Intrapreneurship: Construct Refinement and Cross-Cultural Validation - Essay Example

It is not only the business world that is increasingly engaging in scrutiny of CSR but the literary community as well. This is a trend evident from the increased CSR studies and the wide array of theoretical concepts that attempt to elucidate this crucial aspect of the business. For instance, early studies like those conducted by Drayton (2002, pp. 124) do not evaluate CSR as an entire company’s responsibility, but rather as a social duty of individual entrepreneurs. However, with progression in time, the literature diversifies to and most published works show CSR in a wider scope.

There appears to be a consensus amongst scholars on the wide scope nature of CSR, as many literary sources show that the concept embraces ethical, environmental, and social challenges. Author Morsing and Schultz (2006, pp.123-134) makes the assertion that corporate social responsibility is largely propelled by increased public demands for improved corporate citizenship and companies’ transparency. . , international diversification of companies is making many multinational companies (MNCs) come into contact with global customers and suppliers that have varying business and cultural backgrounds.

As a result, these companies have to adopt norms and practices of the recipient country, in order to blend in and operate profitably in the new environment. This idea is supported by Mair and Marti (2006, pp. 23-35), who emphasizes that CSR agendas closely relate to global development. Apparently, CSR strategies are perceived as vehicles through which large MNCs can actively foster the welfare of developing nations, by conducting their operations in a responsible manner, especially in regard to environmental and social issues.

However, like Crane and Matten (2003, p. 84) note, the reality of the situation is that majority of the large international companies usually undermine CSR provisions. This is shown by the corporations’ unethical and irresponsible behavior; characterized by problematic issues like provision of the insecure workplace environment, gender discrimination, unfair payment, sexual harassment, as well as, pollution of the environment with toxic effluents or emissions. Even though CSR strategies are utilized in virtually every business environment, it is imperative to note that they may vary from one economy to another.

The CSR approach in developing nations largely differs from that in developed regions. For instance, developing nations are characterized by continuing economic growth, making them suitable targets for the majority of foreign corporations. These nations are considered to be lucrative since they have abundant low-wage labor, a wide variety of resources, and limited government restrictions. These are all crucial elements for MNC's profitable operation. Research has also shown that governments and members of the public in developing nations are not extremely critical of unethical or unfair practices of foreign. These institutions and individuals simply focus on the jobs created and the charitable events conducted by the MNCs. This is, however, not the case in developed countries, where lobby groups, governments, as well as, individuals mostly focus on the aspects such as gender equity, work environment security, and environmental impact of a company’s operations.