Is coporate social responsibility just a new trend or is it the modern Essay

Is coporate social responsibility just a new trend or is it the modern business 'modus operandi' - Essay Example The work presented by Carroll (1999) states that the history behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) is extensive and its modern foundations were in fact laid as early as the 1950s.1 Since the emergence of the concept till the present day, a key question that has risen relates to the ideological and theoretical basis of CSR and whether the concept carries any practical implications for modern businesses. Lindgreen and Swaen (2010) claim that CSR’s movement from an ideological concept to an applicable one has occurred, primarily because businesses now fully recognize and understand that ‘not only is doing good the right thing to do, but it also leads to doing better’. ... siness scenario of today, organizations are more concerned about CSR than companies of the past ever were which is reflected in the understanding that 80% of the companies listed on the Fortune 500 attend to various CSR initiatives and intensively invest in corresponding programs as suggested by their websites. 8 Evidently, this observation suggests that CSR has now become the modus operandi of modern businesses and not merely a new trend. However, this conclusion cannot be certified unless further studies, empirical researches and discussions are used within the scope of the paper. According to Visser (2010) the progression of the economic age has lead to significant changes in business models and operations, thereby, causing a corresponding change in how businesses deal with CSR.9 The latest stage of the economic age is marked by the slogan of responsibility moving from the management phase of business operations that functioned under the modus operandi of management systems.10 The modern business of today now operates under the modus operandi of business models that are integrated with the main principle of responsibility that a business essentially exercises through its products; this view claims that unlike optimistic definitions of CSR that cover a business’ responsibility towards all stakeholders, modern CSR specifically and exclusively targets the customers alone.11 While for Visser (2010) the internalization of CSR into an organization’s modus operandi is dependent upon the business model12, Murray and Dainty (2009: p245) suggest that this is possible via the means of establishing a successful structure that assist’s CSR management. 13 Commentators such as Sahlin-Andersson (2006) notes that corporate social responsibility is certainly a trend that has