Skip to main content

The Role of CSR in International Policy Agendas

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Rethinking Business Responsibility in a Global Context

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

Abstract

This chapter provides a short introduction into CSR and offers an overview of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These are subsequently linked to the private sector and its responsibilities. This chapter ends with some thoughts on the general nature of CSR as voluntary versus obligatory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Boatright, J. R. (1997). Ethics and the conduct of business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brecher, J., Costello, T., & Smith, B. (2000). Globalization from below: The power of solidarity. Cambridge: South End Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, J. M., Crosby, B. C., & Stone, M. M. (2015). Designing and implementing cross-sector collaborations: Needed and challenging. Public Administration Review, 75(5), 647–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B. (1979). A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate social performance. The Academy of Management Review, 4, 497–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34, 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B., & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 85–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, J., & Esteban, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility and employee commitment. Business Ethics: A European Review, 16(1), 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, A., Palazzo, G., Spence, L. J., & Matten, D. (2014). Contesting the value of “creating shared value”. California Management Review, 56(2), 130–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahan, N. M., Doh, J. P., Oetzel, J., & Yaziji, M. (2010). Corporate-NGO collaboration: Co-creating new business models for developing markets. Long Range Planning, 43(2–3), 326–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, T., & Walsh, J. P. (2015). Toward a theory of business. Research in Organizational Behavior, 35, 181–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dyllick, T., & Muff, K. (2016). Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization and Environment, 29(2), 156–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkington, J. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-win-win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(2), 90–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Vancouver: New Society Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2011). A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for corporate social responsibility. Accessed May 17, 2019, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/com/com_com(2011)0681_/com_com(2011)0681_en.pdf

  • Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L., & De Colle, S. (2010). Stakeholder theory: The state of the art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times, pp. 32–33, 122–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gapframe. (n.d.). A safe space for all of us. Gapframe: Global goals relevant for every nation & business. Accessed June 4, 2019, from http://gapframe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Visual-comparison-SDGs-and-Gap-Frame_final-1.pdf

  • Global Reporting Initiative. (2013). G4 sustainability reporting guidelines. Reporting principles and standards disclosures. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRIG4-Part1-Reporting-Principles-and-Standard-Disclosures.pdf

  • Goodpaster, K. (1998). Business ethics. In G. L. Cooper & C. Argyris (Eds.), The concise Blackwell encyclopedia of management (pp. 56–60). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajer, M., Nilsson, M., Raworth, K., Bakker, P., Berkhout, F., de Boer, Y., et al. (2015). Beyond cockpit-ism: Four insights to enhance the transformative potential of the sustainable development goals. Sustainable Forestry, 7(2), 1651–1660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B. W. (2015). Corporate social responsibility practice from 1800–1914: Past initiatives and current debates. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(1), 125–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization. (2010). ISO 26000:2010(en). Guidance on social responsibility. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:26000:ed-1:v1:en

  • Jamali, D. (2006). Insights into triple bottom line integration from a learning organization perspective. Business Process Management Journal, 12(6), 809–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R. (2005). Globalization, corporate social responsibility and poverty. International Affairs, 81(3), 525–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeble, B. R. (1988). The Brundtland report: ‘Our common future’. Medicine and War, 4(1), 17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolk, A. (2005). Environmental issues and the MNE. Research in Global Strategic Management, 11, 147–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kudłak, R., Szőcs, I., Krumay, B., & Martinuzzi, A. (2018). The future of CSR – Selected findings from a Europe-wide Delphi study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 183, 282–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucci, P. (2012). Post-2015 MDGs: What role for business? Overseas Development Institute. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/7702.pdf

