Dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Critical Approach to Theory and Practice: An Introduction

Abstract

That Corporate Social Responsibility has dynamically reoriented the global corporate scene, the global economy, the way corporate entities are managed and run by corporate executives, the realisation that all classes of stakeholder are important to corporate survival, the way we treat the environment and process our wastes over the last 30 or so years cannot be denied. The bar of responsibility has continued to be raised day in day out, basically because as we continue to innovate, new things come to our consciousness every time. Several factors have been responsible for this dynamic transformation which the world has experienced and continue to experience in this regard. It became apparent to us all that many of the financially and socially irresponsible actions which the old capitalist systems perhaps; unintentionally brought unto the corporate arena were unsustainable and damaging to humanity. It also became glaringly clear that many corporate and individual actions taken either consciously or subconsciously had high environmental, human, social and financial costs. This realisation has led to a number of advancements with regard to how corporate social responsibility is perceived and practiced in most economies of the world and we conduct the day to day running of business.