MOOC Discovering Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - Pr.

Valérie Swaen
Université catholique de Louvain

Defining CSR - Summary

Valérie Swaen: As should be clear, CSR has been defined in many ways, in both literature and
practice, over various times and places. As Votaw in ninetien seventy-three explains, “the term
[CSR] is a brilliant one; it means something, but not always the same thing, to everybody.”
Thus, CSR represents a complex notion for corporate actors, and there is no such thing as a
one-size-fits-all CSR solution.
Instead, the CSR-related questions and resulting potential responsibilities vary by industrial
sector, type of business activities, and corporate size. They span a wide array of complex
concerns related to economic, social, and environmental aspects of business processes and
activities. Moreover, stakeholders’ requirements, expectations, and desires could be inconsistent,
often cannot be predicted by managers, and shift over time and place.

A common element behind most CSR definitions is that corporations cannot be concerned
merely with ever-increasing profits. In addition to their economic and legal duties, they have
ethical and discretionary responsibilities to society, which reflect the requirements,
expectations, and desires of multiple stakeholders in the industrial and societal environment in
which they operate.
Take two examples. First, in a definition proposed in 2011, the European Commission
indicated that respect for applicable legislation and for collective agreements between social
partners was a prerequisite of corporate responsibility. But to fully meet their corporate social
responsibilities, companies need a process in place, so that they can integrate social,
environmental, ethical, human rights, and consumer concerns into their business operations and
core strategy, in close collaboration with their stakeholders. Second, the definition proposed by
Professor Aguinis in two thousand eleven described CSR as context-specific organizational
actions and policies that account for stakeholders’ expectations and the triple bottom line of
economic, social, and environmental performance.
On the basis of these two definitions, I can highlight six main characteristics of CSR, with a
broader view:

1) Compliance with laws and conventions is a prerequisite of CSR, but not the end of the
path.
2) CSR should be a strategic and long-term corporate effort.
3) This effort should integrate stakeholders’ expectations into business operations and
core strategy.
4) Furthermore, it should bring benefits to society by creating shared economic, social,
and environmental value. This aspect involves an essential link with creativity and
innovation in the company.
5) The CSR activities are specific to the context in which the company is evolving.
Managers should define what CSR means for their own company, depending on the
context in which it is active (country, sector, time) and the specific set of stakeholders’
expectations.
6) Finally, being socially responsible is not a state but a never-ending process.

When we ask people to cite typical examples of CSR activities, they often mention:

- Philanthropy, such as when a company contributes money, services, or products to a

cause or social concern.
 MOOC Discovering Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - Pr. Valérie Swaen
Université catholique de Louvain

- Cause promotion, which happens when the company contributes money or other
resources to increase awareness of a cause or social concern.
- Cause marketing, in which the company contributes a percentage of sales of a
particular product to a cause.
- Social marketing, where the company tries to influence behavior to promote a social
good, such as recycling, seatbelt safety, or health.
- Volunteering, such as when a company encourages employees to volunteer or partners
with specific organizations during working hours.

Although these forms of CSR are familiar to most people, the list cannot fully capture the
range of practices associated with ethical corporate behaviors and the complexities of
contemporary CSR. In particular, CSR is not limited to charitable contributions and public
relations. Nor should it be an afterthought or an add-on to classical corporate activities.
Rather, CSR includes broad corporate initiatives designed to reduce the negative impacts of
operations (e.g., consumption of resources, production of waste) but also to increase the
positive impacts of operations (e.g., offering fair wages, improving working conditions, and
ensuring social justice).

This elaborated conceptualization of CSR often is referred as CSR 2.0, or “shared value
creation.” These terms highlight that businesses engage in strategic corporate efforts to make a
profit and solve social problems, simultaneously.