The Role of Fair Trade in Developing Corporate Social Responsibility: an Empirical Examination Based on Multiple Cases

Purpose: Corporate social responsibility is becoming more and more important for the firms from developed countries. The main purpose of this research paper is to examine empirically the role of fair trade in developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to find out the dynamics of CSR being used in organizations. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative case study research reviews the fair trade incorporating the historical developments, its conceptualization, and main motives along with CSR and its historical developments and conceptualization including major theories of CSR. The role of fair trade is developed by identifying the importance of CSR factors. To empirically examine the role of fair trade in developing CSR, this research employs the comparative multiple cases in Finland and Pakistan. Findings: The main conclusions are as following: fair trade firms give equal importance to economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. Further, this study identifies the important factors included in each level of corporate social responsibility. Findings also reveal that suppliers are important stakeholders of the firms. Moreover, it depicts the importance of fair trade in developing CSR for diversified products. Originality/Value: This research highlights the importance of fair trade in developing the economic, social, and environmental responsibilities of fair trade firms by focusing an important stakeholder group (i.e., suppliers). These trends represent the increasing demand of fair trade in businesses and also help them to know the important factors in corporate responsibility by considering the significance of suppliers as important stakeholders.