Corporate Social Responsibility: Approaches and Criticism

Abstract

Organizations and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Yet, there is no one way to describe it to fit everyone’s perception. To some it means a liability to operate in accordance with the terms of law and regulations and to some it is a vital part of the organizational culture; to others it is something in between. Thus it is no surprise that CSR has been broadly criticized both as a term and how it is applied in companies’ actions.

The purpose of this thesis was to study these different approaches to CSR and to discover what kind of criticism CSR has received. Furthermore, the world’s first standardized approach to sustainability reporting is introduced as an example on how companies can improve their transparency. The statement this thesis offers is that criticism towards CSR will continue to exist as long as there are numerous of different unregulated approaches to CSR.

As the aim was to study the issue as a global phenomenon, this thesis is based solely on secondary data consisting mainly of academic articles, companies’ publications and webpages. The research findings are followed by an introduction to Nestlé’s CSR actions through their Creating Shared Value (CSV) approach. The criticism Nestlé has received is discussed among Nestlé’s following actions to the criticized issues. A question of to which point companies are responsible for their partner’s actions is raised.