Corporate Social Responsibility in Hospitality: Issues and Implications. A Case Study of Scandic

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), which takes as its premise that firms ought to justify their existence in terms of service to assorted stakeholders rather than mere profit, has been a subject of much debate. Yet, notwithstanding certain critical voices, more and more businesses, including hospitality companies, are embracing CSR. Some – like Scandic – even embedded it into their business models, which means that CSR underpins their organizational modus operandi. Thus this paper, built around an analysis of Scandic's Omtanke programme, aims to conceptualize CSR in the context of the hospitality sector. Great stress is laid, therefore, on the implications of CSR for hotel‐based human resource management, local community support and promotion of environmental sustainability. Drawing on interviews with Scandic managers and internal documents, we examine the rationale and effects of various CSR initiatives carried out in Scandic hotels in recent years. Building on these insights, the paper concludes by making some recommendations of practical character and highlighting future research directions.

Keywords:

• CSR
• environmental sustainability
• hospitality
• HRM
• Scandic

Notes

1. Nonetheless, one has to realize that CSR as practised can mean many different things and that the critique does not concern what Crook (2005, p. 6) calls “good management”. This is the win‐win kind of CSR, which encompasses such business practices as establishing a reputation for dealing honestly with employees, customers and suppliers.

2. A distinction is made between affective (“want to remain”), continuance (“need to remain”) and normative (“ought to remain”) commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991, 1997).

3. Contingency theory holds that performance is a consequence of fit between assorted organizational processes and the characteristics of organizational contextual factors such as technology, structure, strategy, environment and culture (Richard et al., 2006).

4. The information contained in this section comes from the Omtanke book released by Scandic in 2007, the Scandic Better World website available at: http://www.scandic‐campaign.com/betterworld/, as well as various internal sources and personal communication with the Scandic management.

5. St. Julian Prize is a honorary recognition established as part of the City of Stockholm's “Accessibility Project”. This project is aimed at making Stockholm the world's most accessible capital city by 2010. The prize will be awarded every year between 2006 and 2010. The prize, divided into four categories: store/bank, restaurant/bar/café, movie house/theatre/cultural locale, and hotel/conference facility, is awarded to businesses in Stockholm city that made their premises easily accessible to everyone. The jury consisting of the City of Stockholm, disability organizations and the Swedish Association of Architects, visits all the nominees and tests their accessibility in practice. The consideration is given to both the physical environment and the business' attitude to visitors at their establishments (Bornholm, 2006).