Call for Abstracts

Corporate Responsibility Research Conference CRRC 2015
Corporate Responsibility at the Crossroads: Creative Destruction or Creating Destruction?

Organised and hosted by KEDGE Business School
in association with the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds

16 – 18 September 2015
at KEDGE Business School, Marseille

(Please click here for a PDF version of this call for abstracts)

With the COP21 summit to be held in Paris, 2015 marks the year where the world is expected to take decisive steps to tackle climate change. Climate change is the most visible but only one of the pressing problems humanity faces. Whether or not the corporate sector will help to provide solutions or contribute to more problems remains unclear. Will firms really be willing to undertake significant investments and substantive changes to move our course of action towards a more sustainable future? And will firms be able and willing to take a leading role to improve the living conditions of millions of people? Challenges like these bring up the more fundamental question of whether corporate responsibility can really make a difference and be a decisive driver for fundamental change towards a more sustainable future. While we see more and more firms touting their commitment and responsibility in glossy reports and on fancy websites, it remains unclear whether these commitments go beyond easy-to-accomplish incremental changes that do not measure up to the radical transitions that are required to meet the pressing challenges that we face today.

Now entering its second decade, the Corporate Responsibility Research Conference has become a forum for a wide range of topics linked to Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability. The tradition of CRRC is to focus on participants and the debate. We aim to create an environment that is welcoming and friendly yet challenges the existing knowledge base and drives the debate around corporate responsibility forward. Against this tradition the conference offers the ideal platform for addressing the more fundamental role of the corporate sector and the scope of its responsibility and commitment for a more sustainable future. We are keen to invite a wide variety of participants from across disciplinary backgrounds and from a variety of academic departments to address these kinds of questions. We invite research papers from all fields of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. We are especially looking forward to submissions that focus on and question the role of the private sector in achieving sustainability. Potential topics include (but are not limited to):

CRRC is the ideal place to test new ideas and to experiment with new formats. Therefore we also welcome suggestions for special workshop streams and innovative ideas. In addition, we invite submissions to the following conference workshops:

• Sustainable Entrepreneurship. The concept of sustainable entrepreneurship envisions entrepreneurship as an activity that aims at balancing the three pillars of sustainability: the economic, the social, and the environmental ones. Current definitions offer some answers, but also raise a large number of questions which are starting to be approached within this vibrant field of research. This track welcomes submissions dealing with the various facets of sustainable entrepreneurship. Please click here for an extended call for abstracts for the Sustainable Entrepreneurship track.
• Micro-level CSR. A focus on stakeholder well-being has long been integral to CSR scholarship. Only recently, however, have researchers devoted sustained attention to understanding how employees—both current and prospective—perceive, engage in, and react to CSR initiatives directed at themselves and other stakeholders external to the firm. The recent and dramatic increase in “micro” CSR research published in leading management journals has positioned this area as a mainstream topic of study, and exciting theoretical and empirical advances are beginning to emerge. We are therefore thrilled to invite scholars from fields such as OB, HR, I/O Psychology and related management disciplines to join us in submitting research in this track. For interested scholars, there will be additional opportunities to meet outside of the track sessions to provide feedback on each other’s work and strengthen the network of scholars in this important area. Please click here for more information. Please also note that there is a call for submissions for a Special Issue in Frontiers in Psychology that is organised in conjunction with this workshop.

ABSTRACTS

Initial abstracts of a maximum of 600 words should be emailed to abstracts@crrconference.org by Monday, 15^th June 2015. Files should be sent in MS Word format, and the file name should be first author’s surname. Please include names, affiliations and contact details of all authors. Please use a maximum of 600 words, answering the following questions:

• Research Question(s): What is the submission's goal?
• Theoretical Framework: What main concepts, models or theories are used in the paper? Include 3-4 central references.
• Method: Which method is used for the research work?
• Findings: What are the main (expected) outcomes and results?

Abstracts will be reviewed and selected by the scientific committee of the conference. Authors will be notified of acceptance from early June 2015.

PAPERS

The conference papers of a maximum of 6,000 words including references should be emailed to papers@crrconference.org no later than 31 July 2015. Please note that papers will not be accepted or appear on the programme unless at least one co-author has registered in full for the conference.

PhD WORKSHOP

Our popular pre-conference PhD Workshop will be held on the afternoon of 16^th September 2015. It will appeal to first-time attendees as well as those who have attended throughout their PhD career. This annual workshop provides a relaxed environment to allow for lively exchange and discussion between PhD students as well as the opportunity to gain helpful advice and feedback from a panel of experienced PhD supervisors in the field. We have expanded the PhD workshop a few years ago and we want to continue talking about Post PhD opportunities and we will of course cover needs of PhD students throughout their studies.

BEST PAPER AWARDS

The scientific committee of the conference will review all papers presented and award two prizes for the CRRC best overall paper and the CRRC best PhD paper at the conference dinner. Criteria for the selection process are contribution to the research field, quality of the research, innovativeness, and diversity of views.

IMPORTANT DATES

CONFERENCE FEES

For more detailed information on the conference, accommodation, the venue and logistics, please visit our website (www.crrconference.org) or contact the conference chair Professor Frank Figge at info@crrconference.org.