Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism HowcanaCSRcertificateenhancethecompetitiveadvantageoftourismSMEsinDenmark–casestudyofTravelifeCertification

1 www.its4travel.com P u b l i s h e d S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 7

Authors: Denitsa Dimitrova Ning Li Supervisor: Gunvor Riber Larsen

Acknowledgments

Wewouldliketothankthepeople,whomadethisprojectpossible.First,wewouldliketothankallthetravelprovidersfortheircooperation.Withouttheirhelp,thisprojectwouldnotbepossible.Thankyouforalltheinformationprovided

regardingTravelifeCertificationProgram,timespentandyourkindnessandunderstanding.

Thankyouforthesupportandforgivingusachance!

AbstractAs Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming a buzzword recently and especially inthetourismindustry,theresearchersdecidedtofocusonthissubjectandtrytofindaproblemoran issue regarding theadoptionand the implementationofCSR. Since theauthorsarecurrentlylivinginDenmark,thecountrywasconsideredasapossibleareafortheresearch.Furthermore,theimageofDenmarkasoneoftheScandinavianleadersinCSRandSustainabilityanditsgovernmentalpracticesweresomeoftheotherreasonswhytheresearchwasfocusedontheDanishtourismmarket.Sincemostof the literatureaboutCSRis focusedon largeenterprisesandonly fewonthe small and medium enterprises, the researchers considered this gap as a greatopportunity to conduct a study concentrated on tourismSMEs inDenmark.And thus,the aim of this master thesis is to investigate why Small and Medium sized travelproviders in Denmark engage in Corporate Social Responsibility and especially inTravelifeCertificationProgram.ThereportaimsalsotodiscoverwhatthemotivationsofthetourismSMEsareandwhattypeofCSRactivitiesaretheyengagingwith.For thepurposeof finding theanswers to thosequestions, itwas important to lookattheexistingliteratureabouttourismandthetravelagencymarketinDenmark,inorderto understand in what environment the selected companies are operating. Literatureregarding CSR, its definitions and complexity, and types of CSR outlined the mostimportantaspectsoftheterm.Then,CSRinthetourismindustrywasdiscussedinordertofindoutwhatthemaintrendsandissuesonthemarket.Literatureaboutcompetitiveadvantage was essential for this report as this was the base and a starting point foranalyzing the findings. It was also necessary to include information about TravelifeCertificationprogram,sothatthereadercangetanunderstandingofwhattheprogramisabout.Thefindingsofthisthesisarebasedonthedatacollectedvia fourqualitativesemi-structured interviews.One of themwas conductedwith a certified in Excellenceand Sustainability travel agency and the other four with Partners of Travelifecertification program. The research design was a qualitative comparable multi-casestudy,whichhad an aim to get adeeper insight ofTravelifeprogramandunderstandwhySMEsengagewithCSR.Afterall thedatawascollectedandafterconducting the interviews, the findingswerepresentedtogetherwiththeanalysis.SomeofthetheoriesaboutCSRwereusedinorderto analyze the motivations behind the interviewed companies to engage in CSR andaccordingtotheirCSRactivitiestounderstandthewaytheyperceiveandimplementit.After that, theanalysis focuseson the fourelementsofcompetitiveadvantageand theelements that Travelife program is offering to its applicants. The connection betweenthetheoryandthepracticewasoutlinedinordertoexplorewhereTravelifecertificatecanactuallyhasanaffectonthecompetitiveadvantageofthecompaniesinvolvedinit.The findings show the possibility of enhancing the competitive advantage by certainwayofimplementingCSR,oneofwhichisfocusingonstrategicCSRandaligningitwiththe business strategy of the company. The researchers propose some suggestionregarding how the implementation of CSR could most likely lead to enhancingcompetitiveadvantageanditendswithaproposalforfurtherresearch,whichcouldbeconductedinthefutureforgettingabetterinsightofthisproblem.

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TableofContents

CHAPTERIINTRODUCTION 2

1.1INTRODUCTION 21.2PROBLEMFORMULATION 5

CHAPTERIITHEORETICALFRAMEWORK 7

2.1THECONCEPTOFTOURISM 82.1.1THETRAVELAGENCYMARKET 11

2.2THECONCEPTOFCORPORATESOCIALRESPONSIBILITY 14DEFINITION 14

2.2.1TYPESOFCSR 162.2.2TRIPLEBOTTOMLINEAPPROACH 192.2.3CSRINTHETOURISMINDUSTRY 23

2.3COMPETITIVEADVANTAGEANDCSR 262.3.1STRATEGICCSR 262.3.2THEFOURELEMENTSOFCOMPETITIVECONTEXT 28

2.4TRAVELLIFECERTIFICATE 312.4.1CSRREPORTINGSYSTEM 312.4.2CSRCERTIFICATION 322.4.3THEBENEFITSOFCSRCERTIFICATE 352.4.5TRAVELIFECERTIFICATE 38

2.5RECAPITULATIONOFTHETHEORETICALFRAMEWORK 40

CHAPTERIIIMETHODOLOGY 42

3.1PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCE 433.1.1ONTOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS 433.1.2EPISTEMOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS 443.1.3METHODOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS 45

3.2RESEARCHDESIGN 463.2.1QUALITATIVECOMPARATIVEMULTIPLE-CASESTUDY 463.2.2QUALITATIVESEMI–STRUCTUREDINTERVIEW 473.2.3SAMPLING/CHOICEOFINTERVIEWEES 483.2.4TYPEOFINTERVIEWS 503.2.5INTERVIEWGUIDE 52

3.3DATAPROCESSINGANDANALYZING 533.4RELIABILITYANDVALIDITY 54SUMMARY 55

CHAPTERIVFINDINGSANDANALYSES 57

4.1MOTIVATIONS 574.2CSRACTIVITIES 624.3CSRCERTIFICATIONANDCOMPETITIVEADVANTAGE 67

4.3.1STRATEGICCSRORNOT? 67

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4.3.2TRAVELIFECERTIFICATIONANDCOMPETITIVEADVANTAGE 694.3.3OTHERBENEFITS 754.3.4THECHALLENGESANDISSUES 76

4.4SUGGESTIONS 77

CHAPTERVCONCLUSION 78

5.1CONCLUSION 785.2FURTHERRESEARCH 79

BIBLIOGRAPHY 80

LISTOFFIGURES

FIGURE1ANOVERVIEWOFTHEORETICALFRAMEWORK 7FIGURE2THEROLEOFTOUROPERATORS 11FIGURE3TOTALNUMBEROFTRAVELPACKAGESSOLDINDENMARK2015 13FIGURE4THEPYRAMIDOFCSR 17FIGURE5TRIPLEBOTTOMLINE 19FIGURE6THECONNECTIONBETWEENBUSINESSANDSOCIETALISSUES 27FIGURE7STRATEGICCSRVS.RESPONSIBLECSR 28FIGURE8THEFOURELEMENTSOFCOMPETITIVECONTEXT 29FIGURE9STRUCTUREOFTHESECTION 31FIGURE10CERTIFICATIONAPPROACHVS.RESPONSIBLETOURISMAPPROACH 32FIGURE11THEPROCESSOFCOMPLIANCEASSESSMENT 34FIGURE12THECOREELEMENTSOFTHETHEORETICALFRAMEWORK 40FIGURE13THEMETHODOLOGYFRAMEWORK 42FIGURE14THEELEMENTSOFHERMENEUTICSAPPROACHCOMPLIEDINTHISTHESIS 45FIGURE15THELINKSBETWEENTHECOMPETITIVEADVANTAGEANDTRAVELIFECERTIFICATION 69

LISTOFTABLES

TABLE1COMPANYCATEGORIES 3TABLE2THEEFFECTSOFGREENCLAIMCONTROLREGIMESINEUROPE 4TABLE3INFORMATIONABOUTTHESELECTEDFORINTERVIEWCOMPANIES 49TABLE4ANOVERVIEWOFTHEINTERVIEWSCONDUCTED 50

LISTOFAPPENDIX

APPENDIX1TRAVELIFE–CRITERIAANDINDICATORS APPENDIX2INTERVIEWGUIDE APPENDIX3INTERVIEWWITHKIPLINGTRAVEL APPENDIX4INTERVIEWWITHJESPERHANNIBAL APPENDIX5INTERVIEWWITHUNITASREJSERAPPENDIX6INTERVIEWWITHHOLSTEBROREJSECENTER

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ChapterIIntroduction

1.1Introduction

Since the 1960s (Fuchs, 2010), the tourism industry has experienced continuedexpansion and diversification, to become one of the largest and fastest-growingindustries intheworld.Today itrepresents9%of theworld’sGDP,one ineleven jobsworldwide; and 30% of all service exports (UNWTO, 2015). International touristarrivalsworldwideareexpectedtoincreaseby3.3%ayearbetween2010and2030toreach1.8 billionby2030, according toUNWTO’s long term forecastTourismTowards2030. (UNWTO, 2015). The sector has become one of the driving forces of globalemployment,economicandsocialwell-beingofthe21stcentury(Rifai,2012)anditwillcontinuegrowingsteadily in the future. It iswellknownthatwhennotmanagedwell,tourismdevelopmentcanhavenegativeimpactsontheenvironmentandthereisagreatriskofoverexploitationofnaturalresources(Rifai,2012).

As(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014)(2001)states,postmoderntravellers todayhave moved away from the mass tourism. Tourists are more informed and bettereducated and they are aware of the biggest issues around the globe and public isinterestedandmoresensitiveaboutenvironmental issues.Therefore,therehasbeenachange in consumer behavior and buyers started choosing carefully what they areconsuming.Agrowingnumberofpeoplearewillingtochoosegreenerproducts(Font,2001)andthisappliesalsotothetourismsector.Consumersaremovingawayfromthemasstourismandchoosingresponsibletourisminstead.

“(…)theywant to believe that their use of tourism facilities and their presence in

tourist destinations will not damage the resources they visit and embrace the

promisesofferedbytourismcompanies”(Font,2001).

Thisincreaseofawarenessandthemoreresponsiblebehaviornotonlybytourists,butalso by businesses led to the increasing demand for sustainability and responsibletourism. For the first time the term sustainabilitywas defined in 1987 by the UnitedNationsWorldCommissiononEnvironment andDevelopment (Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Sincethenthedefinitionhaschangedseveral timesandthetermhasbecome a major topic and issue not only for the Tourism Industry, but all the otherindustriesaroundtheworld.AccordingtotheUNWTO(UnitedNations’WorldTourismOrganization), sustainable tourismdevelopment canbedefinedas “Tourismthattakesfull account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts,

addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”

(UNWTO).

Tourism should toleratemore responsibility for sustainable development and respectfor the environment andhuman rights as a service industry,whichdealswith peopleand environment on national and international level (Kalish 2002 cited in Manente,

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Minghetti&Mingotto (2014).Knowing thesizeand thespeedwithwhich the tourismsectorisgrowing,itisclearthatinvestinginenvironmentallyfriendlytourismcanleadtoeconomicgrowth,povertyreduction,jobcreationandimprovingresource-efficiencyandminimizingenvironmentalimpacts(Rifai,2012).Companieshaverealizedthattheyhadtomakeachangeandtheyhadtobecomemoreresponsibleaswell.AsPorterandKramer(2006)wrote:“Successfulcorporationsneedahealthysociety.”Ahealthysocietycreates an expanding demand for business. Therefore, sustainability had to beintegrated into the business, but thatwas not enough. Companies had to start takingresponsibility for their actions and a new concept was born – Corporate SocialResponsibility.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a subject of increasing interest amongstpractitioners although is not a new concept (Henderson, 2007). The term can beunderstood as the “voluntary contributionby companies to improving the environment,society and economy, either for altruistic reasons and/or to improve their competitive

position”(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).

CSRhasbeenwidelystudiedduringthelastdecadeandwhilethereisalotofliteraturerelatedtoCSRinbigcompanieswithinthehospitalityandtourismsector,thereislackofinformationregardingCSRinthesmallandmediumenterprises(SMEs)(Tamajón&iAulet , 2013). Small andmedium-sizedenterprises represent99%of all businesses intheEuropeanUnion(EuropeanComission,2016).Themainfactorsdefiningwhetheranenterprise is an SME according to the European Commission are the number ofemployees and either the turnover or balance sheet total. Small enterprises areconsideredtheonesthathave lessthanfiftyemployeesandnotmorethantenmillioneurosinturnover,whilethemedium-sizedcompaniesconsistsoflessthantwohundredandfiftyworkersandturnoveroflessthanfiftymillioneuros.

Table1CompanyCategories.Source:EuropeanCommission(2016)

InDenmark,thereareapproximately283.000enterprisesofwhichtwo-thirdshavelessthanfiveemployees.Moreover,only8.600placesofemploymentinDenmarkhavemorethanfiftyemployees(StatisticsDenmark,2010).Thestatisticsalsoshowthat99%ofthetourismcompanies inDenmarkareSMEs.Sincemostof thecompanies in the tourismindustryareSMEsandmicrobusinesses(Haven&Haven,2005)itisimportanttofocusonresearchingandinvestigatingtheirbusinessenvironment.Thosesmallandmediumcompaniesareoftenfamilyownedandtheydifferfromthebigorganizationsintermsofmanagementandstrategicchoices(Getza&Carlsenb,2000).

Companycategory Staffheadcount Turnover or Balancesheettotal

Medium-sized <250 ≤€50m ≤€43m

Small <50 ≤€10m ≤€10m

Micro <10 ≤€2m ≤€2m

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It is interesting to explore themotivations behind SMEs, which choose to implementCorporateSocialResponsibility,astheyarenotobligatedbylawtoimplementitunlikebig organizations in countries like UK and Denmark, for example. On 16th December2008 theDanishparliament adopted “Act revising theDanishFinancial StatementAct(Accounting for CSR in large businesses)” (Danish Business Authority ). According tothis act, large businesses in Denmark are obligated to account for their work onCorporate Social Responsibility. Since 2013, a new requirement was added to theexisting law,according towhich it ismandatory forbusinesses toalsoclearlyaccountfor their policies for respecting human rights and for reducing their climate impact.Sincebig enterprises inDenmarkare to a certain extentobligated to adoptCSR, theirmotivationsandreasoningforfocusingonit isrelativelyunderstandable.Ontheotherhand,asbelowtable2shows,thatDanishcompaniescommittoahighlevelofactivitiesintermsofCSRissues(Leubuscher,Hager,Wattiez,Mombrù,&Liaska,1998),andotherreportshavealsoshowthatSMEsinEuropeare inagoodpositiontoadoptCSRmorestrategically(Inyang,2013).ThusitisveryinterestingtoinvestigatewhytourismSMEschoosetocommittoCorporateSocialResponsibility.

Table2TheeffectsofgreenclaimcontrolregimesinEurope(Leubuscheretal.1998)

TherearedifferentapproachesfortheSMTEstoimplementingandengagingwithCSR,and the certification is one of the options. A certification is a procedure bywhich “athird-partycertifierprovidesawrittenstatementthat,forexample,abusinessconformsto

therequirementsspecifiedinastandardorreference”(Font&Buckely,2010).Itcanalsobeconsideredasatoolusedtodirectandguidethesustainabilityeffortsofeco-tourism

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operators with a focus on eliminating negative impacts. Most of the Eco-labels orcertificates provide schemes to help the companies to practice the implementing thecorporate social responsibilities to meet the standard. Today some tour companieschoose to obtain the certification for gaining benefits, such as improving image andmakingCSReffort.

There are many tourism certification schemes around the world, within the tourismindustry. There are more than 100 certification schemes that have been alreadyestablished in 2002 (Medina, 2008). Some of the large certification systems includeGreenGlobe21,aglobalbenchmarkingandcertificationprogramfortravelandtourism;Green Key, an international certificate for leisure tourism operators, which focusesmajorlyonthehospitality industry;andTravelife,a leadingtraining,managementandcertification initiative for tourism companies committed to reach sustainability. Thesecertification programs provide a set of established criteria that encompasses socio-cultural,economic,andenvironmentalsustainabilitydimensions.

1.2ProblemFormulationTheproblemstatementofthisthesisisformulatedas:

How can a CSR certificate enhance the competitive advantage of a small andmedium-sizedtourismenterpriseinDenmark?

Bythisproblemformulation,thethesiswillfocusonansweringthefollowingresearchquestions:

• Whatare themotivations for smallandmedium-sized touroperatorsor travelagenciestoengagewithCSR?

• What are the benefits for small and medium-sized tour operators or travelagenciestobecertifiedbyTravelife?

• How can the Travelife certificate enhance the competitive advantage of thesmallandmedium-sizedtouroperatorsortravelagenciesresearched?

In the tourism academic world, some researchers have investigated that companieshavebeenengagingwithCSRcertificationprograms(Medina2008;Jarvis,WeedenandSimcock 2010; Sandve,Marnburg ogØgaard 2014; Font andBuckely 2010)However,there is still lessevidenceonhowthecompaniesandorganizationshavebenefitedbyimplementingsuchcertificationprograms,specificallyinthecontextofDenmark.Thus,this thesis aims to fill the gap by focusing on the Danish tour operators or travelagenciesthathavebeenawardedwithCSRcertificates.

Porter (1985) stated that “competitive advantage grows out of value a firm is able tocreate for its buyers” and he referred to two types of approaches to enhance thecompetitiveadvantage:costleadershipanddifferentiation.Aslowingcosthasnotbeingconsidered as the perspective when talking about CSR, thus this thesis will try toidentifythattheconnectionbetweentheCSRandcompetitiveadvantage,byfindingoutifCSRisawayofdifferentiationandenhancethecompetitiveadvantageofSMTEs.Eraqi

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(2010)hasinvestigatedsimilartopicinthetourismsectorinEgypt,andtriedtoidentifythe link between CSR and competitiveness. However, there is no sufficient academicevidenceshowedintheEuropeanorDanishcontext,whichwillbethemajorresearchareaofthisthesis.

To be specific, this thesis will try to investigate the link between the certificationprogramsandthecompetitiveadvantage.TheoutcomeofthisstudycouldbehelpfulinthefutureforSMEs,whicharelookingforwaysfordifferentiationandatthesametime,whicharewillingtoimplementCSR.

Firstly, theresearchobjectswillbesmallandmediumsizetouroperators inDenmarkthathavebeenawardedwithCSRcertificates.WhenlookingatthetourismindustryofScandinavia,severalofcertificationprogramsareavailable,withafocusofenvironmentandsustainability.ThisisduetothereputationofScandinaviaasatourismdestinationfor “its vast natural resources and ‘green’ image” (Gøssling and Hultman, 2006).Furthermore, inallScandinavia,evenamongalltheEuropeancountries,Denmarkwasthe first country, which took initiative to implement certification programs (Honey,2002).

Secondly, the thesis will focus on one of the certification programmentioned above,Travelife,whichisstatedasafairandaffordablesystem,whichhelpstouroperatorsandtravelagenciestomanageandimprovesocialandenvironmentalimpactsbycomplyingwith sustainability criteria. In order to be certified by Travelife, there are stages thecompany has to work through: Travelife Engaged, Partner and Certified. In Denmarkthereare9travelagenciesortouroperatorsthathaveengagedwithTravelife,fourarecertifiedandfivearepartnered.

Inregardtothedatacollection,theinvestigationofthisthesiswillbeaccomplishedbyconductingqualitativeresearch,specificallybysemi-structuredinterviewswiththefivetravelagenciesortouroperatorsthathavebeenawardedbyTravelife.Itisimportanttomentionhere that inDenmark thereare9 companies in total thathavebeenengagedwithTravelifecertificationprogram.Threeofthecompanieshavebeenexcluded:firstlyApollo, Falk Lauritsen Rejser and DIS Congress Service. The reason why they are notincludedintheresearchwillbeexplainedintheMethodologychapter.

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ChapterIITheoreticalFramework

Thischapterisdedicatedtothetheoreticalframeworkofthethesis.Inordertoprocessa qualitative research, a clarified theoretical framework is needed and it helps tostructuretheanalysisofthedatacollected,soastoanswertheproblemformulationofthis thesis properly. It will help to structure the analysis and findings from thetheoreticalperspectives.Accordingtofigureone,thetheoreticalframeworkisbasedonthe problem formulation and divided into four parts: part one aims to discuss thedefinitionof the tourism industry,andunderstand the touroperatoror travelmarket,especially in Denmark; Part two intends to discuss the theoretical perspective ofCorporateSocialResponsibility ingeneralandinthetourismindustry;Partthreetriesto elaborate on the concept of strategic CSR and the link between competitiveadvantage; Part four focuses on the CSR certification, and it will try to develop aanalyticalframework,bywhichwecananalyzetherelationshiporlinkbetweentheCSRcertificateandcompetitiveadvantage,aswellasanswertheproblemformulationofthethesis.

Figure1AnoverviewofTheoreticalFramework(self-sourced)

Theore'calFramework

TourismIndustryinDenmark

TravelmarketofDenmark

TourismSMEs

CSR

CSRinTourism

CSRvs.Sustainability

CSRCer'fica'on TravelifeCer'ficate

Compe''veAdvantage

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2.1TheConceptofTourismAccording to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) the officialdefinitionoftourismis:

“Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places

outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for

leisure,businessandotherpurposes."(2015)

Since the 1960s (Fuchs, 2010), the tourism industry has experienced continuedexpansion and diversification, to become one of the largest and fastest-growingindustriesintheworld.AsstatedinUNWTO(2015),tourismhasshownuninterruptedgrowth.Internationaltouristarrivalshaveincreasedfrom25milliongloballyin1950,to278million in 1980, 527million in 1995, and 1133million in 2014 (UNWTO, 2015).FromUS$2billionworldrevenuegeneratedbytourisminin1950toUS$104billionin1980,US$415billionin1995andUS$1245billionin2014(UNWTO,2015).

Today tourism represents 9% of theworld’s GDP, one in eleven jobsworldwide; and30%of all service exports (UNWTO,2015).The sectorhasbecomeoneof thedrivingforcesofglobalemployment,economicandsocialwell-beingof the21stcentury(Rifai,2012)and itwillcontinuegrowingsteadily in the future. International touristarrivalsworldwideareexpectedtoincreaseby3.3%ayearbetween2010and2030toreach1.8billion by 2030, according to UNWTO’s long term forecast Tourism Towards 2030.(UNWTO,2015).

The constantly increasing number of destinations around the world has invested intourism,becauseit isawayforsocio-economicprogressas itcreatesnewenterprises,which need workforce and infrastructure development (UNWTO, 2015). Some of thebiggest advantages of tourism are that it creates jobs and it generates income in thelocal economy and due to its continuous growth and size, tourism has also become averyimportantplayerininternationalbusiness.

According to Fuchs (2010), Europe welcomes more than half of all the internationaltouristsand it is thecontinent thatrecords themost incoming tourists.ThisofcoursemeansthattheOldContinentgeneratesabigpartofitsGDPfromtourism.Fuchs(2010)also argues that there is growingnumber of tourist visits in the developing countriesandemergingmarkets,butthisdoesnotalwaysleadtoimprovedstandardsoflifeinthetouristdestinations.Itiswellknownthatwhennotmanagedwell,tourismdevelopmentcan have negative impacts on the environment and there is a great risk of overexploitationofnaturalresources(Rifai,2012).Asitisoneofthelargestindustriesintheworld, italsocontributestoasignificantamountof impactsonsociety,economiesandthe environment. The economic and environmental consequences caused by tourismhavegainedalotmoreattentionthanthesocialandculturalimpacts.Thereasonbehindit could be that the latter occur slowly over time and it is difficult to measure(Swarbrooke,1999).

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Tourism is not the only factor that causes socio-cultural changes. Globalization isbecomingoneofthemainreasonsforthosechangesandcombinedwiththeinnovationand the availability of new technology, they bring change in cultures and societiesaround theglobe.When travelling,peoplebringpartof theirownculture to theplacethey visit and they demand certain amenities, which lead to the damaging of thedestination’sauthenticity.

