Developing a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy in India using the SA 8000 standard

In today’s global markets, issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility have greater importance on business performance, and international standards are defined as tools for companies to internalize their sustainability requests. The aim of this paper is to understand how the Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000) standard is managed by developing countries, focusing on Indian certified companies, analyzing, in detail, of the motivations and benefits that prompted them to certification and barriers to its implementation. The research is based on a qualitative multiple case study. A total number of six companies participated in the research. The study showed that one of the main reasons for Indian companies of being SA 8000 certified is the willingness to satisfy the request for greater transparency on the part of stakeholders and the market in general. The study shows that by certifying SA 8000,Indiantextilecompanieswanttobepromotersofamoresustainableandethical way of doing business. The value of the research lies in the decision to focus on the Indian market, and in the textile sector, since India is the first country with the largest number of SA 8000 certified companies among developing countries and its textile industry is relevant all around the world.