ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide a formal definition of the term "social responsibility." It addresses the most basic prerequisite for corporations to be able to have social responsibilities in the first place. The chapter provides a broad overview of existing approaches and theories of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It also provides two basic taxonomies—one classifying CSR theory and one CSR practice. The chapter explores three new and increasingly influential approaches in the broader discussion on corporate responsibility: Creating shared value, political CSR, and business and human rights. It attempts to make conceptual sense and provide an overview of the CSR landscape by, first, developing a basic taxonomy that helps classifying CSR theories and, second, introducing two conceptual models that have done the same in regard to CSR practice. After clarifying that corporations, as moral agents, can have moral and social responsibilities, it is now time to look into what CSR entails.
