Managing Corporate Social Responsibility For The Sake Of Business And Society

Autor: Matthias S. Fifka, Nicola Berg
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 21:253-257
ISSN: 1535-3958
DOI: 10.1002/csr.1334
Popis: IN THE WAKE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS, THE DISCUSSION ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS TOwards society has received significant attention. Decisions driven by short-term profit maximization, intransparent financial instruments, risky lending practices, and a perceived overall ‘corporate greed’ have shaken confidence in the trustworthiness of business. On a global level, only 58% of more than 31 000 respondents in 26 countries articulated trust in business in a recent survey conducted by Edelman (2013). Wrong incentives for managers, corruption and bribery, incompetence, and a lack of transparency were the reasons most often mentioned for this lack of trust (Edelman, 2013). This is striking, because all of these reasons fall directly into the realm of business itself. Lacking governmental control and regulation were only mentioned in fifth place. Thus, it is primarily business that is seen as being responsible for undertaking action to address these problems. Moreover, the diverse and widespread consequences of the crisis – such as rising unemployment, business and private bankruptcies, and soaring governmental debt – have harshly demonstrated the strong interdependence of business, politics, and society. Likewise, they have shown that irresponsible business behavior can have dramatic consequences for governments and citizens alike, not forgetting business itself (Werther & Chandler, 2010). It is interesting to note at this point that states seem to be unable to cope with the magnitude of the crisis on a financial and regulatory level. Concerning the financial dimension, facing the crisis has overextended the pecuniary capabilities of many states and worsened their fiscal situation. With regard to regulation, especially on an international level, joint efforts to enact rules to reign in business and prevent further crises have hardly been successful. This reflects a shift of salience in the relationship just described. The importance and capabilities of the traditional nation state are declining in a more globalized world, whereas transnational business actors are increasingly powerful. In this context, it has to be pointed out that the difficult fiscal situation of many states – first and foremost western industrialized states – is not only a product of the crisis. Their budgets had already been strained before due to demographic changes driving up social expenditures, but also by the possibilities of businesses to offshore production and tax payments to other regions (Castells 1998; Zumbansen 2009). These developments drive corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. First, the crisis itself has led to the call for more responsible business behavior in order to avoid negative impacts for society in the future. Second, the declining regulatory capabilities of nation states have shown the importance of finding alternative ways of governance, as traditional governmental control has reached its limits. Such alternative control can be provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for whom this function is a primary raison d’etre, as they are seen to create a
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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