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ABSTRACT

Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr

Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University

Authors: Emelie Borrman (95/09/13), Shermila Maddumagamage (73/05/23),                    Rachel Otieno (89/08/28)

Title: Corporate Social Responsibility: In Words or Deeds?

Tutor: Edward Gillmore

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Innovation, Legitimization, Patents, Multinational Enterprise (MNE).

Research questions: a. To what extent can patents be used to legitimize the implementation of CSR in manufacturing MNEs? b. How are patents currently used/not being used for legitimizing CSR claims made by companies?

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of patents meaning for the legitimization of CSR claims made by manufacturing MNEs.

Method: For the study, a mixed method was used and the patents and CEO Comments of three case companies were analysed; Volvo Group, Volvo Cars and ABB. The data was collected from year 2014 until September 2017 and was studied through content- and thematic analysis. The patents and the CEO comments from the annual reports of the companies were coded in a system called ‘Dedoose’. Literature regarding CSR and business legitimatization was reviewed to gain a greater understanding of the topic before conducting the analysis.

Conclusion: In conclusion, a positive correlation was found between CEO Claims regarding ‘social contribution’ and the number of CSR related patents published each year. Thereby, the results of this study suggest that when the CEO of a manufacturing MNE claims to contribute to society through new innovations and ideas, this should also be reflected in the patents published the same year. This could serve as a new strategy for legitimizing CSR claims made by companies.