Central to the CSR debate is the notion of how society defines the role of business, and the resulting responsibilities. The classic roles and responsibilities assigned to business are to harness capital and other resources in production, to provide employment and meaningful jobs, to conduct research, development and innovation, to provide goods and services for sale, to create wealth for shareholders, employees, customers and society at large. (Fitzgerald and Cormack, 2011) These core, growth and profit motivated responsibilities do touch on some dimensions of CSR, but comparing these to the responsibilities endowed by CSR shows the amount of change necessary to move towards a socially responsible business model.
One extreme of the CSR debate, often referred to as the neo-classical or traditional conflict approach (Redman, 2005), argues that the only social responsibility of business is to increase profits (Friedman, 1970). The other end of the spectrum is what Redman terms the “true believers” (2005, 78) approach to CSR. This is where a firm has environmental and social commitments in place that are not profit motivated. However, true corporate altruism is rare with evidence suggesting that organisations are more likely to adopt an ‘enlightened self-interest’ approach to CSR (Porter and Kramer, 2006). This is an approach that ties socially responsible activities to profit making activities (Redman, 2005).
Enlightened self-interest has been one of the driving forces behind corporate responsibility in relation to the environment and utilization of scare resources. Inputs to production, from raw products to fossil fuels, are becoming scare and businesses have needed to adapt to these changes or risk extinction (Ashley and Crowther, 2012). So while environmental impacts are now of greater concern to business, it could be argued that this is more the survival of the business than a deliberately socially responsible endeavor (Ashley and Crowther, 2012).
At the same time, society now holds greater expectations of the business community (Scherer and Palazzo, 2011). With higher levels of education (for the most part) and thus knowledge, there is less of a tendency to believe the rhetoric of business. Ashley and Crowther argue that customers are not looking for perfection of business practices, but “the do expect honesty and transparency” (2012, pg.3).
The rise and rise of social media has also created a fast and ubiquitous means for people to call businesses to account for (perceived) socially irresponsible acts (Fitzgerald and Cormack, 2011). The media also has the ability to provide focus and extensive coverage on businesses who have engaged in dubious practices (Fitzgerald and Cormack, 2011). Companies who use third world (often slave) labour are being named and shamed, and forced to reassess their supply chain practices (Ashley and Crowther, 2012).
Despite these inroads, the last decade has seen examples where self-regulation and responsible corporate behaviour have failed spectacularly (Lynch-Wood et al, 2009), causing such events as the Global Financial Crisis. Few, if any, parts of society remain unaffected by these events. The response by policy makers and legislators has been swift and punitive. The net result being greater compliance and reporting requirements across most organisations and industries. Now there exists little distinction between what would have been considered a CSR organisation and one that practices good corporate governance (Money
