"[This book is a] tool for in-house and outside counsel to help their companies, firms, and clients develop effective CSR programs. The book includes discussions on governance and sustainability, community relations, environmental matters, reporting, stakeholder engagement, aboriginal rights, labor and supply chain practices, and more."--
In a dramatic departure from its voluntary origins, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly shifting to hold multinational companies accountable for more than traditional shareholder performance. This CSR movement is embracing new environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks that both promote global sustainability goals and enhance accountability for negative impacts businesses can have on ‘planet and people’. This collection of essays by leading businesspeople, international civil servants, legal practitioners, academics, and other experts offers a forward-looking and pragmatic perspective that illuminates the major themes in this movement towards increasingly sustainable, transparent and accountable business practices. The collection shows how CSR has evolved to account for societal pressures, environmental, climate change and human rights impacts, international policy imperatives and the practical challenges of regulating commercial activity that transcends borders. The chapters offer an in-depth examination of current issues including: international frameworks and multistakeholder initiatives catalysing foundational change; the shifting emphasis on corporate imperatives to avoid harm to third parties; trends in CSR, focused on assuring the planet's future sustainability and social stability; regulatory initiatives around the globe, including Europe, North America, Asia and Africa; and extended accountability for activities of corporate group members and supply chains. The pressure and business case for companies to incorporate CSR into corporate governance is intensifying with each quarter, shareholder meeting, and regulatory agenda. The integration of CSR and new ESG frameworks into multinational corporate strategy and operations is key to sustainable business models that can generate long-term value for the organization and all stakeholders. Their acceptance as cornerstones of 21st century business practice appears inevitable. Taking full account of the imperative for companies and their lawyers to grapple with the practical and legal challenges in this area, this volume is an invaluable and pragmatic addition to the practitioners’ toolbox at this important juncture in an ever-more dynamic field.
With social and digital media reshaping the way business is conducted, and the number of companies embracing the new social medium, this book revisits CSR practices from a digital perspective. The volume explores the impact and influence of the new 'social' on responsibility and its feasibility, measurability and success in a boundary-less world.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) expresses a fundamental morality in the way a company behaves toward society. It follows ethical behavior toward stakeholders and recognizes the spirit of the legal and regulatory environment. The idea of CSR gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s with the expansion of large conglomerate corporations and became a popular subject in the 1980s with R. Edward Freeman's Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach and the many key works of Archie B. Carroll, Peter F. Drucker, and others. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008–2010, CSR has again become a focus for evaluating corporate behavior. First published in 1953, Howard R. Bowen’s Social Responsibilities of the Businessman was the first comprehensive discussion of business ethics and social responsibility. It created a foundation by which business executives and academics could consider the subjects as part of strategic planning and managerial decision-making. Though written in another era, it is regularly and increasingly cited because of its relevance to the current ethical issues of business operations in the United States. Many experts believe it to be the seminal book on corporate social responsibility. This new edition of the book includes an introduction by Jean-Pascal Gond, Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility at Cass Business School, City University of London, and a foreword by Peter Geoffrey Bowen, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, who is Howard R. Bowen's eldest son.
CSR encompasses broad questions about the changing relationship between business, society, and government. An authoritative review of the academic research that has both prompted, and responded to, these issues, the text provides clear thinking and perspectives on CSR and the debates around it.
The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often used in the boardroom, classroom, and political platform, but what does it really mean? Do corporations have ethical or philanthropic duties beyond their obligations to comply with the law? How does CSR relate to business ethics, stakeholder management, sustainability, and corporate citizenship? Mark Schwartz provides a concise, cutting-edge introduction to the topic, analyzing many case studies with the help of his innovative “Three Domain Approach” to CSR. Corporate Social Responsibility also provides a chronology of landmark contributions to the concept of CSR and includes CSR resources on organizations, global codes and criteria, corporate CSR reports, and websites and blogs. It is an invaluable resource for students, instructors, and business leaders looking to master the basics of CSR.
Much has been said about the general subject [of how to measure a corporation's social performance] but little has been contributed to answering this fundamental question. Thus, in November 1971, Russell Sage Foundation sponsored a development effort aimed at examining the "state-of-the-art" and at suggesting a program of research that would advance that state. "Raymond Bauer and Dan Fenn have provided us with a first product—a state-of-the-art conception and description, and recommendations for future development. They are to be commended for their astute considerations and their clear thinking in the murky pond of corporate social audits. Their effort has provided the social science community with a point of departure for future research in the area."—Eleanor Bernert Sheldon A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation's Social Science Frontiers Series
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a buzzword in management today. And yet, skepticism often prevails, as CSR is often associated with traditional philanthropic practices enabling companies to greenwash their unethical social and environmental practices. This book offers a fresh view on today's CSR from both historical and geographical perspectives. Exploring its roots and theoretical developments in the US, the author then focuses on how CSR has spread across the world, first in Europe and later in the developing world. An updated overview of today's CSR agenda is provided with a focus on four key issues: stakeholder inclusion, employee engagement and social dialogue, human rights and environmental sustainability. With the support of multiple cases and examples taken from various continents and industries, the book adopts a sustainability-driven perspective, based on the belief that the future of CSR lies in the strategic embeddeness of key issues into the company's value chain. Finally, the book attempts to draw the contours of tomorrow's CSR by proposing a new terminology reflecting the current evolution of CSR.
This unique supplemental text offers a well-structured and thorough introduction to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Author Brent D. Beal introduces the basic concept of CSR, briefly discusses the challenges of defining it, and summarizes important conceptual models. CSR is examined in the context of the perfect competition market model, market failure, and social dilemmas. Three different types of CSR—systemic, strategic, and philanthropic—are highlighted. Finally, arguments both for and against CSR are outlined and several conceptual frames are proposed. Readers are encouraged to think about what businesses should be responsible for in society and how a society’s economic system should be structured, bounded, and ultimately, controlled. This text is appropriate for any business course in which the introduction of CSR would complement other course content.
Here is the story of Corporate Social Responsibility---what it means, where it came from, where it is going, what it requires of business. Told in an eyewitness, I-was-there style by a pioneer of the study of CSR in the nation's business schools, it takes the reader through a half century of corporate scandals and fierce struggles over corporate ethics---from Ralph Nader's 1960s Campaign GM to today's white collar crimes at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and other Wall Street giants. It lays bare the values that drive corporate culture, explores the motivational depths of corporate strategy and policy, demonstrates how biological impulses can lead business decision makers astray, questions the relevance and ethical commitment of business school education, reveals the spiritual side of management life, and holds out hope that the New Millennium will see improvement in the ethical performance of business. William C. Frederick is one of the founders of the study of Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States and initiated some of the key concepts and analytic categories. His books include Business and Society, Social Auditing, and Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation. He was president of The Society for Business Ethics and The Society for Advancement of Socio-Economics, and chaired the Social Issues in Management division of The Academy of Management. He conducted studies of management education in Spain, Italy, Egypt, Yugoslavia, Ecuador, Nigeria, and Australia, and designed and taught programs for executives in U. S. corporations. He was dean of the business schools at the University of Kansas City and the University of Pittsburgh. He received a PhD in economics and anthropology from the University of Texas. Corporation, Be Good draws on the author's half-century of thinking about the social and ethical responsibilities of the modern corporation.