Nowadays, when climate change is a fact and a constant topic of discussion,environmentalists’ questionswhether air travel is justifiable for purposes of pleasureandrecreation(Gössling&Peeters,2009;Fuchs,2010).AsFuchsstates,themainissueis always responsibility, not only of the businesses, but also of the individual tourist.Fuchs (2010) talks also about the needed change in tourism and how it lies in therespectfornature,theenvironmentandsociety.Healsoexplainsthatnoneoftheabovewill necessarily lead to less comfort in the destination, but exactly the opposite thatrespecting a foreign culture when travelling actually enhances the travel experience.Thisisdependentontheattitudeoftheindividualtraveller.

Manyenterpriseshavealready tried to reduce their socialandenvironmental impactscausedbytheiractivities.PorterandKramer(2006)arguethatthoseeffortsarenotasproductiveastheycouldbeandthisisusuallybecausecompaniespitbusinessagainstsociety and also because they pressure entities to think of Corporate SocialResponsibilityingenericwayandnotinawaywhichwillfittoeachcompany’sstrategy.

Companiesdonotoperateinvacuumasstakeholderssurroundthem.“Astakeholderisaparty thathasan interest inanenterpriseorproject. “ (Investopedia, 2016). Typically,the stakeholders are investors, suppliers, employees and customers, but nowadayscommunity, trade associations and the government are also becoming a part of thedefinition. Those stakeholders have expectations and demands that need to berespected and met by the businesses. In the early 1970 different organizations andcommissionswereestablished,whichwereresponsibleforthepoliciesregardingsomeof the major impacts of businesses such as environment, employees and consumers(Carroll,1991).Theywerealsoofficiallyrecognizedasimportantbusinessstakeholders.Thebeginningofsocial legislationcamewiththecreationofEnvironmentalProtectionAgency (EPA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), theOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Consumer ProductSafetyCommission(CPSC)(Carroll,1991).

Today, one of the most important stakeholders that have the power to set overallpolicies and regulations forbusinesses is thepublic sector (Ward, 2004). Someof thetools that the public sector authorities use include legislation, regulation, labels andcertificates (Ward, 2004). According to RING (2003) those tools are the tools ofCorporateSocialResponsibility.

Carroll (1991) talksabout themainresponsibilityof companies,which is tomaximizeprofits and thus the financial return to shareholders. This pursuit of financial gain,however,shouldhappenwithinthelawsofthedestinationcountry.CompanieshavetoimprovetheirenvironmentalperformanceanddevelopthatincorporateCSRsotheycan

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meetthedemandsoftheirstakeholders(Welford,1998).Fuchs(2010)talksabouthowtravellers should insist that tour operators are more transparent when providinginformation about the environmental and social background of their products orservices.

TourismSME’sSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of all businesses in theEuropean Union (European Comission, 2016). The main factors defining whether anenterpriseisanSMEaccordingtotheEuropeanCommission(2016)arethenumberofemployees and either the turnover or balance sheet total. Small enterprises areconsideredtheonesthathave lessthanfiftyemployeesandnotmorethantenmillioneurosinturnover,whilethemedium-sizedcompaniesconsistsoflessthantwohundredandfiftyworkersandturnoveroflessthanfiftymillioneuros.

Tourism is one of the main sources of income for small and medium enterprises,especiallyinlow-incomecountries(Dodds&Joppe,2005).AlthoughDenmarkisnota low-incomecountry,99%of the tourismcompanies in the countryareSMEs(StatisticsDenmark,2010).Thosesmallandmediumcompaniesareoftenfamilyownedandtheydifferfromthebigorganizationsintermsofmanagementandstrategicchoices(Getza & Carlsenb, 2000). Therefore, it is interesting to research their businessenvironment,butitisalsoveryimportant,asmostofthetourismcompaniesareSMEsandmicrobusinesses(Haven&Haven,2005).

Corporate SocialResponsibility hasbeen researched a lot recently and asmost of thepractitioners focus on the big companieswithin the hospitality and tourism industry,there is very little information regarding CSR in the small and medium enterprises(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).IncountrieslikeUKandDenmark,bigenterprisesareobligatedbylawtoimplementCorporateSocialResponsibility.On16thDecember2008 theDanishparliament adopted “Act revising theDanishFinancial StatementAct(Accounting for CSR in large businesses)” (Danish Business Authority ). According tothis act, large businesses in Denmark are obligated to account for their work onCorporate Social Responsibility. Since 2013, a new requirement was added to theexisting law,according towhich it ismandatory forbusinesses toalsoclearlyaccountfor their policies for respecting human rights and for reducing their climate impact.However, SMEs are not required to implement CSR and therefore it is interesting toinvestigatewhytheycommittoCorporateSocialResponsibility.

Small and medium-sized enterprises experience difficulties to adopt socially andenvironmentally responsible measures to incorporate into their business strategies(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).SomeofthemainreasonsforthosedifficultiesarethelackofrelevantknowledgeaboutCSRandabouthowithastobeimplemented.Another reason is the lack or the limited resources they have. Furthermore, very fewtour operators are aware of the impacts from their activities and that tourism canactually affect people’s lives and it could also be a factor that can reduce poverty(Kalisch,2002).

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2.1.1TheTravelAgencyMarket

IngeneralThetouroperators’mainactivityconsistsoforganizingpackagetours.Thepackagetourincludestwoormoretravelservicessuchasaccommodation,transportationandotherservices.Thetravelagency,however,isaretaileroftripsandholidaypackagesmadebythe tour operators. They are the link between the tour operator and the tourists(Candela&Figini ,2012).Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthattouroperatorsselltheirpackages only to travel agencies, they can also sell the final product directly to theconsumer.Thelinksareillustratedonthefigurebelow:

Figure2Source:HollowayascitedinMeyer(2003)

AccordingtotheDanishMinistryofBusinessandGrowth,atravelproviderinDenmarkis a person, who “in his own name, other than occasionally, offers for sale or sells thetravelservicesspecifiedinsection2(1),points1-3,oftheTravelGuaranteeFundAct,either

directlyorthrougharetailer.”(DanishMinistryofBusinessandGrowth,2015)

Asstated in theTravelGuaranteeFundAct, apackage travel service isapackage thatconsistsofcombinationsofnotlessthantwoproducts/servicesandwhenthecombinedservice covers a period ofmore than 24 hours or includes overnight accommodation.This could include transportation, accommodation or other tourist’s services (DanishMinistryofBusinessandGrowth,2015)

Meyer (2003) makes an important distinction and explains the difference betweenmainstream and specialized tour operators. The mainstream tour operators createtravelpackagesthatattractabigamountofpeoplewhopreferthemostcommontourpackages such as sun and sand, for example. On the other hand, specialized touroperators are the ones that focus on a niche market and provide tours to specificdestinations,whicharenot typical for themassmarketor theyofferspecialactivities.Meyer (2003) states that sometimes it could be difficult to distinguish betweenmainstreamandspecializedtravelprovidersassomeofthemmightofferbothtypesoftravels.Generally,thesmalltouroperatorsandtravelagenciesarespecializedinorder

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tocompetewiththebigplayersonthemarket,whichoftenprovidemainstreamtravelsastheylookformaximizingprofitsandthusreachingalargeramountofconsumers.

Tourismhas changedover the years andnowadays it is not only aboutmass tourismfocused on the traditional summer break, but it has a more individualistic approach.Today,touristsarechoosingmoreindependentlyanditisaloteasierforthemtocreatetheirownpackagedholidayastheyhaveaccesstolimitlessinformationonline.Overthepast decade, tour operators have experiences severe competition between the majortouroperators,butalsobetweenthepossibilities fortravellersofpurchasingproductsandservicesdirectlyfromtheproviderandthusavoidingthemediator(Carey,Gountas,& Gilbert, 2008). Tour operators and travel agencies are highly dependent on thecustomer’s needs and therefore it is important for them to follow the latest trends inconsumer behavior, as it may be crucial for their success or even existence (Carey,Gountas,&Gilbert,2008).

Duetoitssizeandgrowth,tourismhassignificantimpactsonsocietyasitcausessocialeconomic and environmental change. Tour operators are mediators between thetourismprovidersandtouristsandoftentheydonotconsiderthattheirinfluencecouldbe significant. Therefore, Corporate SocialResponsibilityhasuntil recently largelybeenneglected by tour operators” (Goodwin, Ashley, Meyer, & Roe, 2004, p. 34). Wijk &Persoon(2006) talkabout that it isabout time that touroperators takeresponsibilityforthepracticeswithintheirsupplychains(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).

InDenmarkIn Denmark the tour operating market consists of a few large and many small andmedium-sizedtouroperators. Inmanycases,thebigtravelprovidersownsmallerandspecializedtouroperatorinordertocoverwidercustomersegmentbyprovidingbothmainstream and specialized travel packages. Most of the largest tour operators inDenmarkprovidemainlymainstreamtravels.

The total number of travel providers in Denmark is 634 (April 2016), based on thenumberofregisteredtouroperatorsintheDanish’Rejsegarantifond’(TravelGuaranteeFund). In this number are included all travel package providers including touroperators,travelagenciesandhotelsorconferencefacilities,whichalsoorganizetours.(Rejsegarantifonden,2016)

Outof those634registeredpackageproviders,105aremembersofDRF–Danmark’sRejsebureau Forening or Danish Travel Agency Association in English is the tradeassociation for Danish travel agencies. The associationwas founded in 1938 and hassince its foundation worked to create attractive conditions for travel agencies inDenmark.TheDanishTravelAgencyAssociation'svisionistoberecognizedasaleadingpolitical representative and adviser to the Danish travel agencies. The Danish TravelAgencyAssociation'smissionistocreateattractiveconditionsforthetotalDanishtravelindustry, including the provision of economic and political interests on an ethicallybased and sustainable basis. Back in 2008, DRF started working on a socialresponsibility policy and began its cooperation with Travelife certification program(DanmarksRejsebureauForening).

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Fourteen of the biggest tour operators inDenmark aremembers ofRejsearrangører iDanmark (RID) or Tour Operators in Denmark. Since 1983, RID has been theassociation for touroperators inDenmark,whoseprimarywork is toarrangeandsellvacationtravelsbyplane.ThetotalsalesofRIDaccountsforabout90%ofallcharterairtraveloutofDenmark(RID,2015),whichmeansthattheremaining10%aresoldbytheother620travelprovidersinDenmark.

Figure3TotalNumberofTravelPackagesSoldinDenmark2015

When looking at the biggest actors in the Danish travel agencymarket, they providemainlymainstream travels and this is perhaps the reason for their success.However,theother620travelprovidersinthecountryareSMEsstrivingformarketshareandaway do differentiate themselves in order to survive. Taking into consideration howmany small andmedium tour operators and travel agencies operate in Denmark, thequestionpopsup–howarethoseSMEsdealingwithsomeofthebiggestchallengesforthe market at the moment? Apart from those issues, these small and mediumenterprises are also being socially responsible and this is interesting to investigate,becauseasmentionedearlier,smallcompaniesinDenmarkarenotobligatedbylawtoreport for theirCSRactivities. It is exciting to researchwhatdrives those small travelproviders to embed CSR and how do they actually do it. Is being socially responsibleaffectingtheirbusinessperformanceandwhydotheychoosetoenterCSRcertificationprograms?Theaimof thisthesis is toanswersomeof thosequestionsandinvestigatewhether CSR certificate can enhance the competitive advantage of small andmediumtravelprovidersinDenmark.

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2.2TheconceptofCorporateSocialResponsibility

DefinitionAlotofacademicresearchhasbeendoneaboutCorporateSocialResponsibilityandtheconcepthasreceivedalotofattentionrecentlyinthebusinesspracticeaswell(Tanejaet al. 2011 cited in Vázquez-Carrasco and López-Pérez (2012). However, a limitednumber of studies have focused primarily on Corporate Social Responsibility andespecially on three topic areas – its implementation, the social relations of CSR andacting more responsibly in terms of economics (Coles, Fenclova, & Dinan , 2013).ResearchersandpractitionersfindtheconceptofCSRquitecomplex,unclearandunderresearchedwhilealotremainstobedone(Fuchs,2010).

The first definition of Corporate Social Responsibility dates back to 1953 in thepublication by Howard R. Bowen (1953) of his book Social Responsibilities of theBusinessman.“Itreferstotheobligationsofbusinessmentopursuethosepolicies,tomakethose decisions, or to follow those lines of action, which are desirable in terms of the

objectives and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953).His book is argued to mark thebeginningof themodern literature aboutCSR (Carroll, 1999).The termCSRhasbeendeveloping since the mid-1990s to become an essential framework for changingbusiness practice (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, Responsible Tourism and CSR -AssessmentSystemsforSustainableDevelopmentofSMEsinTourism,2014).

Backin2001,theEuropeanCommissiondefinedCorporateSocialResponsibilityas:

“A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their

businessoperationsandintheirinteractionwiththeirstakeholdersonavoluntarybasis.’’

Thedefinitionwasrevisedandupdatedafewyearslater,in2011as ‘‘theresponsibilityof enterprises for their impacts on society” (Strand, Freeman, & Hockerts , 2014;Comission of the European Communities , 2011). By changing the definition, theCommission elucidate that businesses should take into consideration social,environmental, ethical, human rights and consumer into their business strategy andcore operations in order to meet their corporate social responsibility (Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).

According to the definition from2001, integrating social and environmental concernsintobusinessoperationsvoluntarilywasconsideredenoughtobeCSRresponsible.Therelationstothestakeholdersarementionedaswellinthedefinition.Thismeansthattheconcept covered three different issues at the same time (economic, social andenvironmental)whilethetermisonlyaboutsocialresponsibility(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Thatisoneofthereasonsforthecomplexityandconfusionaroundtheterm.

The current definition of CSR is very complex and this is due to the context of theproblemsitdealswith(Sheehy,2015)suchasecology,societyandeconomy,whicharealso very compound concepts. Corporate Social Responsibility is typically associatedwith certain organizational activities such as social welfare, employment rights,stakeholderengagement,charitablegiving,ethicalleadership,responsiblesupplychainmanagement,environmentalresponsibilityandcommunityaction(Sheehy,2015;Coles,

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Fenclova, & Dinan , 2013). Those actions are not necessarily restricted and not all ofthemhavetobepresentwhenengagingwithCSR.Thus,thetermisnotoriouslydifficultto define (Coles, Fenclova, &Dinan , 2013) and it is imperative due to its complexity(Sheehy,2015).

Although CSR is being constantly researched and its importance has been widelyrecognizedwhileCSRstandardsarebecomingmoreandmore,itisstillunclearhowitisactually defined and understood in different businesses (Sheehy, 2015). According toBenedictSheehy(2015)theabsenceofaspecificdefinitionisnotonlybecauseoflackofeffortbypractitioners.HealsosuggeststhattheprogressindefiningCSRhasbeenverylimitedand

“CSR is undeveloped with respect to its precise meaning, content and practice,definitiveness of relationship with the law and clarity of regulatory design and

implementation”(Osuji(2011)citedinSheehy(2015)).

By definition Corporate Social Responsibility goes beyond simply fulfilling legalobligations, but it is about companies taking responsibility for their actions andvoluntarily rising to social and environmental challenges (Fuchs, 2010). Similarstatement was made by Inoue and Lee (2011), according to whom CSR is about acompany’sactivitiesthatarenotonlyrelatedtoitsinterestsandwhicharenotrequiredby law, but the ones that gobeyond that and aim for social good.However, there aresomeweaknessesoftheconceptthatquestionthepurityandtransparencyofCSR.Forexample, Sheehy (2015) brings up the question whether CSR is “simply greenwash”(Greer and Bruno 1996) or it is a genuine effort to control and reduce the impacts,companieshaveontheenvironmentandsociety.Thisisnotonlyabouthowtocorrectlydefine CSR, but what it is actually used for. There are companies that see CorporateSocial Responsibility as a way to strengthen their image and use for commercialpurposeswhiletheiractionscanstillbeharmfulforthesociety.

Nowadays, governments focus on CSR and they try to promote and use it in order todealwithenvironmentalandsocialproblems.The lackof specificdefinition,however,which is “both acceptable to businesses and yet drives behavioral change” (Sheehy,2015) makes it challenging for governments to set the requirements, which fit both,political and business interests. Sheehy (2015) also suggests that the ubiquity of thetermCSRthreatens itseffectivenessasaconceptandthis isagainduetopractitionersfocusing on the description and behavioral classification instead of the phenomenonitself.

WhyCSR?

The term CSR has been developing since the mid-1990s to become an essentialframework for changing business practice (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, 2014).Despite thenumerousdefinitionsanddifferentexplanationsof theconcept,“Theword"social" in CSR has always been vague and lacking in specific direction as towhom the

corporationisresponsible”(Carroll,1991).

Therearenumerousapproachesthathavebeensuggestedovertheyears.Forsome,CSRisamanagementapproachwhileforotheritisadynamicprocess.Thecommonthinginall approaches is that CSR is about identifying the stakeholders’ interests and

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expectationsandadjustingthecompany’sbusinessoperationsaccordinglywithrespect(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).

Porter and Kramer (2006) introduce a “license-to-operate approach”, which offers aspecificwayforcompaniestorecognizesocialconcernsthatmattertothestakeholdersandtoactaccordingly.Companiesareoftenconcernedabouttheirreputationandthusitisimportantforthemtosatisfytheirstakeholders.AsstatedbyPorterandKramer,“inconsumer-oriented companies, it often leads to high-profile cause-related marketing

campaigns“(Porter&Kramer,2006).ManybusinessesbelievethatCSRimprovestheirimageandstrengthenstheirbrand.Someeventhinkthatitcouldraisethevalueoftheirstocks (Porter & Kramer, 2006). This shows how different companies perceive thepurpose of CSR and how it could be used for the old fashioned ultimate purpose ofbusiness–tomaximizeprofit.

Generally,peoplehavelosttheirtrustinbusinessstandardsandethicalbehavior.Kalish(2002)claimsthatCorporateSocialResponsibilitycancontributetoincreaseconsumertrust in businesses, because it is a way for a responsible and sustainable businessdevelopment. Sustainability is one of the main concerns for businesses today and itcannot be achieved if companies do not take responsibility for their actions and theimpacts theyhaveon thesociety(Kalish,2002).Choosingbusinessesdue to theirCSRreputationisbecomingapreferenceforconsumers(EraqiM.I.,2010).However,itisnotenough for businesses only to gain customer trust – they have to retain it as well.EngagingwithCSRisawaytoachievethatasthiswayfirmstaketheirresponsibilityforthe impacts they cause on both society and the environment (Manente, Minghetti, &Mingotto,2014).Asociallyresponsiblecompanyconsiderstheimpactsitcausesonthelocalenvironmentandthecommunitywhenitmakesdecisions,balancingtheinterestsofallstakeholderswhilemaximizingprofits(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).

2.2.1TypesofCSRThere are several classifications of Corporate Social Responsibility by differentpractitioners.Carroll(Carroll,1991)firstintroducedfourlevelsofCSRinhisPyramidofCSR. Matten &Moon (2004) presented two categories– implicit and explicit CSR andMohammedEraqi(2010)talksaboutethical,altruisticandstrategicCSR.Thedifferentcategorization could be explained with the fact that CSR is a multi-faceted concept(Coles, Fenclova, & Dinan , 2013). However, those different classifications have somesimilaritiesandtheywillbediscussedlateroninthissection.

ThePyramidofCSRCarroll (1991) talks about four kinds of social responsibilities that establish totalCorporate SocialResponsibility: economic, legal, ethical andphilanthropic. Those fourtypesofsocialresponsibilitiesrepresentthePyramidofCSRandit isa“frameworkforunderstandingtheevolvingnatureofthefirm'seconomic,legal,ethical,andphilanthropic

performance”(Carroll,1991).

TheimplementationofCorporateSocialResponsibilitydependsonmanyfactorssuchasthesizeofthecompany,itsmanagementstyle,corporatestrategy,thecharacteristicsoftheindustryinwhichthecompanyoperates,theeconomy,etc.(Carroll,1991).

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Figure4ThePyramidofCSR(SourcedfromCarroll,1991)

EconomicResponsibilitiesThemainreasonwhycompaniesexististoproducegoods,sellthemandmakeprofit.Ifabusinessisnotmakingprofit,itwillnotbeabletopaysalariestoitsemployees,returnon investment to its shareholders and it will not be able to provide products to itscustomers.Therefore, the firstandmainresponsibility foreverycompany is tostay inbusiness.This is the foundationofCarroll’spyramidofCSRuponwhichallothersrest(Carroll,1991).

LegalResponsibilitiesThelegalresponsibilityofbusinessesrequirescompaniestoobeythelawand“playbythe rules of the game” (Carroll, 1991). Ignoring their legal responsibility can result inpayingaveryhighpriceandfacinglegalprosecution.

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EthicalResponsibilitiesEthical responsibility iswhat society expects from thebusinessbeyondeconomic andlegalexpectations(Carroll,1991). It coversawiderangeof responsibilities,whicharenot enforced by law. However, they are expected by the public as businesses haveobligationstobegoodcitizensandto“dotherightthing”(Porter&Kramer,2006).

PhilanthropicResponsibilitiesThey are on the top of the pyramid, because they focus on things that are neitherobligatory nor expected by the public. As Carroll states “philanthropy is icing on thecake” and in this case, the pyramid (Carroll, 1991). Philanthropy is about improvingqualityoflifenotonlyoftheemployees,butalsothelocalcommunity.Philanthropycancontribute to the sustainability of a society (Porter & Kramer, 2006). Philanthropicresponsibilities involve businesses’ contributions with financial resources or time todifferent causes. It could be contributions to charities, education, arts, etc. (Carroll,1991). Philanthropic activities are usually reported as amount ofmoney or volunteertime spent, but it is rarely described as an impact made by the company (Porter &Kramer,2006).

TheultimateCorporateSocialResponsibilityrequiresthefulfillmentofallfourelementsof the CSR Pyramid i.e. the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities(Carroll,1991).AcompanyengagingwithCSRshouldnotonlytrytomaximizeprofits,but also obey the law, be ethical and respect its stakeholders (Carroll, 1991). Somecorporationsthinkthattheyaresociallyresponsiblebysimplybeinggoodcitizensinthecommunity (Carroll, 1991). This is example of ethical responsibilities. However,businesses often apply CSR in ways, which are incomplete or not aligned with thecompanystrategy, internalpoliciesand itsmainactivities.Companiesusually focusononeCSRactivitysuchasplantingtrees,donationstocharitiesordifferentsponsorshipstolocalsportclubs.Thoseactivitiesarecreditable,buthavingonlysuchinitiativesdoesnot imply that the company has a real CSR, but only corporate citizenship (Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).

ImplicitandExplicitCSR

Implicit CSR refers to the role of a companywithinother institutions,which couldbeboth formal and informal. The enterprise is usually required to address stakeholders‘needs and it is obligated to be socially responsible. It consists of rules, norms andvalues,whicharemandatory(Matten&Moon,2008).AnexampleofImplicitCSRcouldbe the large enterprises in Denmark, which are obligated by law to report their CSRactions.

Ontheotherhand,explicitCSRisdrivenfrominsidethecompany,fromself-interestandit is voluntary. It refers to corporate policies, which lead businesses to undertakeresponsibilityforcertainissuesofinteresttosociety(Matten&Moon,2008).

Ethical,altruisticandstrategicCSR

SimilartotheImplicitCSR,ethicalCSRismandatoryanditisaboutcompaniesobeyingthe lawandavoidingharmful impacts, causedby theirbusiness suchaspollutionandunfair laborpractices (EraqiM. I., 2010).A failure to address these requirements canresult in a loss of reputation, or even worse, legal prosecution. Therefore, big

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enterpriseshavetheirownspecialistswithinCSRtomakesurethatalllawsareobeyedinordertoavoidcourt.TheethicalCSRcanberegardedasthesecondandthirdlevelsofCarroll’s(Carroll,1991)pyramid.

