November 14, 2014, by ICCSR

ICCSR scholars receive top awards for CSR-linked papers

Two ICCSR scholars have won prestigious awards from the Academy of Management for producing the best student papers on management topics.

Lauren McCarthy and Sarah Glozer received their prizes in the US at this year’s annual conference of the Academy of Management, a global professional association for scholars of management.

Lauren, who is studying for a CSR-related PhD at Nottingham, won the Best Student Paper award in the Critical Management Studies Division for her examination of how CSR professionals can improve gender equality in the supply chain, while Sarah, who has just completed her final year as a PhD candidate at ICCSR, took the Best Student Paper award in the Social Issues in Management Division for her look at the use of language in CSR communications on social media.

Lauren’s paper was based on fieldwork she carried out with a UK chocolate company, its Ghanaian cocoa supplier, an NGO partner and cocoa farmers. It concluded that while there have been some impressive successes in promoting gender equality in the supply chain, companies need to beware of behind-the-scenes resistance from various parties, which can hinder their plans in ‘unpredictable and emotional’ ways.

Sarah’s paper examined the Facebook page of a UK-based retailer, The Co-operative, to gather insights into online dialogue on social responsibility issues. It found, among other things, that social media can be a useful channel for ‘managing, contesting and mediating’ knowledge of organisational CSR practices, and can help foster better understanding between organisations and their stakeholders.

Lauren and Sarah each received plaques and prize money, and were presented with their awards – to considerable cheers – in the business meetings of their respective divisions at the AOM conference in Philadelphia.

Lauren is a Research Associate at ICCSR, supporting the team on a number of international and national projects, while Sarah is a Lecturer in Marketing at Royal Holloway, University of London.

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