Introduction to Managing Corporate Social Responsibility in Action

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on different aspects of managing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action to capture differences in discourses and practices around CSR. A wide variety of corporate practices has been developed under the vignette of CSR, most often in reference to acts of responsibility. If the CSR debate is examined at a high level of abstraction, there are two different positions. These are firms do not and should not have any social responsibilities beyond maximizing shareholder value, firms do have such responsibilities and should act accordingly. The book offers new insights and plenty ideas and leads for further research, highlighting differences between talking, doing and measuring CSR and related concepts, but also providing suggestions to overcome the difficulties. It presents some of the most frequently raised motives, costs, benefits and barriers that companies face when they plan and implement social and environmental improvements.