From CSR to Corporate Social Innovation: learning from the outside to foster sustainability. The LVMH case

Abstract

Recently, companies have start to realize they hold a pivotal role in the societies where they operate. Through Corporate Social Responsibility they have been able to underline their commitment towards the wellbeing of their stakeholder. However, literature suggests that firms can go beyond the mere phenomenon of philanthropy, as they possess the right means and competencies to deal with actual societal challenges in an innovative way. Organizations can combine their assets in a process of Corporale Social Innovation, which has both social and economic purposes. Because the available literature on this subject is still exploratory and primarily theoretical, I opted to empirically research the phenomenon of Corporate Social Innovation choosing the business case of the Group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). The findings show that, despite social and environmental concerns becoming increasingly important for the Holding's competitive advantage, the Group is still primarily motivated by economic goals while pursuing OSI. The process is open, and led by two different programs that clearly has the aim to spread knowledge withing and between the brands. Projects that are however extremely linked to CSR, even if not always voluntarily, and make CSR objectives more feasible and less abstract.