AltruisticCSR relates toCarroll’s (Carroll, 1991)Philanthropic responsibilities. It goesbeyond the obligations and entails voluntarily giving time andmoney to good causes.Altruistic CSR does not necessarily benefit the company, but in many cases it has apositiveeffectonthebusinessintermsofemployeesatisfaction,goodreputation,etc.

StrategicCSRhasdirect andexpected impact on thebusiness (EraqiM. I., 2010). It isaligned with the company’s strategy, goals and values and is carefully planned andimplemented mainly because of the effect it will have on the company. WhenimplementingCSR,allthestakeholdersandpartiesinvolvedinthevaluechainhavetobe involved in the process (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, 2014). It should beintegratedintoeveryaspectofthebusinessstrategy,policies,processesandpracticesofthecompany”(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).

2.2.2TripleBottomLineApproachCorporateSocialResponsibility isbasedon the conceptof triple-bottom-line,which issimilar to the financial bottom line, but the environmental, social and the economicimpactsreplacethefinance(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Thetriple-bottom-lineapproachaddsenvironmentalandsocialelementstotheeconomicbottom-lineforan increasing number of corporations (Eraqi M. I., 2010). It measures the economic,environmental and social profits and losses. This means that instead of beingresponsibleonly forprofitoptimization,companiesthatareengagedwithCSRhavetobe responsible for their actions regarding the environment, the society and theeconomy.

Figure5.TriplebottomlineSource:(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014)

Inthepast,thefinancialbottomlinewastheonlyapproachforcompaniesastheirmainconcernwas tomaximize profits. Today, companies have to be aware of the impactsthey have on the environment they operate in caused by their business activities.Nowadays,itisnotenoughonlytobeprofitableasdifferentstakeholdershavedifferentexpectations, which have to be met by the business. Respecting staff, the local

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community and the other stakeholders is becoming a necessity (Kalish, 2002).

Companies shouldbe able to secure their long-termeconomicperformancebyavoiding short-term behavior, which is usually socially and environmentallyharmful(Porter&Kramer,2006).Thus,thetriplebottomlineapproachshouldbeincorporatedbyallbusinesses(Coles,Fenclova,&Dinan,2013).

Vo,Delchet-CochetandAkeb(2015),intheirarticle,MotivesBehindTheIntegrationOfCSR IntoBusinessStrategy:AComparativeStudy InFrenchSMEs regard thedifferentmotives behind SMEs integrating CSR. They use the Triple-bottom-line approach inorder to divide the motives into categories – economic, social and environmentalmotives.

The economic motives are considered to be the most important driver of CSRintegration.However,accordingtoJenkins,SMEsengageinCSRprimarilyforsocialandenvironmental reasons. This could be due to the fact that small and medium sizedcompanies are owner-centric or because CSR is just the “right thing to do” (Jenkins,2006). Disregardingtheimportanceofeachmotivecategory,theyareall importanttoexplore, because they reveal other information, which can help for the betterunderstaningoftheperceptionsofSMEsaboutCSRandthewaytheyimplementit.

CSRPracticesCSR practices involve all the activities a company undertakes in order to be sociallyresponsible. It is important to know what businesses do regarding CSR, how theyapproach it, adopt and embed it in their business operations. Someof thosepracticesarepresentedbelow.

CSRpracticesarecontinuouslychangingastheconditionsthatareframingthemchangeas well (Coles, Fenclova, & Dinan , 2013). Previous studies have shown that mostcommon CSR practices are cutting operating costs and minimizing resourceconsumption(Garaya&Font,2012)asthisleadstoincreasedprofits(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).Strategicphilanthropyhasalsobeenusedbymostbusinesses(Coles,Fenclova,&Dinan,2013).However,newresearchesshowthattherearesomemeaningfulsocialandeconomicpracticesimplementedsuchasidentitypromotion,heritageconservation,local development, consumption of local products, recruitment of local labor, genderequalityandfairwages(Garaya&Font,2012).

CSR is not only about philanthropy or the maximization of the shareholders’ benefit

(Kalish, 2002) and thus companies should not focus only on those issues. Forexample, contributing only to charities or on reducing environmental impacts(Coles,Fenclova,&Dinan,2013).Accordingtothetriple-bottom-line,totalCSRconsistsofthreedimensions–social,environmentalandeconomic.Ifacompanychoosesonlyoneofthedimensionstheyactinaresponsiblemanner,buttheydonotimplementCSRcompletely.

Themostcommonreactionsfrombusinessesaremediacampaignsandpublicrelations,whichpresentthecompanyasa“GoodSamaritan”andallthegooddeedsithasdoneinveryshinyCSRreports(Porter&Kramer,2006).Thisapproachneitheroperationalnoritisstrategic,butonlycosmetic.CorporateSocialResponsibilitycanbemuchmorethan

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agooddeedoranadditionalcost–itcanbeanopportunityforcompetitiveadvantage(Porter&Kramer,2006).

According toPorter (2006)andKramer,acompany that is trying toappeasepressuregroups of stakeholders often ends up into a circle of never ending public relations,which lead to short-term defensive reactions and not long lasting solutions. Thisapproachdoesnotusuallybringanybenefitsforthebusinessinthelongrunandcreatesvery little value for the society. “Atemporarygaintoonewillunderminethe long-termprosperityofboth”(Porter&Kramer,2006).

Bothbusinessoperationsandsocialpoliciesmust follow theprincipleofsharedvalue,becauseofthemutualdependenceofcorporationsandsociety(Porter&Kramer,2006).

Accordingto theWorldBusinessCouncil forSustainableDevelopment(WBCSD1999),CSRiswayofimprovingqualityoflifeoftheworkforceandthewholecommunity.Ithasthepowerthatisunderestimatedbybusinesses.However,thecontinuouscommitmentcan contribute to the better life and working conditions (Manente, Minghetti, &Mingotto,2014)

Companiesbecomemoreawareof the impacts theyhaveonsocietyandenvironment,butsometimesthoseimpactsarealotmoredelicatethantheyrealize.Hiringpractices,emissions and waste disposal might not look that subtle at first glance, but withoutcarefully planning and identifying the social effects, companies might risk their ownsurvival (Porter&Kramer, 2006). Corporate Social Responsibility should be a part ofcompany’s business strategy and operations as it is all about “integrating social andenvironmental concerns into the enterprise’s activities” (Manente, Minghetti, &Mingotto,2014)

Companiescaninfluenceseveralsocialfactorssuchasthelocaleducationalsystem,theadequacy of public health system, the accommodation availability, discrimination, etc.Those factorscanaffect theabilityof thecompany torecruit suitablehumanresource(Porter & Kramer, 2006). Society depends on business and vice versa. Businessesprovideproducts,pay taxesandoffer jobswhile societyconsumes,provideworkforceandpolicies (EraqiM. I., 2010).One cannot survivewithout theother.Therefore, it isimportantthatcompaniesrealizethepowertheyhaveinthecommunitytheyoperateinand that their positive changewill lead to their future benefit in oneway or another.Successful enterprises need a healthy society. Businesses need productive workforceand this depends on the educational system, health care and laws and equalopportunities.Goodworking conditionsattractnotonlynewpotential employees,butalso itcreatesagoodimageofthecompany.Combinedwithsafeproducts, ithelpsfortheloweringofinternalcostsandaccidents(Porter&Kramer,2006).

Ahealthysocietyhasahigherdemandforbusiness,becausepublicneedsaremetandtheir aspirations grow (Porter & Kramer, 2006).When the society is healthy, peopletend to procreate and more humans will need to work, thus businesses grow.Meanwhile, a healthy and happy society needs successful companies. CSR is in theinterest of society and not only for companies (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto,Responsible Tourism and CSR - Assessment Systems for Sustainable Development ofSMEs in Tourism , 2014). According to Porter and Kramer (2006), businesses that

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pursuetheirsuccessattheexpenseofthesociety,will findthatthis isonlytemporaryand illusive and their actions can rival the business sector in terms of creating jobs,wealth and innovation and this directly affects the standards of living,which later onwill effect the company. “Businessandsocietyaredependentuponeachotherandbothmustbehealthyorneitherwillthriveintothefuture”(EraqiM.I.,2010).

ConnectionbetweenCSRandBusinessPerformance

In order to understand the motivations behind why companies choose to adoptCorporateSocialResponsibility, it is important touncoverwhetherCSRhasapositiveeffectonbusinessperformance.

Back in 1984, Drucker (1984) suggested that there is a connection between CSR andbusiness profitability in terms of market, productivity, human resources andcompetitiveadvantage(Vázquez-Carrasco&López-Pérez,2012).AfewyearsagoColes,FenclovaandDinan(2013)broughtupthequestionwhetherCSRinfluencedeconomicperformanceanddetractedfromshareholderdividends.TheirresearchfocusedonCSRimplementation and business performance and whether it is possible to ‘do well bydoing good”.On theotherhanda surveybyEuroparc showed that enterprises,whichimplement CSR consider themselves satisfied with the financial performance of thebusinessandtheybelievethecompanyhasbenefitedfromit(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).Kasim(2004;2004;2010)havediscoveredthatthereareintangiblebenefitsbeyondthebalance sheet that are result from CSR implementation and they can be cost savingsfrom recycling, energy saving, waste reduction and other environmental measures(Coles,Fenclova,&Dinan,2013).AllthoseassumptionshavebeencriticizedforthefactthatCSRisregardedonlyasabusinesscase(Tamajón&iAulet,2013).

Therearetwodifferentapproachestothewaybusinesscasesarestudied–narrowandbroad. The narrow views look at the relationship between CSR and financialperformance using statistics and indicators as revenue and profitability. On the otherhand, thebroaderviewsexaminebothdirect and indirect links to theperformanceofthecompany.Thatcouldbefactorsthataffectthecompanyinthelongrunanddonotfocus on statistical information, which is short-term oriented. According to this

approach,therearefourperformanceaspects–reducingcostsandrisks,strengtheninglegitimacyandreputationandbuildingcompetitiveadvantage(Coles,Fenclova,&Dinan,2013).

CSRinScandinaviaandDenmark

ScandinaviaisconsideredagloballeaderinCSRandsustainability(Strand,Freeman,&Hockerts , 2014). Scandinavian companies have integrated ethics and socialresponsibilityintotheircorporatestrategiesforalongtimenow(Morsing,Midttun,&Palmaas, 2007). As a part of Scandinavia, Denmark is also known as one of themostsocially responsible countries. The Corporate Social Responsibility in Denmark hasalways been characterized by a high involvement of the government in the form of ageneralpoliticalencouragementforbusinessestoengagewithCSR(Morsing,Midttun,&Palmaas, 2007). In fact, the Danish Government is among the global leaders when itcomes topromoting corporate social responsibilitywitha comprehensive strategy forCSR and initiatives ranging from numerous CSR tools to legal requirements on CSRreporting. The role of the state is big and companies are already exposed to a high

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expenditureinwelfareastheypaysomeofthehighesttaxesintheworld.Furthermore,asmentionedinsectionSMEsonpage8,largeenterprisesinDenmarkareobligatedbylawtoreportfortheirCSRactivities,whichisalsoanexampleofthehighinvolvementoftheDanishgovernmentinthebusinesstowardsasustainablefutureresultingalmost7out of 10Danish companiesworkingwithCSR and75%of all businesses consideringCSR as a more important part of their business today, than they did five years ago(Kjær).

2.2.3CSRintheTourismIndustryThe concept of Corporate Social Responsibility began to emerge in different industrysectors since themid-1990s (Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Recentely, it hasbecome more significant within the tourism industry (Inoue & Lee, 2011) and hasbecomeabuzzwordinthemainstreamtourism(Fuchs,2010).

A lot of research has been done about CSR practices in the large manufacturing

companiesandalotlessfocusingontourismandhospitalityfirms(Tamajón&iAulet,2013), especially small and medium enterprises (Garaya & Font , 2012). Thisstudy aims to fill this gap and to investigatewhether the implementation of CSR canenhancethecompetitiveadvantageoftourismSMEsinDenmark.

CSRandSustainability

CSRstandsforawholerangeofconcepts,whichareusedbytourismcompaniestomaketourismmoresustainable(Fuchs,2010).Butwhatexactlyissustainability?Sustainabletourism development is the "tourism that takes full account of its current and futureeconomic,socialandenvironmentalimpacts,addressingtheneedsofvisitors,theindustry,

the environment and host communities" (UNEP and UNWTO, 2005). According to thedefinition,sustainabledevelopmentshouldconservenaturalheritageandbiodiversity,respectandprotectthesocio-culturalauthenticityandheritageofhostcommunitiesandprovide socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders. All tourism actors such as touroperators, travelagencies, transportationcompanies, tourismbusinesses,government,community, NGOs and tourists need to work together to tackle all of the social andenvironmentalissuesthatnegativelyimpactthedestinationandtheindustryasawhole(Kasim,2006).

CSR and sustainability are considered synonyms, by some, and completely differentconcepts,byothers.WhileCSR ismostly linked to social issues, Sustainability isoftenrelatedtoenvironmentalissues(Strand,Freeman,&Hockerts,2014).However,takingintoaccountthedefinitionofCSR,itdoesnotfocusonlyonsocialmatters–butalsooneconomic and environmental ones. It aims tominimize the impacts of businesses andleadsthemtoasustainablefuture.ItcouldbeconcludedthatCSRisthewayfortourismcompaniestowardssustainabletourismdevelopment(EraqiM.I.,2010).

Responsibletourism

Responsible tourism is alike sustainable tourism, but the term is usedmainly by theindustry as a more simple and understandable concept avoiding the overused word‘sustainability’ (Dodds, 2014). Responsible tourism includes all forms of travels thatfocus onminimizing negative economic, environmental and social impacts caused bytourism.Itsaimistoimprovelivingandworkingconditionsofthehostcommunityand

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toinvolvethemindecisionmakingregardinglocaltourismdevelopmentandplanning;to contribute to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to build local prideandconfidenceandprovidegreaterunderstandingoflocalcultureandmoremeaningfulconnectionwiththelocals(CAPETOWNDECLARATION,2002).

In the book Responsible Tourism and CSR (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, 2014),responsible tourism is described as being a lifestyle. In order to be responsibletravellers,peopleshouldhaveresponsiblebehaviorintheireverydaylifeasconsumers.Thechoiceofresponsibletravels is linkedtothechoiceofeverydayproductswiththedifference that responsible travel is not only about the eco-certification and the fancypackaging. “Responsible tourism has to do with an everyday lifestyle that promotescultural and biological diversity, and promotes environmental and natural resources

conservation,athomeandwhiletravelling”(2006,p.13).

Fuchs(2010)discussesthecontroversyofCSRinhisarticleaboutResponsibletourism.He talks about the possible suspicion that CSRprograms are only about public imageand for marketing purposes. However, some travel companies introduce laborstandardsfortheirpersonnel;othersengageinphilanthropiccausesandtherearesomethat are looking for the cultural sensitization of the tourists (Fuchs, 2010). Yet, ingeneral, the actions of tourism enterprises regarding CSR are often unclear andspasmodicwhiletheirCSRprogramsarecomplexandnon-transparent(Fuchs,2010).

Inoue and Lee (2011) discuss the benefits of CSR and that number of scholars haveproposed that CSR has positive effects of business performance such as consumersatisfactions, reputation, competitive advantage, and organizational commitment. TheFortune Corporate Reputation Index shows that bigger companies have higher CSRratingswhile smaller businessesmay be able to implement environmental and socialpolicies easier than the larger companies (Eraqi M. I., 2010). Even though theimplementationofCSRhasshownpositiveinfluenceonbusinessperformanceitisstillnot being implemented by SMEs in the tourism industry due to number of reasons(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014)suchaslackofawareness,whileothersarelackofresourcesandknowledgeabouttheimplementationprocessorunderestimatingtheimportanceofCSR.

Companies can be led tomore sustainable growth by implementing Corporate SocialResponsibility,which could also result in enhancing the competitive advantage of thefirmintheglobaltourismmarket(EraqiM.I.,2010).SomecompaniesfeelpressuredtoimplementCSR inorder tobe socially responsible.Thepressure could come from thegovernment,activistsorcustomers.However,theirCSRmeasuresareoftenchaoticandnot alignedwith the company’ strategy and its business activities (EraqiM. I., 2010).CSR actions can become part of a firm’s identity and it could be used as a way todifferentiate from competitors (Eraqi M. I., 2010), which is one of biggest issues fortourism enterprises. Therefore it is important when choosing CSR activities, that thecompanymakessurethattheyarerelatedtoitsstrategyandmainobjectives,sothatitwillnotonlybenefitthestakeholders,butalsothecompany(EraqiM.I.,2010).

CorporateSocialResponsibilityisacomplexconceptanditisunderstooddifferentlybybusinesses. The concept has beenmainly associatedwith environmental issues in the

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tourism industry and only a few tour operators have addressed the fact that tourismaffects people’s lives and it has the potential to reduce poverty (Kalish, 2002).Therefore, the tourism industry remainsunderdeveloped in termsofCorporate SocialResponsibility.

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2.3CompetitiveAdvantageandCSRThis section is dedicated to identify the link between the competitive advantage andcorporatesocialresponsibility.Inordertounderstandthecompetitiveadvantageinthecontext of Corporate Social Responsibility, it is necessary to discuss the concept ofStrategic CSR, by that it will lead a question: If a CSR certification program can beconsideredasawayofintegratingstrategicCSRintothebusiness?Secondlythissectionwill present the theoretical model of competitive advantage, to explain the differentcontexts or elements when analyzing the competitive advantage of a company. Themodelwill help the researchers to identify the connectionbetweenCSRactivities andthecompetitiveadvantage.

2.3.1StrategicCSRTheoretically there are still limited sources to talk about the link between CorporateSocial Responsibility and business strategy (Neves & Pessoa, 2011). From theperspectiveofgeneralbusinesscontext,PorterandKramerhavebeenoneofthemainauthors that have researched on the issues in relation to strategy and society. TheyarguedthatbusinessesthatcloselyengagedwithCSRpracticescouldproducemaximumsocialbenefitsandothergainsforthebusinessitself(Porter&Kramer,2002).

Many businesses believe that CSR is a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed (DavidLane, 2008). This perception is not correctly because CSR can be a source ofopportunity,innovation,andcompetitiveadvantage(EraqiM.I.,SocialResponsibilityasan InnovativeApproach forEnhancingCompetitivenessofTourismBusinessSector inEgypt, 2010). Porter and Kramer (2006) have pointed out, that companies cannotsurvive in an isolated social environment around them. Especially in the tourismindustry, the ability of tourism enterprises to compete depends heavily on thecircumstancesandconditionscausedbytheexternalsocialenvironment(Butler,1974;Matias,Nijkamp,&Sarmento,2011).Itisconcludedthatsocialandeconomicgoalsareintegrallyconnectedinthelongrun.

Besides, companies do not operate in vacuum as stakeholders surround them andtherefore,itisveryimportantforthemtoconsidertheroleandthepowerofallactorsintheir enterprise activity (Garaya & Font , 2012). “A stakeholder is a party that has aninterest inanenterpriseorproject” (Investopedia, 2016).Usually, the stakeholders areinvestors, suppliers, employees and customers, but nowadays community, tradeassociations and the government are also becoming a part of the definition. Thosestakeholdershaveexpectationsanddemandsthatneedtoberespectedandmetbythebusinesses.Thepowerofstakeholdersisanimportantfactor,whichsometimescanbeunderestimated.Whentheyareorganizedandact together, theirpower increasesandtheycaninfluencethedecisionsofacompany(Carroll,1991).

Nevertheless, there was insufficient research on the strategic CSR in the tourismindustry (Camilleri, 2014). However, None of the business can solve all the socialproblems around or spend a high cost of doing so. In the tourism industry, this isconsideredasoneofmainchallengesforTourismSMEs,astheyareconfusedonwhichdimensionstofocusonwhenimplementingCSR(Mitrokostas&Apostolakis,2013;Vo,

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Delchet-Cochet,&Akeb,2015).Therefore,eachcompanymustselectsocial issuesthathave connection with its particular business. Authors such as Wheeler, Colbert, andFreeman(2003)haveclaimedthatintegratethesocialconcernsintothebusinessvalue.Basedonthis,PorterandKramer(2011)furtherdevelopedtheconcepttoidentifythedifferent social issues that are related to the specific business and enable to help toenhancethecompetitiveadvantage.Thebusinessesrealizedthattheymaybeinabetterposition to understand the true bases of company productivity and the ability tocollaborate across profit and non-profit boundaries as they appreciate societal needs(Porter & & Kramer, 2011). It implies that company shouldworkmore on the socialissuesstrategically.

Figure6TheconnectionbetweenbusinessandSocietalissues(Porter&Kramer,2011)

Companies choose to integrate the social perspective into the value chain of thebusiness can be considered as a strategic approach of corporate social responsibility.ThusStrategicCSRreferstoacompanythatdothingsdifferentlyfromcompetitorsthanlowerscostsorbetter servesaparticular setof customerneeds,and itmovesbeyondgood corporate citizenship (Porter&Kramer, 2006). According to Porter andKramer(2006),acompanythattiesmorecloselytosocial issues, thebetteropportunity itcanhelptoleveragethecompany’sresourcesandcapabilities,aswellasbenefitsociety,asstrategicCSRunlockssharedvalueby investing insocialaspectsofcontext,by that tostrengthenthecompany’scompetitiveness.

Onthecontrary,PorterandKramerhavealsomentionedtheconceptofresponsiveCSR.And it helps to distinguish how to react to the social environment of the companyproactively.ResponsiveCSRcomprisestwoelements:actingasagoodcorporatecitizenandanticipatedadverseeffectsfrombusinessactivities(Porter&Kramer,2006).Asthe

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belowfigure7illustrates,thatdifferentfromresponsiveCSR,strategicCSRfocusonthevaluechainsocialimpactsandthesocialdimensionsofcompetitivecontext,andithelpsthecompanytomakeabetterengagementwithCSR,ratherthanjustreactivelysurviveintheexternalsocialenvironment.

Figure7StrategicCSRvs.ResponsibleCSR,adoptedfromPorterandKramer,2006

ThustheStrategicCSRenabletoprovidecompanieswithsolutionsfor(Ballowe,2009):

• Balancingtheeconomicvaluewithsocialvalueofthebusiness• Managingstakeholderrelationships• Developingsustainablebusinesspractices• Decidingthecompany’scapacityforphilanthropicactivities

2.3.2TheFourElementsofCompetitiveContext

InordertoanswertheresearchquestionofhowtheCSRcertificatecanenhancethecompetitive advantage of tourism enterprises in Denmark, it is necessary to studyanddiscuss theconceptof competitiveadvantage.Porterclaimed that, “understandingthepotentiallinksbetweenphilanthropyandcompetitivecontextcanhelpthecompanyto

identify where to focus in terms of corporate social responsibility” (Porter & Kramer,2002).

Thecompetitivenessofacompanydependsontheproductivityandperformancewiththatcompaniescanusecapitalandnaturalresourcestoprovidehighqualitygoodsandservices (Porter& Kramer, 2006). By carefully analyzing the competitive context, thecompanywillbeabletoidentifythemostessentialCSRissuesthathavebeenengaged,

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thustofindoutinwhichaspectstheCSRstrategieshavehelpedthecompanytoenhancethe competitive advantage. As figure 8 demonstrates, the competitive context of acompany includes four elements: factor conditions, related and supporting industries,demandconditions,aswellascontextforstrategyandrivalry(Porter&Kramer,2002).

