CSR

This chapter pulls together existing academic literature on corporate social responsibility from a number of interdisciplinary fields in order to consider how CSR is perceived differently from a number of perspectives such as business managers, corporate owners, public relations practitioners, and business ethicists. This chapter looks especially at the way that CSR messages are communicated to stakeholders such as employees, the local community, and the news media. The very opposite of the business case for CSR, corporate altruism sounds extremely idealistic and impractical, not to mention in direct opposition to Friedman's principles of shareholder primacy. Philanthropy, be it strategic or altruistic, plays an important role in the discussion of CSR. This chapter lays the groundwork for implementing a CSR strategy, a corporation often interacts with nonprofits/NGOs, and understanding these organizations. It also considers media coverage of CSR as a transition to a discussion about the role of public relations with respect to corporate social responsibility.