企業社會責任 (CSR) 做為一種差異化戰略從商業延伸至消費市場: 以 A公司芳香業務為例

Abstract

This research is a case study focusing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices as a differentiation strategy for company A to expand business operations into original brand manufacturing. Taiwan is one of the foremost powerhouses for original equipment / original design manufacturing (OEM/ODM) of consumer electronics and other high-tech, high-spec consumer products. While Taiwanese enterprises have led exemplary models for interconnected supply chain, just-in-time production, and lean operations, they struggle outside of the factories and engineering labs to build strong brands that can capture consumer hearts and a large share of the business to consumer (B2C) market. OEM/ODMs with efficient upstream processes face immense challenges in transitioning to original brand manufacturing (OBM) due to the lack of downstream structures and overall strategy in branding and channeling. Company A is a twenty-five-year-old, local Taiwanese original equipment / original design manufacturer (OEM/ODM) specialized in fragrance and freshener products. It is a dominant player in the global business to business (B2B) fragrance freshener market and, for the past three years, has focused on developing its own B2C brand. Recognized by the local government and media as a small giant – a term coined by Bo Burlingham in his groundbreaking book of the same name, Company A is deeply rooted in the community and is governed by a unique set of sustainable values that sets it apart from competitors in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These intrinsic and well communicated CSR practices hold practical implications for Company A in product and brand differentiation as it expands to OBM. Previous studies in marketing have unanimously highlighted the important benefits of CSR practices in building strong brands and creating brand values, especially when CSR strategies are applied across all internal processes and communicated effectively to consumer. Feng, Yoon, and He in 2016 have identified CSR practices particularly in the governance and social domains to have significant impact on brand value creation for the top 100 global brands. By thoroughly analyze the current brand positioning and core CSR practices, this paper proposes for company A to use CSR practices as a differentiation strategy to transition from OEM/ODM and attack the local and international B2C markets.