Gaps and Opportunities: Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Study for UNICEF -

Czech Republic

Joshua Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton, Denisa Matsche

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Executive SummaryThe consulting team that consisted of Joshua Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton, and

Denisa Matsche was excited to cooperate and work with UNICEF - Czech Republic. The team met with the partner on 16 June, 2014 to discuss potential objectives. The team decided to focus on CSR and the integration of CSR policies into the retail clothing industry.

The objective was approached from several dimensions: interviews, market research, industry research, and competitive comparison. The conducted interviews indicated that companies focus their CSR policies primarily on local issues. A successful international CSR policy had to be transparent: a consumer sees where the money goes and he/she knows exactly its purpose and results. It was suggested that fundraisers for UNICEF should inform companies and their employees about those specifics.

The market research revealed that in the Czech Republic, there is an increase in people’s willingness to be involved as well as in the actual participation in charitable actions and events. Similarly, there was an observed increase in companies’ engagement with CSR policies. Nevertheless, only 11% of surveyed companies within a UK study put children as their top CSR priority.

We then undertook CSR research on seven companies in the retail clothing industry. It was found that only three out of the seven companies had clear CSR policies relating directly to children. Two local companies, Alpine Pro, which control a relatively large amount of market share in the Czech Republic, and Piccollo have no clearly communicated CSR policy.

Industry analysis showed that companies had a decline in sales due to the 2008 recession. Recently sales have rebounded and are expected to rise by 7% by 2017. The clothing industry, whose target markets are primarily women due to their greater spending power compared to men, is seen as a prime market for NGOs like UNICEF. Generally speaking, women are held as more likely to donate and be moved by a cause than men. Moreover, causes that benefit children align, for the most part, better with their morals (Women Give). The cooperation with partners from the clothing industry thus gives UNICEF a unique opportunity since women are the primary consumers for the industry and UNICEF’s mission could be absorbed by a more responsive audience.

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Competition research divulged the fact that the most successful NGO competitors in the Czech market are small organizations. This is due to the fact that they focus on local CSR which Czech people more easily relate to.

Upon careful analysis of the research data, we proposed three recommendations. The first being that UNICEF focuses on making sure that they have detailed communication of policies and fundraisers to companies, since both companies interviewed brought this up. The second being to pursue Alpine Pro, with a relatively high market share in the Czech Republic, and Piccollo, which both lack a defined CSR policy. Getting them as a client would be mutually beneficial as it would give them a CSR policy and help raise funds for UNICEF. The final recommendation is to continue with this study because even with the limited amount of surveys, we were able to gather a decent amount of information. If a marketing team was able to continue this project, the amount of gained information could be immeasurable and can be a huge asset for UNICEF.

Introduction3

As a part of the international consulting program conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University and Anglo-American University, we conducted a study Gaps and Opportunities: Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Study for UNICEF - Czech Republic. The study examines the retail clothing market in the Czech Republic in relation to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies of the industry members. The aim of the study is to use the information in order to improve the communication strategy of UNICEF - Czech Republic (UNICEF) to best initiate partnerships within this industry in the Czech Republic. The study was conducted by (listed alphabetically by surname) Joshua Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton, and Denisa Matsche, with guidance from Professor Chris Shallow.

The full consulting team and the client first met on 16 June, 2014 in UNICEF’s Prague office. We had a productive meeting where we went over UNICEF’s areas of interest for our study. Afterwards, we came up with a scope document and schedule that was presented and approved on Wednesday, 18 June 2014.

We realized that UNICEF’s main concern was with analyzing markets to better position themselves. From this we came up with our scope:

· UNICEF wants more information about their target market in relation to CSR to help them get new clients.

This led us to our objective:

· To find gaps and opportunities in engaging with the retail clothing sector on CSR in order to better help UNICEF marketing efforts.

This industry was decided on by the team for a variety of reasons. By reviewing UNICEF’s principles, the team unanimously agreed that the clothing industry was extremely relevant. The industry is infamously related to child labor issues, poor conditions for workers, and low pay for workers who provide for children. The team wanted to take a closer look at members of this industry to determine the amount of positive change represented in their CSR policies and whether UNICEF could partner with and guide those companies.

The team decided that the best way to reach our goal was to focus on primary sources and interview companies, which are already partnered with UNICEF, and then on those that were not partnered yet. In such a short timeframe, this turned out to be

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more difficult than anticipated; we had two successful interviews with partners and feedback from a CSR expert.

