Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility

David Crowther and Lez Rayman-Bacchus

Over the last decade the question of the relationship between organizations and society has been subject to much debate, often of a critical nature. The decade has seen protests concerning the actions of organizations, exposures of corporate exploitation and unfolding accounting scandals. At the same time ethical behaviour and a concern for the environment have been shown to have a positive correlation with corporate performance. The nature of corporate social responsibility is therefore a topical one for businesses and academics. There are, however, many different perspectives upon what is meant by corporate social responsibility and how this might be applied within organizations. This book is intended to explore some of these different perspectives based upon the experiences of different people in different parts of the world.

The authors involved are respected academics from a variety of disciplines and from a number of different parts of the world. The contributions to this book investigate theoretical perspectives on the topic, the application in practice of socially responsible behaviour and the ethical dimension of such behaviour

Contents
Introduction: perspectives on corporate social responsibility, David Crowther and Lez Rayman-Bacchus. Theorising Corporate Social Responsibility: Assessing trust in, and legitimacy of the corporate, Lez Rayman-Bacchus; Limited liability or limited responsibility?, David Crowther; The power of networks: organising vs. organisation, Branka Mraovic. Practising Corporate Social Responsibility: Social performance in government: choosing fiscal health over physical health?, John Mahon and Richard McGowan; Corporate social responsibility: exploration inside experience and practice at the European level, Rute Abreu and Fatima David; Corporate social reporting: genuine action or window dressing?, David Crowther; The impact of socially responsible investment upon corporate social responsibility, Thomas Clarke and Marie de la Rama; Bioengineering and corporate social responsibility, R. Seminur Topal and David Crowther. The Ethics of Corporate Social Responsibility: Social responsibility is free - how good capitalism can co-exist with corporate social responsibility, John Peters; Management by love and kindness and the conquest implications, Roger Haw; The future of corporate social responsibility, David Crowther and Lez Rayman-Bacchus; Index.

Reviews
'"Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility" does what few books and articles on this issue are currently doing - it extends not only our thinking on these issues, but the conceptual framework in which we can seriously redefine the contemporary corporation…'
Professor David Birch, Deakin University, Australia

'This volume provides an invaluable collection of essays that both demonstrate and instruct the diverse perspectives on the social responsibility of corporations…A very satisfying and balanced combination that should be useful to any serious student - either in practice or academia - of the role of corporations in meeting social responsibilities.'
Associate Professor Linda Ruchala, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA