This article is published in a peer-reviewed section of the Utrecht Law Review

Four Case Studies on Corporate Social Responsibility:
Do Conflicts Affect a Company’s Corporate Social
Responsibility Policy?
Cristina A. Cedillo Torres,
Mercedes Garcia-French,
Rosemarie Hordijk,
Kim Nguyen, Lana Olup*

1. Introduction
1.1. Background and objectives
This article will discuss the different Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues that emerged within
­
four multinationals (Apple, Canon, Coca-Cola and Walmart). There is no clear definition of CSR. In
Corporate Social Responsibility, Legal and semi-legal frameworks supporting CSR Lambooy gives an r o
­ verview of several definitions of CSR.1 The European Commission defines CSR as ‘the ­ esponsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society’.2 This is the definition which is the most suitable for the c ­ ontext of the article’s research question. As this article will focus on companies from the US and Japan, the authors also provide an overview of the focus on CSR from the US and Japanese perspective. In the
US there is no governmental regulation regarding CSR or business best practices. Instead, according to findings from Bennett American, companies have a marked tendency to use codes of conduct.3 The
American CSR perspective could be described as following a principles-based approach, with codes of conduct that prescribe values and principles which company members as a whole should aspire to follow.
In contrast, Japanese companies prefer to focus on areas where their contributions can be statistically measured. Interest in social aspects of CSR is significantly less pronounced than in other industrialized countries.4 In Japan there are no specific provisions regulating CSR. However, the 1988 law that promotes specific non-profit activities is of major significance in this context.5