Corporate responsibility practices in Swedish retail — identifying differences between independent stores and chain stores

The notions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability have developed into common features of the public, political, and business discourses. To assist in the achievement of sustainable business practices, an important part of research is to learn more about what enables and triggers companies to work accordingly; that is, to embrace the notion of corporate social responsibility. General questions of importance include what companies do in terms of CSR and, following that, why they do what they do. In this paper we pay attention to CSR practices in the retail sector. Although retail represents a significant part of business life, research specifically focused on CSR in this sector is still limited. Additional knowledge about CSR among retailers, including answers to what they do and what organizational factors can explain their behavior, can facilitate development of awareness, processes and incentives in the industry to maintain and advance a focus on sustainability.