The CSR Perception of Front-line Employees of Luxury Fashion Businesses

Abstract Background and Purpose: The sustainability projected into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is pivotal for luxury fashion businesses and they heavily refer to it. However, do their front-line employees follow this trend? To achieve an effective and efficient CSR, the front-line employees have to share the CSR perception advanced by their businesses. The main objective of the study is to discover, critically assess and compare the CSR perception of the front-line employees of the top luxury fashion industry businesses located in Prague, Czech Republic. Design/Methodology/Approach: An investigative case study of the CSR approach of such employees of all ten top luxury fashion businesses in Prague is performed while using a holistic Meta-Analysis, a manual Delphi method and three rounds of interviews, along with mystery shopping techniques. Results: The heterogenous conglomerate of data reveals: (i) problematic awareness of these employees, (ii) their ignorance of the legal setting, (iii) an imbalance and preferential focus, along with ignorance of certain CSR categories, (iv) direct and indirect contradictions and (v) a preoccupation with the fur issue. Conclusions: This alarming inconsistencies and ambiguity have strong implications for both science and practice, they call for more studies, a deeper understanding of causes and a prompt correction in order to make the CSR perception of these important inside stakeholders be in line with expectations.