Tobenoticedthat,thetheoryofFourElementsofCompetitiveContextwasappliedbyPorter and Kramer to identify the issues in relation to corporate philanthropy of thecompany. However, the researchers of this thesis considered it as a comparablestructuredframeworktoanalyzethecompany’sCSRissues.Duringtheanalysissection,byapplyingthemodel, itcanhelpto findoutwhichCSR issuesthecompanyhasbeenengaged,andinwhichwayitcanhelptoenhancethecompetitiveadvantage.

Figure8,TheFourElementsofCompetitiveContext,adoptedfromPorter&Kramer(2002)

FactorConditionsThefactorconditionsrefertotheresourcesandcapacityofthecompanies,suchasthenatural, human and capital resources. The level of infrastructure about physicalenvironmentoftheemployeeswillalsohaveahighinfluenceofthecompany.Accordingto Porter and Kramer (2002, s. 61), that high level of productivity and performancedepend on “the presence of trained workers, high-quality scientific and technologicalinstitutions, adequate physical infrastructure, transparent and efficient administrative

proceeds,aswellasavailablenatural resources.” Dealingwith different internal socialissues, such as training employees could be one of the approaches to enhance thecompetitiveadvantageofthecompany.

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DemandConditionsPorterandKramer(2002)outlinedthatthedemandconditionsinaregionornationasthelocalmarket,theappropriatenessofproductstandardsandthesophisticationofthelocal customers. Travel has been one of the major activities for European citizens(Fuchs,2010).Nowadaysmoreandmoretouristsareawareabouttheenvironment,andtheconceptofeco-friendlyproducts.Byworkingwiththecustomerswhocareabouttheenvironmentandothersocialissues,itwillgivethetourismcompaniesopportunitiestoenhance the region’s competitiveness by satisfying customer needs and applyingpressureforinnovation.

RelatedandSupportingIndustriesAsit isdiscussedearlier, thatnoneofthecompanycansurvivewithoutthesupportoftheindustriesandservicesnearbyandotherlongdistancessuppliers.Especiallyinthetourismindustries,thattheproductsorservicearehighlyaffectedbythesuppliersandotherlocalstakeholders(EraqiM.I.,2010).Bymanagingthestakeholderrelationshipitwillhelptoenhanceresponsiveness,exchangeofinformation,anddrivethecompanytopaymoreattentiontotheinnovationwithintheindustry(Porter&Kramer,2002).

ContextforStrategyandRivalryThe local context has a strong influence on the competition in a national or regionalbase.Policiesthatencouragethecompaniestopaymoreattentiontoinvestment,openlocal markets for trade and enhance the communications between the publicstakeholders.Inthetourismindustry,bymanagingthepublicstakeholders,itwillhelptoencouragethecompaniestocaremoreaboutthesocialissuesinnationalorregionallevel.Thebettercommunicationwillalsohelptomakethelocationanattractiveplacetodobusiness.

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2.4TravelLifeCertificateInorder to introducetheTravelifecertificate, it isnecessary todiscuss theconceptualunderstandingoftheCSRreportingsystemandthetwodifferentapproachesthathelpto distinguish the systems. As figure 9 illustrates, this section will firstly discuss thereportingsystemofCSR;continuewiththediscussionthesectionwillelaborateonthetwodifferentapproachesofreportingsystem,tointroducethemajorreportingsystemsthat have gained reputation in the international tourism industry; the third part willfocusmajorlyontheCSRcertificationandfinally leadingtothediscussionofTravelifecertificate.

Figure9Structureofthesection(self-sourced)

2.4.1CSRreportingsystemACSR reporting system canbedefined as “anassessmentsystem,thathelptoevaluateand certify the overall responsibility of tourism companies, for practice of responsibile

tourism principles or implementation of CSR” (Bien, 2008; Manente, Minghetti, &Mingotto, 2014). It can be considered as a tool that measures and communicates toassure thatanactivity, aproductoraprocessmeet specific standard. In recentyears,duetotheincreasingrecognitionofresponsibletourismandsustainabledevelopmentinthe tourism industry, several CSR reporting programs, such as certifications, labelingandawardschemeshavebeenencouragedanddevelopedforthebusinessesespeciallyinthetourismindustries(Dodds&Joppe,2005;Goodwin,2005;Font&Buckely,2010).

The CSR reporting systems that have been assosicated with travel agencies and touroperators canbe catergrized into twogroups: firstly.The systemsuchasAITR,ATES,TOI, AITO, as well as Travelife. Those reporting systems have been created by touroperator assosications specialized in responsible tourism or actively engadged withresponsible activities. The second group are systems that have been developed byconsultingcompaniesororganizations thatpropose tools topromoteresponsibility intourism businesses, such as QUIDAMTUR, KATE and the The Responsibletravel.com(Manente, Minghetti, &Mingotto, Responsible Tourism and CSR, Assessment SystemsforSustainableDevelopmentofSMEsinTourism,2014).

CSRReportingSystem

Certibicationapproach Travelife

Resopnsibletourismappraoch

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CertificationApproachVS.ResponsibleTourismApproach

There are two types of approaches that can help to distigush the different reportingsystems:thecertificationapproachversustheresponsibletourismapproach.

The certification apporach refers to systems that are generally process oriented, itappliesforcompaniesthat“wanttoaudittheirinternalprocessesandsupplychainandtoimprove theirmanagement strategies” (Manente,Minghetti, &Mingotto, 2014). On thecontrary, Goodwin (2005) has claimed that, systems based on a responsible tourismapproach focus more on the products, by adopting a market-driven perspective,reflecting theappropriatecharacteristicsa responsible tourismproduct isexpected tohave. As figure 10 illustrates, that AITR, ATES and Responsibletravel.com have beencatergorized as responsible tourismapproach,whileKATE,TOI, FTO andTravelife areclaimed to based on the certification approach. One of the disadvantages of thecertificationapproachisthattheprogramdoesnotencourageproducts’differentiationanddoesnotbringsignificantmarketingadvantages(Goodwin,2005).

Figure10CertificationApproachVS.ResponsibleTourismApproach

2.4.2CSRCertification

According to Dodds and Joppe (2005), A certificate can be defined as “a voluntaryprocedurethatassesses,auditsandgiveswrittenassurancethatafacility,product,process

orservicemeetsspecificstandards.”Bythecertificate,thecompanyisawardedalogofortheirownmarketingandproductsdevelopment.Withinthetouristindustry,therehavebeendifferenttypesofcertificationprogramsdevelopedbydifferentorganizations.Theprogramsareapplied toassessdifferentaspectsof tourism, suchas thequalityof thetourism products, tourism sustainability in different tourism sectors, as well asecotourismthattakesplaceinnatural,protected,orfragileeco-systems(Bien,2008).

Companies that engaged with the certification program aim to be recognized by theconsumersordistributionchannelssuchastravelagenciesortouroperators.Itcanbeconsideredasadevelopmentforthecompaniestoaddvaluetotheproducts(Porter&&

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Kramer,2011), aswell as increase its acceptance in themarketplace for enhance thecompetitive advantage (Toth, 2002). The purpose of certifications schemes is tohighlightthebestpracticesforproducts,servicesandtourismmanagement.Itcanhelpthe tourism enterprise to hold accountable standards to stakeholders and providemarketing benefits (Font, Sanabria, & Skinner, 2003). By this means to ensure thatdifferent tourism sectors both from the demand and supply sides aremanaging theirbusiness practices with less negative impacts on the environment, society and theeconomy (Diamantis & Westlake, 2001). Vertinsky and Zhou (2000) argued that thecertificationprogramsprovideopportunities for industries to “coordinatecompetition,preventexcessivegovernmentintervention,andalsopresentapositivedestinationimage.”

When looking at the history and development of the CSR certification, the beginningstagepaidinitiativellyattentiontothehospitaliltyindustry,knownashotelstarratingsystem.Startingfromtheendof1980s,theenvironmentalprogramshaveemerged,andsocio-culturalandeconomicaspectshavebeendevelopedand intergratedsince1990s(Bien, 2008). Until the middle of 2000s, more than 60 % of certification programsconcentratedon the accommodation sector,while only7%address on tour operators(Font X. , 2003; Dodds & Joppe, 2005). Within different certification schemes,approximately 40% of the criteria and principles are related to the standards aboutmanagement issues, the rest 60% focus on specific actions such as environmentalbenchmarking(34%),economic indicators (8%)orsocio-culturalcriteria (12%)(FontX. , 2003). In regarding to the case of Travelife certificate, Manente, Minghetti andMingotto have claimed that (2014), the social and environmental dimensions of thecertificationprogramarewelldeveloped,while theeconomicaspect stillneed furtherimprovement.

TheProcessofComplianceAssessment

InordertounderstandhowatouroperatorortravelagencyarecertifiedbyTravelife,itisnecessarytodiscusstheprocessofcomplianceassessment,andthedifferentpartiesthathavebeeninvolvedinduringtheprocess.ThemodelinFigure11hasclarifiedfivesteps to fulfilling the assessment and getting certified: setting standards, undertakingassessment,certifyingthisassessment,accreditingcertification,recognitionofthevalueof the certificate, andacceptanceby the industry (FontX. , 2002). Font claimed inhisarticle that not all the certificates or labels have to follow the whole process as themodeldemonstrates.

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Figure11theProcessofComplianceAssessment,adoptedfromFont(2002)

Firstly, the funding bodies refer to the organizations that financially support thedevelopment of the certificate. They tend to be governmental or non-profitorganizations, aswell as industry associations or tourism companies (FontX. , 2001).Currently, it isthetrendtoincludebothpublicorganizationsandNGO’sinthefundinggroup,bythentoguaranteeandenhancethecredibilityofthecertificate.Sometimestheindustry associations and large tourism companies are also involved in the fundingbodiestomakesurethattheapplicantstokeepthecommitmentbefore,duringandafterthecertificationprogram(FontX.,2002).

The awarding body refers to the different sectors of tourism industry, such asaccommodation,transportation,attractionsanddestinations;thetravelmarketsuchastravel agencies and tour operators have also been a part of targets (Font X. , 2001).Firstlytheawardingbodyhastopreparealistofcriteriatoverifytheperformanceandmanagement of the tourismenterprise. The verifyingbody checking the situation andthe performance of the applicant to respond to the awarding criteria. One of theweaknesses during this stage is that the verifying body sometimes realize that theoperationalperformancehasnotcompletelymeettheawardingcriteria,andasaresultthereexistscertainlevelofcompromise(FontX.,2001).Therearedifferentmotivationsfor theapplicant toperformenvironmentally friendlyduring the certificationprocess.Andthiswillbedetailedexploredintheempiricalresearch.However,thebenefitsand

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challengesofcertificationprogramwillbediscussedinthenextsection.

The Travelife certificate was launched in 2007. It is a training, management andcertificationschemebasedintheNetherlands.Itisforthetourismenterprises,suchasaccommodations, travel agencies and tour operators. However, this thesis will focusonlyonthecertificationprogramtotravelagenciesandtouroperatorsthatcommittosustainableandresponsibledevelopment,anditaimedtopromotesustainablepracticeswithinthetravelandtourismindustry.Accordingtothemodelofprocessofcomplianceofassessmentbyfigure8,thefundingbodyofthecertificationschemeisABTA,referredas the UK Travel Association and the Dutch Travel association. The scheme is alsosupportedby theLeedsMetropolitanUniversity inUK,LundUniversity in Sweden, aswell as theEuropeanCentre forEcoandAgroTourism (ECEAT-projects), aDutchno-profitorganizationthatpromotingsustainabilityinTourism.OtherpartnersincludetheCatalan Ministry of Environment in Spain; the Austrian Ministry of Environment inAustria; the Royal Award Foundation in Denmark, and the Dutch Alps Platform,Netherlands (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, 2014). Today a growing number ofgovernmentsanddevelopmentorganizations(25partners)thatsupporttheprograminorder disseminate the methodology across Europe and other continents (Núñez &Hamele,2014).

The awarding body of Travelife certificate for accommodations is the ABTA, and theECEAT is responsible for the tour operators and travel agencies (Núñez & Hamele,2014). The awarding set the criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to receive thecertificate.Theverifyingprocedureisdividedintotwophases:Phaseoneiscompletedbyonlinethattheverifyingbodyexaminethedocumentsforwardedbytheapplicants,and phase two is considered as on-site third party verification. The whole verifyingprocedure takes place every two years (Núñez & Hamele, 2014). After checking theenvironmental performance of the applicant, the verifying body will recommend theawarding body to see if meet the awarding criteria based on their performance(Travelife,2007)

2.4.3TheBenefitsofCSRcertificate

Asthethesisdiscussedearlier,thattheCSRcertificateprovidesthetourismenterprisesopportunities to improve the sustainable performance to enhance the position in thetravelmarket,preventexcessivegovernmentintervention,aswellaspresentapositivedestination image (Vertinsky & Zhou, 2000). It is believed that CSR certification“representanincreasinglyimportantstrategyforencouragingthesustainableproduction

ofgoodsandservices”(Medina,2008),and itaimstoencouragecustomerstopurchasegoods and services from companies that engaged in high social and environmental inrelation to their products (Jarvis, Weeden, & Simcock, 2010). Tepelus and Córdoba(2005)haveclaimedthatthetourismindustryisstillunregulatedinalargebases,thusvoluntarilyadoptingacertificationprogramseemstobecriticallyimportant.Asinsomeextent itensureshighqualityofsustainableproducts.And it isalsoessential for long-term business commitment to quality improvements. The following parts intend toelaborateonthebenefitsofcertificationprogramsfromtheliteratureperspectives.

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ReducingEnvironmentalImpactReducingtheenvironmentalimpactisconsideredasoneofthemostimportantreasonfor the tourism enterprise to engage with the CSR certificate (Tourism South East &South West Tourism , 2007). Negative environmental impacts occur when thedestination has not paid enough attention to the capacity use and the uncontrolledvisitingnumbers.Itcarriespotentialthreatstomanynaturalbaseddestinations,anditcanputhugepressureontheareaanddamagetheenvironmentaroundthedestination.Thisissuehasbeenmoreandmorerecognizedbothbythesupplysideanddemandsideof the tourism industry. It pushes the tourism enterprise to care more about theenvironment when developing and managing the tourism products (Dodds & Joppe,2005).ACSRcertificatesuchasTravelife, itprovidesverycomprehensiveprinciple intermsofenvironmentalsustainabilityandresponsibility.ThusbyengagingwithaCSRcertificationprogram,thetourismenterpriseswillhavetheopportunitiestoreducethenegativeenvironmentalimpactscausedbytourism.Otherliteratureevidenceshasalsoprovedthatcertificationschemesaimtobenefitandprotecttheenvironment(FontX.,2002;Font&Buckely,2010;Jarvis,Weeden,&Simcock,2010).

SavingcostsSaving costs is considered as one of the effort that CSR certificate contributes to theawardedcompanies (Dodds& Joppe,2005).This is firstly refers to theenvironmentalissuessuchaswaterandenergysavings.Secondly,thecertificationprogramitselfoffersdifferent levels of courses and it enables the companies to save costs of training theemployees. The certification program itself will provide opportunities to help thecompaniestoimprovetheinternalmanagementandpractices.

BrandRecognitionFromtheliteratureaspects,improvingtheimageofthecompanyisoneiftheimportantmotivationsofjoiningaCSRcertificationscheme(D'Souza,2004;Harris,2007).Severalauthors have stated that recognizable andwidespread brands lead to improved salesandcustomerloyalty(Reichheld&Teal,1996;Szymanski&Henard,2001;O’Sullivan&McCallig, 2012). By joining the CSR certification program, the tourism enterprisewillgain opportunities to remarketing its products, and integrate the environmentallyfriendlyelementsintotheproductsandservice.Consequentlythiswillhelptoincreasethe brand recognition of the companies. Consumer surveys indicate that growingconsumersarewillingtosupporttheenvironmentallyfriendlyproducts.Andtheydon’tmind to paymore for the sustainable types of tourism (Dodds& Joppe , 2005; Jarvis,Weeden,& Simcock, 2010). Dodds and Joppe has alsomentioned in their article, that61% of consumers are interested in environmentally friendly and socially sensitivetravelproductsandwillingtopayupto10%moreforaholiday.

EnhancingCompetitiveAdvantageAccording to Dodds and Joppe (2005), one of the benefits of engaging with the CSRcertification is to improve the tourismenterprises’ competitive advantage. Firstly it isbecause that thecertificationprogramenables the tourismenterprise tohaveabettercorporationwith thesupplysideof thecompanies.Secondly thecertificationprogramhelps the awarded companies to communicate with the customers by differentmarketingtools.Forexample,Travelifeawardthecertificatetotravelagenciesortour

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operators,bywhichmeans,thetravelagenciesortouroperatorsareallowedtousetheTravelife logo on both their online and offline marketing materials. This can help todifferentiatethecertifiedcompaniesfromothercompetitorsandincreasethecredibilityoftheirtourismproductsandservices.Thirdlytothecommunityofdestinationwheretheawardedtravelagenciesandtouroperatorsaredoingbusinesswith,bypromotingsustainable development, it will help to improve the environmental conditions offacilitiesorinfrastructureofthedestinations.

2.4.4TheChallengesandIssuesofCSRCertificate

Several scholars have discussed the challenges and issues around the certificationscheme.Font(2003)claimedthatmostofthecertificationprogramsfortouroperatorsor travel agenciesaddresson theecotourismrather than largeoperators thatdomainthe majority of the tourism market. However, such issue does not necessarily to beconsidered, as this thesis focuses on the SMEs in the tourism industry. In generalsituation,thatmostoftheCSRcertificationprogramshavenotgainenoughreputationintheindustry,henceitisdifficulttoensurethequalitystandardsintheiraccreditation.Currently there is only 1% of tourism businesses are certified (Jarvis, Weeden, &Simcock,2010).

InternalFromthecompany’sinternalperspective,oneofthechallengesstatedbyJarvis,WeedenandSimcock(2010)isthatcompanieslackofrespondentknowledgeofthesustainabletourismconcept; thispointwill leadto theperceptionthatcompaniesbelievethat thecost of implementing a CSR certification will be high, as they have to spend time tocompletetheapplicationprocess,andtheamountofworkinvolvedincomplianceoftheprogram; lastly, the criteria of the certification scheme requires themembers to dealwith mass of paperwork, which will demotivate their willing of contiguouslycontribution in terms of CSR issues; Lastly, as an existing tour operator or travelagencies, it is difficult to change the culture and existingwayof dealingboth internaland external tasks. Thus it will be challenges for them to make change in terms ofimplementingtheCSRcertification.

ExternalMarketing benefit of implementing a CSR certification has been discussed earlier.However, there is still lessmarketing proof that convinced the potentialmembers ofCSRcertificationtojointheprogram.Duetothisreason,thecostsavingbenefitscanbeconsideredasan issueforengagingwithsuchaCSRcertification,asmostcertificationprograms do not include social and community issues, the local community has notgreatlybenefitedandinaddition(Dodds&Joppe,2005).

Consumer awareness of the certification program is one of the major challenges inconsideringof implementingaCSRcertification(Jarvis,Weeden,&Simcock,2010).Asconsumers,alltheyknowisthatthecompanyhasbeenawarded,butthebyseeingthecertification, it givesnomeaning, and it is difficult for them to classify onwhat is thespecialofthetouroperatorortravelagencies,

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2.4.5TravelifeCertificate

TheTravelifecertificationschemethatwaslaunchedin2007isclaimedtobeafairandaffordable system that helps tourism enterprises to manage and improve social andenvironmental impacts by complyingwith the sustainability criteria(Travelife, 2007).At the end of the process, when a company meets the requirements, it receives aTravelife award. The scheme provides wide range of services, for instance training,management,planning,reportingandB2Btools.Itaimstoincreasethequalityoftravelproducts,improvethecustomersatisfactionandbringthequalityoflifeindestinations.Andthiscanbeachievedby“bringingtogethertheindividualandcollectiveexperiencesoftour operators, travel agents and their associations and builds upon the experiences of

otherinitiativeswithinthetourismsector”(Travelife,2007).

Currently there has been 700 hotels and more than 450 travel agencies and touroperators applied the certificates (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto, ResponsibleTourism and CSR, Assessment Systems for Sustainable Development of SMEs inTourism, 2014). Important travel agencies or tour operators such as TUI, Kuoni andThomasCookareamongof theapplicants.Núñez&Hamele (2014)haveclaimed thattheTravelifecertificationschemeissuccessful,as therearehighnumberofapplicantshavecommitmenttotheprogram.It is isconsideredasoneofthemostwidespreadintheEuropeantourismindustry.

The selected criteria of Travelife scheme focus on the different areas in terms theoperation of the travel agencies or tour operators: (Manente, Minghetti, & Mingotto,Responsible Tourism and CSR, Assessment Systems for Sustainable Development ofSMEs in Tourism, 2014): sustainable and sustainable supply chain management;Sustainable transport, accommodation, excursions and destination management;customercommunicationaswellasinternalmanagement.Thedetailedcriteriaandtheindicators will be listed as Appendix 1. In particular, in order to help the travelagencies/tour operators and their suppliers, Travelife offers a set of integratedinstrumentsandtools,suchas:

! Aninternationalstandardofmanagementfortheimplementationofsustainabletourismbytravelagenciesandtouroperators;

! Training & planning, providing courses for the best practices of sustainablemanagementandsettingandmonitoringtheenterprises’commitmentsthroughactionplan;

! Introducinganonlineinstrumentfortourismenterprisestoreportbothinternalandexternalachievementofspecificsustainabilityactions.

Operatively, the Travelife scheme is accessible through a online-based facility (www.travelife.org).Therearethreestepshavetobecarriedoutbythetravelagenciesortouroperatorsbeforeawardingthecertification(Travelife,2007):

! Stage 1—Travelife Engaged: By the first stage the company conducts anapplication to introduce the proper management issues in relate to CSR. AnappointedSustainabilityCoordinatorreceivesproofthattheelementarystepsin

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relation to the Travelife certificate are implemented. During this stage, thecompanyhasnotbeenrewardedyet.Thecostforengagingwiththisstageis200EUROperyear(basedonthenumberoffulltimeemployeesarelessthan25)

! Stage 2—Travelife Partner: The company conducts a sustainability report inaccordancewith thebasic requirements assessedbyTravelife. By this processthe company reaches the Travelife Partner status, and it gives the companyopportunitiestocommunicate itssustainabilitycommitmentandachievementswiththesupportoftheTravelifePartnerlogo.Thecompanyisnowqualifiedtoworkthroughthefinalstage.ThepricerequirementisonthesamelevelasthestageofTravelifeengagement.

! Stage 3—Travelife Certified: in the third stage, an independent auditor willevaluatethecompany’scompliancewiththeinternationalTravelifestandardfortravelcompanies,andthisisdonebyon-sitevisit.Aftersuccessfullycompletingthethirdstage,thecompanyisawardedwiththeTravelifeCertifiedstatus.Aftercertified, the cost of the certificate will be between 400 EURO for smallercompanies,and2.000EUROperyearforverylargecompanies.

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ResearchQuestions:

TheoryandModel:

ProblemFormulation

1.Motivations

TripleBottomLine

Social Economic Environmental

2.Travelife

Certibication

CSRMeasures

TypesofCSR

3.CompetitiveAdvantage

StrategicCSRornot?

TheFourelements

Factorconditions

Supportingindustries

Demandconditions

Contextforstrategy

Otherbenebits

Challenges&Issues

4.Suggestions

2.5RecapitulationoftheTheoreticalFrameworkForthepurposeofexploringtheproblemstatementandanswertheresearchquestionsofthethesis,thissectionwilltrytoclarifythetheoreticalframeworkthatwillbeappliedintheanalysischapter.BasedonthediscussionofexistingliteraturereviewonCSRintourismindustry,thecompetitiveadvantage,aswellasCSRcertification,thetheoreticalframework will be divided into four elements: Motivations, Travelife Certification,CompetitiveadvantageandSuggestions.

