Corporate Social Responsibility Into The Future
A Review Of The Literature
Abstract
The discourse on CSR theory has gained a prominent position in general management literature because of societal issues including general unrest, high levels of insecurity, poverty and the backlash against globalization and big business. From a progressive stance, the field of CSR is a vibrant one that shows promising progression and variation. On the one hand, the developmental propensity of CSR is evident through the sanctioning of the CSR concept by transnational organizations and the comprehensive implementation of CSR practices in corporations. On the other hand, the literature developed extensively from its CST origins to the operationalization phase to modern micro-foundations.
The discussion undertakes an integrative perspective on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a progressive perspective on the literature. It is argued that while the cyclical nature of CSR is evident through a return to a focus on micro- foundations found in Bowen’s (1953) person-centric theory, the literature develops subsequently at new levels of analysis. It is further argued that the literature progressed through four stages from rationalization to operationalization as expressed by Henderson (2010) at the societal, institutional and individual levels of analysis.
Essential CSR concepts are discussed: the importance of CSR, terminology and literature development, catholic social teaching (CST), origins and context of modern corporate responsibility, foundational scholars, the contrarian argument, corporate social performance (CSP), stakeholder theory, corporate social responsiveness, rectitude and reason, corporate sustainability (CS), corporate citizenship (CC) and micro-CSR.
Author Biographies
Dr. Karina Ochis, Monarch Business School Switzerland
Dr. Karina Ochis holds the position of Professor of Management and Associate Dean of Student Development at Monarch Business School Switzerland. Prof. Ochis holds a Dual Doctorate Phd/Doctor of Applied Leadership and an MPhil in Business Research from Monarch Business School Switzerland. She also holds a Master of Arts in Political Marketing from the Rome Business School as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.
Dr. Ochis’ academic interests center around Multigenerational Management, Leadership, Personal Branding, Political Marketing, Virtual Reality and Succession Management. She is uniquely interested in managing inter-generational conflict for a better integration of the younger generational groups into the workforce.
Dr. Ochis is an accomplished public speaker having participated in many conferences and summits, including TEDx, Million Marketing Tour, The Romanian Academy of Economic Studies, 16th Fingerprint of Change Conference Istanbul, and The 5th Forum of Arab Trainers Union Cairo. Professor Ochis is a member of The US National Association of Experts, Writers and Speakers and the Arab Trainers Union. She is often interviewed in the popular and business press and has been featured in Entrepreneur and The Huffington Post.
Dr. Jeffrey Henderson, Monarch Business School Switzerland
Dr. Jeffrey Henderson holds the position of Professor of Business Ethics and Dean of the School. Dr. Henderson was an affiliate professor at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France and lecturer for real estate finance within the Faculty of Management at McGill University. Dr. Henderson holds a D.Phil. in Business Research from Monarch Business School, a Doctor of Political Economy from SMC University, a Doctorandus (Drs.) and MBA from Nijenrode University in The Netherlands as well as a Bachelor of Commerce with distinction from McGill University in Montreal.
Dr. Henderson has held Vice-President and managerial positions within the commercial real estate industry with Bentall Capital, Brookfield Properties, Kolter Properties, KPMG Canada LLP, and Reichmann International. His academic interest include: Corporate Social Responsibility, Real Estate Development, Austrian Economics and Catholic Social Theory.
