Holistic Examination of Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The main goal of creating internal business policies dedicated to advancing corporate social responsibility is to ensure that the organization takes direct responsibility for regulatory compliance and encourages the production of positive outcomes that impact a diverse group of organizational stakeholders. There are some members of society that believe corporate social responsibility detracts from the organization’s primary objective which, according to respected business theorist Milton Friedman (1970) is to advance the attainment of profitability. Other societal stakeholders believe that CSR is a fundamental obligation of businesses to protect the interests of society whilst also maintaining dependability and conscientiousness, thereby providing a valuable good to all stakeholders in society. This paper critically examines the conception of corporate social responsibility, its historical ramifications, and the potential future implications of contemporary CSR policy for business leaders.

The historical context of CSR
By the late 1800s and early 1900s, with the advancement of modern commercialism and production capacity with thriving industrial businesses, CSR took on a more modern context that did not focus specifically on God’s potential condemnation for failing to abide by ethical and moral principles. Andrew Carnegie, a 19th Century business philanthropist and an influential figure in expanding the prowess of the American steel industry was a well-respected theorist who often publicly condemned businesses for seeking profitability as a primary goal whilst abandoning social welfare as a business objective. In 1868, Carnegie drafted a letter that stated, “amassing of wealth is one of the worst species of idolatry. There is no idol that is more debasing than the worship of money” (Klein 2004, p.57). The philanthropist philosophy of Carnegie (as well as several other 19th Century businesspersons) served as a foundation for opening new avenues for business leaders to seek moral and ethical business behavior as a primary business objective, which laid the foundation for much of modern corporate social responsibility that guides contemporary business practices.

From a regulatory perspective, in 1976 the United Nations, utilizing the ethical support of many member nations, began establishing a rigorous and strict code of conduct for businesses that would serve as the modern foundation for corporate social responsibility (Asongu 2007). Further, in the 1980s, the pro-business Ronald Reagan presidential administration in the United States began to seek corporate deregulation in an effort to open new trade channels internationally and expand overall corporate profitability. What occurred was a short-term stalling on negotiations that would enhance the UN CSR contract for ethical and responsible business behavior as businesses sought to expand their domestic operations across the globe, thereby exploiting cheap laborers and a wide variety of negligent environmental standards.

The stalling of long-standing corporate codes of responsibility changed after the post-September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center which again put ethical and moral behaviors into the proverbial spotlight, giving such groups as Amnesty International and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions more clout in imposing moral and ethical values on contemporary business leadership. ...Download file to see next pages Read More