Figure12thecoreelementsofthetheoreticalFramework(selfcreation)

Accordingtofigure12,thefourelementsmentionedabovearesubjectstotheresearchquestions of the thesis. The first element is motivation and it aims to answer thequestiononWhatarethemotivationsforsmallandmedium-sizedtouroperatorsortravelagenciestoengagewithCSR? In theanalysis, theTriple-bottom-lineapproachwillbeusedtoidentifytheresearchcompaniesandtheirmotivesofengagingwithCSRfromthesocial,economicandenvironmentalperspectives.

In order to find out how Travelife Certification can enhance the competitiveadvantage of the research companies, the foundation task is to understand theTravelife certification program not only by conducting desk research, but also byanalyzing the data collected by field research. In this step, the theory about CSRmeasures and types of CSR will be applied in order to understand how the travelproviders are engaging with CSR and what CSR activities they are undertaking. Thisinformation is important, as it will outline whether the travel providers implementcompleteCSRorfocusonlyoncertainissues,butitwillalsogiveaninsightonwhetheror not their CSR measures are aligned with the business strategy and goals of thecompany. Hence, theanalysis inrelationtoTravelifecertification isconsideredas thesecondelementofthetheoreticalframeworkofthethesis.

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ThethirdelementofthetheoreticalframeworkfocusesonidentifyingthelinkbetweenthecompetitiveadvantageandtheTravelifecertification.Theanalysisandfindingswillhelptoanswertheresearchquestionson“WhatarethebenefitsfromengagingwithTravelife?”and“HowcanTravelifecertificateenhancecompetitiveadvantage?” Tobe noticed, as the theory discussed in previous sections, that some of the benefits ofengagingwithaCSRcertificatewillhelptoenhancethecompetitiveadvantage,thusitisverydifficulttodistinguishandseparatetheanswersintheanalysischapter,especiallytosettheboundarybetweenthecompetitiveadvantageandthebenefits.Therefore,theresearchersdecidedtocategorizethebenefitsandchallenges&issuesofimplementingTravelifecertificateundertheanalysiselementofcompetitiveadvantage.

The last part of the chapter intends to conclude the analysis and findings of the firstthreeelements,aswellasgivesuggestionstotheresearchcompaniesonhowtheycouldmaximize the benefit by continually practice the CSR issues related to Travelifecertification.

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ChapterIIIMethodologyThischapteraimstodiscussandexplain thephilosophyandprincipleof this thesis. Itintendstoexplainonhowtheresearchisconductedandstructured,andwhatmethodshavebeenusedtoobtainandanalyzethedata.Asthefigure13illustrates,thischapterisdividedintotwoparts:Partoneexplainsthephilosophyofscienceofthethesis,whichrefers as the social constructivism paradigm and its ontological, epistemological andmethodological considerations. Part two aims to discuss and describe the researchdesignbyintroducingthemethodsofresearch,datacollection,andthedataprocessingandanalysis.

Figure13TheMethodologyFramework(ownsource)

Methodology

PhilosophyofScience

SocialConstructivism

OntologicalConsiderations

EpistemologicalConsiderations

MethodologicalConsiderations

ResearchDesign

QualitativeResearch

ComparativeMulti-caseStudy

DataCollection

Samplingofinterviewees

TypesofInterview

TheoryBasedInterviewguide

QualitativeSemi-structuredInterviews

DataProcessingandAnalysis

ReliabilityandValidity

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3.1PhilosophyofScienceThe research of this thesis focuses on the Danish tourism enterprises that have beenpartnered or certified by Travelife certification program. In order to explore thisresearch area, it is essential to choose and follow a paradigm, as it holds the groundcriteriaofthestudy.Aparadigmisconsideredas“windowsgivingusinformationaboutthesocialworldandoftenframetheparticularquestionsweseektoanswer(Hesse-Biber&Leavy,2011,p.38),and ithelps tobuildup theconnectionbetweentheresearcher’philosophicalstandpointandmethodsappliedintheresearch.Theparadigmprovidesthedisciplinefortheresearchers,anditwillhelpthereadertounderstandonhowtheresearchisprocessedandcarriedout.

This thesis chooses to follow the paradigmof Social Constructivism, as it is “awayofbuildingknowledgeaboutselfandsocietythroughreflectionandmeaningmaking”(Shor,1992),and it “aimstoidentifythevarietyofconstructionsthatexistandbringthemintoasmuchconsensusaspossible” (GubaE. , 1990). According to Stake (1995) one of theadvantagesofbeingasocialconstructivist is, that itgivesfreedomtobothresearchersand participants. For the researchers, it is allowed to look at all the views andperceptions as each of them is unique, while for the participants, they will have thefreedomtotelltheirstoriesastheybelieveitisthetruth(Brinkmann,2013).Thebelowsectionwilltrytoexplainandelaboratetheparadigmofsocialconstructivismfromtheontological,epistemologicalandmethodologicalperspectives.

3.1.1OntologicalConsiderationsThissectionaimstodiscusstheontologicalbeliefsonhowthisresearchisapproached.According toOxfordDictionary (2000), the termontology isdefinedas“Thebranchofmetaphysics dealingwith the nature of being”.Packer and Goicoechea (2010) claimedthatontologyistheconsiderationofbeing,anditgivesanswertothequestion“Whatisthe nature of reality”? (Guba E. , 1990, p. 18). It is important to emphasize that, thisthesis is following the paradigm of social constructivism, and it usually adoptsrelativist’sontology(Guba,1990;Lincoln&Guba,1985;Denzin&Lincoln,2011).

Relativistsbelieve,thattheworldisbuiltfrommultiplerealities,whichco-existtogetherandareconstructedinpeople‘sminds(Denzin&Lincoln,2011;Lincoln&Guba,1985;Guba, 1990; Kukla, 2000). This means that the reality is based on the way eachindividual perceives his or her surroundings. Since each person perceives the realitydifferently, the task of this research is to explore the different perspectives andunderstandings,butnottolookfortheultimatetruth(GubaE.,1990).

Tobemorespecific,thisresearchaimstoinvestigatetheDanishtourismSMEsthathaveengaged with the Travelife certification. The main focus is to find out how a CSRcertification can help to enhance the competitive advantage of the company that hasbeeninvestigated.Inordertoanswerthisquestions,differentsub-questionshavetobeexplored, such as the motivations of joining in the certification programs, and thebenefits and challenges in terms of implementing the programs. However, as socialconstructivists,itisnotthegoaltofindoutonefinalanswerfortheresearch.Itisratherimportanttoexploredifferentperspectivesandunderstandingsthateachcompanyhasprovided, as each opinion is unique and matters for the researcher. This point also

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explainswhythisthesisappliedthesemi-structuredinterviewstocollectthedata.Moredetailscanbefoundinthedatacollectionsections.

3.1.2EpistemologicalConsiderationsEpistemologyanswersthequestion“whatisthenatureofknowledge?”(Bryman,2012).Itfocusesontherelationshipbetweentheresearcherandtheresearchedobjectsandonthewaythisknowledgeisobtained.Thisincludesmethodsusedfordatacollectionandthewaythisdataisgoingtobeused.

According to social constructivists, all researchers use interpretation (Klotz & Lynch,2007). Interpretivism isanepistemologicalposition(Bryman,2012) thatsupports theviewthattheresearcherhastobeapartofthesocialworldofwhatisbeingexamined.Inteprivismrequiresrespectofthedifferencesbetweenindividualsandtheresearchedobject (Bryman,2012).Theapproach is subjectiveas the researchers interpretall theinformationand thus there isnoobjective truth (Samaja,2004).According toMurphy

(1997) “the knower interprets and constructs a reality based on his experiences andinteractions with his environment.” This means that everybody perceives reality in adifferent way depending on his or her own experiences. The way this reality isconstructed could be affected by cultural values and traditions (Saunders, Lewis, &Thornhill,2009).

The researchers background and knowledge play an important part as they interpretinformation based on their own experience and the way their reality is constructed.Therefore,theinterpretedinformationisperceivedindividuallyandtoacertainextentdifferentely(Johanssen,1991).

Sincethereisnoabsolutetruth,theauthorsarenotlookingforanultimaterightanswerof the research questions. The aim of this report is to understand the behavior andmotives of the tour operators/travel agencies in Denmark for joining Travelifecertificationprogram.Themaingoalfortheresearcherswastoenterthesocialworldofthe companies chosen for the research and to try to see the environment from theirpoint of view. By doing this, the researchers could get an understanding of themotivations andactionsof the researchedobjects and thus tobe able to get adeeperinsightintotheproblem.

The choice of the topic for this thesis was based on the academic background of theresearchers and their interest about Corporate Social Responsibility. Their academicknowledgeandskillsallowedthemtostudytheoriesaboutCSR,wheretheyfoundagapintheexistingliteratureandthishelpedfortheformationoftheproblemformulation.Thus, the studywas directed by the academic knowledge base of the examiners. Thechoiceofquestionsfortheresearchwerebasedontheresearchersperceptionsofwhatwasrelevanttobeinvestigatedinordertoanswertheproblemformulation.

Both of the researchers havework experience from the hospitality industry, but onlyonehasworked fora travelagencybefore.This is important topointoutas itgivesadeeperinsightofthetravelagencymarketinDenmarkandabouthowatravelprovideroperates.Thiscanexplainthewaysomeofinformationisinterpreted,butthefactthattheotherresearcherhasneverworkedinatravelagencycanreducetheriskofbiased

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analyses whilemaking sure that there is a balance between theoretical and practicalknowledge.

3.1.3MethodologicalConsiderationsMethodologicalconsiderationsrefertothemethodstheresearchersapplyintheprocessof data generation (Guba E. G., 1990). It focuses on finding the best way to gainknowledge about theworld (Denzin&& Lincoln, 2003). Thus it dealswith questionssuchas“Howshouldtheinquirergoaboutfindingoutknowledge”or“Howdoresearchersselecttheirtools?”(Klotz&Lynch,2007).Gubahassuggestedthatsocialconstructivistsshould apply the methods of hermeneutic approach (Guba & Lincoln, 1989).Hermeneutics is defined as the “theory and methods of the interpretations of humanactions”(Bryman,2012,p.560).Itisaprocessofmovingforwardbyunderstandingthein-depth knowledge of the subject. This point is in accordance with the principle ofSocial constructivists, as the goal ofdoing research isnot looking for explanation, butseeunderstandingbydifferentkindsofdata.

Thehermeneuticcircle isdefinedtheas“thedialecticbetweentheunderstandingofthetext as a whole and the interpretation of its parts, in which descriptions are guided by

anticipated explanations” (Hekman, 1983) The hermeneutic circle was evident duringthestageofselectingthetopicandformulatingtheresearchdirectionofthethesis.Tobemorespecific,theinitialtopicoftheresearchisaboutCorporateSocialresponsibilityinthetourismindustry.However,thistopichastobenarroweddowntoprovideacleardirectiononwhichareatheresearchersshouldfocuson;meanwhile,themainfocushastorelatetooneofthestudyareaofthetourismcoursesthathavebeenprovidedbytheAalborgUniversity.Duringthisstage,theresearchershaven’tmadeasingledecisiontoleadtheinvestigation,buttolookatthetopicareaandreflectbackandforthtoidentifythemost interestingperspectives to formulate theproblem statement. Therefore, thisthesisaimstoinvestigatethelinkbetweenCSRcertificationandcompetitiveadvantage.Nevertheless,theaboveexamplehasn’tbeenendedbythetimetheproblemstatementformulated. As below figure 14 illustrates, the hermeneutic approach allow theresearcherstoadjustandimproveeachpartsofthethesisalongthewholeprocess.

Figure14theElementsofHermeneuticsapproachcompliedinthisthesis(selfsourced)

Thewhole

CSR&CompetitiveAdvantage

TheParts

Datacollecting&Analyzing

TheParts

Theory

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Anotherexample isduring theprocessofconducting the theoretical frameworkof thethesis.Inthefirstversionoftheorypart,theresearchersfirstlyintendedtodiscusstheconceptual understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility, followed it to introducethe CSR certification program, specifically Travelife certification as the case of thisresearch; tobe continue, the secondpartof the theorywas trying todiscuss strategicCSR and the competitive advantage, and finally lead to an analytical framework foranalyzing the data. However, the researchers were doubt about the structure of thetheorysection,asduringthefirst interviewofdatacollection, theresearchersrealizedthattheintervieweespokeofthegeneralperspectiveoftheirCSRsituationandbusinessstrategy, and this leaded them to elaborate further about the Travelife certificate.Moreover,aftertheconsultantmeetingwiththesupervisor,theresearchersbelieveitisnecessarytochangetheorderofthetheorypart,asthediscussioninrelatetostrategicCSR and competitive advantage have been moved before the discussion of CSRcertificationprogram.

The hermeneutic approach has also been experienced during the process of datacollection. As the main methods of collecting data for this thesis is qualitative semi-structured interviews, the researchershaveprepared the interviewguidebeforehand.However, after the first interview, the researchers have realized that, some of thequestions included in the interview guide are less necessary, as they can also beobtainedfromotherchannels.Forexample,thebackgroundsofthecompanyandtheirbusinessstrategycanbe foundon thehomepageof theresearchcompanies.Thus, theresearchersdecidedtoadjusttheinterviewguideafterthefirstinterviewbydeductingquestionsandaddotherquestionstheresearchersexploredduringthefirstinterviews.

3.2ResearchDesignAresearchdesignprovidesaframeworkforthecollectionandanalysisofdata(Bryman,2012).Thechoiceofresearchdesignsaysalotabouthowtheresearchprocesswilllooklike. According to Bryman (Bryman, 2012), research design is often confused withresearchmethods.Aresearchmethodisatechniqueforcollectingdata(Bryman,2012).Itcaninvolveaspecificinstrument,suchassurveyorastructuredinterviewschedule,orparticipantobservation.

This section has a aim to elaborate on the choice of research design and researchmethods aswell as to describe the process of data collection and explain the reasonsbehind the choices made. It also outlines the techniques for data processing andanalysis.

3.2.1QualitativeComparativeMultiple-CasestudyThe aimof this thesis is to conduct a qualitative research focusing on a case study.Acasestudycanbedefinedas “astrategyfordoingresearch,whichinvolvesanempiricalinvestigationofaparticularcontemporaryphenomenonwithin itsreal lifecontextusing

multiplesourceofevidence”(Robson,2002).Sincetheresearchis focusingonTravelifecertification program and its aim is to get a thorough understanding of how thiscertificatecanaffectthecompetitiveadvantageoftravelagenciesinDenmark,thecasestudydesignallowstheresearcherstogetadetailedandintensiveanalysisof thethat

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case (Bryman, 2012, p. 66).However, the research entails qualitative interviewswithmore thanonecompany,whichcouldalsobeconsideredasdifferent cases,whicharebeingcompared.

Bydefinitionmultiplecasestudydesign involvesstudyingtwocontrastingcasesusingusingsimilaroridenticalmethods.Comparisonisusedforthebetterunderstandingofthesocialphenomenawhenstudiedintwoormoredifferentsituations(Bryman,2012).However,thecomparativedesignwhenappliedinrelationtoqualitativestudy,ittakesthe form of multiple-case study. The difference is that the cases do not have to becontrasting. Comparative multiple-case study has become a common research designrecentely(Bryman,2012).It isarguedthatimprovestheorybuildingandthatgivesaneven greater opportunity as the researcher can test the samemechanisms in similarcontexts and to establish “establish thecircumstances inwhicha theorywillorwillnothold”(Bryman,2012,p.74)

Thecomparativeresearchdesignisusedinthisthesis,becausetheresearchersbelievethatabetterunderstandingaboutTravelifeandcertificationprogrammswillbegainedwhen more that once case is examined. All the tour operators/travel agencies arecomparable since they are all part of Travelife program. They will be comparedaccording to their perception of CSR, motivations, CSR measures and the way theybenefited from the certification program. Their products and services will not becomparedoratleastthatwillnotbethemainfocusoftheresearch.However,theaimofthis thesis is not only to compare those companies, but to investigatewhether a CSRcertificatecanenhancethecompetitiveadvantageofatouroperatororatravelagencyandhow.

Some academics argue that a case studymay not be an appropriatemethod of studybecause the research could be too subjective. The individual perceptions of theresearchers might influence the research process, but this does not mean that theresults will be untrue. This research does not aim to generalize the findings and theresultsofthisstudywillnotapplytoothercasesthantheonechosen.

Thefollowingsectionswillelaborateonallthemethodsusedinthisthesis.

3.2.2QualitativeSemi–StructuredInterviewQualitativesemi-structuredinterviewwasthemethodchosentocollectprimarydataforthis thesis. The goal of this thesis is to collect information about companies’understandingandexperiencesregardingtotheTravelifecertification,whichhavetobeprocessedbycollectingprimaryqualitativedatadirectly fromtheselectedcompanies.Bryman and Teevan (2012) have argued that the semi-structured interview givesfreedom to the researchers; it is in contrast to the structured interviews,wherestrictrules have to be followed. In this thesis the semi-structured interviews provide theresearcherspossibilities to followcertainplans in termsofpreparingquestionsaboutthetopic.Totheinterviewees,itgivesfreedomforthemtoexpressotheropinionsthattheybelieveitisrelevantinregardingtothetopicalquestions.AsKvale(1996)hasalsoargued, that semi-structured interviews are applied for the purpose of adjusting thequestionsfortheinterviewee,soheorherwillbebetterunderstood.Fromthispointofview, the interviewers does not have to always follow the interview guideline, on the

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contrary, it is allowed to come up with other questions based on the situation andinformation gained during the interviews. As social constructivists, the researchersbelieve all the data collected during the interviews are valuable sources, even thequestionshavenotbeenconsideredbeforehand.Nevertheless, inordertocontinuetocollect the qualitative data, the researchers are allowed to adjust the interviewguidelines,orevendeductsomeofthequestionsaftertheinterviews.Andthishasbeenexperiencedinthisthesis.

However, there is risk in terms of conducting semi-structured interviews. One of thecriticisms is that thewhole interview could be difficult to control by the researchers(Bryman&Teevan, 2012).And the intervieweesmight not be fully honest during theinterview,asthereisachancethattheyintendtothinkwhattheinterviewerwouldliketohear.

In total the researchers intend toaccomplish five semi-structured interviewswith theselected research companies. The following sections will try to explain how thequalitative semi-structure interviews accomplished by elaborating on three aspects:samplingofinterviewees,Typesofinterviewsandinterviewguide.

3.2.3Sampling/choiceofintervieweesThis research is based on qualitative interviewswith representatives of different CSRcertifiedtouroperatorsandtravelagencies.Theaimofthestudywastoinvestigatewhytour operators engage in CSR, what CSR measures do they take and whether thiscertificate is affecting somehow their business performance, specifically theircompetitive advantage. Another purpose of the research was also to understand theprocess of certification, what has to be done in order to get certified and how thosemeasuresareevaluatedafterwards.

SincethestudyfocusedonthecaseofTravelifecertificationprogram,thetouroperatorsandtravelagenciesinterviewedweretheonesthatarecertifiedbyTravelife.Thereforepurposive samplingwas done in order tomake sure that the companies,whichweresampled, are relevant to the study. The researchers “don´t seek to sample researchparticipants on a random basis. The goal of purposive sampling is to sample

cases/participants inastrategicway, so that thosesampledarerelevantto theresearch

questionsthatarebeingposed”.(Bryman,2012,p.418)

Allthetouroperators,whichareeitherparnersorcertifiedbyTravelifecanbefoundontheofficialwebsiteoftheprogram.However,sincethisprojectfocusesonlyonSMEsinDenmark,whicharecertifiedbyTravelife,someofthecompanieswerenotincludedinthe interview sample. It is important to mention that Kuoni Nordic, Apollo and FalkLauritsenRejserarealsocertifiedinExcellenceinSustainabilitybyTravelife,butduetotheir size, they are not suitable for this research sample. One more company wasconsidered irrelevant for the research as well and this was DIS Congress Service –packageproviderofcongressservices,whichwasconsideredbytheresearchersasnotrelevantduetothefactthatitisneithertouroperatornortravelagency.

The companies selected for the interviews were: one certified in Excellence andSustainability –KiplingTravel and fourTravelifePartners certified inCommitment to

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Sustainability – Jesper Hannibal & Co., Holstebro Rejsesenter, Unitas Rejser and C&CTravel.Somegeneralinformationaboutthemcouldbefoundinthetablebelow.

NameofTourOperator/TravelAgency

GeneralInformation

KiplingTravel Tourismproduct:sustainabletravelsincludingyogatrips,fishing,mountainclimbing,safari,paintingtrips,etc.

Website:http://www.kiplingtravel.dk/

NumberofEmployees:12

Memberof:DRF(Danmarksrejsebureauforening),Rejsegarantifonden

JesperHannibal&Co.

Tourismproduct:familyvacations,safari,honeymoontrips;customizedtravels.

Website:http://www.hannibal.dk

Numberofemployees:8

Memberof:Rejsegarantifonden

HolstebroRejsecenter

Tourismproduct:grouptravels,sporttravels;tripstoThailand,USA,Australia,NewZealand,etc.

Website:http://www.holstebrorejsecenter.dk

Numberofemployees:15

Memberof:Rejsegarantifonden,DRF

UnitasRejser Tourismproduct:studytripsandvacations

Website:http://www.unitasrejser.dk

Numberofemployees:19

Memberof:IATA,Raptim,Rejsegarantifonden,DRF

C&CTravel Tourismproduct:beachvacations,tours,familyholidays,citybreaks,natureexperiences

Website:http://cctravel.dk

Numberofemployees:23

Memberof:Rejsegarantifonden,DRF

Table3InformationAbouttheSelectedforInterviewCompanies(self-sourced)

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3.2.4TypeofInterviewsThere are three types of methods have been applied to conduct the qualitativeinterviewsofthisresearch:face-to-faceinterview,Skypeinterviewande-interview.Asthe below table shows, in total there were one face-to-face interview, three Skypeinterviewsandonee-interview.Eachtypesof interviewhave itspositiveandnegativeaspectsanditwillbeexplainedinthissectionrespectively.

InterviewcompaniesPositionofInterviewees

LocationTypeofinterview

Duration

1 JesperHannibalApS Owner Aarhus Face-to-face 45minutes

2 KiplingTravel Owner Slangerup Skype 50minutes

3 HolstebroRejseCenter ITManager Holstebro Skype 35minutes

4 UnitasRejser MarketingManager Silkeborg Skype 48minutes

5 C&CTravel Administration Copenhagen N/A N/A

Table4Anoverviewoftheinterviewsconducted(selfsourced)

Face-to-faceInterview

Firstly, face-to-faceinterviewisconsideredasthemostnaturalchoiceforaqualitativeresearch (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003; Bryman, 2012). By this type of interview theresearchers have great possibility to connect with the interviewee, to observe thereactions, face expressionandmovementsduring the interview.Ononehand, it givesthe researchersmore chance to communicate and discuss deeply about the interviewquestions and it helps tomotivateboth the interviewer and interviewees andexplorenewperspectivesinrelationtothetopicalquestions.Ontheotherhand,theresearchershave possibilities to access the interview companies to personally experience theworking environment of the company researched, and make a better understandingaboutthecompany.

However,thereisonlyoneface-to-faceinterviewwasconducted.Andthisisbecausethedisadvantagesofdoingsuchtypeofinterview,asboththeinterviewerandintervieweehave toagreeona time tomeet. It isquitechallengeable for the interviewees,as theyhavetofindatimebesidesfulfillingtheirdailytasksandduties.Anotherchallengeisthephysicaldistancebetween the researchersand the research companies, as there isnotimeandfinancialsupporttoconductmoreface-to-faceinterviews.

The only face-to-face interviewwas carried outwith the JesperHannibal ApS,whichwasscheduledonMay19thbyvisitingtheofficeinAarhus.Thedurationoftheinterviewwasaround45minutes,andthewholeinterviewwasrecordedandtranscribedlaterfordataanalysis.

SkypeInterview

Skype interview is the second type of interview this research has applied to achievequalitative interviews. It isconsideredasanothertypeofonline interviews,which isa

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comparable newmethod for collecting data (Bertrand&Bourdeau, 2010). One of theadvantagesisthattheresearchersareallowedtousewebcameratoseetheimmediatereactions of the interviewees, which is similar to the face-to-face interview. It is aflexible way of communicating with the interviewees, as they can choose to do it athomeorafter theworking time,by thatnot todisturb theirnormalworkingscheduleandfeelmorerelaxed.Moreover,itischeaperandfastertoconductaSkypeinterviewsincomparewiththeface-to-facemethods(Bryman,2012).Fortheresearchedcompanythat located in a long distance from the placewhere the researchers live, it is a veryeffectiveandefficientwaytoconductinterviewsandobtainqualitativedata.

However, there are different factors that can influence the outcome of the Skypeinterview, for example, technical problem such as the speed of the Internet, or thequality of the signal on the computer. Those factors might discourage both of theinterviewerandtheintervieweestoparticipantactivelyduringtheprocess.Sometimesthe interviewers have to change the plan tominimize the negative affects. One of theexamplesisthatduringtheinterviewwithKiplingTravel,theinterviewerdecidednottousecameraasitaffectsthequalityoftherecording.

To conclude, there are three Skype interview has been conducted. Firstly the SkypeinterviewtoKiplingTravelwasscheduledwiththeowneronMay23rdandthedurationof the interview isapproximately50minutes;ThesecondwasconductedonMay26thwith theMarketingmanagerofUnitasRejser and it tookaround48minutes;The lastSkype interview occurred on May 26th as well with the IT manger of HolstebroRejseCenter,andthetotaltimeusedwas35minutes.

E-interview

E-interview refers to themethod of obtaining qualitative data by exchange the emailbetweentheresearchersandtheinterviewees(Bampton&Cowton,2002).Brymanhasclaimed that this type of interview is asynchronous (Bryman, 2008). The E-interviewdoes not require either the researchers or the interviewees to compromise time andplace to make agreement on when to communicate and where to meet (Bampton &Cowton, 2002). Thus it gives enough time for the interviewees to think about theanswersof thepre-sendingquestions.Fromthe interviewee’sperspective, itminimizethepressurefromtheresearchers.However,asBamptonandCowton(2002)claimed,thattheE-interviewmightloosethespontaneity.Asthereisslightlychancethattheintervieweewillelaboratemorethanthequestions the researchers sent previously. Other problems can occur such as themisunderstandingofthequestions,alongdelayofanswering.Therefore,thismethodisnotencouragedtoconductaqualitativeresearch(Bryman,2008).There isonee-interviewhasbeenrequiredby theresearchcompanyC&CTravel. It isdue to the company itself has claimed that they are in the very beginning stage ofTravelifepartner,andthereis limitedinformationtoshare. However,thise-interviewwasfailedtocomplete,asthecontactpersondidnotfindtimetocompletethequestionseventually.Afterseveralcallsandemailswiththecompany,theresearchersreceivedanoticeofrejection,thusthereisnovaliddatacollectedintermsofthise-interview.

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3.2.5InterviewGuideThe design of the interview guide is important for the purpose of finding the mostrelevant data and answers the research questions. As Brinkmann (2013) stated, that“qualitativeinterviewsareprepared,conducted,analyzedandreportedaccordingtosome

plan of what is normally referred as research design.” However, as we have arguedpreviously, that this research aims to conduct semi-structured interviews, means theresearchquestionswerepreparedbutdonotrequiretheinterviewerstofollowstrictly.Onthecontrary, the interviewguidehelps to leadadirectionboth for the interviewerand the interviewees (Bryman, 2008). Thus the interview guide has to be preparedcarefully beforehand, by this means it can help to create a natural flow during theinterview, avoid the situation that interviewers lost time control or forget importantperspectives. According to Bryman (2008), that there are four basic principles forcreatinganinterviewguideforqualitativesemi-structuredinterviews.

Firstly, the interview questions should be in logical order, by that to make sure thewholewill follow a natural flow. As it is showed in Appendix 2, the questions in thepreparedinterviewguidearedividedintothreeparts:partonestartswiththegeneralinformationaboutthecompanyandtheirbusinessstrategyandexperienceinrelationtoCSR;part two focuson theirengagementand involvementwithTravelifecertification;andpartthreebasedonthereflectionofthefirsttwopartsintothecompetitivecontextof the company. This separation can help the researchers not to neglect the essentialdetailsandfocusontheimportantconcepts.However,theorderofthequestionsineachpartisflexibleanddependsontheinformationprovidedbytheinterviewees.

Secondly, Bryman (2008) suggested that questions in the interview guide should inaccordance with the problem formulation and the research questions of the wholethesis. The interview questions therefore are generated to follow the analyticalframework in Chapter 2. Although the questions in Appendix 2 have not strictlyfollowed the order of the analytical framework, but the essential aspects, such as thereasons of engagement with CSR, the Stakeholder perspectives and challenges havebeenincludedinthequestions.

Thethirdsuggestionistocreateaninterviewguidethatisshortandeasytounderstand(Bryman,2008).Thequestionsarenotsupposedtobetoolongtolosefocus.Asamatterof the fact, thiswasoneof themajorproblemtheresearchershaveexperienceduringthe process of data collection. After the first interview, the researchers realized thatsome of the questions could be combined and condensed into a shorter version.Therefore,theresearchermadechangesandcutdowntheinterviewquestionsfrom21to 16 for the rest of the interviews. Additionally, Bryman (2008) has claimed that, inordernottoconfusetheinterviewees,theinterviewquestionsshouldbeformulatedinsimple language. To be noticed that the questions in the interview guide wereformulatedinEnglish.ItiscriticalthatalltheintervieweesselectedforthisresearchareDanish.Duetothebusinesstheyaredealingwith,theirEnglishleveliscomparablehightoanswer thequestions.But it could still beabarrier, as theyprefer to speakDanishduringthe interviews.Theresearchershaveexperiencedinsomeextent, thatbyusingDanishasthebasiccommunicationbeforetheinterviewhappened,therequestbecameeasilytoaccept.

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Lastly but not least, Bryman (2008) suggested that the researchers should also try toidentifytheprofileandbackgroundoftheinterviewees,asitwillhelptounderstandthemeaning and reveal the hidden context behind the answers. As table 4 on page 51showed, that the researchers have tried to collect the basic information about theinterviewees,suchastheirpositioninthecompaniesandtheirbasicbackground.

3.3DataProcessingandAnalyzingThis section intends to explain how the researchers process the data collected, andwhichmethods to apply for analyzing the data. According to Graneheim og Lundman(2004),therearefourbasicstageshavetobefollowedforthepurposeofprocessingandanalyzingthedata.

Thefirststageistounpackthedatafrominterviews.Transcriptionisoneofthegeneralmethodsthatcanapplytoprocessthedataofthesemi-structuredinterviews(Bryman,2012). However, researchers decided not to transcribe every sentence from theinterview record. During the interview, some questions exist for the purpose ofmaintainingthedialoginasmoothlyorderandenhancingtheeffectivenessofinterview(KikwawilaStudyGroup,1994).Ashortversionoftranscription“istolistentothetapeandnotedownthesubstantivestatementsastheyfloatalongthestreamofconsciousness"

(Gillham,2000,s.61).However,therewereonlysmallpartsleftfromthetranscription.Thetranscribeddocumentswillbeenclosedasappendixoneattheendoftheproject.

The second stage is to divide data into different sections. As the above section hasexplained, that the data collected from the interviews can be divided into threemaincategories:Motivations, competitive advantages& benefits and challenges and issues.Allthethreecategoriesaresubjecttotheanswerofthethreeresearchquestions.Colorcodingcouldbeagoodwaytohighlightthemainpoints.However,asthereareonlyfiveinterviewconducted,theresearcherscaneasilymanagethedatamanually.

Thethirdstageistocategorizeandgroupthedatabysimilaranddifferences.AsHowe,Worrall and Hickson (2010) stated that categorizing the meaning units by groupingonesthatwerecloselyrelatedishighlyimportant.Bythismeansitwillhelptoidentifythesharedcontentandanswersprovidedbydifferentcompanies,andeventuallytofindout themainproblem this research isdealingwith: If theCSRcertificate isawayofenhancingthecompetitiveadvantageofthetourismenterpriseinDenmark?

Thelaststageistoanalyzethedata.Thethematicandcomparativeapproachesarethemajormethodstoapplyforthisthesis.Firstly,thethematicanalysisisstatedasoneofthemain forms foranalyzingaqualitative research (Guest,2012).Qualitativeanalysisseeksto“establishtheexistenceofrelationshiponthebasisofwhatindividualpeoplesayanddo”(Veal,2006).Hencebyidentifyingandgroupingdifferent,itwillhelptofindoutthesignificantfindingsfortheanalysis(Bryman&Teevan,2012).Aswestatedearlier,theanalysisofthisprojectisbasedonthetheoreticalframework.Thethematicanalysiswasthuspresentedthroughoutthosesteps.

Theelementofcomparativeapproachisalsopresentinthisthesis.Thepreviouschapterhasdiscussed that therearedifferent levelswhena tourismenterprise engagingwiththeTravelifecertificate,andthedatacollectedbasedontwodifferentgroups:Travelife

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partnerandTravelifecertified,althoughthere isonlyonecompany–KiplingTravel iscertified. Thus by comparing the two groups, the analysis intends to identify possibledifferencesintermsofthemotivationofengagingwithCSR,andcompetitiveadvantages&benefits,andchallengesforthetwodifferentgroups.

Tobenoticed,thatthedifferentanalyzingthemesareinter-related.ItispossiblethatthemotivationscouldbethebenefitsbyengagingwithCSR,orthebenefitshelpstoenhancethe competitive advantage of the companies. Thus the researchers are allowed to gobackandforthtoreflexthedatatoconductacomprehensiveanalysis.

3.4ReliabilityandValidityReliability is related to the question whether the results of a study are repeatable.AccordingtoBryman(Bryman,2012,p.46),reliabilityisespeciallyusedinconnectionwith quantitative research as the qualitative researchers are more concerned withwhether a measure is stable or not. Another, and considered as the most importantmeasureofresearch isvalidity.Validity isconcernedwith the integrityofconclusions,

whicharegenerated fromaresearch (Bryman,2012).Bothreliabilityandvalidityareconsidered important criteria in establishing and assessing the quality of research.Several researchers try to find away to adapt those terms for qualitative studies andLincolnandGuba (1994)proposealternativecriteria forevaluation.Theysuggestedanewterm–trustworthiness,whichshouldreplacereliabilityandvalidityinqualitativestudies.

Therefore, theresultsof this thesiswillbeassessedaccording toTrustworthinessanditscriteriaforevaluatingqualitativeresearch.

Trustworthiness

LincolnandGuba (2013)proposeTrustworthinessasawayofassessinghowgoodaqualitative study is. Together with Bryman (2012) they suggest four criteria oftrustworthinessandeachofthemhasaparallelwiththequantitativeresearchcriteria.

1. Credibility,whichparallelsinternalvalidity

Credibility isconcernedwithhowbelievable the findingsare. Itrequiresboththat theresearch was conducted according to the norms of “good practice” and that theresearcher has understood the social phenomena. Bryman (2012) states that thistechnique is often referred to as respondent validation, but he also mentionstriangulation as being recommended for the same purpose. However, triangulation isnotbeingusedinthisstudy.

2. Transferability,whichparallelsexternalvalidity

Transferabilitydealswithwhetherthefindingscanapplytoothercontexts.Itreferstothe transferability of results to other social realities and other situations. As thisresearch is qualitative, its findings are considered to be contextually unique and thustheycannotbetransferredtoothercontextsorgeneralized.

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The research in this thesis is focusing on tourism SMEs in Denmark and specificallytravelproviders,whichimplementCSRmeasuresandhaveaCSRcertificate.Sincethereis a lack of literature regarding this, the researchers decided to fill the gap byinvestigatingtheissue.However,theresultsfromthisstudymightnotbetransferable,duetotheuniquenessofthecontext.

3. Dependability,whichparallelsreliability;

Dependabilitylooksatwhetherresultsarelikelytoapplyatothertimes.Toelaborateonthat,thetermisconcernedwithwhethertheresearcherswillobtainthesameresultsiftheycouldobservethesameobjectorsituationtwice.Sincetheresearchersaresocialconstructivistsandthisisaqualitativestudy,ithastobetakenintoconsiderationthattwo researches are never the same and the change of time and space can affect thefindings a research. The authors do not believe that obtaining the same result ispossible.

Thereareseveralissuesconcerningthedependabilityoftheresearchconductedinthisthesis.First,theresearchersareawarethatthefindingcouldhavebeendifferentiftheybothhadconductedallqualitativeinterviews.Second,inthecasewithJesperHannibal,thepersonresponsiblefortheCSRcertificateinthecompanywasnotpresent.Theauthorsareawarethattheywouldhaveprobablygotmoreinformationthatcouldhavehelpedthestudybyinterviewingthepersonincharge.

It is important here to mention that throughout the process of conducting theinterviews, theauthorsnoticedsomedifferencesbetweendoingan interviewaloneortogether. While the interviews were held individually, the researcher in charge, haddifficulties focusingonboththeresearchquestionsandon followingtheconversation,whilewhentheinterviewswereconductedbybothresearchers,thisprocessseemedtobemuch easier. The authors believe that if they have conducted all of the interviewstogether, theywouldhavegotabiggerchanceofcollectingmoreandmorequalitativedata.

4. Confirmability,whichparallelsobjectivity

Confirmabilityisconcernedwiththedegreetowhichtheresearcherallowedherorhisvalues to intrude. It also has to do with whether the results from the study will beconfirmedbyotherresearchers.Theinvestigatorstomakesurethatthecollecteddataisnot too subjective. According to social constructivists, complete objectivity is notpossible in social research, but the researchers have act in a “good faith” (Bryman,2012). However, the researchers tried to remain as objective as possible during theconductionoftheresearch.Ofcourse,sincecompleteobjectivityisnotpossible,theyareawarethattheresultsaretosomeextentaffectedbythesocialrealitiesoftheauthors,theiracademicbackgroundsandpreviousexperience.

SummaryThis chapter presented the philosophy behind this thesis and it explained the socialparadigm followed by the researchers. The reasons why the authors consider

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themselves Social Constructivists are also discussed as well as the Ontological,EpistemologicalandMethodologicalconsiderationsregardingtheparadigm.

On the other hand, in the secondpart of the chapter, the choice of researchdesign isbeingexplained.Sincethestudyfocusesonseveralcases,itwasdecidedthatthestudyisconsideredasQualitativeComparativeMulti-casestudy.Lateron,themethodsofdatacollection are explained and the motives why they were chosen. The research wasconducted via qualitative semi-structured interviews with companies, which werechosen by a purposive sampling. The questions used for the interviews are also notrandomlychosenandtheideabehindtheinterviewguideisexplainedindetails.Attheendofthischapter,thereliabilityandvalidityoftheresearchhavebeendiscussed.

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ChapterIVFindingsandAnalysesThechapterwillpresent theempirical findings,whichwillbeanalyzedusing theoriesandmodelspresentedearlier in theTheorySection.Thestructureof thispart followsthemodel of the Theoretical Framework (Figure 12, page 40) in order to answer theproblemformulation.Thechapterconsistsoffourparts–theMotivationsofthechosentravel providers in Denmark for engaging with CSR; the second part will focus onTravelifeCertificationprogram and the process of getting certified. Itwill also includeinformation about the CSR activities that the companies undertake and thus it willanalyze the typeofCSReachcompany is implementing;CompetitiveAdvantagewillbethemaintopicofthethirdpartofthischapteranditsaimwillbetodiscoverwhethertheresearchedcompanieshaveenhanced theircompetitiveadvantagebyentering theTravelifeprogramandgettingcertified;andthefourthandlastpartofthissectionwillhave an aim to conclude the analysis andprovideSuggestions for the implementationandfurtherevaluationofCSRandalsoforembedding itstrategically intothebusinessoperationsofthecompanyinordertoresultincompetitiveadvantage.

4.1Motivations

WhatismotivationAccording to definition by Oxford Dictionary, amotivation is “A reasonor reasons foracting or behaving in a particular way.” (Ofxord Dictionaries). The reasons that thisresearchhad an aim to investigatewere theones thatdrive small andmedium travelprovidersinDenmarktoengagewithCorporateSocialResponsibility.ItisinterestingtoseewhythosecompaniesarechoosingtojoinTravelifecertificationprogramandspendtimeandmoneyonobtainingacertificate.Dotheywanttobegoodcorporatecitizensordo they seekdifferentiationandaccess to recourses?What are their expectations andaretheymetafterjoiningtheprogram?Theanswertothosequestionswillbefoundinthefollowingsection.

ThemotivationsbehindadoptingCSR(beforejoiningTravelife)Thefindingsfromthequalitativeinterviewswillbepresentedinthissectionregardingthemotivations of the travel providers to join Travelife certification program and toengage with CSR in general. It is important to note again that one of the companiesinterviewed iscertified inExcellenceandSustainabilitywhile theother threeareonlyverifiedasPartnersofTravelife.

The motivations for engaging in CSR for small and medium enterprises could benumerous. According to Udayasnakar (2008), smaller companies are choosing CSRmainlytodifferentiatethemselvesfromothersandtoseekvisibilitytofacilitateaccesstoresources.However,therecouldbemillionsofdifferentmotivationsforSMEstojoinTravelife.Thereisawaytobreakdownthosemotivesinordertoanalyzethem.

Asmentionedinthetheorysection,theTriple-bottom-lineapproachisthebaseofCSR.ThemotivationsbehindSMEsengagingwithCSRcanbedividedaccordingtothethree

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bottom lines – economic, social and environmentalmotives behind the integration ofCSR. It is important to mention that one company may have more that one type ofmotivations behind the integration of CSR. According to the discussion in the theorysection,theultimateCSRcoversallthreeaspectsofthetriple-bottomlineandthereforeinorderforacompanytoimplementitcompletely,itshouldhaveeconomic,socialandenvironmentalmotivesforthat.

EconomicMotives

The economic motives are the ones concerned with the financial wellbeing of thecompany.Vo,Delchet-CochetandAkeb(2015)statethatmoreandmoreSMEsconsiderthatbeingenvironmentallyreponsibleleadstogoodpublicity,whichmayattractmorecustomersandhelpforretainingstaff.Theyalsomentionthatsmallandmediumsizedcompanies are convinced that CSR activities such as recylcing and saving energy canresultinreducingcosts,whichwillincreaseprofitability.

As discussed in the theory section, fulfilling stakeholder needs and expectations isessentialforCSR.Amotivationlinkedtothefulfillmentofstakeholderexpectationscanbeusuallyassociatedwithsocialconcerns.However,hereisanexampleofmotivesthatcouldalsobeconsideredaseconomic.

FromtheinterviewwithJesperHannibal,theownerofthecompany,itbecameclearthatthey learned about Travelife from a presentation made by the Danish TravelAssociation.

“The idea was actually planned more or less through the Danish Travel

Association.Theygotengagedwith thecertificationprogramTravelifeandthey

triedtopitchittousandIactuallythinkthatwetriedtobethefirstonestogetit,

butIthinkthatwewerethesecondagencyinDenmarkthatwasapprovedfrom

Travelife.”(Appendix4)

TheDanishTravelAssociation(DTA), inthiscase, isoneofthestakeholdersfor JesperHannibal travel agency. This shows how important stakeholders can be in makingessential decisions. Meeting the expectations of the association could be one of themotivationsforthecompanytojoinTravelifeprogram.Itisnotcertainwhetherthiswasa requirement, but is definite that DTA had an influence on the decision-making.Furthermore, the fact that they “triedtobethefirstonestogetit”(Appendix4) showsthat their motivation was probably to gain publicity as the first travel agency inDenmark tobe certifiedbyTravelife and thus strengthen their imageandpositiononthemarket.

ItwasinterestingtofindoutthatHolstebroRejsecenterhadasimilarexperience.

“We got an email from something called the Danish Travel Association. They

sentusanemailaboutitthatitwasfreeandeverybodycouldparticipate.Sowe

decidedtotryit.”(Appendix6)

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It became clear from the interview, that the travel agencies members of the DanishTravel Associationwere presentedwith and opportunity to join the program for freeand thiswas plausibly themainmotivation for them to join it. As Christian Jacobsenstated“itwasanopportunityforusandwetried”(Appendix6).

AndwhileforJesperHannibalandHolstebroRejsecenter,joiningTravelifewasmoreasanadditiontoexistingcompany,forKiplingTravelwasastartingpoint.

“Started CSR the first day when he started the company, which is back in

2003.”(Appendix3)

Taking into consideration this statement, it is apparent that Corporate SocialResponsibility was one of themain objectives for Kipling. Plausibly, CSRwas alignedwith all thebusiness activities and theoverall strategyof the company.This couldbeone of the reasons why Kipling Travel is the first Travelife certified travel agency inDenmark.ButarethereasonsbehinditthesameastheonesthatdroveJesperHannibaltojoinTravelifeprogram?

AccordingtotheinterviewwithKiplingTravel,thecompanyhadnoexpectationsaboutincreasingprofitorgaininganyeconomicbenefitatall.

“(…)asIdidn’texpectanyfinancialreturnfromit.Itisaproofthatwearedoing

good,andbehavegood.”(Appendix3)

It isthesamecasefor JesperHannibalandHolstebroRejsecenter.Bothtravelprovidersstated that they did not expect to gain anything financially from joining Travelifecertificationprogram.

SocialMotivesThesocialmotivesarefocusedontwomainpoints–creatingcausalcohesionandequity(Vo,Delchet-Cochet ,&Akeb ,2015).Theyareusually concernedwith theemployees,their health, safety andwell being. They are also dealingwithmotivating the staff byofferingtrainingandotherdevelopmentopportunities.

A good example for having social motivations is Kipling Travel. The company wasstartedbasedonthevaluesofCorporateSocialResponsibility.

“Webelievedgoodbehaviorisoneofthemostimportantvalue,eventhoughwe

haven’twritten it in our companyprofile. But CSR is in ourDNA, and it is the

DNAofthecompany.”(Appendix3)

ThisstatementisveryimportantasitshowsthatbeingsociallyresponsibleisnotonlyanadditionalactivitytotheexistingproductofKiplingTravel.Thefounderandowner,LarsGundersensharedthemainreasonsbehindstartingthecompany.

“We developed the concept not because the customers wanted it, but for the

company,andallthepeoplewhoworkhere.”(Appendix3)

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HealsostatesthemainmotivesforembeddingCSRinthebusinessstrategy.

“Wewanttobuildupthewholeconceptbycaringabouttheenvironment,and

care about the people who work for us. And of course it is a way of

differentiationfromtheothersfromthemarket.”(Appendix3)

Accordingtohisstatement,however,itbecomesclearthattherewasaneconomicreasonaswellbehindbeingaCSR focused company–differentiation.Onceagain it is evidentthatonefirmcanhaveseveraltypesofmotivations.

One of the main signs that Kipling is focusing on the social motives of CSR is thestatement:

“Ibelieve,thatmyemployeesaremotivatedtoworkforthecompany.Itisalsoa

prooftotheothersthatwearedoinggood.”(Appendix3)

Showing that thestaff isofagreat importance for thecompany,whicharewhatsocialmotivationsareconcernedabout.Animportantstatementwasalso:

“Weatleastnotexpectprofitbygettingthecertification.However,itisawayto

provethatwecare.”(Appendix3)

A company showing that it cares about its stakeholders is not only a good corporatecitizen,butitalsomoreeasilygainsthetrustofitscustomers.AndwhileKiplingfocuseson the wellbeing of its employees, Jesper Hannibal concentrates on being a goodcorporatecitizen:

“Ipersonallythinkitisagoodideatotakeresponsibility”(Appendix4)

Theownerof the travelagencystatesnumerous times that themost important for thecompanywastobecomemoreawareoftheimpactsandtolearnmoreaboutwhattheycanimproveandcontributewith.

