University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

Common Features of the Two Concepts
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Both approaches are meant for SMEs in the first instance, though with regard to their
requirements and their elaborateness they are going beyond other approaches for
SMEs. Firstly, this relates to the scope of CSR regarded. Both concepts apply a
comprehensive notion of CSR, stressing the close connection of CSR and corporate
sustainability. Though BLISS according to the requirements of our enterprise partner
contains only a marginal ecological part, a full integration of the ecological
dimension would not pose a problem at all.
The differences between BLISS and the Austrian Quality Seal on the one hand and
similar approaches on the other are even more essential as to the tools applied. In
most of the material devised especially for SMEs the (self-)evaluation rests upon
self-estimation supported by very simple and intuitional tools (e.g. Respact Austria
2007). Supposedly these aim at arousing consciousness in CSR more than at actually
evaluating CSR performance. In contrast, the evaluation scheme of BLISS is based
on periodic statistical surveys and interviews. The enterprise is provided with concise
guidance and with sample questionnaires to be able to conduct these surveys.
As to the Austrian CSR Quality Seal, impartial external auditors inspect the business
conduct of an enterprise during the audit. They can also gather information from
external third parties like trade unions. Consequently both concepts will bring about
much more expense and expenditure of time than others, the quality of the results,
however, will by far outstrip those of others.
This enables a straightforward integration of CSR into the enterprise’s system of
goals and strategies. That applies all the more as both concepts are closely affiliated
to common management approaches: The indicator set of BLISS is directly attached
to the main criteria of the EFQM excellence model. EFQM CSR criteria were also
among the 334 criteria which served as a starting point for developing the Austrian
CSR Quality Seal. Still the design of the Quality Seal refers to the Deming-/PDCA-
Cycle (Deming 1986) and continuous improvement (Bhuiyan & Bagehel 2005: 762
et seq.) rather than to EFQM. Anyway, a strong interlinkage between the two
concepts and strategic management is being allowed for.
Divergencies between the two Concepts
In the next step we are going to contrast the exact purposes and the application focus,
resources needed for implementation and furthermore economic, ecological and
social opportunities and risks of BLISS and the Austrian CSR Quality Seal, finally
focusing on their suitability for SMEs.
Comparing Purposes and Aims of the two Concepts
The overall purpose of BLISS was to “exemplarily provide an Austrian enterprise
with a practice-suited guidance for integrating the social dimension of sustainability