CSR AGENDA

CSR Agenda

Table of Contents

CSR Agenda4

Introduction4

Study Background5

Discussion8

Evolution of CSR Agenda9

CSR Images: Motivations and Content12

References17

Executive Summary

Over the past few years, businesses and academic researchers alike have displayed increased levels of enthusiasm for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, recent research suggests that CSR may be an excellent instrument to enhance the legitimacy of the firm among its stakeholders and to develop positive social responsibility images. Accordingly, some studies have started to investigate how businesses use communications to highlight their commitment to CSR. To date, the view of CSR as an instrument to legitimize and market the firm has been investigated mainly in North America. As a result, little is known about the desirability and content of CSR images in other nations. Against this backdrop, the present study examines how businesses in four countries communicate about CSR in their web pages.

CSR Agenda

Introduction

While the subject of social responsibility received some attention prior to the 1960s, it was society's concern with social issues in those years that made the concept of social responsibility of major importance to business organizations (De George, 1985). The years from 1960 to 1970 were years of sweeping social change that affected businesses and management. The concern about civil rights for minorities, equal rights for women, protection of the physical environment, safety and health in the workplace, and a broad array of consumer issues has had far-reaching impacts on business organizations. The long-term effect of this social change has been a dramatic change in the “rules of the game” by which business is expected to operate.

The concept of social responsibility thus came into its own during this period of time as a response to the changing social values of society. Business executives began to talk about the social responsibilities of business, and to develop specific social programs in response to problems of a social, rather than economic, nature. Schools of business implemented new courses in business and society, or in the social responsibilities of business. Some schools even developed doctoral programs in the area. Many articles and books were written exploring the meaning of social responsibility and its importance to business organizations.

There are many definitions of social responsibility but, in general, it means that a private corporation has responsibilities to society that go beyond the production of goods and services at a profit. It involves the idea that a corporation has a broader constituency to serve than that of stockholders alone, and, in more recent years, the term stakeholders has been widely used to express this broader set of responsibilities. The concept also means that corporations relate to society through more than just marketplace transactions and serve a wider range of values than the traditional economic values that are prevalent in the marketplace. Corporations are more than economic institutions; they have a responsibility to help society to solve pressing social problems, many of which corporations helped to cause, by devoting resources to the solution of these problems.

Study Background

In spite of the many definitions of CSR advanced in past research ...