Upon realizing that time hindered our collection of complete interview data, it was decided to collect secondary data in its place. We focused our research on:

● Market Research - Looking at how the market responds to charitable giving and which causes receive more attention.

● Industry Research - Researching several clothing retailers, who were approached for interviews, to determine their current CSR policy communication. Using this data to determine whether further research is recommended. Providing data to support reasoning in choosing a specific industry.

● Competitor Research - Researching how other NGOs market themselves to companies.

We decided that success would be defined as using data and research to provide a recommendation that would potentially help UNICEF communicate more efficiently to businesses operating locally.

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Primary DataOur initial scope relied heavily on primary data collection through interviews and

instruments designed to gather qualitative data. Three different instruments were created in order to address firms currently partnered with UNICEF, firms not currently partnered with UNICEF, and local experts and academics on Czech CSR practices. These are attached as Appendix 3 through 5 respectively. These questions were adjusted according to the style of delivery.

Thankfully, UNICEF was able to arrange interviews with a few of their current partners which enabled us to test the instruments and to use the collected responses anecdotally. These findings are summarized and analyzed below.

Interview 1:Date: June 19th 2014Client: AmwayInterviewee: Filip MoravecInterviewer: Joshua Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton, Denisa MatscheObserver: Denisa Siskova

Interview Summary:The interview consisted of ten questions and lasted approximately thirty minutes.

The goal of the interview was to learn about Amway’s CSR program. We started off asking about Amway’s primary target market. We found that 52% of the customers were women, 18% men and 30% couples. It is necessary to note that Amway’s structure (multi-level marketing, MLM) reveals that many customers are also their distribution chain. We inquired where the CSR policies are decided upon and found that Amway focuses more on a local level than a global one. They were successful at their local Czech unit with UNICEF.

Next, our questions focused on determining how much of the budget was set aside for CSR. Our findings show that Amway Czech Republic devotes about 10% (apx. 250,000 CZK) of its Corporate Affairs Budget to CSR. They raise over 100,000 CZK through their employees, customers, and distributors. They communicate their CSR internally through monthly emails to all employees as well as frequent memos of upcoming events.

Their social projects focused on children’s rights really “depend on the market.” Of the UNICEF children’s rights principles, Amway focuses primarily on nutrition.

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Amway prefers not to refer to their policies as being in human and children “rights” to avoid any political and/or social spotlight. The greatest benefit that Amway gets from UNICEF is the strong brand recognition. It helps with Amway’s drives and cause as long as UNICEF continues to have an impeccable brand image.

The only improvements suggested were campaigns that better aligned with Czech distributors (aka customers) because distributors hold all the power in their industry. They would also appreciate aid in internal communication of how money being raised is being spent specifically to help motivate employees and distributors. Amway is interested in positive news continuing to come from their partnership with UNICEF.

Analysis:

Amway provides over 450 different products and brands to a large network of customers and distributors in the Czech market. When partnering with Amway, UNICEF gains an ever increasing network of large to extremely small audiences to which the brand is exposed. This is a great benefit as long as Amway can keep away the negative connotations that some people have of its brand.

Amway spends a relatively large amount on making sure their employees and distributors know they have a strong CSR program. This does not seem to be just for the benefit of the children; as it seems that they are enticed by the additional sales that UNICEF’s brand brings in. This mirrors a reciprocal strategy as stated by Galbreath in that, while they support a societal cause, they want to benefit financially from the strategy as well.

The best way to garner more support from companies like Amway is to boost UNICEF’s communication aids. Doing so will entice companies with similar strategies by making it easier to communicate cause related marketing, fundraisers, or similar CSR projects within the Czech market.

Interview 2:Date: June 24 2014Client: Mark and Spencer’sInterviewee: Raul LeuskaInterviewer: Josh Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton

Interview Summary:

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The interview with Marks & Spencer (M&S) consisted of nine questions and lasted approximately twenty minutes. Their target market primarily of women around the age of 30 in middle to upper income levels including single women, wives, and mothers. The company CSR policy is decided upon a corporate level; however, local levels do have some leeway in their activities and are extremely active. M&S does “not spend much” on promoting CSR or their work with UNICEF. Their CSR policy includes everyone, meaning employees, their suppliers, and customers. Of UNICEF’s principles, education is the most important for M&S.

