Corporate social responsibility has grown into a global phenomenon that encompasses businesses, consumers, governments, and civil society, and many organizations have adopted its discourse. Yet corporate social responsibility remains an uncertain and poorly defined ambition, with few absolutes. First, the issues that organizations must address can easily be interpreted to include virtually everyone and everything. Second, with their unique, often particular characteristics, different stakeholder groups tend to focus only on specific issues that they believe are the most appropriate and relevant in organizations' corporate social responsibility programs. Thus, beliefs about what constitutes a socially responsible and sustainable organization depend on the perspective of the stakeholder. Third, in any organization, the beliefs of organizational members about their organization's social responsibilities vary according to their function and department, as well as their own managerial fields of knowledge. A Stakeholder Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility provides a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research that can lead to a more multifaceted understanding of corporate social responsibility in its various forms, the pressures and conflicts that result from these different understandings, and some potential solutions for reconciling them.

Corporate social performance has come of age. In a business environment characterized by its perpetual state of flux, the ability to recognize and react to global forces becomes paramount. The fallout of such rapid change - the fast-paced developments in communications and technology, the continual change to global markets, shifting demographics, the homogenization of personal values - have all contributed to the widespread new interest in issues such as ecology and environment, human rights and diversity, health and well-being, and communities. All of these issues are now potential liabilities for companies, and are very much back on the agenda for business. Once regarded as peripheral management concerns, they are now recognized as hard to predict and hard for business to deal with when they go wrong. This book offers an insight into how corporate social performance can be measured and why this is an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. Using detailed case studies, it provides readers with the foundations for understanding and applying corporate social performance, providing a stakeholder framework by which corporate social performance can be measured, alongside a detailed consideration of the value of different stakeholder measures. The book also applies this framework to new social accounting standards, enabling the reader to consider the validity and appropriateness of these standards. The increasingly important role of the internet for corporate social reporting is also considered.

This unique collection of international papers integrates CSR theory, research and practice. The book examines the challenges of regulating and reporting CSR application, exploring issues concerning all agencies involved. Recommendations for performance enhancement are complimented by insightful enterprise and case studies on CSR sustainability.

This book shows how companies can maximize the value of their CR initiatives by fostering strong stakeholder relationships.

Blending theory with practical application, this comprehensive text supports courses at the intersection of corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate strategy, and public policy. Part I provides an overview of the field, defining CSR and placing it in the context of wider corporate strategy. Part II contains chapters on CSR issues related to the organization, the economy, and society, and provides detailed case studies on a variety of well-known firms. Adopting a stakeholder perspective, the authors explore CSR issues within the complex global business environment in which corporations operate today.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) expresses a fundamental morality in the way a company behaves toward society. It follows ethical behavior toward stakeholders and recognizes the spirit of the legal and regulatory environment. The idea of CSR gained momentum in the late 1950s and 1960s with the expansion of large conglomerate corporations and became a popular subject in the 1980s with R. Edward Freeman's Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach and the many key works of Archie B. Carroll, Peter F. Drucker, and others. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008–2010, CSR has again become a focus for evaluating corporate behavior. First published in 1953, Howard R. Bowen’s Social Responsibilities of the Businessman was the first comprehensive discussion of business ethics and social responsibility. It created a foundation by which business executives and academics could consider the subjects as part of strategic planning and managerial decision-making. Though written in another era, it is regularly and increasingly cited because of its relevance to the current ethical issues of business operations in the United States. Many experts believe it to be the seminal book on corporate social responsibility. This new edition of the book includes an introduction by Jean-Pascal Gond, Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility at Cass Business School, City University of London, and a foreword by Peter Geoffrey Bowen, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, who is Howard R. Bowen's eldest son.

Re-issue of a foundational work in the field of business ethics from R. Edward Freeman.