When it comes to meeting the expectations of the stakeholders, another example isHannibal Travel. However, here the stakeholders are customers and suppliers as theargumentisthateverybodyshowstheircertificationsandmembershipsintheirtravelcatalogues.

“Alsoimage.That'soneofthereasonswhywearememberoftheWWF-weare

supportingamonkey.Youcan’topenanytravelcataloguewithoutpeopletrying

toflashalltheirmemberships.”(Appendix4)

This shows a hidden motive for Jesper Hannibal to engage CSR in order to meet theexactions of its customers and all other stakeholders of having memberships andcertificates to “flash” in their travel catalogue. It couldbealso followinganexampleofthecompetitorsortryingtocompetewiththat.

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ThecaseofUnitasRejser is slightlydifferent fromall theother travelprovidersas thecompanyispartiallyownedbyanNGOanditisnotcompletelyprivate.Therefore,theirmotivationsforengaginginCSRdifferfromalltheotheragencies.

“PartlybecauseweareownedbyNGO theYMCAandYWCA, it is very close to

whattheyworkwithandalsotowardswiththeCSR.Soweworkforgoodcase,

sonowweworkondoubledasmuchaswecanongoodcases.”(Appendix5)

According to the interviewwithUnitasRejser,anotherreason for joining theprogramwas to have more influence on the destinations, as this was important for thembeforehand.

“Weexpectedtohavesomeinfluenceonthedestinations.”(Appendix5)

WhatUnitas is aimingat is to contribute for the sustainabilityof thedestinations theyoffer,asthustheywillbeabletoworkwiththeminthefutureaswell.Thisshowsthatthe company is not short-term oriented and it focuses on the well being of thedestinationsitoperatesin.

EnvironmentalMotives

Environmentalmotivescanbedividedintotwocategories–reactiveandproactive.Thereactive environmental motivations are concerned with regulations, norms andstandards. Companies that have reactive environmental motives try to do only thethings required and putminimum effort in that. On the other hand, having proactiveenvironmentalmotivations is a signof engagingbeyond the requirements.CompaniesthathaveproactivemotivesforengaginginCSRtransformtheiroperationalactivatestoachieveeco-friendlyproductsandservices(Vo,Delchet-Cochet,&Akeb,2015).

DuringtheinterviewwiththerepresentativesofUnitasRejser,itbecameclearthatoneoftheirmotivationsforjoiningTravelifewastogainmoreinfluenceonthedestinationsit works with. However, according to the statement, the examples given about thepossibleimpactsthataffectthedestinationareenvironmentallyrelated.

“We sent a lot of schools to places in Europe where they climb or bicycle or

whatevertheydoandwewanttohavethepossibilitytosendthemintenyears

timetoo.Ifthedestinationsarenottakencareof,theywillbepollutedorfullof

garbage and we want to try to have some influence on the

destinations.”(Appendix5)

Focusing on the wellbeing of a destination, it is not really regulated anyhow andtherefore,thismotivecanberegardedasaproactiveenvironmentalmotivation.

AnotherexampleofsimilarmotivationisfromKiplingTravelagain.

“Externally to seek the suppliers thathavecaredmoreabout theenvironment,

CSRfriendly.”

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Bythat, thetravelagenciesmakesurethattheproductsandservicestheyprovidearenotgoingtobeharmfulforthesocietyorpartiallytheenvironment.

Moreor lessall theothertravelprovidersmentionedthattheyweremotivatedto jointhe program, because they could contribute somehow by being environmentallyfriendly.Itismoreinteresting,howevertolookatwhattheyactuallydidintermsofCSRmeasuresinthenextsection.

4.2CSRActivitiesThis section will focus on the activities directly related to Corporate SocialResponsibilitythatthecompaniesundertake.ThisinformationwillhelpusunderstandhowthosetravelprovidersperceiveCSRandwhattypeofCSRtheyarefocusingon.Thelatterwillbeanalyzedfurtherinthenextsection.

NowthatitisclearwhythetravelprovidersinvolvedwithTravelifechosetoengageinCSR and in the specific certification program, it is time to take a closer look at thespecificactionsthatthosecompaniestake.InordertoanalyzetheCSRactivitieseasierand to followthe logicof theprevioussection, the triple-bottom-lineapproachwillbeusedagain.However,therewillbeothercriteriaforthecategorizationoftheactivities,suchasinternalandexternalforthecompany.

Intheprocessofgatheringthedatafromthequalitativeinterviews,itbecameclearthatallofthetravelprovidersdividetheirCSRmeasuresintwocategories–internal,whicharehappinginsidethecompanyandexternal,whichareregardingthedestinationstheyprovide,theirsuppliers,etc.Agoodexampleisthestatementby JesperHannibalaboutthetwosidesofthecertificationprogram:

“(…)there are actually two sides of it. One is what we actually do within the

companyandthenthereiswhatwecandoexternally.”(Appendix4)

Internalactivities

The internal CSR measures include all the activities that are undergoing inside thecompany. It was interesting to see that all of the travel providers have focused onmakinginternalchangesregardingCSR.Someofthemostcommonmeasuresarelinkedto reducing costs. Andwhile some are focusedon things such as changing light bulbs(“Internally,yes…wehavechangedthelightbulbs” (Appendix4);“Allourlightbulbsaresavers.”(Appendix 6)), others change computers in order to save energy:“All of thecomputer screens that we use in the office are AAA.”(Appendix 6); “We changed thecomputers from the old ones to the newones in order to save electricity.”(Appendix 5).Somemoremeasuresintheofficeseemtobeacommonpracticesuchasreducingtheamountofpaperusedforprintingorusingrecycledpaper(“Wearetryingtoreduceatleast the amount of paper that we use, so I am sorry that I printer this out (Interview

questions).” (Appendix4);“Allofourcopypaperiswiththerightcertificateonandstufflikethat.”(Appendix6)).

Another common procedure as interesting as it may seem is the choice of coffeewhetherbuyingecologicalcoffeeoraspecialcoffeemachine.

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“Andwehavechangedthecoffee,sonowwehavethefairtradecoffee,andthat’ssomeof

theinternalthingswearedoing.“(Appendix5)

“Thenwehavethesecoffeemachines(…)andmycolleagueherethinksthatitispossibleto

berecycledbyNespresso.“(Appendix4)

SeparatinggarbagewasalsomentionedasaCSRactivity,althoughithasbeenformanyyearsinDenmark:“Wealsoseparateourgarbageasmuchasitispossibleinthecitylimits.”(Appendix4).

Averyinterestingstatementwasmade,saying:“Everythingwebuyissomethinggreen,ifyoucansaythat.”(Appendix6).

All of the above CSRmeasures are focusing on the environmental aspect of CSR andsomeofthemtouchupontheeconomic,but letstakea lookatotherinternalactivitiesthatarenotimplementedbyallthecompanies.

The focus on the employees was mentioned only by two of the travel providersinterviewed.AreasonforthatcouldbethatthesocialaspectofCSRfocusingonequalrights and employees’ well being is already almost covered by the government.However,thesetwotravelagenciesthatareconcernedwiththeirstaff,arefocusingonmore than just obeying the law. For instance, Kipling Travel is concentrated on theworkingenvironmentandthesatisfactionoftheemployees:

“Internally,wecareaboutouremployees,asIsaid,theworkingenvironmentis

oneofthesocialissuesweareawareof.Iwillneverletmyemployeesworkover

time. And they should feel happy and satisfied with what they are doing.”

(Appendix3)

Takingalsointoconsiderationthemotivationsbehindwhythecompanywantedto

engagewithCSR–“forallthepeoplewhoworkhere”;“(…)careaboutthepeoplewho

work for us.” (Appendix 3) – it is clear that Kipling Travel is concentrated on the

SocialaspectofCSR.

On the other hand, Unitas Rejser is also paying attention to the employees

satisfaction,butinaslightlydifferentmanner.

“Yes,youknowtheAPV,theArbejdspladsvurdering(referstoworkplace),that’s

whatwedoeveryyear,towriteaworkplaceassessment,toseewhatissuesthat

weneedfocuson,andwhatmorewecandoforouremployees.”(Appendix5)

Another measure that could be also considered as environmentally related is a CSRguideforthenewemployeestohelpthemfollowtheinternalCSRpolicyofthecompanysuch as how “(…)tosaveenergy, tosavewater,andtosavepaperandthings likethat.”(Appendix5)

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There are two examples of some special CSR internal activities that resulted intoadditionalservicesorproducts.Forinstance,UnitasRejserhasimplemented“gogreen”,whichissomethinglikeaguidefortheircustomersabouthowtotravelresponsibly.

“(…)that’swhatwecallit,andweexplaintothecustomers,whatisgoodtodo

when you visit a country and local places. So we give them good advice.”

(Appendix5)

JesperHannibal,ontheotherhand,takesittothenextlevelbycreatingasub-brand

–EcoHannibal,whichfocusesongreentoursandresponsibletourism.

“We actually have created a sub-brand of Eco Hannibal and we are always

tryingtoincludeatleastoneecotravelinthenewslettersandtoprovidegreen

alternative.”(Appendix4)

ThosewerethemainfindingsinconnectionwiththeinternalCSRactivitiesbythetravelproviders.

Externalactivities

WhenitcomestoexternalCSRmeasures,alloftheintervieweestalkedaboutthesameissues–choosingtherightsuppliersandthecomplexityofensuringthattheyarereallysociallyandenvironmentallyresponsible.Butwhatexactly thosecompaniesaredoingregardingthoseissues?

For example, the employees at JesperHannibal use a guide “as an example of how tochooseaclient. “ (Appendix4),whichhelps thecompany toselect therightsuppliers,whicharenotharmingthelocalsocietyortheenvironmentwheretheyoperate.Thisisnotenough:

“Well,itisnotenoughjusttohavealabel.Thisistheveryeasytoget.Butifwe

have to qualify for our ecoprograms,wehave to get into a dialoguewith the

supplierstoseeiftheyareusingsustainablemethodsoftransportationorbiogas

orwhateverwithinthatregionthatispossible.”(Appendix4)

ThecaseisverysimilarinUnitasRejser,wheretheytrytoinfluencethesuppliertobecomesociallyandenvironmentallyresponsible:

“Yes,that’swhatweareworkingwithalso.Wewillgetthestatus,onhowthey

workwith the CSR, to see ifwe can help, or ifwe can push them to the right

direction.”(Appendix5)

However, this is not the same scenario for Kipling Travel where they simply stoppartnershipswithsuppliersthatarenotsociallyresponsible:

“Allwecandoissee,look,ifthissupplierdoesnotcareabouttheenvironment,

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theworkingconditionandsoon,wewillstopthepartnershipwiththem.Thatis

alsotheirloss.”(Appendix3)

JesperHannibalisalsofocusedonthesocialaspectofCSRnotonlybyselectingcertifiedsuppliers,butalsobytryingtoaddanewproduct:

“(…)notonlybeinggreenandenergysaving,buttryingtoworkalotmorewith

companiesthatarenotexploitingworkersandwhoareworkingtogetherwith

localcommunitiesandwedomorehomestaysanditisactuallypossibletostay

withafamily.”(Appendix4)

One of the most interesting findings from the interviews was regarding HolstebroRejsecenterandtheirrefusaltoengagewithanyexternalCSRmeasures.

“No, because we don’t have any contracts with anybody.Most of the trips we

organizearebusinesstripsandthatmostlyflightticketsforwardandbackand

wecannotdoanythingaboutthat.Itsmainlyflightcompaniesthatwedealwith

andwearenotbigenoughtocontrolthat.”(Appendix6)

Onthequestionwhetheritisnotpossibleforthemtofindsociallyresponsiblesuppliers,theanswerwas:

“Yeah, but then we loose business. Therefore, we cannot do anything about

it.”(Appendix6)

Now that all the CSR measures have been presented, they will be analyzed andcategorizedaccordingtothetheoryaboutTypesofCorporateSocialResponsibility.

TypesofCSRused

InthissectionthetheorypartwillhelpfortheanalysisingthetypeofCSRusedbythetravelproviderscertifiedbyTravelife.ItisimportanttolookonthetypesofCorporateSocialResponsibilitythecompaniesengagewithbecausethisprovidesabetter insightofthewaycompaniesperceiveandimplementCSR.

Carroll’spyramidofCorporateSocialResponsibility(1999)willbeusedforestablishinga frameworkof the companies’ economic, legal, ethical andphilantropic performance.Information about the pyramid canbe foundunder section2.2.1. Types of CSR in theTheoryChapter.

Caroll’spyramidofCSR

Carroll’spyramidgivesaveryclearideaofhowcompaniesshouldbeselectingtheirCSRactivities,basedontheirnature.Forexample,thefirstchangesthatshouldbemadeinacompanycanbeeconomiasthisistheultimategoalforeachbusiness.Asitisstatedinthe pyramid – that is the foundation upon which all others reponsibilities rest.Thereforeitwasnotasurprisethatalloftheinertviewedbusinesseswerefocusingorhavingasastartingpointinternalchanges,whichcouldbebothregardedaseconomic

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orenvironmental.This is theeasiestway tobeginand it isbasically the foundationof“building”uponCSR.

Thesecondlevelofthepyramid,whichistheLegalresponsibilitieswassuprosinglynotmentionedbyanyofthetravelprovidersandtheresearchersbelieveisduetothefactthatthecompaniesplausiblyassumethateverycompany’sresponsibilityistoobeythelaw,especiallytothefactthatthosetravelprovidersareoperatinginDenmark,countryknownforitswellfareandlowcorruption.

ThethirdpartofthepyramidisrelatedtotheEthicalresponsibilitiesandbeingagoodcorporatecitizen.Fromallthefindings,itbecameclearthatmostofthecompaniesaretryingtoactinaresponsibleway.Away,thattheyareexpectedtoact.Anexamplecouldbeonlyhaving the logoon thenewsletteror in the travel catalogue,becauseallothercompaniesdothat.(ExamplefromJesperHannibal,seeAppendix4).

Thefourthandlaststepofthepyramidisthephylanthropypartwherecompaniesdoalotmorethantheyareexpectedto.Here,wecanseeagain JesperHannibal’supportingmonkey via WWF or Kipling Travel for choosing to work only with responsiblesuppliers.

Another interestingwayto lookatCSRacitivities iswhthertheyimplementexplicitorimplict CSR. As mentioned in the theory part, Implicit CSR refers to the role of acompanywithinotherinstitutions.ExamplesofImplictCSRareallthetravelprovidersthat have engaged with Corporate Social Responsibility through the Danish TravelAsociation.TheirchoiceofengaginginCSRwasinfluencedbytheassociationandthusitis considered as implict. Another example could be Unitas Rejser as their partialownership by an youth organization is also a sign of implict CSR. On the other hand,explicit can be considered the CSR that Kipling Travel is implementing. The CSR isdrivenfromtheinsideofthecompanyanditisvoluntaryandfocusedonthecompany’sinterests.

Why is important to differentiate between implicit and explicit CSR? This will beexplainedinthenextparagraph.But letstakea lookatthenexttypesofCSR–ethical,altruisticandstrategic.

Ethical CSR is considered to be mandatory and it is only about companies followingrules, regulationsandobeying the law.Asmentionedearlier in this section, thispointwasnottoucheduponanyoftheresearchedtravelproviders.

ThealtruisticCSR,however isrelated toCarroll’sphilanthropicresponsibilities,whichhavealreadybeendiscussed.Themost importanttypeofCSRisthestrategiconeas ithas direct and expected impact on the business. CSR is usually in the core of thecompany,initsDNAasstatedbyKiplingTravelandthecompantcanbeconsideredastheonlyoneoftheallintervieweesthathasfocusedonimplementingCSRstrategically.StrategicCSRwillbeelaboratedindetailinthenextsection.

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4.3CSRCertificationandCompetitiveAdvantageBased on the empirical research and data collected from semi-structured interviews,this section aims to identify the link between CSR certification and the competitiveadvantageofthetourismSMEs.Thefindingsandanalysiswillbeabletoansweringthefollowingtworesearchquestions:

• Whatarethebenefitsforsmallandmedium-sizedtouroperatorsortravelagenciestobecertifiedbyTravelife?

• HowcantheTravelifecertificateenhancethecompetitiveadvantageofthesmallandmedium-sizedtouroperatorsortravelagenciesresearched?

Accordingtothetheoreticaldiscussioninchaptertwo,therearefouraspectsthathaveto be discussed in order to answer the above two research questions. Firstly, theresearchers will try to find out if the process of implementing and practice Travelifecertification is a way of integrating strategic CSR. The purpose of discussing thisquestion is thatStrategicCSRaims toenhancing the competitiveadvantagebyaddingsocial value to the business, managing the stakeholder relations and developingsustainable business practices. Therefore, those elements of strategic CSR have directrelationswiththecompetitivecontextof thecompanies.Thus itwillnaturally leadstothenextaspectofdiscussion.

Secondly, themodelof fourelementsofcompetitivecontextwillbeapplied todiscussandidentifythelinkbetweentheTravelifecertificationandthecompetitiveadvantage.Continue with that, this section will discuss about the other benefits that have beenmentioned from the data collected. To be noticed that, during the stage of theoreticaldiscussingaboutCSRandtheprocessofdatacollection,theresearchersdiscoveredthatit isverydifficulttodistinguishthebenefitsofengagingwithCSRcertificationandthecompetitiveadvantages itcanprovidetothecompanies.Theoretically,severalauthorshavearguedthatcompetitiveadvantageisoneofthebenefitsthatcompanycangainbyengagingwith CSR certification (Font X. , 2003;Medina, 2008;Manente,Minghetti, &Mingotto,2014).Duringtheinterviews,thecompanieshavealsomixedthosetwotermstogether and gave examples that referred o both the benefits and the competitiveadvantages.Thustheresearchersdecidedtofirstlydiscussthefindingandanalyzethatrelatedtothemodelofcompetitivecontext,subsequentlytoelaborateontheissuesthatarenotbeingdiscussedfromthemodel.

Thissectionwillbefinishedbydiscussingthechallengesandissuesidentifiedfromtheempiricaldata.Bythisdiscussionitwillhelptheresearcherstogivesuggestionstothecompanies on how to maximize the benefits by engaging with a CSR certificationprogram.

4.3.1StrategicCSRornot?Regarding to the case of Travelife certificate, there is very limited theoretical proofindicated that CSR certification program could be considered as an approach ofintegrating strategic CSR in the tourism business. However, by understanding theconcept of strategic CSR and the principle of Travelife certification, the researchers

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concluded that the process of implementing the Travelife certification could beconsideredasanapproachofintegratingstrategicCSR.

From the theotical perspective, Mitrokostas and Apostolakis (2013) argued that avoluntary certification program could help the tourism enterprises to strategicallyimprovethebusinessenvironmentandgainmorebenefitsbypracticingCSR.Therefore,this process shouldnotbe fragilemovements, but strategicallyworkonby looking atdifferentissuesofthecompanysoastoimproveandchangeforthepurposeofmeetingthestandardsofTravelifecertification.

Furthermore, as it is stated in the theorypart, that aCSR certificate such asTravelifefocusontheprocess,anditisaprogramnotonlyprovidescriteriaandstandardsforthecertification, but also training and sharing practical tools for sustainability planning,managementandreporting.Itguidesthetourismenterprisesstepbysteptoimplement,improveandpracticetheCSRbothfrominternallyandexternally(Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Bythehelpoftheprogram,thetourismenterprisecoulddevelopastrategytoimplementmoreefficientmanagerialpracticesinordertoachieveeffectiveenvironmental or social goals (Mitrokostas & Apostolakis, 2013). From this point ofview,theprocessofengagementwithTravelifecertificateisaprocessofimplementingCSRstrategically.

However, fromtheempiricalperspective,theaboveargumentshavenotbeenstronglyproved. According to the data collected, as the only certified company, the businessstrategyofKiplingTravelhasastrongconnectionwithstrategicCSR,astheconceptofthecompanyisstrategicallyworkingwiththesocialvaluesbothfromtheinternalandexternalperspectives.

“We didn’t write it anywhere from the first day the company established. But

Corporate Social Responsibility was in the DNA of the company, and as the

founder, Ibelieve,being social responsible isoneof themost importantvalueof

doingbusiness.”(Appendix3)

Therefore, for Kipling Travel, the process of implementing the Travelife certificationprogramisnotimprovingorchangingthebusinessconceptstrategically,butaprocessofcontinuallyworkingwithCSRandmaintainingtheexistingbusinessstrategy.ThisisalsoapartofreasonwhyKiplingTravelwasthefirstandonlyDanishtourismcompanythathasbeencertifiedbyTravelife.

Ontheotherhand,theprocessofintegratingtheTravelifecertificationforthepartneredcompanies cannot be considered as process of implementing strategic CSR. All threecompanies indicated that, being a partner of Travelife was not complicated, as smallchanges were needed to meet the standards. The accreditation procedure can becompleted by submitting an online report to explain to the auditors, onwhich socialissues they have worked. For example, Jesper Hannibal claimed that internally theychanged the light balls and worked more on the recycle issues in the office. Andexternally they send newsletters about sustainable tourism to the suppliers and

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customers. Holstebro Rejsecentermentioned that their changes toward the TravelifePartnerstagewereonlyfocusedinternally.

“Wedidonlyhereinsidethecompany,Forexample,allofthecomputerscreenswe

use in theofficeareAAA.All our lightbulbsare savers.All of our copypaper is

with the right certificate on and stuff like that. Everything we buy is green.”(Appendix6)

Fromthispointview,thereareimportantelementsofstrategicCSRsuchasproactivelyworkingwithCSRissues,addingthesocialvaluestotheproducts,aswellasmanagingthe stakeholder relations were not indicated during the stage of being partner ofTravelifecertificationprogram.

4.3.2TravelifeCertificationandCompetitiveAdvantageAsthetheorypartillustrated,thattherearefourelementshavetobeanalyzedinordertoexaminethecompetitiveenvironmentofthecompanies.Thefollowingsectionwilltryto analyze the research companies by exploring the link between the competitiveadvantages of the firms and the issues they dealing with when implementing theTravelifecertification.

According to the theoretical review, Travelife certification program aims to help thecompany to improve and implement CSR issues both from internal and externalperspectives.Hence,themainprinciplesofTravelifecertificationfocusonfiveaspects:knowledgesharing,database&networking,stakeholdermanagement,supplychainanddestinationmanagement(Travelife,2007;Manente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014).Basedon the understanding of the theory of the Four Elements of Competitive Context, theresearchershavegeneratedthebelowfigure15toshowthelinksbetweentheelementsofcompetitiveadvantageandthemainprinciplesofTravelifecertificationtriestobringtotheapplicantcompany.

Figure15ThelinksbetweenthecompetitiveadvantageandTravelifecertification(adoptedfromPoter&Kramer,2006andManente,Minghetti,&Mingotto,2014)

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Factorconditions

KnowledgeandDatabase&NetworkingSharingThefactorconditionsrefertotheresourcesandcapacityofthecompanies,suchasthenatural,humanandcapital resources (Porter&Kramer,2002).The first linkbetweenthe factor conditions and the Travelife principles is the knowledge, database andnetworking sharing. CSR in tourism industry is still under the stage of developing,meaning that knowledge could be one of the barriers that prohibit the companies toengagewithCSR.Fromthispointofview,theTravelifeprogramishelpingthecompanyto fill this gap, as it provide the knowledge, onwhich social areas the companies canworkonandhowtoworkitout.Moreover,fromthepointofdatabaseandnetworkingsharing, one of the benefits the applicant companies gain is to access to TravelifePartnerandTravelifeCertifiedcompanies.