In 2013, an international campaign for UNICEF raised 2 million pounds in 100 days from customers, suppliers, and employees. However, only a very small amount came from the Czech Republic and it was relatively low compared to other European countries. Customer recognition of brand name was the most important thing that UNICEF offered to M&S. But locally, in the Czech Republic, UNICEF’s drives are not doing as well. Raul reasoned that Czech citizens are more inclined to donate money to those charities, which then support local cause and the people of the Czech Republic rather than to the overall international community. In support of this argument, it was mentioned that the company has a locally focused project with a local NGO that is doing extremely well. It is believed that the project was doing better because it helped children within the Czech Republic and also because the communication was very specific and the donors could see where the money was going.

Analysis:

While M&S and UNICEF prosper from their partnership across all markets, it is revealed that the Czech market is one with less activity. Data from Ms. Volynsky’s article do show that the Czech market is increasing in charitable giving, approximately 6% in 2012. While this is promising, M&S is not seeing this reflected in their UNICEF partnership campaigns. M&S representative Leuska’s mention of Czech charitable behavior is an indication of an issue.

M&S believes that if UNICEF communicated more clearly and narrowed down on one of the principles for each project, the projects would be more successful. It was also suggested that UNICEF include literature or integrated marketing materials on how the projects help both local and international children. This will potentially get more customers interested in supporting UNICEF’s cause with M&S.

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Secondary DataCzech Republic and Giving:

For this particular set of data, the team had hoped to discuss the state of CSR and giving within the Czech Republic with local experts and academics. Nevertheless, due to the lack of responses, we researched articles in which the topic had previously been discussed.

According to the cited article by Ms. Masha Volynsky, the assumption that Czechs are skeptical about giving, suspicious of NGO’s, and believe in ‘every-man-for-himself,’ is erroneous. In her interview with Jan Kroupa of the Czech Fundraising Center, Kupta says: “In 2010 and 2011 individual giving has been on the rise again. And last year it grew by somewhere between five and six percent. This is largely due to an increase in corporate giving, which has been, surprisingly, the fastest growing sector in the past few years. Corporate giving grew by almost 11 percent in 2011.”

This information from a credible expert shows that giving in the Czech Republic increases even though this is not a long standing tradition within the country. If more recent data could support this trend, it would show that lack of charitable giving within the country is not a cause of low CSR support.

State of CSR:

At the Czech CSR Summit 2013, Hana Šilhánová stated: “Today, however, most Czech firms feel it necessary to act and help, which [is] mostly evident at the local and regional level. With regards to the concentration of help, the days when companies were only willing to support orphanages with equipment and furnishings, which was not always the right approach, are long gone. Today, companies prepare specific strategies. They create a concept, often close to their business philosophy, and want to fulfill it. Personally, I think this is the right path. Each company can find an appropriate strategy in coherence with its business and one that may bring general benefit to the public.” This is very representative of CSR within not only Czech firms but within all firms operating within the region.

According to data presented by Bris, the consumer opinion on CSR within the Czech Republic is similar to that abroad. The article states that approximately 66% of Czech consumers are affected by a product or service provided by a socially responsible company. It was also estimated that 80% of employees consider social

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responsibility important. This data helps to support the claim of consumer opinion of CSR within the nation being strong.

The issue stated by Mr. Leukas about public preferences of CSR being focused on issues affecting the people of the Czech Republic were unfounded within the research our team was able to conduct. However, the positive research, that we did find, does not dismiss the possibility of the truth behind the statement. Further research, either through expert opinion or public survey or, ideally, both is recommended.

Fears:

While initiating communication with our desired interviewees, the team discussed the possibility of a fear of communicating about CSR policies. This prompted a search for the possible reasons a firm would fear discussing CSR with UNICEF.Interestingly our biggest aid in this matter was an article written by Mr. Tim Smedley about a study conducted by UNICEF - UK. This study was conducted shortly after the 2012 launch of the Children’s Right and Business Principles and is very similar to the initial scope of our study. The study canvassed UK companies in order to discoverexisting children’s rights CSR policies. Unfortunately, only 11% of firms rated children’s rights as a top CSR priority. The article states that the recent UNICEF foray into CSR could be overbearing for companies with an established CSR policy, thus causing ‘CSR-fatigue’ among businesses. The article also mentions that many firms define children’s rights as primary child labor, an issue which is addressed by their policies already. Outside of the article, our team feels that UNICEF, being associated with the United Nations, could possibly cause a firm to feel a certain pressure that they would not feel with other NGOs.

