ª Corresponding author Tel: 0090 264 2956222 E-mail: smac@sakarya.edu.tr (Dönmez Maç S.) 2 12th Corporate Responsibility Research Conference 12-14 October 2016 Istanbul Turkey – www.crrconference.org Factors affecting trade unions’ CSR understanding, policies and engagement: An international analysis Sevgi Dönmez Maç ª1 , Şuayyip Çalış 1 1 (Human Resources Management, Faculty of Management, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey) 1. Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to economic, legal, ethical and voluntary responsibilities of the organizations (Carroll, 1991) and includes various subjects like human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community involvement and development (ISO, 2010). The term has been discussed and dealt by many actors (such as companies and their representatives, the state institutions, local and international NGOs, consultancy firms, media etc.) as its visibility increases all over the world. Ttrade unions, especially while discussing labour issues, are important stakeholders on these discussions however their positions on CSR has been relatively less studied. Considering CSR and trade unions, prominent studies belong to European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (2004, 2013), Preuss, Haunschild and Matten (2006), Preuss (2008) and Preuss, Gold and Rees (2015). ETUC (2004, 2013) illustrates the understanding, practices and perspectives of member trade unions. Preuss et al. (2006) explore unions’ responses and strategies to CSR and tries to provide explanatory framework for union positions on CSR; while Preuss (2008) addresses extent of the engagement of trade unions in the CSR discourse, whether they see themselves as stakeholders and the themes they involve in as stakeholders. The book, FULL PAPER – No. 2037 ABSTRACT (UPPERCASE, TIMES NEW ROMAN 9PT) The aim of the paper is to highlight the factors affecting trade unions’ CSR understanding, policies and engagement. The paper focuses on Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom The factors highlighted in the paper both reflect the theoretical frameworks of national business system and neo-institutionalist perspectives. It is also seen that agency and organizational factors are also effective. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility Trade Union Neo-institutionalism National business system