Corporate social responsibility orientated strategy of a swiss mountain dairy farm and its cheese dairy: a longitudinal case study

The main strategic thrust of the case study dairy farm in a mountain region of Switzerland producing milk of first-class quality as a basis for cheese specialties produced at the village cheese dairy. The main strategic goal of the case study cheese dairy in the region is producing cheese specialties with milk produced in the region by family farms working with local resources and traditional, ecology-orientated production systems. In this way there is created a close integration between the value chains of the cheese manufacturer and its farms to contribute to economic value added in the region. The consciously chosen, SWOT-based strategies, implemented rigorously with the Balanced Scorecard approach, are successful for the case study organic farm as well as its cheese dairy in the village. Based on the Controlling process ten years after the strategic planning, it can be shown that these strategies are orientated towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR focuses on economic, ecological and social sustainability and offers in this way interesting entrepreneurial perspectives for dairy farms and cheese dairies in mountain regions of Switzerland.