These are all issues that appear to be daunting but we will attempt to reconcile them within our recommendation.CSR of targeted companies:

Without our desired primary data, the team resorted to examining CSR policies of the seven wish listed brands as communicated on their websites. The team researched their primary focus, relation to children’s rights, a recommendation, and reason for lack of data. All the data was found on each business’ website and taken from the “Apparel in Czech Republic” database article.

F & Fo Primary Cause Focus: Fair Trade, Environment, Work Conditions

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o Children’s Rights Mentions: “In 2009 we launched the sell-out 'Buy One, Give One' range, in which we donated a school uniform to a child in Kenya for every school uniform bought by our UK customers. 12,000 children received sparkling new school uniforms through the scheme. In 2009/10 we developed or improved creche facilities for our key suppliers in Bangladesh. The crèches have allowed workers to make childcare arrangements so they can go to work, while their children have a high standard of care. Donating money to Birth Defects Foundation (BDF)”

o Recommendation & Reasoning: The F & F brand controls the largest share in the Czech market at 5.5% as of 2012. Being a brand under the Tesco portfolio may limit them to only working under a large corporate CSR policy. Further research should be investigated in order to determine if CSR is decided outside of Tesco corporate. It is recommended that the brand be screened and approached due to share size and previous projects.

o Interview Status: No Response C & A

o Primary Cause Focus: Sustainable Environment (Water), Work Conditionso Children’s Rights Mentions: "For more than ten years now, C&A has now

been working very closely together with the child welfare organization Terre des Hommes. Thanks to our joint efforts, we have succeeded in largely eliminating child labor from clothing factories in the exporting companies based in Tirupur. A vocational training centre has been built to give young people alternatives to turn to, teach them reading, writing and maths and train them in various trades."

o Recommendation & Reasoning: C & A is the second largest holder of Czech Market share in 2012 at 3.8%. With an intense focus on children labor within their existing policy, it would benefit UNICEF to further research the firm in order to determine if the business fit.

o Interview Status: Denied Request Mango

o Primary Cause Focus: Environment, Sustainable Developmento Children’s Rights Mentions: Mango's primary CSR focus is on the

environmental impact of their supply chain. No mention of real focus towards children.

o Recommendation & Reasoning: Mango is open to CSR policy assessment. Recently started producing children's clothing and may be interested in cause related marketing to promote itself. Recommend light research to determine if environmental policy has children’s rights principles within.

o Interview Status: No Response Next

o Primary Cause Focus: Ethical Suppliers, Workplace Safety, Safe Products

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o Children’s Rights Mentions: Clear and open CSR communication, but no direct mention of work or focus on children’s rights.

o Recommendation & Reasoning: Next has very little share within the Czech market. Since the brand is not highly recognized and has very little to no focus on a children’s rights principle, further research is not recommended

o Interview Status: No Response Nike

o Primary Cause Focus: Sustainability, Environment, Communityo Children’s Rights Mentions: “The Nike Foundation, a separate 501(c) 3

nonprofit organization fueled primarily by NIKE, the NoVo Foundation, and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) – is dedicated to investing in girls as the most powerful force for positive change on the planet. When an adolescent girl – before she’s married, pregnant, or HIV-positive – has access to education, sport and adult mentorship she can develop the life skills necessary to support herself and others around her, making the Girl Effect a solution for poverty, not just a cure for its symptoms = empower adolescent girls in the developing world, and support the communities in which we live, work and play. Through work such as the Girl Declaration – informed by more than 500 girls in more than a dozen countries, and by experts from 25 of the world's leading development organizations – we are putting forth a call to action to put girls at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda.”

o Recommendation & Reasoning: While Nike has a focus on female youth in their CSR policy, the existence of the international firm's own 501(c) 3 may hinder a partnership with UNICEF unless a mutual agreement on disbursement of raised funds can be reached if fundraising. With the size of this brand, the probability of a universal global CSR policy, and existence of its own NPO we do not recommend partnership until further screening and research is conducted.

o Interview Status: No Response (email), Denied (in-person) Alpine Pro

o Primary Cause Focus: None Communicatedo Children’s Rights Mentions: N/Ao Recommendation & Reasoning: Czech Headquartered company that

specializes in the retail of outdoor active wear. Ranked 21st in Czech market share in the apparel industry, which places them near the top of Czech based clothing companies. For a Czech company that rates so highly, screening and communication is recommended. Could shape core CSR policy.  

