Understanding CSR in the textile industry in a middle-income country : Stories from future managers in Sri Lanka

Production has relocated to the Eastern world, whilst consumption is dominating the Western world. Taking into consideration the cultural differences between East and West sanctions a problem, as it is identified that corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices require adaptation to the different cultural contexts. For this reason, it is of interest to study how the values in a middle-income country influence the attitudes that are formed towards CSR to further contextualise the need for adaptation of CSR. To accomplish the aim to the fullest extent, and to adequately form an understanding of how the values influence the attitudes towards CSR in a middle-income country, this study takes place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. As Sri Lanka is a country that has a prevalent textile industry, along with a strong focus on CSR activities and ethical production, augments the choice for the enactment of this study. In the essence of this, the encompassing purpose of this study is as follows: To illustrate how cultural values influence attitudes regarding CSR practices from a future managerial perspective in the setting of Sri Lanka, and if the cultural factors play an important role in the formation of values that inhere to CSR. The methodology of the research consists of focus groups that implicate a vignette technique that builds on the theoretical chapter. Five focus groups were performed, which comprised of fifteen students in total, all current fashion students within textiles, design and marketing at the University of Academy of Design (AOD) located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. By using the vignette technique enables the authors to compose ten scenarios, building on the concepts of CSR in where Carroll’s pyramid is of significance, along with cultural dimensions that are represented by Hofstede and Schwartz. Through these scenarios, the authors explore the attitudes of future managers, namely students, in their attempt to act upon ethical dilemmas. Thereafter, thematic analysis was used to extract four themes from the participants’ insights. These themes add up to the Sri Lankan Business Mindset, Hierarchy, Level of Recognition and Who is Responsible. The findings of this study suggest that in an attempt to approach CSR in a manner which strives to shape the values towards ethical reasoning, it is essential to take into consideration the four actors that are identified as responsible – namely the government, society, company, and individual