Corporate Social Respinsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Orlando)

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the much debated topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The concept of CSR is generally agreed to be the set of actions of a firm that go beyond serving its pursuit for profit and requirements set forth by the law. While several companies have taken the initiative and committed themselves the betterment of society, they struggle with this effort. We go on to examine the various theories that have lent themselves to the development of the concept of CSR as it exists today and further elaborate strategic choices that a company has and global considerations for the same. This review of literature is then extended to application in a business setting and the benefits of well-conceived CSR strategies are presented.

Keywords: Corporate Social Strategy (CSR), shareholders, stakeholders

Corporate Social Responsibility

The corporate world is facing the notion of corporate social responsibility everywhere it turns these days (Dahlsrud, 2008). That corporate executives and managers should balance the interests of all stakeholders- shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the communities in which they operate and society at large- is a concept that has found its place in formal writings in the United States since the 1950’s and has been continually evolving since then (Carroll,1999). McWilliams & Siegel 2001 defines CSR as the set of actions or initiatives of a firm that go beyond the interests of the firm and those required by the law to further some social good. Thompson, Strickland & Gamble 2010 describes the essence of socially responsible behavior as a balancing of strategic actions to benefit shareholders against the duty to be a good corporate citizen. CSR as applied to a business thus concerns a company’s duty to operate in an honorable manner by being accountable for management decisions and actions and how they...