  • Macdonald, K. (2011). Re-thinking “spheres of responsibility”: Business responsibility for indirect harm. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(4), 549–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maon, F., Lindgreen, A., & Swaen, V. (2009). Designing and implementing corporate social responsibility: An integrative framework grounded in theory and practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(1), 71–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire, J. (1963). Business and society. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Monshipouri, M., Welch, C. E., Jr., & Kennedy, E. T. (2003). Multinational corporations and the ethics of global responsibility: Problems and possibilities. Human Rights Quarterly, 25(4), 965–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moon, J. (2007). The contribution of corporate social responsibility to sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 15(5), 296–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muff, K., Kapalka, A., & Dyllick, T. (2017). The Gap Frame – translating the SDGs into relevant national grand challenges for strategic business opportunities. The International Journal of Management Education, 15(2), 363–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society. The links between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), 78–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value. How to reinvent capitalism – and unleash a wave of innovation and growth. Harvard Business Review, 89(1–2), 62–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • PRME. (2018). PRME – Principles for responsible management education. Accessed May 17, 2019, from http://www.unprme.org/

  • RRBM. (2018). Responsible research for business and management. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.rrbm.network/

  • Sachs, J. D. (2012). From millennium development goals to sustainable development goals. Lancet, 379(9832), 2206–2211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkar, S., & Searcy, C. (2016). Zeitgeist or chameleon? A quantitative analysis of CSR definitions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, 1423–1435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, A. G., & Palazzo, G. (2007). Toward a political conception of corporate responsibility: Business and society seen from a Habermasian perspective. The Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1096–1120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheyvens, R., Banks, G., & Hughes, E. (2016). The private sector and the SDGs: The need to move beyond “business as usual”. Sustainable Development, 24(6), 371–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Szőcs, I. (2015). Corporate philanthropy and ethicality: Two opposing notions? In A. Nill (Ed.), Handbook on ethics and marketing (pp. 317–354). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehy, B. (2015). Defining CSR: Problems and solutions. Journal of Business Ethics, 131(3), 625–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sridhar, K., & Jones, G. (2013). The three fundamental criticisms of the Triple Bottom Line approach: An empirical study to link sustainability reports in companies based in the Asia-Pacific region and TBL shortcomings. Asian Journal of Business Ethics, 2(1), 91–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stadtler, L. (2016). Scaling up tripartite social partnerships: Insights from the becoming perspective on change. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 63, 96–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (2002). Johannesburg declaration on sustainable development. World Summit on Sustainable Development. Accessed May 17, 2019, from http://www.un-documents.net/jburgdec.htm

  • United Nations. (2011). Guiding principles on business and human rights. Implementing the United Nations “protect, respect and remedy” framework. Accessed May 30, 2019, from https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf

  • United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations General Assembly. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E

  • United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainable development goals. Accessed May 17, 2019, from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals

  • United Nations Global Compact. (2013). Corporate sustainability and the United Nations post-2015 development agenda. Perspectives from UN Global Compact participants on global priorities and how to engage business towards sustainable development goals. Report to the United Nations secretary-general. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://de.scribd.com/document/155511653/UNGC-Post2015-Report

  • United Nations Global Compact. (2014). The role of business and finance in supporting the post-2015 agenda. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/news_events/9.6/Post2015_WhitePaper_2July14.pdf

  • Van der Byl, C. A., & Slawinski, N. (2015). Embracing tensions in corporate sustainability: A review of research from win-wins and trade-offs to paradoxes and beyond. Organization and Environment, 28(1), 54–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: Between agency and communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(2–3), 95–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waddock, S. (2004). Parallel universes: Companies, academics, and the progress of corporate citizenship. Business and Society Review, 109(1), 5–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warhurst, A. (2005). Future roles of business in society: The expanding boundaries of corporate responsibility and a compelling case for partnership. Futures, 37(2–3), 151–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Meeting changing expectations. Geneva: World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Business Council for Sustainable Development. (2013). Measuring socio-economic impact. A guide for business. Accessed May 17, 2019, from https://www.wbcsd.org/Programs/People/Social-Impact/Resources/WBCSD-Measuring-Impact

  • Yu, X. (2008). Impacts of corporate code of conduct on labor standards: A case study of Reebok’s athletic footwear supplier factory in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(3), 513–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilona Szőcs .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Szőcs, I., Schlegelmilch, B.B. (2020). The Role of CSR in International Policy Agendas. In: Schlegelmilch, B.B., Szőcs, I. (eds) Rethinking Business Responsibility in a Global Context. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34261-6_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics