Governmental CSR Policies Social Responsibility and Regulation

Governmental CSR Policies

Social Responsibility and Regulation

The origin of the formal construct of corporate social responsibility is easily traced back to the 1950s (Carroll, 1999, p. 268). Over four decades, the concept had been expanded to include three prongs: Business ethics, corporate responsibility, and corporate social responsiveness" (Epstein, 1987, p. 106). The concepts are likely to continue to develop in concert and against the background that has been active for over a half century. This paper addresses corporate social responsibility in as much as it can be conceptually segregated.

Governmental CSR Policies

Businesses have recognized that they have responsibilities to a "stakeholder society, particularly at the global level, and in new and emerging technologies, fields, and commercial applications" (Carroll, 1987, p. 292). In fact, corporate social responsibility "addresses and captures the most important concerns of the public regarding business and society relationships" (Carroll, 1987, p. 292). While the emphasis of corporate social responsiveness (CSR) has been in the business sector, governments have also been stakeholders in the development and application of CSR. In the next section, it is evident that business and government entities both consider themselves to benefit as stakeholders of CSR. Invariably, governments promote CSR as good business strategy that generates consumer and client goodwill. Governments also co-opt CSR policies and embed them into strategic and political agendas.

Global Governmental CSR Policies

In an article comparing CSR policies in Italy, Norway, and the United Kingdom, Albareda, et al. (2008) argue that the divergences are a product of inherited cultural and political frameworks -- such as the type of welfare state that exists or existed -- the structures of the organizations, and the historical business cultures, and the socio-cultural-economic background of each country.

CSR in Italy. The integration of social and environmental concerns with business operations is completely voluntary in Italy. CSR is considered to be a competitive opportunity for business and also for various levels of economies. The Italian government declares a goal "To increase the degree of enterprise awareness of social, environmental, and sustainability issues by promoting a culture of responsibility within the industrial system" (Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, 2003, p. 22).

CSR in Norway. The Norwegian government justifies and promotes CSR almost exclusively in economic terms, representing it as win-win idea. There is some variation from this position -- a White Paper on Human Rights and Globalization sends a message about a rights-based normative approach to CSR. No explicit objectives or strategies are articulated for CSR in Norway, however, the government does say that enterprises are not go beyond standard CSR business practices. Economic growth and CSR practices are promoted within a vision of Norway as an economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable society.