The Concepts Of Corporate Social Responsibility - 1456 Words

The concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been evolving for decades. At the very beginning, it was argued that corporation’s sole responsibility was to provide maximum financial returns to shareholders. However, it became quickly apparent to everyone that this pursuit of financial gain had to take place within the boundary of the legal system (Carroll, 1979;1991). Bowen’s 1953 publication of ‘Social Responsibility of Businessman’ was considered by many scholar to be the first definitive book, to explain the idea behind CSR. Following Bowen’s book, a number of works played a vital role in developing the social responsibility concept (Cheit, 1964; David Blomstrom, 1966; Carroll, 1979;1991). One of the factors†¦show more content†¦Joseph Guire (1963), acknowledged corporation’s primacy of economic concerns, but also accommodated a broader view of the firm’s social responsibility, suggesting that social responsibility are not only including but also moving beyond economic and legal considerations. Thus, it conceptualised social responsibility as something a firm considers in addition to economic and legal rationale. However some scholar have a dissimilar view, it has been argued that in order for a firm to achieve social responsibility, the behaviour of doing such charitable act must be voluntary, otherwise it will defeat the purpose for being ‘socially responsible’ (Manne Wallich, 1972). Correspondingly, alternate approach such as listing of areas in which business viewed as having responsibility have been used to uncover the true meaning of CSR (Carroll, 1979). As it has been argued that in order for CSR to be accepted by a conscientious business person, the concept should be framed in such a way that the entire range of business responsibilities are embraced (Carroll, 1991;1999). One of the first approach to include the scope of economic and non-economic concerns in defining social responsibility was the â€Å"three concentric circles† developed by the Committee for Economic Development (CED) in 1971. This model was the first to explain the three basic option corporations have when carrying out their responsibilities, including area such as