The conceptual developments of the corporate social responsibility notion

Abstract

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) notion has been wrought from distinctive theories and approaches. Several well-founded CSR perspectives have resulted from either academic debates or multi-stakeholder fora including business, intergovernmental organisations and non-profit organisations on social and environmental issues. The earliest contributors on the subject had repeatedly associated CSR with discretionary investments in philanthropy, stewardship principles and business ethics. Yet, the emerging theoretical underpinnings are increasingly reiterating on the business case for CSR. Therefore, the methodology involved the textual analysis of relevant conceptual and empirical contributions in order to explain the processes by which many actors and drivers have moved beyond the descriptive cataloguing of data toward critical and creative theorising. Hence, this research reports on the numerous constructs that have often been transformed and adapted to better reflect the challenging realities and contexts. In conclusion, it clarifies that there are implications for business practitioners; as CSR engagement is moving away from ‘nice-to-do’ to ‘doing-well-by-doing-good’ mantra.