Reformulating the Emerging Theory of Corporate Social Responsibility as Good Governance

The purpose of this chapter is threefold. The first is to examine the conceptual foundation of the application of the emerging theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through a broader understanding of a range of activities that it symbolizes. That foundation reflects the evolution of dimensions of CSR from a strictly economic doctrine of profitmaking for a firm’s shareholders (Friedman, 1962,1970) into corporate social responsiveness, into social issues management that includes issues identification and analysis and response management (Wartick & Cochran, 1985), and into the needs of community or society (Besser, 1998; Freeman, 1984).