Accordingtothedatacollected,althoughKiplingTravelismoresophisticatedintermsofdealingwithCSRbothinternallyandexternally,theydoagreethatTravelifeprogramisagoodhelp:

“AlthoughthecompanydealswiththeCSRonadailybases, therearestillsomeissuesneedtobetakencareofandworkthrough.TheTravelifeauditorspresent

inthecompaniesleadedusincertainwaytosolvetheproblems.”(Appendix3)

TheownerofJesperHannibalhasalsoprovedtheimportanceofknowledgegainduringtheprocessofengagingwithTravelifecertification.

“Thebenefitssofarhavebeenthepersonal“eyeopener”, tryingtobemoregreen,tryingtonavigate…Weactuallyhavecreatedasub-brandofEcoHannibalandwearealwaystryingtoincludeatleastoneecotravelinthenewslettersandtoprovide

greenalternativesnow.”(Appendix4)

Furthermore, the other two travel agencies Unitas Rejser and Holsterbro Rejsecenteremphasized that by receiving the award of Travelife partner, the companies aremoreaware of “being green” and “energy saving”, and they realized that CSR practices caneasilystart fromtheirdailyworkingenvironment,anduntilnowtheyarecontinuouslyworkingonthoseissues.

“I think that it is a very good tool to getting started with CSR. They have this

planningandreporting,thatcaneasilyhelpustoworkingontheinternalissues.”(Appendix5)

Besides,UnitasRejseralsomentionedthat,bybeingthepartnerofTravelifeCertification,thecompanyalsoreceivedtrainingopportunities,as

“WeparticipatedafreecourseprovidedbyTravelifeinBulgaria,andinthecourse

wegainedimportantknowledgesuchaswhatisCSR,andwhatdifferenceyoucan

make;orwhatcanyoudotoinfluencetheenvironmentorthesociety.Afterthatwe

had to go through a personal test. And it was very helpful that we joined this

course.”(Appendix5)

To be concluded, that the knowledge gain and the database & networking sharingaspects is very great help for the applicant companies to enhance the competitiveadvantages.

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StakeholderManagement-EmployeesThesecondlinkbetweenthefactorconditionsandtheprincipleofTravelifecertificationistheStakeholdermanagement.Inthiscontextthestakeholderreferstotheemployeesof the applicant companies. On one hand, different factors such as the goodworkingconditions, the opportunities to access training programs that can enhance thecompetitive advantage of the companies. From this aspect the Travelife certificationrequires the applicant companies tomeet certain standards regarding to this kind ofethical practices of CSR, to be specific, employee issues. For example, HolsterbroRejsecenterhasmentionedthatall theemployeesknowthat thecompany isunderthepartnerstagewithTravelife,andtheyallpracticethedifferentCSRpractice internally.Thisaspecthelpsthemtoimprovetherelationshipandformulateacompanyculturebyworkingonthesameinternalissuesduringthedailywork.UnitasRejsergaveexamplesonhowthecertificationhelpsthemwiththeemployees’issues:

“Wecreatedouremployeepolicy intermsofCSR,wearehavingmeetingwiththe

employeesonceayearandweproduceaworkplaceassessment,toseewhatissues

thatweneedfocuson,andwhatmorewecandoforouremployees.”(Appendix5)

as the only certified company, Kipling travel has also argued the importance ofemployees in relation to CSR, and by implementing the Travelife certification; thecompanystrengthenmoreonthoseissues.

“Internally,wecareaboutouremployees,asIsaid,theworkingenvironmentisone

ofthesocial issuesweareawareof.Iwillneverletmyemployeesworkovertime.

Andtheyshouldfeelhappyandsatisfiedwithwhattheyaredoing.”(Appendix3)

From this point of view, that by engagingwith Travelife certification it could help toenhancethecompetitiveadvantage,buttheproofislessconvincingincomparewiththeknowledgeanddatabase&networkingsharingfactors.ItisduetothatsocialwelfareisoneoftheimportantvaluesofDenmark(Ringsmose,2012),andcaringtheemployeesisnot a new perspective regarding to CSR. However, being working together withTravelife certification program, the CSR issues regarding to employees have beenhighlighted.

Demandconditions

StakeholderInvolvement–CustomersThedemandconditionsinthissectionrefertothefactorsofcustomersorclientsoftheapplicantcompanies.Accordingtothedatacollected,thatbyengagingwiththeTravelifecertification, there isnosignificantchange in termsofattractmorecustomers.Firstly,KiplingTravelstatedthatgainmorecustomersorincreasetheprofitwasnotthereasonof engagingwith the Travelife certification. Thus there is no influence on their targetgroups.

“Forthecustomers,theyhavenotbeeninfluenced,astheyareeasilyinfluencedby

other factors, such as price. I have to admit, that our product is comparable

expensiveandtheregulartouriststheydocareaboutprice.ButasIsaid,themain

purposeisnottogainmorecustomers.Wedoit,forourowngood.”(Appendix3)

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Jesper Hannibal on the other hand, expected more business by working with theTravelife certification, but the expectationwasnotmetuntil the interview conducted.Although during the practice the company has tried to integrate more green andsustainableelementsintotheirproductsandservice, itdidn’tshowtheincreaseofthedemandontheCSR-friendlyproducts.

“Ithinkfromthecustomerperspectiveit is interestingtoseethatourcompanyisdoingsomethingreallygood.Butitisalsoalittlebitnaïvetothinkthatpeoplecan

doatotalgreentravel.Sincethemajorityoftheclientsarenoteducatedtobemore

awareaboutbeinggreenandsustainable.”(Appendix4)

The Data from Unitas Rejser indicates that, there is slightly change of customers’consumerbehavior regarding togreenproducts.And for thepurposeof communicatetheCSRpolicywiththecustomers;thecompanyhasworkedoncertainleveltoinformthecustomerstobemoreawareaboutresponsibletravel.

“Wecreatedsomethingcalled‘gogreen’,bythattoexplaintothecustomers,what

isgoodtodowhenyouvisitacountryandlocalplacesandgivethemgoodadvice.

ButIamnotsureifthereisactuallyanincreasingdemandthatwewanttohavea

tripthatisallgreen.Onethingwearecertain,isthatthereisachangeofmind,that

moreandmorepeopleareawareabouttheCSR.”(Appendix5)

ThelevelofinvolvementwithcustomersforHolstebroRejsercenteriscomparablelow.Astheybelievedthattheirclientsdon’tthinkitisimportantintermsofCSR,andifthechangesofbeinggreencouldcreatetheriskofloosingbusiness,theyhaslessintentionofworkingonthatdirection(Appendix6).

Therefore,itisreasonabletoconcludethat,byengagingwiththeTravelifecertification,thedemandconditionsofthecompanyhasnotbeenstrengthened,thusitisdifficulttoenhancethecompetitiveadvantageoftheapplicantcompanies.

RelatedandSupportingIndustries

SuppliersandBusinessPartnersTheSuppliersandbusinesspartnerscanbeconsideredasthefirstaspectthatinfluencetherelatedandsupportingindustriesoftheapplicantcompanies.Travelifecertificationhasstatedthat,oneoftheprinciplesistohelptheapplicantcompaniestocommunicatewith the suppliers thathavealsoengagedwithCSR (Travelife,2007).For the tourismindustry, that suppliers and business partners are significantly important, as theproducts or service are highly affected by their actions (EraqiM. I., 2010). Hence thecompetitive advantage of the company could be enhanced if the applicant companiescan carefullymaintain the relationshipwith suppliers and thebusinesspartners. Thispoint ishighlyevident intheempiricaldatacollected.FirstlyKiplingTravelstatedthatbusinesspartnersandthesuppliersareoneofthemajorareawheretheypracticetheirCSRissues,althoughTravelifecertificationisnotthemotivationoftakingthisaction.

“Wehavealwaysworkedcloselywiththepartnersaroundtheworld,becausethey

aretheonesthatcanmakesurethatwedevelopthequalifiedresponsibletourism

products toourclient. Althoughwecan’tguarantee theclientsabout that,but if

thesupplierdoesnotcareabout theCSR issuessuchas theenvironment,working

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conditionandsoon,wewillstopthepartnership,andthatistheirloss.”(Appendix3)

Jesper Hannibal mentioned, that by being a partner of Travelife partner, they havestarted to consider more when choosing and dealing with different partners andsuppliers.

“Wearedealingwithalotofpartnersthatalreadybeencertifiedbyotherecoand

sustainable labels, and we also tries to communicate with the exist suppliers to

choose their partners carefully, by this process we negotiate and create a more

greenproduct.”(Appendix4)

Supporting this finding, Unitas Rejser is also implementing CSR features into theirproduct by communicating with suppliers and partners. On the Contrast, HolstebroRejsercenter is the only researched company that didn’t intend to expand the CSRpractices regarding toTravelife certification externally.One of the reasons claimed inthedataisthatthereisariskoflosingbusiness.

DestinationsDestination can be considered as the second link that influences the related andsupportingindustriesoftheapplicantcompanies.ExceptKiplingTravel,theotherthreeresearched companies have specifically elaborated on the CSR issues toward thedestinations they are dealing with. Jesper Hannibal and Unitas’ Rejser have stronglyprovedthat,byengagingwiththeTravelifecertification,thattheypayextraattentionsto the destinations, and they expect improvement of CSR in the destinations by theinfluenceoftheiractions.JesperHannibalexplainedthat

“If there is differencewe canmake, itwill be on the destination.We could try to

work a lot more with companies that are not exploiting workers and who are

workingtogetherwithlocalcommunities.”(Appendix4)

Unitas’Rejseremphasizedthatduringtheinterview,that

“We expected to have influence on the destinations. We sent a lot of schools to

places in Europewhere they climb or bicycle.Wewant to have the possibility to

keep longerrelationsandcontinuetosendclients to thosedestinations.But if the

destinationsarenottakencareof,theywillbepollutedorfullofgarbage,therefore

wewanttotrytohavesomeinfluenceonthedestinations.”(Appendix5)

TheirexplanationaboutthedestinationaspectsimpliesthatiftheTourismSMEscanbemore united and working together, they do have the power to influence the wholeindustry.However,HolsterbroRejsecenterbelieves that their roleof influence isslight,asthescaleofthecompanyistoosmalltomakechanges.

“I think it is easier for big travel agencies to do something on the destinations,

becausetheycanmakeachange.Theycancontrol,andtheycanmaketheimpacts

onthesuppliersoutthere…andsignonlywiththeoneswhoareagreetobetobe

some kind of CSR program. But for us, the company is too small to make the

change”(Appendix5)

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Basedontheabovefindings,itisreasonabletoconcludethat,byclosingdealingwiththesuppliers,businesspartners,itwillbemakeabiginfluenceonthedestinations.Henceitcan help to enhance the competitive advantage of the applicant companies, as thisaspectwillensurethecompanytoprovidetourismproductandserviceinahighquality.And it will alsomake significant impact on thewhole industry, that being green andsustainableisthefutureoftourismdevelopment.

ContextforStrategyandRivalry

StakeholderInvolvement–Localcommunity&OtherAssociationsPorter and kramar claimed that (source) local context has a strong influence on thecompetition. It encourages the companies to paymore attention to not onlywith theissues that directly link to the business, but also other social issues in different level.According to the empirical data, that all the research companies have a closerelationshipwiththeDanishTravelAssociation(DTA).ExceptKiplingTravel, themainmotivationfortheotherthreecompaniestoengagewiththeTravelifecertificationistheinfluence of DTA, as it is the funding body for the three applicant companies toimplement the certification program, and awarded as the partner. From this point ofview,thatresearchcompanieshaveacomparableadvantageintermsofcompetingwiththeothertravelagenciesandtouroperatorsintheDanishmarket.Thusthecompetitiveadvantageof thecompanies isslightlyenhancedbytheengagementwiththeTravelifecertification.

Sub-conclusion

Theaboveanalysishave tried toexplore thecompetitiveenvironmentof the researchcompaniesbyexamine thedifferent competitive context around the companies. It canbeconcluded,thatbyengagingwiththeTravelifeCertificationprogram,thecompetitiveadvantageofthecompanieshasbeenenhancedincertainlevel.Firstlyfromtheaspectofconditionsfactor,thattheTravelifecertificationprovidetheknowledgeanddatabase,as well as sharing the networking in the industry. The companies therefore haveopportunities to gain essential knowledge about the CSR, and the tools provided byTravelifewillhelpthecompaniestopracticetheCSRissuesfromaneasy-to-startstep,refers to the internal changes such as energy saving. Moreover, the companies areencouragedtodealingwithmoreemployeesissues,andbythisprocesstomotivatetheemployeestoworkandperformbetterduringtheirdailylife.

Secondly from the aspect of related and supporting industries, that the competitiveadvantage of the research companies have been enhanced. This finding can besupportedfromthefollowingtworeasons:

• Travelifecertificationenablestheresearchcompaniestopaymoreattentiontothe suppliers and business partners that are dealing with CSR and tourismsustainability.Bythismeans,theproductsandservicelevelofthecompanycanbe improved, thus to gain advantage to compete within the Danish travelmarket.

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• ByfocusingmoreonthesustainabletourismandtheCSRpractices,theresearchcompaniesintendtohaveabiggerinfluenceonthedestination,toencouragetheservice and product providers on the destination to caremore about the CSRissues.Thisprocesscanhelptoimprovethequalityofthetourismproductsandenhance the customers’ satisfaction, hence to enhance the competitiveadvantageofthecompanies.

The third aspect deals with the demand factors, referred to customers in the aboveanalysis. TheTravelife certificationhas slightly influenced on the customer aspects intermsofCSR. It isbecause theresearchcompanieshavenotseen thebenefits suchasgain more customers by being a Travelife partner. However, the customers becomemore and more aware about the green and sustainable travel, even though thecompetitiveadvantageofthecompanyhasnotbeenenhancedincomparewiththetwoargumentsabove.

The last aspect is to examine the Context for Strategy and Rivalry of the researchcompanies. According to the data collected, there is very less evidence to show thatthere is a link between the context for strategy and rivalry and the Travelifecertification. However, as the member of Danish Travel association, all the researchcompaniesgainmoreopportunitiesintermsofsharinginformationandknowledge.

4.3.3OtherBenefitsTheabovesectionhasalready identifiedsomeof thebenefitswhenengagingwith theTravelife certification, such as reducing environmental impact and saving costs. Thissectionwillfocusonlyonthebenefitsthatarenotindicatedfromanalysisandfindingsoflastsection.

BrandRecognitionImage improving is one of the important motivations of joining a CSR certificationscheme(D'Souza,2004;Harris,2007).Itwillhelpthecompanytogainopportunitiestoremarketingitsproductsandincreasethebrandrecognition.KiplingTravelstatedthatbyreceivingthecertification,theyareimprovingtheirimage.

“Itisawaytoprovethatwecare.Andawaythatweshowourclientsandsuppliers,

and the stakeholders around, that we have at least been evaluated by the third

party,thatworkingwithCSRisnotonlysayingsomethingaboutit,buttakingthe

actionsfromdifferentaspects,topracticetheissues.”(Appendix3)

JesperHannibalalsoprovesthattheimageofthecompanyhasbeenenhanced,asitisagoodwaytoshowthecustomersthat,theycaremorethangeneratingprofit.

StrategicallyworkingwithCSRAstheonlycertifiedcompany,KiplingTravelismorematuretodealwiththeCSRissuesfrom different aspects. But it was still a challengeable process to get finally certified.However,theauditorfromtheTravelifecertificationprogramvisitedthecompaniesandhelped them to work out some of the issues, hence to help them to work CSRmorestrategically.UntiasRejser emphasized that theworkingprocess is the biggest of gain

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whenengagingwiththeTravelifecertification

“It isagoodwaytostarttheCSR.Theplanningandreportingtoolareverygood.

Onceyouworkthoughyouwillbeabletocoverallaspectsofthecompany.Bythen

youcanmakeactionplan,andgofurther,suchastoworkwiththecustomersand

theleadership.Afterall,theprocessisveryvaluable.”(Appendix5)

JesperHannibal andHolsterbroRejsercentermentioned that theyare satisfiedwith theprogramingeneral,andithelped,especiallyfromtheinternalaspectofthecompanies.ButthestrategytowardCSRforthistwocompaniesarecomparablefragile.Itisduetothat Jesper Hannibal has always empowered the Travelife certification issues to oneindividualemployee,andHolsterbroRejsercenterhasno intention toengagemoreCSRissuesexternally.

4.3.4TheChallengesandIssuesTheBasedontheempiricaldata,thissectionsaimstodiscussthechallengesandissuesthathavebeenidentifiedintermsofengagingwithTravelifecertification.

CostandTimeconsumptionFromthe internalperspective, timeconsumptionand thecost isoneof thechallengeswhen trying to engagewith the Travelife certification. During the first stage, that theapplicant has to conduct a report according to the tools provided. Lack of knowledgewillcausethecompanytospendlongertimetoworkonit. JesperHannibalmentionedduringtheinterviewthat

“Oneofthethingsisthatwhenengaginginaprogramlikethis,youneedtoemploy

apersonandspendingallthattimetodealwiththecertificate.”(Appendix4)

UnitasRejserexplainedthatothercostshavebeenincreasedwhenpracticesomeoftheCSRissuesinrelationtoTravelifecertification.

“Therearealwaystwosidesofthecase.Becausewhenweprintthepaperonboth

sides, then we firstly have to pay for a printer that can print on both sides.”

(Appendix5)

According toUnitasRejser,thatTravelifeoffers freecourses to thepartners.However,the company needs to pay the other consumptions, for example the flight tickets andhotelroomsforparticipatingwiththecourse.KiplingTravelspecifiedthatthetimeandconsumption and the costs would be more in compare with the stage of Travelifepartner.

“it ismucheasier tobeapartnerofTravelife,asyou justhave to finishanonline

report.However, being certified is a longer process. It took us almost half a year

into 8months to work on it. It was serious issue and the external auditor came

twice to visit the company, and discusswith us about the issueswewere dealing

with.”(Appendix3)

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It is necessary to stress that, none of the single company from the four TravelifepartnersareentirelysurethattheywillcontinuewiththeengagementwithTravelifetoget finally certified as Travelife Excellence and Sustainability. Cost and the timeconsumptioncouldbeoneofthereasons.

LackofcommunicationbetweenTravelifeandthecompaniesItisnoticeablethatduringtheprocessofengagingwithTravelifecertificationprogram,the communication between Travelife and the companies is comparable low. KiplingTravelindicatedthatafterbeingcertified,theonlycommunicationmaintainedbetweenthe Travelife is by email, but not frequent. For the Travelife partners, the companieshave to update a report every two years.UnitasRejser emphasized that the companycould benefit more if Travelife consciously communicate and share knowledge andnetworkingwiththecompanies.Bythismeans itwillmotivatethecompaniestoworkfurthertoreachthestagesofcertifyingastheTravelifeExcellenceinSustainability.

4.4SuggestionsAccording to the previously analysis, the researcher would give the followingsuggestions to the research companies on how they could maximize the benefit byengagingwiththeTravelifecertification.

Firstly, the research companies should focus more on the knowledge perspective,especiallyfortheTravelifepartners.Thisisbecausethat,thosecompanieshavealreadystartedto implementthe internalCSR issues.And itwillbeagood ideatocontinuetowork from this perspective. For example, the company could provide courses andtrainingopportunitiestotheemployeesonhowtopracticetheinternalCSRissues.

Secondly,thecompanyshouldallowalltheemployeestobeinvolvedintheprocess,bythis to motivate them to make better performance to enhance the overall humanresources.

Thirdly, thecompaniesshouldusedifferentchannels tospeakwithboth thesuppliersand the business partners, to build up a better relationship and enhance the overallabilitytoinfluencethetravelmarket.

Lastbutnotleast,thecompanyshouldworkmoretocommunicatewiththecustomers,to draw their attention in regarding to CSR and sustainable travel. Customers’awareness about the CSR issueswill help the company to improve the quality of theproduct and service by providingmore green products. The companies should try togenerateguidelinesintothespecificdestination,onwhattheyshouldtakecareofwhenthey travel to the place where environment should be paid extra attention.

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ChapterVConclusion

5.1ConclusionThis thesis researched on the small and medium sized travel agencies and touroperators inDemark that are engagedwithTravelife certificationprogram.The studyintended to explore on how a CSR certificate can help to enhance the competitiveadvantageofthetourismcompanies.

Inordertoapproachthethesis,boththetheoreticalandtheempiricalperspectiveshavetobeexamined.Fromthe theoreticalperspective, the researchers firstly reviewed theconcept of corporate social responsibility and the CSR issues in related to Tourismindustry.Secondly,theresearchdiscussedtheoryaboutthecompetitiveadvantageandtried to identify its link to CSR. Thirdly, the researchers studied the CSR certificationprogramandspecificallytheTravelifecertification.Theultimategoalforreviewingtheliterature is to identify a theoretical framework, by which to guide the empiricalresearch, hence to collect the most essential data to answer the main problemformulationofthethesis.

The empirical perspective refers to the process of collecting data from the researchobjects.Tobemorespecific,thisthesistriedtoconductqualitativeresearchfocusingonfivetourismSMEsinDenmark.Itisnecessarytoemphasizethat,theresearchersofthisthesisdecidedtofollowSocialConstructivismasthephilosophytoconducttheresearch,andthemainmethodsappliedisqualitativesemi-structuredinterview.Onlyfouroffourinterviewshavebeencompleted.

Accordingtothedatacollected,thereiscertainlinkbetweenthecompetitiveadvantageandtheTravelifecertification.Thismeans,ifthecompaniescanpracticetheCSRissuesmorestrategically,andbythehelpofTravelifecertification,itispossibletoenhancethecompetitive advantages, as there are several issues that can be focused on for thepurposeofenhancingthecompetitiveadvantage.Forexample,theinternalaspectsuchastheenergyuseoftheofficeandtheCSRpracticesinrelationtoemployees.Externally,thecompanycouldworkmorecloselywithsuppliersandbusinesspartners,especiallytheonesthathavealreadybeenengagedwithCSR.Bythismeansitgivesthecompanyopportunitiestoimprovethequalityoftheproductandserviceprovidedtotheclientsand customers. Furthermore, it will have the ability to influence the whole tourismindustrybothfromthedestinationandthedemandsides.

However, there are also benefits and challenges the research companies can face interms of engaging with CSR certification. One of the significant benefits is gainingknowledgeby the toolsprovidedby the certificationprogram.On theotherhand, thecost and time consumption could be increased due to the practice of the CSR issues,whichisconsideredasoneofthemainissuesthattheCSRcertificateisfacing.

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Lastbutnotleast,theresearchersgivesuggestiontothecompaniesonhowtheycouldmaximizethebenefitsbyengagingwithaCSRcertification.

5.2FurtherResearchOneoftheperspectivehasbeenidentifiedduringtheprocessofthisresearch,thatitisinterestingtoconducttheresearchbyinvestigatingtheTravelifecertificationprogram,toexploretheirexpectationinregardingtothecompaniesthathavebeenengagedwiththe certification programs, to find out how they can do better to help the companiesduring the process, by thismeans to provide opportunities for the companies to gainmore,notjustapaperproof.

On the other hand, it could also being interesting to continue to work with theperspectiveofstrategicCSR,toexaminehowacompanyadopttheconceptofCSRandadditaspartoftheirbusinessmodel.Bythiskindofresearchitispossibletoexploreacase that has nothing to do with the certification program, on how they can workthroughtheprocess.

The third perspective identified during the research is to focus only on the TourismSMES,toresearchandsuggesthowtheycouldmakebiggerimpactonthestakeholderssuch as the customers, suppliers and on the destination, by this to enhance thedevelopmentorengagementofCSRinthetourismindustry

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