manner to compare (Lozano et
al. 2008) the national CSR public policy of fifteen member states of the EU. From
that research the authors have been able to develop a four-way typology that
categories countries as either conforming to the ‘partnership’, the ‘business-in-thecommunity’,
the ‘sustainability and citizenship’ or the ‘agora’ variety of the
relational model. Second, the approach is to be applauded for its attention to detail.
The analysis of the overarching policy framework and the detail of policy
implementation are both very welcome. Finally, the model also has merits because
of its focus on the relationship between the public, private and voluntary spheres of
governance. However, despite highlighting civil society as one of the key elements
of the relational model, Albareda et al. (2008) and Lozano et al. (2008) do not
develop these ideas further in their own reported research. However, other authors
located in the business ethics field and management studies have focused on civil
society (Doh & Guay 2004 and 2006; Doh & Teegan 2002). This work provides a
useful supplement to the relational model.
The combined literature above provides direction for the empirical research
undertaken and reported in this paper. Accordingly, the research questions posed
and addressed by this paper are as follows:
• What is the content of Russian public CSR policy?
• To what extent and how has the Russian government driven CSR business
practice in Russia?
• What role has Russian civil society played in promoting and shaping CSR
public policy and business practice in Russia?
•
In the next section of the paper, we explore the development of CSR public policy in
Russia.