o Interview Status: No Response Piccollo

o Primary Cause Focus: None Communicatedo Children’s Rights Mentions: N/A

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o Recommendation & Reasoning: Czech company that started in importing brands focused on child products and now has own storefronts and brands. Without clear communication of possible CSR policy, further research is recommended in order to determine possibility of partnership. Recommend begin screening and communication. Possibility of shaping CSR policy.

o Interview Status: No Response

Industry Analysis:The Czech retail clothing industry is an industry that has suffered stagnation in

recent years due to the 2008 financial crisis. The Czech consumers responded by cutting their discretionary spending at first but as the strength of the Czech currency seems to be stabilizing recently, the industry is forecasted to rise 7% by the year 2017 (“Apparel”). Existing companies are trying to find an edge over their competition which has continued to increase in the last couple of years, especially with firms from outside the country.

One of the things that set companies apart is their CSR policies. A strong and relevant policy can promote a firm’s social responsibility to an eager and socially mindful Czech market. This, in turn, could increase market and lead to increases in sales. Of the four CSR strategies mentioned by Galbreath, it appears that the reciprocal strategy would be the most favorable for firms. This is also evident in the first interview with Amway. Czech firms may be more inclined to promote CSR more heavily if they saw a correlation with an increase in profits.

It is no coincidence that all five of the top market share companies have extensive CSR policies that help set them apart from the competition. CSR policies are extremely beneficial to the clothing industry because the costs are relatively low compared to the benefits garnered.

The industry is seen as a prime market for NGOs like UNICEF due to the industry’s target markets, women, whose spending power within the industry is greater than that of men. Firstly, women are more likely to be moved by a cause and more inclined to donate than men do. Secondly, causes that benefit children generally align better with women’s moral values (Women Give). Consequently, the retail clothing industry gives UNICEF a unique opportunity in that its cause could appeal to women, who are at the same time the primary consumers for the clothing industry. UNICEF’s mission could more easily be absorbed by a more responsive audience.At the same time, the cooperation with UNICEF could be seen as more attractive within the given industry.

Competitor Analysis:

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It is hard to determine what would classify as a competitor to UNICEF. Being that it is such a large organization, not many NGOs could compete on size and resources. With this in mind, we determined that the information received from the interview from Amway and M&S should be considered. The mention of small, Czech-centric NGOs and privately organized fundraisers within the interviews and through our own secondary company research seem to be the primary siphons of mindshare from UNICEF efforts.These smaller organizations see more success on local and regional levels. This supports the suggestion that the Czech market prefers causes positioned ‘closer to home’. The following excerpt from a report found on www.ngonorway.com supports the position that smaller organizations see more success: the “Mobilization role of Czech NGOs can be considered satisfactory mainly on local and regional levels where NGOs are actively engaged in the life of their community, protection of citizens' rights and education for active citizenship. On the national level, for various reasons [the] NGO mobilization role is still inappropriately developed and lacking efficiency. Persisting problems include inability to achieve consensus within the sector, competition and rivalry over influence and financial resources, or lack of free capacity of NGOs to deal with issues present throughout the sector. For these reasons, the non-profit sector is still quite a weak player when it comes to lobbying for legislation changes or mobilization of citizens.”

Further research on competitor analysis by UNICEF is highly recommended.

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RecommendationThrough our primary and secondary data research, the team has formulated

several recommendations going forward. It should be noted that, due to the lack of instrument responses, these recommendations are purely anecdotal.

The primary recommendation is formulated in response to the interview data collected and the secondary data. The team believes that the preference of the Czech market is for charities and causes that focus locally and regionally. UNICEF’s nature does not reflect that belief in the market’s opinion. The two interviewed partners mirror this idea that they see more activity on drives focused locally.

Thus, we recommend UNICEF to focus on bettering integrated communication within the Czech Republic on local causes and issues the organization effects. This will assist UNICEF in strengthening its positive brand image within the Czech market. Example of changes could be in internal marketing to partnered firms, advertising local issues on licensing, or external communications to the Czech market through campaigns or adverts.

Our secondary recommendation is based on the secondary data of the wish listed businesses. Out of the seven firms, we strongly recommend approaching both Czech based companies: Alpine Pro and Piccollo, as there is a possibility (no CSR communication found) that UNICEF could help form their CSR policy if it does not already exist. Alpine Pro is also one of the top Czech companies in market share at 0.2% as of 2012. Their brand recognition will help UNICEF relate their message more easily and could show the market a more locally focused aspect of UNICEF.

