Abstract

This chapter recounts the long, difficult path of a firm faced with a major crisis triggered by a radical low-cost production model that impacted employees’ working conditions. External pressure from trade unions, social movements, a major institutional investor as well as CSR standardization organizations led the firm away from its initial purely defensive approach toward major reforms that involved organizational learning and the integration of CSR. This shift entailed a change in leadership, the organizational transformation of the firm, a major change in practices, a better connection with the environment and the development of a CSR network that promoted the institutionalization of CSR within the company.