F & F as well as C & A should also be approached and screened as their existing CSR policies contain aspects of UNICEF’s principles. These two firms also control the largest market share within the Czech Republic and would greatly increase the audience for UNICEF’s message.

Our final recommendation is to continue the initial scope of this study. A similar study conducted in Belarus and the surrounding eastern nations shows a slightly varied structure (Diskienė). This study in Belarus initially researched the communicated CSR policies of chosen companies. This was followed by the administration of a survey instrument to the firms and finally interviews with CSR experts to understand the integration of CSR within the country.

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To conclude, our work within this study can be continued in a similar manner in order to acquire less anecdotal and more objective data. We recommend that our industry choices be further researched under the same criteria that UNICEF uses for screening potential partners, the created and attached instruments be adjusted and used accordingly, and a slightly longer timeframe be implemented in order to gather information on a larger sample of industry specific members.

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Work Cited● Mesch, Debra. Women Give 2010. New Research about Women and

Giving. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2014.

● Bris, Petr, Jiri Svoboda, and Hana Brisova. "The Growing Importance of the Practical Application of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Management of Companies in the Czech Republic." Journal of Competitiveness 5.2 (2013): 124-38. Web. 25 June 2014.

● Hanousek, Jan, Evžen Kočenda, and Katarína Svítková. "Corporate Philanthropy in the Czech and Slovak Republics." Czech Journal of Economics and Finance 2.60 (2010): 102-21. Web. 25 June 2014.

● Diskienė, Danuta, and Daria Krapchilo. "Corporate Social Responsibility Strategic Implementation in Foreign Market: Global vs Local Policy." Ekonomika 91.1 (2012): 118-31. Web.

● Smedley, Tim. "Children's Rights Not a Top CSR Priority, Unicef Research Reveals." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 June 2014.

● "CSR Summit 2013: Different Views on Responsible Business." English Summary. Trans. Petr Benda. N.p., 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 June 2014.

● "Apparel in Czech Republic." Passport GMID. Euromonitor International, 23 July 2013. Web. 26 June 2014.

<http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/Portal/Pages/Search/SearchResultsList.aspx>.

● Galbreath, J. (2006). Corporate social responsibility strategy: strategic options, global considerations. Corporate Governance, Vol. 6 issue 2, p. 175–187.

● Volynsky, Masha. "In Focus Czechs Increasingly Charitable despite Economic Woes." Radio Prague. N.p., 01 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 June 2014.

● "Czech Republic NGO Programme 09-14." www.ngonorway.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2014.

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● "Clothing at Tesco | Ethics." Clothing at Tesco | Ethics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2014.

● "Report." C&A. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2014.

● "FAQ's." FAQ's. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2014.

● Report to the Legislature, January 15, 2005. Augusta, Me.: Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, 2005. Web. 26 June 2014.

● "NIKE, Inc. Sustainable Business." NIKE, Inc. -. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2014.

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Appendix 1

Dear Potential Client,We are a part of VCU and AAU international consulting program

and currently undertaking a research project Gaps and Opportunities: Industry CSR Study for UNICEF Czech Republic. Our project examines information about the retail clothing market in relation to corporate social responsibility. The aim of the study is to use the information in order to improve the marketing strategy of UNICEF to best penetrate this market in the Czech Republic. We address you as an expert on CSR or someone in our target market (Retail Clothing) in hope that you would be interested in participating in this project.

With respect to this, we would like you to take part in an interview that inquires about your company’s view and understanding of CSR and takes approximately 30 minutes. Your participation is completely voluntary. Before we start, we would like you to sign our consent form which will allow us to quote you for our report.

If you would like a copy of our report it will be available after 30 June, 2014.

Thank you for considering participating in this study. Should you have any question about our project, please reach us at bakbrevikjj@vcu.edu.

Joshua Bak-BrevikBryan DaultonDenisa Matsche

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Appendix 2

Consent formGaps and Opportunities: Industry CSR Study for UNICEF

I, (please print name) ___________________, have read the information about the research project Gaps and Opportunities: Industry CSR Study for UNICEF. This is to be conducted by Joshua Bak-Brevik, Bryan Daulton, Denisa Matsche from the Anglo American University and Virginia Commonwealth University, and all queries have been answered to my satisfaction.

I understand that I can withdraw from this project at any time without reason or penalty. Upon my request my responses will be confidential and any documentation will be destroyed once the project is completed. My identity will not be revealed without my consent to anyone other than the investigator conducting the project.

______________ ______________Date Signature

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4

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Appendix 5

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